Neverwhere

I'll admit it- I'm hooked by Neil Gaiman. Earlier this year I read his wonderful fantasy, American Gods. I was intrigued so I got his first solo book out of the library, Neverwhere. There's more to the world than meets the eye.

In American Gods, Gaiman weaves a tale of Old World mythic gods and legends. He explores what happened to them when they were brought by the immigrants to the New World, then got stranded here without their roots.

In Neverwhere, he tells us of the world of London Underground. It is the place of lost souls who have fallen through the cracks, lost angels, lost demons, all running around the sewers and subways of modern-day London as they have for years.

Richard Mayhew is the modern character who, as the result of an act of kindness, finds himself on an adventure in the Underground. He has to help Door find out why her family was killed. He has to cross unknown bridges and battle unknown beasts and demonic characters. He has to find a way back home to the London Above.

It is a wonderful romp of a story. Being an earlier novel, it is not as strong as American Gods (which attracted me as a mid-westerner to places I am quite familiar with in this world, including the House on the Rock in Wisconsin). But it is fun and challenging and a great read.

What I think I like most about both books is the awareness in them that there is a world around us that is far beyond our human way of seeing. There are legends and myths that have lives of their own. They populate the unseen regions of the world. They are as real as anything physical because they exist in the psyche of the culture and the ethos of the people. Am I reading too much into Gaiman's wondrous writing?

If I am, it is because I know that there is power in myth. It defines who we are. It forms our understanding of the world. It can become the foundation of our values. If we ignore them, it is to our peril (American Gods) or our loss (Neverwhere.) The "modern" world forgot about myth, or tried to "de-mythologize" our world. It had to fit reason and logic or it wasn't real. It had to be physically provable, visible, and endlessly repeatable or it was just a "theory."

Neil Gaiman makes us stop and take a postModern look at that. By digging into the myths and lost demons, angels, and souls of our "modern" world, we are urged to see that there is more to our life than meets the eye. The "spiritual" world is real. We ignore it at our own peril and our loss.

In my Christian understanding of our mythos God is at work in all of this calling us beyond the reason and logic into a relationship that is beyond our human understanding. There are worlds and spiritual realities that are out there as well. We do well to know that or we can be caught by our innocence. Trusting in God, may we not either overplay the presence of the spiritual world, nor underestimate its power. After all, God is the creator of all.

A Look at the Megachurches
Davie D. is guest-blogging for Joshua Claybourn. He has found a Forbes magazine series on Christian capitalism. He reminds us that the mega-church is a very new phenomenon. Back in 1970 there were only 10 mega-churches in the United States (being defined as non-Catholic churches with 2000+ members). In 1990 there were 250, and today there are 740! Davie notes that most of the growth of the mega-churches is due to transfer growth. He then adds:

Now transfer growth would be ok if all movement within the body of Christ could be traced to people searching out solid, Biblical teaching, but one look at Forbes's list of biggest churches in the country demonstrates that we can't afford to make that assumption. The two biggest churches in the U.S., according to Forbes, are being pastored by two of the biggest proponents of the Prosperity Gospel — Joel "Discover the Champion in You" Osteen and Creflo Dollar.

There are a number of good comments listed as well.

What the mega-church has done is show the rest of us that people will come to church in big numbers. Some of them have shown us how evangelism can work. Others have caused us to look at how we think church is done and then find ways to be more faithful. Some of them have done an amazing job of moving and growing and developing new chuches and planting new communities.

On the other side are the mini-kingdoms that some have become. Others become unhealthy, cult-like groups. Others are simply large, anonymous places to avoid commitment.

In other words, they have had some good and bad effects- just like the rest of the church. After all, we are all human.

Beginning 40 Days of Purpose
We began our 40 Days of Purpose at church this morning. We have more people reading and doing this than anything we have done in our four years at the church. We are excited about the possibilities that this reading has for us. We are not the only ones, of course. Two others in the blogosphere that I know of are looking at purpose in their church- Gary at Country-Keepers posted today, and the Crazy Gator over at Gator Bites has been posting the daily points and verses.


I Already Knew That!

My inner child is sixteen years old!

Life's not fair! It's never been fair, but while
adults might just accept that, I know
something's gotta change. And it's gonna
change, just as soon as I become an adult and
get some power of my own.


How Old is Your Inner Child?
brought to you by Quizilla

And So It Goes
Thanks for the season! See you next spring.


Now That's More Like It
Five in a row in Week 5 has Green Bay back near the top of the NFC North standings. Brett Favre led the Packers on five consecutive touchdown drives and Green Bay ruined Mike Holmgren's homecoming in a 35-13 victory [over the Seattle Seahawks]. Favre had a couple of touchdown passes and Ahman Green had a pair of his own on the ground as part of a 118-yard performance. More>

A Thought for Sunday

Mike at Waving or Drowning posted the following:

Jesus came to raise the dead.
The only qualification for the gift of the Gospel is to be dead.
You don't have to be smart.
You don't have to be good.
You don't have to be wise.
You don't have to be wonderful.
You don't have to be anything...
You just have to be dead
Robert Farrar Capon

Ponder that as you take the bread and cup on this World Communion Sunday. May grace be with you! Amen.

Mike posted a link to a site called Ikon where he got the Capon quote. Here's the link. Go there!

One Game Behind
Okay- things are looking a little tight for the Twins. They must (and will!) win on Sunday going back to Yankee Stadium for a fifth and final game.

The Cubs
One more win needed to move to the NLCS. Let's go Cubs!

The Sox
Can the curse be broken? Another game at Fenway on Sunday. Must win.

The Marlins
Florida has the rest of the weekend off. Waiting for the Cubs?

The Blues - Awesome
What a week of music on PBS. The British blues on Friday and the wondrous piano blues on Saturday were a wonderful wat to end the week. Almost makes me want to practice my old guitar. Maybe one of these days.

I Thought We Were Past This

No, that isn't referring to Donovan McNabb's comment re: Rush Limbaugh. Was doing my daily check-in at Blogs4God on Oct. 1 and saw a link to a news article at the Prayer Book Society page. Even though I am not an Episcopalian/Anglican, I have been following their recent melt-down over the election of Eugene Robinson as a Bishop. Every mainline church is going to have to face this issue several times in several different ways and I am just trying to keep up on what is happening in this first major case-study.

Well, the article at the Prayer Book Society page went into some Anglican Canon Law discussion. But what struck me was that it soon went into the direction of reviewing the issue of the ordination of women along with the current gay-related issues. Here from the Rev'd. Peter Toon:

What does unite these two rites is that each is a setting aside, or a breaking, or a disregarding, of the Order that God in his wisdom has placed within the natural creation and in the kingdom of God, as we know them. Obviously "gay" sex is unnatural -- contrary to the Order within creation...

However, women's ordination (which elevates the women to pastoral oversight) though not immoral is also unnatural, contrary to God's order for the relation of the two sexes and for the ordering of His Church. Male and female are certainly equal in dignity, worth and ability; but, they are also distinct in order, even as the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity are equal in their Personhood and their Divinity/Godhead but in an ordered relation one to another - the Father together with His Son and with His Spirit. The Father is first in order, the Son second and the Holy Ghost, third: in the human race the male is first in order and the woman second in order (see Genesis 1: 27 & St Paul's teaching on headship). To break this order is to interfere with what God has blessed.

So the relation between women's ordination and the blessing of "gay" couples is that they are both examples of disorder and a breaking of the command to love God with heart, soul, mind and strength.

In my denomination, I was in seminary with the woman who became our first woman pastor. She was ordained a few months after I was 29 years ago. My wife is also an ordained pastor, now in her 15th year in ministru.

There has never been a question in my mind about the place of women in the church or their right to be ordained. When God calls someone, they are called. In one way or another, the Episcopal Church also has a 29-year tradition of ordaining women. (Carter Heyward having been ordained in 1974 as well, but the ECUSA didn't okay women's ordination until 1976). Yet it appears that the issue is still real.

A number of years ago I taught a course in Liberation Theology at a local seminary. As we studied the writings of the then popular Latin American theologians (this was before the fall of Soviet Communism) their socialist leanings challenged us but the group could see how their theology could be supported by Scripture. We then moved to African Liberation Theology. Things got a little difficult with understanding the role of "ancestors" in their developing understanding, but, there too, we could see our way through it. Asian Liberation Theology took us a step further into seeing Christian theology in a non-Christian, multi-religious culture. Challenging, but eye-opening.

Then, before switching to the last two Liberation Theologies I commented that we were about to get into really difficult territory. When we deal with Feminist and then Gay Liberation Theology we have to deal with views that contradict what we have been taught and even contradict the directives of scripture. These two theologies challenge the very nature of our understanding of scripture, its use and standing in the church, and how we use, misuse, or ignore scripture to fit our own understandings.

Even though it was 16 years ago that I said that, it has proven to be one of the few statements of the day that have held true. I thought that we had moved beyond the questions of women in ordained ministry, but it appears that, at least in some quarters of the ECUSA it is still there and ready to be challenged. I hope that it doesn't happen that way. When we get into these hot-beds of theological dispute we can easily lose our bearings and sense of direction. I believe that we learned a great deal about working with highly divisive issues and the problems of a 100% literal interpretation of scripture when women were ordained. Some of these may give us some much needed tools for the discussion that we are all going to face sooner or later over the gay-related issues.

So I watch the Episcopal/Anglican communion and their current controversy. May they- and we- have wisdom from on high about how this can be used for the work of the Gospel without opening all the old wounds as well.

The Twelve-Steps Return
On a mailing list/discussion group I am part of the question was raised about why the church has been unable to develop opportunities for deep spiritual conversation. The writer then pointed to AA's success at doing just that. I wrote back using some quotes from Dallas Willard's book, Renovation of the Heart.

You are not alone in seeing this about AA. George Hunter in his most recent book Radical Outreach has a whole chapter on recovery ministry and how the power and spirituality of AA, NA, etc. is missing in the church and we need to connect with it.

Another passage is in Dallas Willard's book. What he sees happening in the 12-step groups is the ancient practice of spiritual formation which he doesn't see happening in the church. He says that the church has largely lost its grip on spiritual formation as a standard path of Christian life. Here is a quote from page 85 which he has italicized in the original:

Any successful plan for spiritual formation, whether for the individual or group, will in fact be significantly similar to the Alcoholics Anonymous program.

He then adds in normal type:

There can be no doubt that the AA program originated and gained its power from Christian sources, to meet needs that Christian institutions at the time should have been meeting but were not.

There may be many reasons why the church lost its ability to do spiritual formation. The "academic" model of Christian education which saw formation as information and knowledge instead of what Willard calls the renovation of the heart. (Something that movements like Cursillo or Walk to Emmaus have sought to remedy!) Another would be "institutionalizing" of the faith. Later in the book Willard points to radical discipleship movements that sought to develop discipleship and not just Christians. He speaks of "the early Christians, the early monastics, the early Franciscans or Dominicans, the early Quakers, and early Methodists" as examples. I would add the early Moravians as well since that is where Wesley got his idea for the small groups. Willard then goes on:

Note how in all these cases the word 'early' has to be used. This is because the "vessel" that emerges in the course of a particular outbreak of radical discipleship gradually overwhelms the heavenly "treasure" that it initially served to convey. That is a primary satanic strategy in defeating the cause of Christ on Earth. Then we have another tradition on exhibit in the museum of Christian history... Usually this means an institution of some sort, perhaps a local church or a denomination, whose perpetuation and survival becomes the main concern of people associated with it. Discipleship to Christ is either dropped altogether from the basic objectives or is redefined as devotion to the institution. (p. 243)(Italics in original) -- Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard. 2002, NavPress.

Yes, I realize these are pretty strong words. I think they are given to be a real challenge to the church to return to its primary purpose.

As to AA's success in its relatively short (almost 70 year) life...
There are the traditions of AA that help. These would include:

::.. There is but one primary purpose, to carry the message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
     [What is the one primary purpose of the church that we should not waver from?]
::.. AA groups ought not to own property (or take outside money) lest problems of money, prestige and power divert them from their primary goal.
     [What was that about money and buildings, again?]
::.. AA should always remain non-professional
     [I thought we clergy were supposed to be professionals.]
::.. AA takes no stand on outside issues.
     [In contrast to some of us in the church who think we should have opinions on any and all issues.]

I suppose a whole book could be written about the 12-steps/traditions and how they could revolutionize the church. They have done something that nothing else ever did to the extent that AA does- they have brought healing and health to alcoholics! Perhaps they can bring about the healing of that which continues to ail the institutional church.

Tied at One Each
Another very good ball game. Yankees power broke through just long enough to get the win.

Now to the Metrodome for games 3 & 4.

The Blues continues
Well, I think tonight's film in the PBS series is my favorite so far. Perhaps because it was all about the Chicago Blues sound and Chess Records and a more northern sound that I was more used to. It was titled Godfathers and Sons and united rapper Chuck D. with Chess Records son Marshall Chess. Their goal is to explore the roots of contemporary hip-hop and to produce a recording with veteran Chicago blues musicians. PBS let some raw language stay in. It was as much an exploration of change, growth, movement, fathers, and sons as it was of the music. It has been an interesting series. Two more to go. Friday director Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas explores the Blues takeover of British rock in the Sixties and Saturday is a Clint Eastwood directed film on piano blues. Eastwood is of course a huge jazz and blues supporter and composer.

Ducks in Halifax
Go to Bene Diction and read a wonderful story of healing at work.

When Worlds Meet
Real Live Preacher has some issues he is working to sort out. Basically the world of the blogosphere and the world of everyday life are getting closer together. It is putting him into a tough personal position. I pray that he resolves it so that we continue to receive his wisdom and his congregation can celebrate their ability to share their preacher with the rest of us.

An Interesting Question
LT is at it with a quick question that begs for an answer....

Why do we have so many postmodern/emerging church websites/conferences/books and precious few emerging churches?

The Voice of the postModern World
LT also had a few pointed comments at his parent's generation:

It is more about an entire generation of people coming to realize that our parents generation is almost completely messed up and we don't want to be like them. We aren't sure of the truth because we saw through the facade of the older generation. Where do we start when we have a world where the thin candy coating has worn off and we are left trying to reconstruct a society that has been exploited. We have been exploited through abuse, neglect, divorce, pollution, government debt, and whatever else we can think of. Some of this frustration does spill over in to church which is one of the last bastions of this modern culture.

That is the cry of the postModern world and generations. I cannot help but think back 30+ years when my generation was saying the same thing about the group that is NOW called the Greatest Generation. But I believe that what LT is saying is right on. What happened was that my generation said that we didn't want to be like our parents, then turned around and messed up anyway in our own way. What we got was no less harmful and dysfunctional than our parents.

Yes, I know that my generation was the first to begin to abandon the church, although the seeker-church, boomer-traditional contemporary worship brought some back. I know that many of my generation then passed their indifference to their children. I know that many got caught up in the enhanced Me-generation that we built to such a fine art. But I know that there are people of my generation who are on target with what LT is saying. They (we, I hope) are not willing to say the old words- We've never done it that way before. We are not willing to live with making our contemporary worship the new traditional. We are still committed to social justice and mission and sharing the Good News. We don't go to church to "feel good." We have learned that there have been lots of things we have taken, smoked, drank, read, watched, etc. that we thought made us "feel good" but didn't. Feeling Good is not what church (being a Jesus Follower) is all about.

So, LT, thanks for the challenges in your blog! I hope that we can work together across the generations to find ways to have emerging churches, whatever they look like, become more common and more available so that God's ways may be known and followed.

Gee, Other People Do This, Too
From Lileks Bleat

So I whistle the piece and conduct it, to the consternation of Jasper and Gnat. They’re both standing in the kitchen, looking at me with blank looks.

Whadju doin, daddee?

Conducting! And I’m conducting the realistic way, slightly anticipating the action instead of reacting to it!

Just wait, James, the day will come when you are riding with an older Gnat and suddenly
she will start conducting a song,
the two of you will look at each other and then
give each other a High Five… Priceless.

Another Great Book To Read
The Life of Pi. It is awesome. Watch for some blogging on this book that promises in the introduction "a story that will make you believe in God."

October Next-Wave
The new issue of Next-Wave.org is online. This one's on social justice. Jason links to an interpretation of The Sermon on the Mount called The Jesus Manifesto that is available for downloading.

A Doctrinal Top-Ten List
Richard at Connexions discovered Mike Todd and his "Top 10 Doctrines." As you would expect, it brought some comments. Read them, too.

Josh Takes a Study Break
Joshua Claybourn is taking a week to study. (I wonder if that would have helped me back in college?) He has some guest writers stepping in, but we will also wait for his return.

In 78 Days (or so)
Lord of the Rings trailer is here. Wow!

Rush to Judgement

In response to Limbaugh's comments, (Donovan) McNabb is quoted as telling the Philadelphia Daily News , "It's sad that you've got to go to skin color. I thought we were through with that whole deal." (link to Crosswalk.com article)(Thanks to Pen for the link.)

It was interesting to be watching the Blues tonight on PBS (more next) and one segment about racism in the 50s. We still have a long way to go.

Now Rush has resigned from ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown. He joins Jimmy the Greek and Al Campanis in the list of sports-related people who have misunderstood the true face of racism, even as they deny its existance in what they say. Those of us who are white often do not understand what we are saying. We don't see the racism because it is so ingrained in the culture. We don't always see how what we are saying can be taken wrong.

I don't think this is another incident of "political correctness." Racism remains the deep, undercurrent of American culture. We have come a long way, no doubt about it. But we cannot ignore its presence, but call it what it is.

The Blues (again)
Another excellent film on the PBS series tonight. A fictional journey (journeys are such wonderful images!) of an uncle taking his young nephew around the South. He introduces him to the Blues and the inner conflict that The Blues and Gospel are the musical representations of. They're closer than "kissin' cousins". They are the two faces of the same urge as Bobby Rush said in last night's show. (See yesterday's post.) The Blues mythology of a Robert Johnson, and others, who made pacts with the Devil in order to increase their skill points to the deeply spiritual nature of The Blues. Music in general touches the soul. When it is a soul of pain and suffering like that of the African-American experience, it produces the power of Gospel and Blues. A couple of quotes:

:: Everyone has The Blues. How it comes out is dependent on how you grew up.
:: The Blues is truth. If it ain't the truth, it ain't the Blues.

We whites can have some of the same things in our soul. I think of the cousins- Jerry Lee Lewis and Jimmy Swaggart. Again, two sides of the same passion- and at times getting them mixed up. Perhaps proves the truth that all have the Blues. What is awesome to me is the ability of these musicians who can translate that into music.

Me? I write.

The Blues

I've been watching the PBS series, The Blues. Tonight was the best film so far, just easing ahead of Martin Scorsese's first evening.The Road to Memphis was directed by Richard Pearce as an homage to Memphis, the city that birthed the blues. It followed B. B. King, Roscoe Gordon, Bobby Rush and others, ending with a performance at the Handy Awards. Some moments that struck me:

::. The radio station, WDIA in Memphis that became the station that hired and programmed for the Black population. B. B.'s memory of showing up for a job was wonderful. The station gave voice to a community that was truly world-changing for many.

::. The segment with Sam Phillips, the founder of Sun Records, known for his recording of a 19-year old truck driver named Elvis. Before that he had been recording the blues artists of Beale Street. His conversation with Ike Turner reveals a great deal of the world of the 1950s and the racism that was prevelant. Phillips did as much as any white producer could in his day to bring the blues to the greater culture.

::. But I would have to agree with Marin Scorsese in his introduction about the most profound moment in the show. The segment of the film is titled "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning." Independent touring artist Bobby Rush (at age 66, no less) is shown first in a rollicking, racy performance in a club on a Saturday night. He gets back on the bus for the overnight drive back home. Coming home to be at church at 9:15.

When I get to church , tired, I don't have to sing or anything what I did last night. Now I'm enjoying it. The same people we see on Saturday night are the same ones we see on Sunday.

[He then gets to the heart of worship]

I want Jesus to lift me up. On Saturday night I want my baby to lift me up.
Saturday night you're lifted up by your baby; Sunday morning you're lifted up by Christ.
There's no difference. You dance for Satan or you dance for Christ.

Needless to say it was not your average, sedate, white-American worsihp. There was power, emotion, passion!

Wednesday night will be Warming by the Devil's Fire. As it says on the PBS site for the show: Director Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep, My Brother's Wedding, To Sleep with Anger) presents a tale about a young boy's encounter with his family in Mississippi in the 1950s, and intergenerational tensions between the heavenly strains of gospel and the devilish moans of the blues.

Sounds interesting!

Congratulations!
An announcement at Superblessed today! Let us all welcome Nathan James Deen!

Welcome Back
John Campea's blog is back up and working. Glad to have him back.

A New Web Site
Seems like Jonny Baker is involved in a new web site emergingchurch.info- A Touching Place for the Emerging Church. Here's how Jonny describes it:

it's a place for stories of what is happening, reflections on what is emerging, discussion on anything and everything related to emerging church on the sites discussion boards, a selection of blogs and the obligatory links. i am excited about the site - do visit, join in the discussion, bookmark it, tell others, blog about it, and if you are involved in something that might fall under the loose label 'emerging church' then please add your story to the site....

Lileks Likes It
But you may not believe what he likes! Go find out.

In the House of Ruth

On a beautiful Tuesday afternoon at Yankee Stadium,

     The Twins take on      the Yankees.


And the Twins are up one game to none.
Next game on Thursday evening. Go Twins!

The Wonders of Baseball- 2

Yesterday I blogged a bit on my lifelong love of baseball. I do fall into that group of people who believes that baseball can be one of the best sports metaphors for aspects of life. I probably do make more of baseball than it deserves. Yes, it is just a sport.

But I have a hunch that we make so much of baseball because there is something unique about it.

I ended yesterday with the over-the-top line:

Baseball. Everything else is just details.

Don't believe me?
:: Just watch Field of Dreams, The Natural, Bang the Drum Slowly, The Pride of the Yankees. (Or read the books by W. P. Kinsella, Mark Harris, or Bernard Malamud.)

Good and evil?
:: Check out Damn Yankees. Or even Joaquin Phoenix's character in Signs.

Those are only movies, you say. What about real life?

Well, then, how about "Going the distance?"
:: In the end there are no shortcuts in life. It's the bottom of the ninth, the home team is threatening with two outs, the bases loaded and only a two run lead for the visiting team. There will be no "next chance". The pitcher has absolutely no choice. He can't take a knee, or spike the ball, throw it out of bounds to stop the clock. There is no clock! Sooner or later (as I once heard Vin Scully describe it) you have to make a pitch. You have to throw the ball.

Or then there are "Sure things?"
:: Well, there are enough end-of-the-season slumps that lose a sure thing. Then there's a Bobby Thompson or Bill Mazeroski home run, that infamous Bill Buckner error in October, 1986, or Willie Mays over-the-shoulder catch.

Don't want to forget the "Real World?"
:: Two words: Jackie Robinson- racism powerfully challenged! Curt Flood challenging a feudal slave system called the "reserve clause." An awful, debilitating disease that is named for one of the all-time greats- Lou Gehrig.

What about "Learning to pay attention?"
:: Yes, even in right field I learned that you may stand there for a long time until someone finally does send one your way. Better be ready or you will make a fool of yourself, become the goat of the game, or even get hurt.

What about "Philosophy?"
:: Can anyone beat Yogi Berra for such profound statements that even the AFLAC mascot is rendered silent. "Cash is as good as money", "The game's not over till it's over", "It's déjà vu all over again", and the classic, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it!"

The sad thing of baseball, at least here in the northern world, is that it is a summer game. But perhaps that is part of its power and wonder. It always brings to mind the easier days of summer, the lazier days of childhood, the crack of a bat or thump of a glove on a night when the mosquitoes are more common than the fly balls.

Yes, professional baseball has taken some of the childlike joy out of it. Big money, a decline in "club loyalty", teams moving at the drop of a million.

The hidden lives of the ballplayers are no longer hidden. A Ty Cobb or a Babe Ruth might not be able to do what they did in this day and age.

But the game "between the lines" is still baseball. It is a pitcher against a hitter. One on one with back-up for defense. It is a curious mix of team and individual activity. It has moments of brilliance and moments of boredom. Once in a while it approaches perfection. There are 162 games in a season- an intentionally long and drawn-out season. Any team can win on any day. Some just win more than others.

But in spite of all the metaphors from which we can learn, let us not forget that it is still just a game. Grown men playing a boy's game. But that is where we all learn how to live in the world- playing games. That is where we get our first awareness that there are always winners and losers, that at times life is not fair and goes outside the lines, that things happen that can get in the way. I love the metaphors, but when the game is over, all I can do is take what I have learned and live with it- win or lose.

So, enough seriousness and heaviness about something we call a sport. We have a little more than three weeks left in the season. Get out the peanuts and Cracker Jacks, sit back and enjoy the Summer Game in its October glory!

The Wonders of Baseball- 1

Baseball has always been for me The Sport. I am passionate about football thanks to the Green Bay Packers. I can enjoy a good basketball game thanks to the Goslings of Watertown High School. I grew into wrestling with great fervor in the late-Sixties at Lehigh University. The Wild have got me at least dabbling in hockey. I even loved the sights and sounds of volleyball thanks to the Badger State teams my daughter played on. I have enjoyed Indy and NASCAR.

But baseball is still the champion.

How can it not be with a mother from Brooklyn who took me to my first major league game at Ebbetts Field as the Dodgers played the Milwaukee Braves. Or the father who could get tickets every year when the Phillies played an exhibition game against their farm club in Williamsport.

How can it not be having grown up with the Dodgers and Phillies. Became a Brewers fan while living in Wisconsin, until they left the American League. Now it's the Twins. Hometown excitement is really what counts, although, even as an old Dodger fan, I have a special place for the Yankees, the epitome of baseball both good and bad. This year's ALDS isn't a problem, though. It's the hometown first! (Go Twins!)

How could it not be when every August the world of baseball came alive at Lamade Field in South Williamsport and I would wander the hill and watch these amazing 12 year olds. Later, as an announcer at the radio station just down the hill from the stadium, I was given the joy of doing play-by-play for an inning as we sent one of the consolation games overseas on the Armed Forces Network.

How can baseball not be THE sport? I went to the World Series in 1980 in Philadelphia a couple of weeks after my consecration into the second order of ministry as a presbyter in the Moravian Church. The Sunday of my consecration would have been a difficult time if the Phillies hadn't clinched the division on Saturday. The Bishop would have wanted to watch the game, too.

I cannot play the game. In high school phys ed, my buddy Wilson and I would race to right field since there were few left-handed batters. We would enjoy the conversation and watching those better equipped than ourselves. (I played basketball one season and scored my only two-pointer in one of only two games we won that year. I then became a manager.)

I learned to keep score from a baseball record book that Gillette Razors gave away as a promotion when I was maybe nine or ten. I would sit at my bedroom window listening to a game on an earphone after I got my first transistor radio in 1961, keep score, and pretend to be Vin Scully broadcasting the Dodgers games or Harry Carey, then with St. Louis.

I have read and read and read about baseball. Roger Angell, Roger Kahn, David Halberstam, Joe Garagiola, George Will.

Baseball. Everything else is just details.

Bring on the Yankees






The regular season has come to a close. And these must be the End Times.

The Chicago Cubs are the NL Central Champions.

The Boston Red Sox are the American League Wild Card team.

Detroit did not set a new season loss record.





Tuesday afternoon at Yankee Stadium,

The Twins take on


the Yankees.

Two Baseball Items of Note

Roger Clemens, The Rocket, finishes with a win. >More<




And for the first time in 14 years!

The Power of Friends

Had breakfast this morning with a friend that we haven't seen in 18 months. He was back in town for a conference and my wife and I met him at our old breakfast location. He had been in a wilderness time when he and his wife moved from here. Things were not as he had hoped they would be.

It was great to see him today. He has regained his self and his soul. He looked younger and happier than when he left. What a joy!

He and his wife were anchors for my wife and me that God provided in the difficulty of empty nest and moving from our home of 15 years. They were a source of spiritual friendship and hope, keeping us grounded while at the same time not allowing us to get stuck.

Seeing him today was a reminder that when one is in a wilderness, sometimes the best thing is to just keep trusting and doing the next right thing. It is always in God's time, not mine. Oh, how I hate to say that! I want to be in control. I want to plan out all my directions and ideas. But it doesn't always work that way. One just has to do what is in front of them- while not giving up or giving in. I find myself tonight energized by the visit. Hopeful. I know that if I continue to be trusting and faithful, God will always lead me.

Isn't it neat when we have friends who can do that for us? Thank God I have many of those friends. If any of you are reading this- THANKS!


Twelve-Step Community

A series of comments from a 12-step meeting yesterday in a paraphrased combined format:

I have never found any group of people anywhere that gives me the love and support that I get here. Nowhere. Not even in the groups that think they do. Not at church, in the military, sports teams, in the bars. Here is where community is really lived.

These comments were made by a variety of people with anywhere from 1 year to 25 years in the program. And everyone around the tables nodded in agreement.

Angry at God

A fictitious but all too real case study…

      Jay has been sick since he was a child. Never anything serious. Asthma, allergies, skin problems as a result of the allergies. They didn't slow him down. Now as an adult in his late-40s, he still has his ups and downs. His wife divorced him a number of years ago because she was "tired of taking care of his illnesses." Jay lives with it. He has learned how to take care of himself. He has an incredible faith. He is ready and willing to help others. He never complains. He often says, "Yes, but I'm not as bad off as a lot of people."

      Jay's father is also a pillar of faith. At times it may sound like wishful thinking and at others like a crutch to keep from falling over from the concerns. But it is always there and always real.

      But then there's Jay's mother. She is angry at God. She attends church but pays no attention to the sermon, songs, or prayers. She just sits there staring, arms folded, challenging God to break through.

      "There is no reason to this," she has said many times. "If God really listened to prayers, why is Jay still fighting all his illnesses. He believes in God. He really trusts God. Yet God seems to ignore him. Why should I bother with God?" It's not that she doesn't believe that God exists, she is angry since this God doesn't bring healing to Jay.

     Tough questions. While the above is a conglomeration of many people I have known over the years, it is always a dilemma. It would be easy to say that differences in personality, or upbringing, or whatever else is the difference. Or we may be tempted to judge the faith of Jay's mother, the truth of Jay's faith.

     The rough, tough preacher wants to say to mom, "Why should God heal Jay's asthma and eczema when there are so many other real issues to deal with?"

     The compassionate pastor wants to put an arm around mom and say something nice and warm, "Yes, I can understand how you feel that way, but God's ways are beyond us."

     The rebel wants to agree with her critiques of God and say, "Right on! We have to live our own lives."

     But you know, I'm not so sure any of these are on target, and all of them are. Paradox is a difficult thing to live with. We are an "either-or" people when it comes to these issues. Read the book of Job and hear the theological shenanigans trying to explain why this godly man is suffering so. There has to be justice, say Job's comforters. There has to be reason and logic and tit-for-tat. Even Job himself wants answers for why this is happening for he, too, lives in the cause and effect understanding of faith.
     Until the end. When the all-powerful Creator of the Universe simply says (from the thunder and the clouds- no still small voice here!) Stand up like a man and just trust me. I know what I am doing! Even if it isn't what you think it should be.
     C. S. Lewis spoke mightily about free will. Others speak as fully about the fallen-ness of creation as a result of sin. Some will stick as mightily to cause and effect- your faith isn't strong enough or your prayers not worded right.
     In the end none of us is 100% right. All I can do for and with Jay or his parents or anyone walking into my office is to be there and offer them compassion, an ear or shoulder if needed, and the strength of God through me to say, "Yes, there are no easy answers. Let's instead just spend some time with God and see what he has to tell us about our lives."
     No, that is not a satisfactory answer, I realize, for many. They will turn away seeking someone who will give them what they want to hear. I do the same. Some will remain angry with a God they see as un-just. But it is just about all I am able to give. That and the grace of God that I myself have found and experienced when I asked the same questions.
     To close, I quote Real Live Preacher who summed it all up in a recent post about superballs and the healing presence of God.

I don’t know what goes on, really. The world is such a big place and we are such small people. Who knows how everything fits together?

Not I. And, when all is said and done, for that I am grateful.

At the Ooze
Spencer over at The Ooze has a good article posted this week about the church he is starting.

He started with thinking about why he left the professional pastorate:

The reality is that much of what we call ministry today is really administration. It’s about adding things—programs and strategies and rules. In my 22 years as a pastor, I often administered more than I ministered, if that makes sense. I’ve come to see that I was an add-minister more than a minister.

Okay. Well now he is starting a church, but not your average church-in-a-building:

It’s pretty wild, isn’t it? I mean, who would have thought I’d be starting a church with just one other couple and no budget? Who does that? Who says, “Hey, wanna start a church on Thursday?” and believes God could be in it?

Former add-ministers trying to unpackage ministry, I guess. I really don’t know how else to explain it. All I can say is that Lisa and I feel like it’s time. Time to try again. Time to start living out some of the ideas we’ve been talking about for years. Time to move away from the institutional church and toward a new kind of kingdom community—one where the voice of a homeless man is just as valid as the guy with the seminary degree.

As always from Spencer- great stuff that makes your head wrap around some really interesting thoughts.

At The Living Room
Darren Rowse has posted a response to critiques of the emerging church. There are some really insightful comments with it as well. One of them was that in "relating to the "mainline" churches, the EC would be better off to go after the one sheep that falls through the cracks then to try to convert others to a new way of thinking or doing things."
As I continue in the "mainline" church, having an emerging church personal approach, it is difficult! Is there a way that those of us still in the mainlines/traditionals to go after the sheep that have fallen and begin to bring the church alive? I have no answers, just frustrations most of the time.

At Radical Congruency
Justin has posted the following as characteristics of the emerging churches:

So here's the question: What are the universal characteristics of emerging churches?
Possibilities:
-Redemptive view of art & culture
-More organic than institutional (or more liquid than solid)
-Missional rather than products-and-services-oriented
-More postmodern than modern
-More holistic than cognitive (e.g. mainline)
-More cognitive than emotional (e.g. charismatic)
-More historical and traditional than ahistoric and antitraditional
-More symbolic and elliptical than propositional and direct

At Country Keepers and Reverand Mike
Gary at Country Keepers posted the following from Reverand Mike. It is a list of characteristics about our nation and people in 1903:

* Only 14 percent of the homes in the United States had a bathtub.
* Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
* There were only 8,000 cars in the United States and only 144 miles of paved roads.
* The average wage in the united States was 22 cents an hour.
* The average United States worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
* One in ten United States adults could not read or write. Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from High School.

The list is longer and quite interesting.

At The Internet Monk
Found a truly interesting article at The Internet Monk on Mission Trips. Here are two paragraphs:

As a constructive suggestion, I hope churches and youth groups will look for work that CANNOT be done without an outside group coming in. For example, my church is very small, and a group coming in to do a week of outreaches and ministries in the community and repair to our facility would be a legitimate help because much of this ministry is impossible for us to do ourselves. There is a great deal of practical ministry that isn't "missions" per se, but is simply serving the Lord by helping the weaker brother. These sorts of experiences have real value, even though they are more "service" than "missions."

I believe missions is a key part of a Christian's discipleship in this world, especially for American Christians living in such a blessed land and time. Short term trips can be part of that discipleship, but perhaps there are many ways to follow Christ around the world without taking money that could build churches and support local pastors and sending it to the airlines.

As one who has been heavily supportive of and involved in such trips, I also agree with the words of caution that Michael raises. If nothing else, he has some very good, thought-provoking questions that any groups should ask before going on a short-term misson trip. I will be giving this one some serious thought as I begin to look ahead to potential mission trips next summer.

...And to end on a unique note...
At Joshua Claybourn
As Josh says "Yikes....Have you ever noticed the similarities between Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and the evil Saruman?"
Go there to see the pictures.

Heroes
-and The Rest of Us

Have had an interesting juxtaposition of books on my reading list. First I finished the novel, The Cuban Prospect by Brian Shawver. It is the story of a second-rate baseball scout and former minor league catcher named Dennis Birch who is sent by The Organization to help the great pitching phenom Ramon Diego Sagasta escape from Cuba.

In essence the book and its incidents are a long meditation on greatness and superstardom. Throughout the book Dennis sees himself as "groundless" and is always looking for ways that when Ramon is in the Hall of Fame, some small part of Dennis will be there with him. At the same time, Ramon is clueless about anyone but himself. Dennis reflects that such is the stuff of the superstar- the world revolves around them and then can't understand how it wouldn't. That is the order of things.

I then began reading the truly awesome biography, Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy by Jane Leavy. Koufax was one of my heroes in the Sixties and is arguably the greatest pitcher in the history of the game. In a few years, few by any major league standard, he was almost unstoppable. Then, at the height of his career, he called it quits. He could go no further, remaining on the Olympus of baseball.

What is interesting is how Leavy uses people who knew and know Koufax as the center of her book. Of course you always do that with biographies, but Leavy uses the style to great impact. Tying the book together is the perfect game he pitched against the Chicago Cubs in September, 1965. In the pre-game chapter she just talks about where all the people were and why they came to the game or listened or whatever.

In a sense it is a real-life example of what Shawver talked about in his novel. Not that Koufax was self-absorbed or clueless like Ramon Diego Sagasta, but it is clear throughout the story that he was the center of the baseball world. It was almost destined. He didn't use and abuse people or take advantage of their friendship for his own personal gain. In fact, he was almost just the opposite. A caring, dedicated friend! But the way people around a superstar hero are forever changed by their relationship is real. Even just being in the ball park on that perfect night in 1965 changed people. It was proximity. For some it made a huge difference.

It caused me to stop and reflect on how any of us can be affected by those around us. It is no secret that many "good people" who have started hanging around the "wrong crowd" end up going the "wrong way." It seems to happen more than we care to admit.

Both books, in their own ways, raise that issue. Who we hang around may say a lot more about us than it does about them. Or perhaps, more to the point, the "heroes and superstars" we elevate to that status say more about us than it does about them. There are superstars who do seem destined to be great. People hang around them, seek to touch them, gain some of their aura and uniqueness, if only on an autographed scorecard or in a personally understood sacrifice for the other's greatness.

So who do I hang around? Who do I make my heroes and what does that say about me? Whose greatness and unique giftedness do I want to have rub off on me?

Isn't that what we talk about when we say we can have a relationship- a deep, personal relationship- with the God of creation through His son Jesus. Isn't that what being a follower of The Way is all about.

No, I don't think I am stretching the point too far. I think when we overlook this important aspect of our human personality and think we can't have that kind of relationship with God that we miss out and are underestimating the point.

Our proclamation is that we can have that kind of interaction with God. Why go following after the "heroes?"

Which, for me, was one of the lessons that Sandy Koufax taught me. The first game of the World Series in 1965- not long after his perfect game against the Cubs- was on Yom Kippur, the highest of the High Holy Days. He was not a particularly "observant" Jew. But this was what being a Jew mean- he would not pitch that day. He did not pitch that day. Whether he would put it in those words or not, he knew the path he needed to follow.

A year later he retired. Quite a man!

:: 5 :: 4 :: 3 :: 2 :: 1 ::
:: 2003 Division Champs! ::

Is Worship What We Are About?

Back in July I posted an outline from Justin Baeder of Radical Congruency. He had posted a wonderful summary of moving beyond worship. Here is his outline:

-Almost all churches, traditional, seeker, and postmodern, focus heavily on the worship service
-When we focus exclusively on the worship service, we ignore many other possibilities for our time together, from ancient spiritual practices to modern educational methods
-The worship service only allows a few people to exercise their spiritual gifts
-The worship service is not biblical, either in example or instruction.
-The worship service is expensive and time-consuming to produce.
-The sermon, the didactic portion of a worship service, is a terrible way to teach
-Worship services are mostly about music, which tends to divide people along the lines of their musical preferences rather than unite them in Christ.

Recently I was in a conversation with a church planter and we turned to the same discussions. To center on worship as THE place where the church is, cannot be justified from Scripture.

So why then do we do it?

Why then do we spend so much of our time and energy planning, developing, carrying out, and critiquing (and criticizing) worship?

Why does so much money go toward the maintenance and development of worship in either building space or salaries?

Some thoughts, but only in outline, since that is what I am presently thinking in….
1) Worship is meant to make us feel connected with the creator of the universe, to give us meaning and hope. We want (and need) that so deeply we expend incredible amounts of energy to get it.

2) Worship as we know it is easy- for the participants in the pew. It requires little commitment and response if you don't want to.

3) Worship services are an easy way to have a central location to be able to see who is in and who isn't.

4) For most people theology is a difficult and non-existent thing. Worship is how many describe and live theology.

5) It helps us feel as if we might get to heaven.

6) It helps us define who "we" are.

Some of these can be considered "good" and some "not so good" or even "bad." I think the issue is more of what we define as worship and not the fact that it is central to the life of the church. The problem becomes when a set worship time (or even times) are defined as THE life of the church. Everything else is at best secondary. A worship service becomes the whole reason for existence of the church.

So what are we to do? How do we make the shift that places worship in its high and still proper place?

First we have to know what THE purpose of the church truly is…

AND THEN put worship into the picture.

There are all kinds of ways to describe it, of course. Let me try one….

The Church exists to be the outward and visible sign of the Body of Christ in the world.    ::. That means that our purpose is to be Jesus in the world…
   ::. That means that we are to be preaching the presence of the Kingdom of God in our midst…
   ::. That means that we are to proclaim release to the captives…
   ::. That means to open eyes that are blind…
   ::. That means we are to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness…
   ::. That means that we are to sacrificial servants…
   ::. That means, in short, we are to be the place where salvation begins in people's lives.

Worship is what we do to keep us connected to God, our roots, and each other.
Worship is what we do as a result of seeing the power of God at work in and around us.
Worship is a reminder that it is not about us.

Many churches, small groups, house churches, missionary cells are doing just that. I don't know if we can turn our building-centered churches toward that too easily. But with Jesus-focused, outward-looking worship that consistently proclaims the Gospel, we may be able to do that. At the very least, we could begin to also introduce worship to other aspects of the life of the church. If it is so central, then it should happen ever time we get together. And I don't mean just to say a perfunctory prayer.

May we all continue to work toward this ideal where making disciples who help the church embody the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is at our heart and the heart of our worship.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name
Le Prete Noir has posted the first chapter of his doctoral thesis. It's about "Changing Times-Timing Change - The Rural and Small Town Church: Family Chaplaincy or Mission to the World? Dealing with the Inhibitors to Developing a Missional Church in a Family Church Ethos." As we move into the postModern world, there are real and profound questions that need to be explored and answered.

Real Live Preacher
Real Live Preacher has come back from a brief time of reflection on blogging. He has decided to stick with it...

So I’m back and ready to get into the blog schedule again. Write your guts out, take a breath, and write your guts out again. I love it.

...and I for one am looking forward to it.

And Speaking of Back to Blogging
I have gotten back my discipline for the postModern Journal. I will finish up the Book of Acts next week and then move to the Gospel of Luke on October 6, posting Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I missed the discipline, but then, I have never had much discipline on some things.

No, I Haven't Forgotten
The Twins had the night off.

The Royals beat Detroit 12-6 while the White Sox beat the Yankees 6-3 in 10.
The Sox and the Royals are still tied in second...

... and the magic number remains at 2. It could happen tomorrow.

I Think I'll Stick With Baseball for A While


Green Bay 13
Arizona 20 (Arizona???)

A Brief Rant
    Okay. I know I live in Minnesota, but I have been a Packer Fan since I lived in Pennsylvania (someone named Lombardi was the coach, then.) I bleed Green and Gold after 15 years in Wisconsin where the Packer's aren't life- they're more important than that.

I aso understand the need for local coverage of local teams (read Vikings). But when they don't carry the second game of the day when I want to watch the Packers, that just isn't fair. (After all, it IS all about ME.)

I also have digital cable where I can buy- pay/per/view NBA and NHL in season. But it would appear that the NFL has an exclusive agreement with DirectTV so I can't even buy a pay/per/view.

Bummer.

Sports Trumps Blogging-
Along with Friends
    This has looked as much like a sports blog in the past week as anything. There is something exciting about Pennant Fever as the NFL is starting, too. Especially when this is now the second season in a row that the team formerly known as The Twinkies are about to be Central Division Champs.

Along with that we had the son of my best friend visit this weekend. Of course, I took him to the Twins game! It's always neat to have visitors who are fun to share life with.

I am also reading the second book in a row about baseball- the biography of Sandy Koufax. I will be blogging about both baseball and the books I've been reading.

A Self-Aimed Quote

"The human heart is an idol factory." - John Calvin
found from Ian at Daily Random

Another Good Quote
Fred Peatross at Future Margins had this to say in a post last week:

Most of what I see in churches today has no fire. The satisfied, established churches, hopelessly divided, endlessly competitive, have been ensnared in a kind of institutionalism that wilts in its rituals and ceremonies, writhes in the labyrinth of its organizational structure and committees, stagnates under the spiritless homilies and meaningless exercises in religious terminology—defensive, fearful, threatened, intimidated, yet desperately hanging on to the appearance of life.

The End is Near!


   Detroit 4
   Twins 6 (Ninth win in a row!)


KC takes another from the White Sox

Magic Number is now 2

What a week. A week ago the magic number was 14.

It's Down to 4

Detroit 3
Twins 7

Royals beat the White Sox......So it's now...

4 1/2 games ahead and
4 is the Magic Number.

(I went to the game this morning. It started at 11:05 so the field could be turned around for the Gophers' game tonight. What a joy to be there for a pennant run!) They could clinch at home on Tuesday or Wednesday!

One Day Closer


Detroit 2
Twins 6

White Sox beat Kansas City

Games Ahead = 3 1/2
Magic Number = 6

A Reflection

Was asked after church one day about the choir wearing robes. "Doesn't that make it look more holy?" was the question. My answer was some typical pastoral comment. But later- it's always later, isn't it?- I realized the answer is – we are not supposed to look holy. We are supposed to be holy.

Who Gets the Credit?

Over at dtour.com, was this wonderful quote found on the wall in the home of Nelson Mandela.

There is nothing that a man cannot do...... if he is willing to let others take the credit.

Rules For Politically Active Christians

Thanks to Joshua Claybourn for the following. It's great!

1. God does not belong to your party: No country, no political party, no political ideology can own Him. He's the boss.

2. The ends do not justify the means: Stuffing ballot boxes, shredding public documents, etc. are wrong, and most people would agree to that. Sometimes, though, politically active folks seem to think it's okay if it's for a greater good. Not quite.

3. Faith does not lie in support: Too many Christians are turned off by liberalism and prone to conservatism simply because conservatives say nicer things about Christianity. While this phenomenon is generally true, be careful about the dangerous road it could lead you down.

4. Generosity does not mean compassion: Christianity teaches compassion. But cheap generosity, when it's at someone else's expense, isn't compassion. (You know what I mean.) Doing what makes us feel good is sometimes different from what really helps.

Some Ten Commandments Thoughts

I seem to remember hearing a CD of a conference where the speaker pointed out that the Ten Commandments are not the great high moral law that we should strive to achieve. Since they come at the beginning of the Law-giving, they are, in reality the baseline. They are the minimum standard for the life our Creator wants us to live.

They Roll On!!

   White Sox 3
   Twins 5


Games Ahead 3 1/2
Magic Number 7

All We Have is Our Witness-
Make of It What You Will

One more post on Leif Enger's Peace Like a River. Not about the content since to say more would give away some plot elements that are too special to reveal. In an American version of magical realism located in highly stoic and non-mystical Minnesota, Enger makes it possible to believe that there are people who can witness true miracles.

It is the idea of being a witness that makes the book ultimately so powerful. I found myself thinking a number of times: "Gee, what will these people think when they read about themselves like this?" only to catch myself short and remind myself that this is a work of fiction. So real was the witness element that I knew I was reading something true. Reuben Land, the narrator (and Leif Enger, of course) become spokespersons for things beyond explanation, beyond words. Reuben, over and over, dismisses his own power of storytelling. His sister, Swede, is the writer. But Swede writes poetry and westerns a-la Zane Grey and Robert W. Service. She is not the witness. Reuben is. So he must be the one who tells the truth of life as he has experienced it. It doesn’t matter whether you are the skilled writer when it comes to witnessing. It matters what you have seen.

So often in church, especially the modern-era church, we have valued the explanation, the exposition, the finely-tuned and –turned phrase. (Like that one?) We become so enraptured by education and erudition and exegesis that we miss the humanity and the divinity mixing right before our eyes in our own stories and The Story of God at work with humanity in Jesus. So we seek to place information into people's heads and end up with the potential for atheists or agnostics who know the Bible.

Instead let's introduce them to what we have seen and heard and experienced and learned from that Bible through Jesus Christ. Let us not be afraid to speak our witness to the one who has saved us. No, not with fine preaching and a list of memory verses. But with the simple trust that God has worked in my life and here's how I have seen it. We are not in a debate and a persuasion contest. We are in something deeper and more profound than that. We are in the story of life.

In the closing of the book (and I will be careful not to give anything away), Reuben is asked if he ever doubts. He is honest with us that he has had them. But then he looks around and remembers what he has been a witness to and "certainty enters…"

     Is there a single person on whom I can press belief?
     No Sir.
     All I can do is say, Here's how it went. Here's what I saw.
     Make of it what you will.
from Peace Like a River by Leif Enger, 2001, Atlantic Monthly Press

Which, in reality is all that any of us can say with any certainty. The rest is faith.

WhooHoo


   White Sox 2
   Twins 4


2 1/2 games in first

Magic number = 9

Jesus as Chief Elder

In September, 1741, the Moravian Synod gathered in London was having difficulty finding someone to be the leader (Chief Elder) of the world-wide Moravian Unity. It was only 14 years after the Pentecost-like experience of August 13, 1727. In the years since then the Moravian Church had sent out the first Protestant missionaries and were sending people to the ends of the world as they knew it. They had already had a significant impact on the Wesley brothers, although their fellowship had not remained.

So they suggested names and got nowhere. Using The Lot as the means of election, it kept coming back "No."

Finally it was suggested that maybe the Savior should become the Chief Elder. They put it to the Lot and the answer was "Yes."

That was September 16.

Due to the widespread nature of the church they decided that the announcement would not be made until November 13. Since then, however, Moravian pastors around the world gather around September 16 as a Day of Covenanting. We celebrate the Chief Eldership of Jesus on November 13 (and I will blog more about it then.)

But for today we covenant as clergy to remain true to our Lord and the ministry we have been called to. We are reminded that we serve under him. He is our Chief Elder, the Head of our church and our ministry. Our group here met on Sunday evening and shared in a Cup of Covenanting. This is different from communion. The Cup of Covenanting is just what it says, a covenanting time with a specific purpose. With my own ordination anniversary being September 15, it has always been a special time for me.

May God continue to guide us in our ministries and our churches work of living and spreading the Gospel.

Another Good Night at the Dome

First Place...
By a game and a half.

Yes!

What is sin?

Gary over at Country Keepers started an interesting thread last week. He is wondering in essence how The Law impacts Christians and how do we define what is sin and what isn't.

I personally see it as the 2000 year old struggle about the relationship between The Law and Grace in Jesus Christ. Paul struggled with it in a number of places and even compromised on the issue in how it is different for Gentile and Jewish Christians.

Gary listed these as his standards of discussion:

   1. Old Testament Law (or Levitical Law or Mosaic Law if you prefer) was a lengthy list of commands given by God to the people of Israel as instruction on how they should live lives that God would consider righteous.
   2. Old Testament Law does not have the same meaning to Christians today, in that Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law on our behalf. We are saved by grace, and only by grace. We cannot be saved by fulfilling the Law, because we are incapable of perfectly fulfilling the Law.
   3. Upon being saved, our lives are to be changed so that we desire the things of God and resist the temptation of the body and of the world. We are called to strive to sin no more.
   4. The Law defines that which is sinful.
   In short, we are not beholden to the Law, but by being beholden to Jesus Christ, we are called to not sin and the Law defines sin.

A good starting point. My biggest disagreement is in the # 4.

Paul says that without sin he (we) wouldn't know sin. The sin isn't breaking the "laws" but rather the simple fact that we can't stay "lawful". Jesus picked up on the same when he broadened the definition of the "sins" in The Law to the spirit of The Law. Just because you haven't killed anyone, you have still broken that law because you have hated your brother. Just because you have kept yourself sexually pure, you have still broken that law because you have known lust in your heart.

You see there are 613 commandments in the Torah (the word for what we translate as Law in Paul's letters.) If these are all the sins defined by God, then we really need to do some time on our knees for lots of things we don't even know we are doing. As far as the Torah is concerned, all 613 commands are equally important. The "Holiness" laws of Leviticus are because the Lord our God is holy. The only ones that seem to have been specifically overturned in the New Testament (and the actions of Jesus) are probably the sacrificial-based laws and the "kosher" laws.

So what then are we to do about the laws of The Law that have not been overturned? Do they all fall under the grace of God in Jesus' fulfillment of them? Of course. But what does that mean? Does that mean that we can ignore them? If not, why do we pick and choose which ones we observe and place higher than others.

For example, there are the first 10, so to speak. Nowhere that I know of, though, was there a breakdown of the Top Ten and The Rest.

Not that these 10 aren't important. But they are not different from the rest.

Or are they? And how do we know the difference?

As I remember my Biblical studies, Jesus did talk about there being two commandments on which depend all the Law and the Prophets (the Bible of his day.)
   :.: Love the Lord your God with all that you have and are
   :.: Love your neighbor as yourself.

That would be a starting point, I would think.

And the Laws would be a guideline, but as Paul would tell us, some of these are cultural. Remember that he agreed that the Jewish Christians should follow laws that the Gentiles didn't such as circumcision.

No. The Law is not abolished, something to be ignored. But it has been fulfilled in Jesus. It has been challenged by Jesus to no longer be seen as a set of legal items, but instead a way of life that centers on God and our neighbors.

Thanks, Gary, for setting this discussion going.

[Now, a disclaimer: Gary started this with a comment about tatoos being a sin, based on the Levitical code that such are against the law. I have a couple of relatively small tatoos. Now, I only got them after I turned 50, and struggled with the issue that Gary raises. The personal guideline I used, based on the Law, was that any tatoo I got would not be anything but Christian. Spirit but not letter, I hope.]

It's Also Good in Minnesota

All alone...
First Place.

29 Years

It was Sunday, September 15, 1974. I had been serving for a year as a student pastor at the small church outside Bethlehem, PA. It was now time to enter the "official" side of ministry. Ordination. The Bishop would give a charge, place his hands on my head and pronounce me a "deacon," the first order of the Moravian ministry.

The scripture charge that he chose was from Ephesians 4 - to build up the Body.

I have sought in many ways to do that over these past 29 years. I have had a pilgrimage through the late 20th Century and across half the country. My wife entered the ministry and we have been in team ministry for 15 years. I got sober and found life awesome and amazing.

Now I am in the midst of learning what the emerging church and the 21st Century have to do with each other. I am a "church planter"-type out of an existing small church. I am not sure of the place of ordination in this new world. I agree with Darrell Guder in The Missional Church when he says that baptism is our ordination to ministry. I am uncertain what to call the "ordained ministry" today. Apostolic calling? Some new, hopefully Biblically-based and Biblically-honest description?

Above all I am continuing to seek to be faithful in my calling. I know still that I am called. Where and what that will lead? Only God knows. I just seek to follow.

Thirty years ago, the mentor who died a couple weeks ago said that most of the time we know God's will only by looking back and realizing that we were led to where we are. Someone also has told me that at times it is only when doors open. Still another description is to do the next right thing.

All of these keep me going. I look back and see where God has undoubtedly been at work leading and guiding.

I look around and look for doors to open, knowing that closed doors are as much a sign of God's will as open doors.

I move thorough my days and life seeking to do the next right thing.

Finally, I remember, again and again that it is not about me. That is what ordination was all about. It was a witness to me- and from me- that it is not about me. It is about Jesus.

For that and 29 years of doing God's will to the best of my ability and his strength, today I give thanks.

Now That's More Like It







Detroit 6
Green Bay 31

This American Life

In line with the link to Connexions yesterday, I was surfing the web site of one of the HIGH quality public radio shows, This American Life. I checked out their archives of some of their favorite shows and was intrigued by program 77 from September 26,1997 titled, Pray. The description was even more intriguing:

Alix Spiegel tells the story of travelling to Colorado Springs, where Christians are coming together to form a "prayer shield" over their city. During her days there doing her reporting, they try to convert her into a believer. Alix finds she can't sleep at night until finally one of her interviewees admits that he's been praying that she won't be able to sleep, so she'll be more open to their attempts to make her a Christian.

It is a remarkable production by a non-Christian as she explores a spiritual world and understanding she never knew existed. She realizes that she is in a land where they speak a completely different language.

The first part of the show is about a husband and wife- one of whom is a Christian, the other is not.
The second part is the long section with Alix Spiegel.
The third is by a worker in Salt Lake City who finds himself in the middle of some strong, apocalyptic Christians.

The whole 59 minute, three-part show is worth listening to. (It's in RealAudio.) Check it out for a deeper insight into the different worlds we live in.

So That's Where the Money Goes

Pen at the Gutless Pacifist posted today in response to a fund raising effort of the Christian Coalition. He then talked about where we Americans spend our billions:

In 1996, this is how we spent money in American (in billions of dollars):
2.5 world missions
25 gardening
2.5 chewing gum
31 tobacco products
8 movies
34 state lotteries
14 cosmetics
49 soft drinks
21 pet food
58 Alcoholic beverages
22 hunting
24 eating out ($842 per person in the US)
From Ronsvalle and Ronsvalle, Behind the Stained Glass Window

And our schools are laying off teachers and social service agencies can't keep up with the case-load.

The Hard Truth

This one's from The .Plan. It is from an anonymous letter written by a Chinese house church leader, in response to a September 18, 2000 Time magazine article. In this article, "When the Smugglers are Working for Jesus", the writer profiles the actions of a group of American Bible smugglers whose tactic is to saturate a locality with the Christian Scriptures as a means of direct evangelism.

First, Jesus is not a book. In the article, the smugglers 'bomb' a town in China during the night with Scriptures, stuffing tracts into bicycle baskets and mail boxes so that, in the words of the smuggler, 'When the people woke up the next morning, there was Jesus everywhere'. Jesus was not everywhere, because Jesus is not a book. Jesus did not spread his own gospel by asking his many disciples to write scrolls and deposit them all over Galilee or 'bomb' the temple in Jerusalem with papyri.
...
There is something deeply wrong in assuming that because you have anonymously dumped a tract on someone's windowsill, you have given him or her Jesus. If you really want to spread Jesus, then come and spread the gospel his way -- live here, learn Chinese, love the people, incarnate yourself into the culture as Christ incarnated himself into humanity.
...
My challenge to American Bible smugglers is this: Why are they not satisfied at the amazing rate of growth in China? The church is growing here far more than their own. And this growth is not their doing. It's ours. The article seems to assume that the growth of Christianity in China is somehow the result of all the actions of foreigners. No. This growth is indigenous.
--Anonymous. Mission Improbable: A Chinese house church leader responds to American Bible smugglers. Brandywine Review of Faith and International Affairs, Spring 2003.

A Revelation

Over at Connexions, Richard posted his reaction to a radio interview:

I had a revelation the other night. No, really. I'm being serious.

Driving to a meeting on Wednesday I was listening to Radio 4 according to my usual custom. (I like to listen to The Archers when I get the chance -- Don't mock! We all have our weaknesses!) Anyway, on Front Row there was a piece about Dizzee Rascal, winner of the 2003 Mercury Music Prize. An interviewee was asked to explain the significance of Mr Rascal's music and give some insight into the UK Garage scene. I listened to what was said. I could understand all the individual words. It's just that, somehow, I couldn't make any sense at all of what he was talking about. He might as well have been speaking in Farsi.

That's when I had my little revelation. It struck me -- that's how it must be for non-Church folk listening to most of what we have to say about Jesus.

That's a scary thought.

It sure is. We wonder why people don't respond to Jesus when what we are offering them is words, words, and more words that make no sense. We need to turn to our modern prophets and poets to learn something.....

So we will then have...
Words to Ponder
Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

Man in Black by Johnny Cash
Thanks to Andrew Careaga for the links.

Johnny Cash
R. I. P.

The Second Anniversary Comes to An End

No, we cannot- and should not forget. It will always be a reminder- a Pearl Harbor for our era. It will always be a reminder- the world is never 100% safe. It will always be a reminder- fanaticism is always dangerous.

I cannot look at a picture of the New York skyline, or older pictures of the Trade Center, without that moment of sadness filling me again.

Yet, on the average, for me and for most of us the world hasn't changed much. We still get up in the morning and go to work or school or wherever. We still watch our TV shows and laugh at David Letterman when he makes fun of Osama bin-Laden. We still eat and sleep and go through life.

Yet, I am more convinced than ever that we human beings are able to turn anything into something good or something bad. The people of NYC made us all proud to be part of their country. The FDNY and NYPD were stupendous.

Yet, we will never wipe out terrorism without resorting to the same tactics as the terrorists. We can be safer and more secure, but we can never be completely safe. Not without losing our soul- and at that point we will have lost it all

I know that the trade-off between safety and civil liberties is a tough one. No president, politician or preacher in his/her right mind would ever say that we have to risk loss of life of innocent people to protect our freedom which would be lost if we gave up our liberties to protect them. Does that make sense? It is not that far a jump in thinking from "destroying a village to save it" and giving up our freedoms to protect our freedom.

I am more aware that America (the USA) is just as vulnerable as any other nation to terrorism. Remember that before Sept 11, the greatest terrorist attack was in Oklahoma City and was done by our fellow Americans.

That means that we need to concentrate on building as free and caring and compassionate country as possible. We need to build, rebuild, and then renew and rebuild over and over the community that can be the United States of America. Jealous people will still come after us. Religious zealots will still seek to impose their narrow values on all of us. But if we are a strong and caring community we will not fall.

If we can do that, the loss of life on September 11 will never be in vain for it will guide us into a greatness of life that will be a witness to the world.

For that I also turn to....

Father Mychal Judge
Number 00001

For me the witness of September 11 is Father Mychal Judge.


Father Mychal's death certificate listed him as victim No. 00001--
the first official fatality of the World Trade Center attack.

He was a compassionate AIDS activist. He had been an unofficial chaplain to the families of Pan Am Flight 800. He was many things to many people. At one of the websites in his honor, St Mychal,, are a series of articles and stories about him. One particular quote:

[A] pillar of Father Mychal Judge's spiritual philosophy was Alcoholics Anonymous.

Once, at the White House, he told Bill Clinton that he believed the founders of AA had done more for humanity than Mother Teresa.

"He was a great comfort to those with troubles with the drink," says author and raconteur Malachy McCourt, who usually saw "Mychal J" twice a month at AA. "He'd always say, 'You're not a bad person -- you have a disease that makes you think you're a bad person, and it's going to f--- you up.' "

McCourt pauses a moment. "He had no compunction about language. Not with me, anyway."

September 15, 2001, the day he was buried, would have been the twenty-third anniversary of Father Mychal Judge's sobriety.

Father Mychal was a remarkable servant. Some may not be willing to accept him, but I have a hunch that wouldn't matter to him. He seemed to have one thing in mind- following the Lord wherever he may lead.

This was Father Mychal's prayer....

Lord, take me where you want me to go
Let me meet who you want me to meet
Tell me what you want me to say
And keep me out of your way.

.
In memory of 9/11, no matter our politics or theology, may it be ours as well

Go read Lilek's Bleat for today.

And Glenn Reynolds.

And to Jeff Jarvis blogging from New York.

In Preparation for Tomorrow



Christopher Hitchens should be read today and re-read September 11.

Jeff Jarvis was not happy with the PBS program earlier in the week.

The Lemon has ceased humor in honor of 9/11- and a good article covers it well.

Tomorrow I will simply remember and continue to pray for a way of making sense of the new world that 9/11 brought to us as Americans and how my responses and reactions must in some way or another fit the Jesus Way I claim to be a disciple of.

How Rich Am I?

Whoa! Go to Global Rich List to see where you rank in comparison to the whole world. I am humbled that a basically middle class American like me can be in the top 1% of all people in the world. So are you if you earn more than US$33,700. Link thanks to Martens and Jordon Cooper.