Christmas, Christmas, Time is Here

Okay, okay, you're right for berating me for not blogging more often. My deepest apologies. I hope that the wait has not been too trying for you all. Anyway, I just finished up the semester and it was a killer. One of my classes, Issues in Hermeneutics, was pretty tough. I did not understand 3 of the books we read, but I managed to get 91.4% in the class. Here's the kicker, 92 is an "A". Don't let anyone tell you that Christian professors understand grace. I'm .1% from an "A". Are you kidding me? But, as my mother taught me, "this too shall pass."

Anyway, Rochelle, Malia and I are gearing up for a fantastic Christmas. I love Christmas--which is weird because just a few years ago I hated it. I have an old colleague, Rob McRay, to thank for my growing love of Christmas. During this time of year, I always miss Rob. He revealed to me the great spiritual emphasis and meaning that Christmas could have. I loved the way he focused our church's attention on Christ at Christmas. He always made a big deal about Christmas and I learned that there was a lot for me to gain from Christmas even when what I wanted wasn't under the tree on Christmas morning. He also introduced me to one of my favorite local preachers, David McKechnie, the now retired pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church here in Houston. Listening to Dave on Christmas Eve has been a highlight of Christmas for my family for several years now. But, Dave won't be preaching this Saturday night. So, Rochelle and I are headed to here David Peterson at Memorial Drive Presbyterian. I have come to know Dave's preaching through Men's Life, a men's ministry Memorial Drive does at 6:15 am on Tuesday mornings. That gathering, though I never stay for the small groups, has become an important part of my spiritual formation.

I guess the thing I like most about Christmas is that people who are not normally paying attention to Jesus are. Plus, churches put time, money and energy into communicating the gospel in ways that are accessible to people. In a way, the very thing that happened that first Christmas happens every year at Christmas: the gospel comes to the world and people stop--if only for a moment--to pay attention.

And that's my prayer for all of us, that as we shop and buy and eat and share our lives with friends and family, we remember--if only for a moment--to pay attention.

God Bless.

Just To Keep Us Thinking

A few words from C.S. Lewis...

"If anyone thinks that Christians regard unchastity as the supreme vice, he is quite wrong. The sins of the flesh are bad, nut they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual: the pleasure of putting other people in the wrong, of bossing and patronizing and spoiling sport, and back-biting, the pleasures of power, of hatred. For there are two things inside me, competing with the human self which I must try to become. They are the Animal self, and the Diabolical self. The Diabolical self is the worse of the two. That is why a cold, self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be nearer to hell than a prostitute. But, of course, it is better to be neither."

--C.S. Lewis
(from Mere Christianity)

Quick Hitters

This week marks 6 years that my wife and I have been ministering at and been ministered to by the Bering Drive Church. We are glad to have made so many wonderful, thoughtful friends.
----------

Someone in our house has a birthday coming up. She keeps walking around saying, "Two".
---------

I've been too busy to blog frequently...Sorry!
_________

This article may be the most disturbing thing I've ever heard (or read):

A woman receiving treatment for diabetes at a state-run hospital in eastern India lost one of her eyes after ants nibbled away at it, officials said on Tuesday.

The patient recovering from a post-surgery infection shrieked for help as the ants attacked her on Sunday night, but nurses told her it was normal to feel pain from the infection.

On Monday, the patient's family saw a gaping hole with swarming ants in it when they lifted the bandage on her left eye.

Authorities of the Sambhunath Hospital in Kolkata said they were probing the incident.

"It's not uncommon for ants to attack diabetic patients. We have set up a committee to investigate the unfortunate incident," hospital superintendent A. Adhikary said.

Scampering rats and stray cats and dogs sharing bed space with patients are not uncommon sights at India's overcrowded state-run hospitals that are used by millions of poor and middle-class people.

Now, does state-run medicine should good to you? I thank God for insurance. The premiums are high, but I can demand service in a hospital because I'm paying for it. At the same time, this is a painful reminder of how the least of these are treated in our world and we ALL need the opportunity and availability to sue when mistreated.

Standing Up By Sitting Down

Like many of you, I have always been inspired by the life and story of Rosa Park. Ms. Parks passed away yesterday at the age of 92. Much has been written across the web about her life and importance. I will not add much to that discussion with a lengthy post here, but I will say that many more of us need her courage and uprightness in the face of the social ills that plague our world.

May God bless us with the strength to stand up!

Say It Ain't So, Joe

I think Albert Pujols' 9th-inning home run against the Astros last night is still traveling down Texas Ave--it might be in San Antonio by now. Have you ever seen a ball more perfectly and purely hit? By the way, Astros: WALK PUJOLS. He's the best hitter in baseball and if you hang a slider in the middle of the zone, he's gonna crush it!...But I guess we ALL know that now.

Brad Lidge said that you don't walk a guy and put the tying run on second base, even if it is Babe Ruth. Okay. Whatever! I wish it were Babe Ruth...he's dead! Don't you remember a few years ago when Bobby Valentine's Mets walked Barry Bonds when the bases were loaded? The Mets had a 3 run lead and figured a two run lead was better than letting Barry swing with three men on base. Smart thinking.

The series goes back to St. Louis and Busch Stadium. It's gonna be great. I predict the 'Stros will pull it out and be headed to their first World Series. After that all bets are off. The White Sox had a great season and may be a team of destiny. Remember: the White Sox have thrown a World Series more recently than they've won one. Fate may be on their side. Or, the Black Sox scandal may forever jinx them from winning the series. Either way, before the Series begins, go check out one of my all time favorite movies, Eight Men Out.

I Can't Lose!

Ahh! October. Some argue that October is the best month of the sports year. They have good case. Basketball is about to get started, college and professional football will are in full swing and the Major League Baseball playoffs have begun.

Last night, Rochelle was asking me to catch her up on the past 5 months of baseball. She doesn't really pay attention until the playoffs, but as the post-season goes deeper, she will stay up late into the night, living and dying with every pitch or hit of whichever team she choose to cheer for in the next few days.

Here is Houston, my hometown Astros and 1 game up on my former hometown Braves. I live in Houston and follow the team all year, but I've been a Braves fan from the crib--thanks to TBS, The Super-Station. People frequently ask me who I'm pulling for. My response: "I can't lose!" Though between the two of us, my heart is still in Atlanta.

Clean Hands Part II

I told you so, I told you so! There it was in the New York Times, which arrives with precision in my e-mail inbox every morning. The headline: Hand Washing Habits Not in Sync with Answers.

The article tells in statistics what I already knew in my heart: "Most people say they wash their hands after using the bathroom. But a study suggests they don't." A Harris Interactive poll asked 1,013 adults about hand-washing and then the researchers sent observers into public restrooms to see what actually happened. 91% of adults said they washed their hands after using a public restroom, but observers say only 82% actually did.

Women washed their hands to a tune of 90%, but only 75% of men washed. That means that the nest time you go to church or the office or a party 1 out of 4 men who shake your hand has not washed them after...well, you know. And I suspect, if you are like me you know EXACTLY who that fourth guy is!

But there I go again, focusing on the physical dirt of others rather than the spiritual dirt of my own. Do you ever do that?

Clean Hands

Does it bother anybody else that we live in a world where employees have to be told to wash their hands before returning to work? I mean, come on. If you go to the bathroom, wash your hands! Don't we all know that? As a matter of fact, I have noticed that some restaurants have taken the hand-washing instructions to a deeper level and have posted "how-to" instructions in the restroom.

How-To instructions!? Don't most of us wash our hands and don't most of us know how?

Probably not.

I say that because I frequently go to the restroom and see people walk out without washing their hands. You would think that even if folks didn't usually wash up after a trip to the toilet, they might succumb to peer pressure and strange looks in the men's room and wash...but they don't. Recently, I saw a man in the restroom at church. He did his business, straightend his pants around his waist, hitched-up his trousers, looked in the mirror and walked out. No wash!

You've guessed it: I haven't shaken his hand since!

But I suppose that I should slow down my criticism about non-hand-washers. I should be the last person to talk about being dirty and not knowing it. For the last few weeks I've been reading and re-reading the book of Isaiah. It's an amazing story--both in Isaiah's immediate context and the prophecies about the coming suffering-servant.

Isaiah chapter 6 has continued to leap of the page at me. It's where Isaiah receives his call and commission to serve God. Isaiah, like me and those guys who don't wash their hands after they go, is dirty and doesn't know it. Well, he discovers it when he is given a hems-glimpse of God and he is forever changed. The prophet exclaims, "Woe to me! I am lost, for I am a man of unlcean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of host."

Wow! When Isaiah sees God, he realizes that he has forgotten to wash up. He had been--like so many of us--going about his busy day, doing his thing, but then God steps in, calls him out and says "go to work, but first, you gotta get clean." Next in the story, a seraph flies to the prophet touches his lip with a live coal and Isaiah's guilt departs and his sins are blotted out.

I suppose there is something of authenticity in Isaiah's call. Not the kind of authenticity that says, "I'll be different just to be different and call myself authentic," but rather an authenticity that realizes who we are and who God is. It's an authenticity that acknowledges that we are the desperate ones, we are the sinful ones, we are the ones with dirty hands--hands that had other people realized where they had been, no one would ever shake them--we are stained, we are tainted.

The restroom may be a strange place for theology, but now every time I see someone walk out without washing, I think to myself, "You know Sean, you're dirty too."

Uncommon Grounds

I'm blogging today from Uncommon Grounds, the lone coffee shop in Salado, TX. Believe it or not, Uncommon Grounds closes at 2:30pm everyday. Can you imagine a coffee house in a city staying in business long if they closed at 2:30. Not only that, but Grounds will be closed all next week because the owner/operators are headed out-of-town. Can you believe that? If you were to do that in Houston, you'd have no customers to come back to.

Small town life in interesting.

Salado is three hours from Houston-usually--and where Rochelle and Malia headed while Hurricane Rita was still a category 5 hurricane headed toward Houston. I was in Denton so I met them here Friday morning. Luckily, Rochelle and Malia got out early and only spent 5 hours in the car.

I suppose the traffic heading back into Houston will be much like it was leaving. I've got my laptop and a ton of books here with me, so my work hasn't suffered. In fact, I spent 5 hours last night and 2 hours already today working on an Isaiah study I will be doing for our church's women's Bible study.

It's a good thing to have a job that you enjoy. This week I've spent time at a planning retreat, met with a group of youth ministers in another city, read about early Christian hermeneutics, read and reread the book of Revelation, put together Keynote (that's Powerpoint for those of you who don't speak Apple) presentations, and worked on classes. I would have done all these things had I been in my office but I did them away from the office just because I like to do them.

I love to seek God, both experientially and academically. I'm blessed that the end of the weekend can bring the words, "Thank God it's Monday" to my lips. I hope you can too.
-----------------
Please continue to be in prayer for those who have lost loved ones and precious property in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Hurricane Rita is presently bearing down on my home. The family is on the road and pretty prepared for times like this. I times like these, when you have to look around your house and decide what to take and what to leave, that you have to face up to what it is that you believe is truly important. Some things that seem valuable lose their value when you start thinking about the necessities of life.

My wife and daughter got out and that's all that I care about. If they're safe then the world is right. Recently, the three of us were flying back to Houston from Philadelphia. The plane was flying high and faster than usual and we were experiencing a lot of turbulence and it felt like the plane might go down. Rochelle looked at me with a worried expression. I looked back at her and said, "Everything important to me is on this plane."

They are the most important people in the world to me and their safety is all that matters.

May God bless and protect us all as we endure this coming storm.

The Weight of Glory

Whenever I begin to feel a spiritual lull I know that I can always return to the thoughtful commentary of C.S. Lewis. This winter my wife, Rochelle, and I are teaching a class on the life and teachings of C.S. Lewis. I think we might call it "No 'Ordinary' Life" taken from Lewis' "Weight of Glory". Here's a thoughtful little quote from 'Glory' concerning God's expectations and sin.

"Our temptation is to look eagerly for the minimum that will be accepted. We are in fact very like honest but reluctant taxpayers. We approve of an income tax in principle. We make our returns truthfully. But we dread a rise in tax. We are very careful to pay no more than is necessary. And we hope--we very ardently hope--that after we have paid it there will still be enough to live on."

See Ya Soon

A Note: I'm going to be out of pocket for a few days so I will not likely be posting.

I'll leave you today with this quote from Thomas a Kempis:

"The devil sleepeth not, neither is the flesh as yet dead, therefore cease not to prepare thyself for the battle, for on thy right hand and on thy left are enemies who never rest."

The Blame Game

I posted this a few days ago on the Emergent Houston blog.


It's amazing what you don't care about when something as shocking and amazing as Hurricane Katrina happens. Just a few weeks ago, the news was filled to overflowing with Cindy Sheehan's campout/protest at Crawford, TX and her bus ride to Washington, D.C. You have to look hard to find any news about that right now. Katrina has stolen everyones headlines.

Every so often something happens--something out of the ordinary; something so magnificently terrible that the moment defies words. It's not that people don't try though. Just flipping on CNN, MSNBC, or FOX News will let you know that people can throw around words.

Interestingly, so many of those words have been about blame. "Where was the aid? What took FEMA so long? George Bush doesn't care about black people! The local mayor and Governor wasn't prepared" On and on it goes.

The real blame belongs to me--and people like me. People who are too busy with their own jobs, families, interests and pursuits to notice people in desperate physical need. As I watch TV and visit with evacuees here in Houston, I'm struck--not so much with the level of need they now have--with the level of need they had BEFORE Katrina. I'm embarrassed that it took Katrina before I went through my closet to see what I no longer wear, or look through my wallet to find what was excess. What went wrong in my own spiritual formation to be so busy with ministry that I have forgotten to help people?

My prayer is that through this horrific happening God will raise up in me and His church an awareness if the least of these. May God so invade our hearts that when we see people without the basic necessities of life that we would be so moved as to take the blame.

Reading the Text

Over the past year or so, I have been rethinking the way I read the Bible and how the Bible "should" be read. Like many of you, I suppose, I was raised to view the Biblical text as God's answer book or a book of laws. If there was a question about life--any question--there was some surefire proof-text to tell me what to do.

I can flip to "right" text concerning baptism, music in the church, polity, you name it. However, as my life, and the lives of the people around me started to become more complex and complicated, I began to realize that the Bible doesn't really unravel itself as a rulebook. I guess if you live long enough you will find that there are no easy answers on a checklist, but rather Scripture tells the story of God and his interactions with His people. It is through these interactions that we come to know God and understand what it is that he asks of us.

Tom Olbricht's book "Hearing God's Voice" put it better than I can. Olbricht writes, "I was brought up to view Scripture as God's handbook of rules and private channel of information...I came to believe that, in fact, the Old Testament as a whole did revolve about the mighty acts of God and their interpretation...the opening of the Red Sea did not disclose its own meaning. The raw event may have been a freak accident of nature; no more, no less. Only because of the interpretation of the event--also an act of God--do we confess that it was Yahweh, coming to the rescue of His people (Exodus 15.1-5), who parted the sea. The Scripture is a report on the mighty acts of God and what they mean. Scripture discloses and act-interpretation event. 'I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the Land of Egypt' (Deuteronomy 5.6). The law of God which follows is based on God which follows is based on God's prior love and its concrete form. The proper interpretation of Scripture, therefore, first identifies God's loving action for His people and his profession of why He acted. Only then does the focus shift to the manner in which God's action is to be translated into human action."

Family of Faith

In the midst of so much bad news and heroic stories surrounding Hurricane Katrina, I was blessed with some personal joy. This weekend my mother was able to score a fast, cheap plane ticket from Atlanta to Houston. She flew in at midnight Friday, but I was glad to pick her up. I suspect that my mom was motivated by a desire to see her granddaughter over and above seeing me or Rochelle.

It was a good weekend. It was fun to see my mom playing with blocks on the floor and repeatedly reading tales about Pooh and Christopher Robin. I have to admit that it was a kinda weird seeing the woman who gave me life holding my daughter.

As many of you know, when grandparents come to town gifts come with them. This weekend I ate a restaurant twice (which Ro and I never do anymore), and Malia made out with several of her most coveted items: shoes. About a month ago, Malia's other grandmother came to visit. She walked in overloaded with toys and dresses. But it's not the gifts that we like most about when grandmothers come to visit.

The best part is the reminder that Malia is part of a legacy of faith that reaches back generations. When our family comes to visit we sit at table with people who share and have helped shape our deepest devotions and convictions.

I love and am proud of my family; both sides of it. And I'm pleased that Malia will enjoy a life under the guidance of the faith of her family.

Help for the Helpless

Like most of you, I have been amazed by the tragedy and devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. I have been nearly equally amazed at the length of time it has taken for aid to reach those most affected. On the brighter side, I have been moved to tears by the outpouring of love and graciousness demonstrated by so many around the country and especially in my city, Houston.

Right now over 20,00 people are setting up temporary shelter at the Astrodome. Many more than that are being housed at churches and houses of worship and healing around the city. My only regret is that my congregation is home to a pre-school so we cannot house people ourselves.

This Sunday our faith community will be taking a special contribution. I know our people well enough to know that they will respond with overwhelming generosity. I was wanting to take some of our Jr. High and high school students to the Astrodome to help, but those in charge have alerted us that volunteers are overflowing and it's beginning to get hard to manage, so they're not asking for any more people. That's the kind of faith communities are here in Houston, they are trampling over each other to help. These are the times when Christians can reach beyond the rhetoric of politics and right and wrongness and be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Though we can't go to the Astrodome this weekend, there are ways to help if people have eyes to see them. My neighbor, Chandler, is housing about 5 cars worth of relatives. They will need food and clothing and all kinds of other things. Rochelle and I have agreed to help with whatever we can. I'm not sure how long they will be here, but I know it will be a long ride back to wholeness, for them and thousands of others.

The Church

I'm not anti-church, though some people think I am. I can see why, sometimes I say and write things that aren't very complimentary of the church. I saw an ad for a congregation that was looking for a preacher several years ago. One of the "qualifications" was "someone who is not critical of the church." Now those of us from a church of Christ heritage know exactly what this congregation meant by "THE CHURCH"--but I thought that was a funny qualification to have for a minister.

Something about that qualification suggests that there is nothing wrong with the church and the problem lies with those who criticize it. Believe me, I don't think criticism is an enviable trait. We shouldn't go out of our way to be critical, but there are times when someone, somewhere needs to hold up a mirror to the church and force it to see itself as it really is. My experience has been that churches become overwhelmed with being the institution of "the church" and dismiss being the body of Jesus to the world. When I am critical of the church, other Christians, and even myself, it is because I have been re-awakened to the vast difference in how people responded to Jesus and how people respond to church.

John Eldredge puts it this way: "Common folk tear roofs off houses to get to him (Jesus). They literally trample each other in an effort to get closer to this man. I've never seen anyone acting like this in order to get a chance to serve on some church committee or to hear a sermon on why dancing 'is the devil.'"

Instead of trying to recreate the 1st century or cut and paste the slivers of information we have about the Christian churches in the New Testament (most of which are pretty bad churches), perhaps our churches should re-commit themselves to simply living in the way of Jesus? Maybe then people might rush to us too.

Quick Hitters!

I'm back at my local Port City Java today. I'm supposed to be studying but my cell phone keeps ringing and the coffee is awful today. It's amazing how different the same cup of coffee can be depending on who makes it. Today I got the weekend people.
--------------------------------------

Anyway, I meant to be away at the New Wineskins Retreat this weekend hearing and talking about racial reconciliation. Alas, a busy schedule and gas prices have conspired against me. I trust that the good people presenting and attending the weekend's retreat are being blessed by their time there.
--------------------------------------

If you haven't yet checked out our emergentHouston blog, you should, A new friend of mine, Bart Robarts, is working diligently on the page, updating it constantly and making it look cooler than I ever could. We hope to have another local Houston gathering early next month. The Emergent conversation is no silver bullet for the church, but it is a conversation that religious and spiritual leaders should seriously look into.
--------------------------------------

I'm currently prepping for a study of the book of Revelation. It has so much to say about how we live as faithful people in the face of empire and humanity's natural tendency to side and worship government over God. Perhaps Pat Robertson should read it. It also speaks powerfully for those of us trying to sort of God in a life fillied with pain, persecution and heartache.

Jesus and The Twin Towers

Like I said a few days ago, my wife, Rochelle, and I spent two nights watching The National Geographic Channel's two-part mini-series, Inside 9/11. For four hours over two nights I wondered how a group of people can hate another group of people so much that they would kill them indiscriminately. But it's happened before, hasn't it? History itself is the story of one people conquering, killing, and controlling another people for some reason or another. But that history always shocks and amazes me.

I had lots of emotions while watching Inside 9/11; anger, rage, sadness, fear. At times I felt that there was no appropriate emotion when watching people jump to their death from the 90th floor of the World Trade Center. There were times during the special when I thought to myself that the U.S. and its allies should pull out all its personnel and troops and carpet-bomb anything that moves in the middle-east. Quickly though, I noted that the emotion I was feeling was the same kind of "kill 'em all" approach to life which caused 9/11 in the first place.

Oddly enough, that very same day, Pat Robertson--who represents NO Christian I know--spouted off about killing the President of Venezuela. As you know, the negative response was quick and wide-spread. In a way, I'm glad Pat said what he said. It was a reminder to me that I do not want to be that kind of Christian--the kind that thinks American interests and Christianity are the same thing.

I don't want to be that way, though I understand it. My problem is that for some reason Jesus keeps taking me back to The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5,6, and 7. I preached through the sermon two years ago and it still has a powerful effect on me. Had Jesus worked at the State Department and been writing U.S. Foreign Policy He might have said something different, but what he said was, "...if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also..." For a second I'm going to resist the Christians' temptation to mitigate what Jesus said back into what we are already doing and step out on a limb a interpret the message of our Master as one of peace.

Truthfully, I don't always know what that means. Should Christians never engage in war? Some say yes. Should we always allow others to beat us and kill us. Some say no. What I do know is that Jesus goes on to say, "You have heard it said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. (Matthew 5.43-45)."

Could there be a harder teaching to follow? From the co-worker or neighborhood menace you dislike to the international terrorist networks currently at work plotting the next 9/11, Jesus tells us to love our enemies. I find it amazing that Jesus' economy is completely about love. Think about it!

If someone cuts you off in traffic: Love them.
If a family member lies and steals from you: Love them.
If a co-worker mistreats you: Love them.
If a child is suffering from drug or alcohol dependence and have disappointed you a thousand times: Love them.
If someone is planning to kill you or those you love: Love them, too.

Believe me, I'm not saying that our government agencies and local law enforcement should take an extended vacation from protection, what I am saying is that apparently there is incredible power in the loving people. Perhaps we've only begun to scratch the surface of that power. Maybe the way we are used to loving is so shallow and self-serving that we have no idea what love could do if it were completely unleashed. Maybe love is so important to Jesus because it might take a thousand lifetimes to learn how to do it right.

I don't know about any of that, but I would sure love to find out what love could do. How about you?

Inside 9/11

Rochelle and I sat stunned last night as we watched The National Geographic Channels two-night mini-series Inside 9/11. I'm still processing much of what we saw and heard. I have thought of little else since seeing it. It was powerful and informative! If you're going to be home tonight, the second part will air at 9pm Eastern/ 8pm Central, it is appointment viewing. Later this week I will post some comments concerning a Christian response to acts of hatred and what we might do now as we find ourselves faced with situation in Iraq and continued terrorist tensions.

If you don't care about that, that's fine, but you need to see Inside 9/11 anyway.

Missional Christianity

I love these words about missional Christianity from Brian McLaren's book, A Generous Orthodoxy.

"Missional Christian faith asserts that Jesus did not come to make some people saved and other condemned. Jesus did not come to helps some people be right while leaving everyone else to be wrong. Jesus did not come to create another exclusive religion--Judaism having been exclusive based on genetics and Christianity being exclusive based on belief (which can be a tougher requirement than genetics!)

Missional faith asserts that Jesus cam to preach the good news of the kingdom of God to everyone, especially the poor. He came to seek and save the lost. He came on behalf of the sick. He came to save the world. His gospel, and therefore the Christian message, is Good News for the whole world." (A Generous Orthodoxy, pg. 109-110.)

Subversive Imagination

For a thoughtful, challenging approach to the way we read scripture I recommend Brian J. Walsh's and Sylvia Keesmaat's "Colossians Remixed". Not only do they handle the text well (though I don't agree with all their conclusions), they have a marvelous way of bringing ancient text into contemporary focus.

In their chapter dealing with Subversive Poetry and Contested Imagination, the couple makes a case that no one can be completely oppressed by an empire or oppressive regime as long as they continue to imagine. Here's how they put it:

"We have seen that empires maintain their sovereignty not only be establishing a monopoly of markets, political structures and military might but also by monopolizing the imaginations of their subjects. Indeed, vanquished peoples are not really subjects of the empire until their imagination has been taken captive. As long as they continue to have memories of life before exile, and al long as they harbor dreams of a social reality alternative to empire, they are a threat to the empire. Their liberated imagination keeps them free even in the face of violent military repression. And until that imagination is broken, domesticated and reshaped the image of the empire, the people are free."

I just thought this was a great thought; nothing to add.

In Search of a "Beloved Community"

Recently, there has been a big flap at my alma mater over the casting of a Caucasian student to play the lead role in the homecoming musical, Aida. Aida is the story of a Nubian princess, and some folks--both at the university and in the community--did not appreciate the casting. Also, some in the theatre department have been personally defamed by the over-zealous media over the casting decision. (For more information see The Abilene Reporter News) The registration is free.)

I love Abilene Christian University, I loved my experience there, I was nurtured deeply by my professors in the Bible Department, the Graduate School of Theology and my connection with the good people at the Highland Church of Christ, particularly the preaching of Mike Cope--where I attended while in college. Currently, I serve on ACU's Alumni Advisory Board and though there's not a lot of extra money around our house, we manage to make our annual donation to the school.

It is obvious to me, though I don't even live in Abilene, that some good people have been hurt in all this. At the same time, I must admit, that as an African-American, I have always felt a subtle sub-text of racism at ACU. Now, I don't for a minute think the current situation is racist. There are too many people whom I respect who speak well of the parties involved for me to believe the people involved are racist. At the same time, this casting decision has stirred deep passion and anxiety in me and I'm not sure why.

Is it because I felt racism while in school and feel it in our churches? Or is it because ACU was so slow to accept blacks as students? Is it because churches of Christ essentially have two fellowship (if not three); black and white and Hispanic? Could it be that as an African American who ministers in predominately white churches that during every interview I've ever had some church member has asked the church leadership if I would be able to "relate" and had questions about what kind of "people" I would attract to the church? Is it because as a college student I had impeccable references, grades, and experience but could not get internships? I even had churches give me back my resume at the end interviews--a phenomenon that NEVER happened to my white friends! Could it be that as a teenager people in my youth group consistently made fun of minorities and disrespected black culture?

I'm not sure where the stir of emotion has come from. I saw "Fiddler on the Roof" at ACU and I assume the cast wasn't all Jewish. I saw "Oliver" too, and Oliver was played by a girl. And truthfully, "Nubian"--which is the race of Aida--does not always, necessarily mean "Black".

For some reason, this feels different though. Maybe because the nail of racism against blacks is still being hammered in contemporary culture and the church. The great sin of America has been its institutional exclusion of blacks and when occasions like this arise it feels like more of the same.

And that's the point where me and so many of my white friends part. They always want to argue the facts--like those I mentioned about "Fiddler". Facts are great, but they don't always tell the whole story. Imagine "Fiddler" being staged in Germany shortly after WWII, while there were still some Nazi's around (by "Nazi's" I don't mean people at ACU, but rather some people in the culture who still hold certain views). How might they respond then about casting non Jews? I can't be certain, but they might be offended at being excluded from the telling of part of their story and culture.

Perhaps there is a difference in the way we should treat, and talk about, a wound that is still fresh (and in some places a wound that is being inflicted)? Or maybe I'm just over-sensitive? The truth is, we (churches, universities, and church leaders) need to talk about this a lot more and a lot more openly, a lot more honestly.

I wish I had an answer...

5 More, More, More Things I Think I Think

I return today with a new list of 5 Things I think I think:

1. The Baseball Hall of Fame should have a special wing for all power hitters starting in the late 80's up until now and call it "The Steroid Era Wing." This would allow all the power numbers of Jose Canseco, Jason Giambi, Barry Bonds, and Raphael Palmeiro to be included in the hall, yet acknowledge what we all know!

2. Mac is better than PC. I type this entry at me favorite new spot, Port City Java, on my favorite new thing, my 14-inch iBook G4. It was easy to set up, get started and I've already made a movie using iDVD. You gotta get one of these!

3. The Biggest Problem in the Church is Our Inability to Adapt and Reach Out. We are great at handling technical issues. We will deal with text issues all day and night while evangelism is non-existent and our numbers dwindle. Could we PLEASE spend some time on something that matters?! BTW, if it doesn't bring people to Jesus or make someone a better disciple it isn't something that matters (Just in case you were wondering).

4. My Daughter, While the Cutest 20-month Old in the World, Grows Cuter Everyday. I feel sorry for other parents whose kids aren't as cute as Malia. We will try to teach her to be humble about her brilliant smile and captivating personality--but some things you can't control. Then again, this may just be the opinion of one proud papa!

5. I Married a Fantastic Woman. Rochelle's birthday was yesterday. I love birthdays--as I've written before--because they allow me to celebrate another person--not for a role they play (mother, wife, father, etc..)--but for who they are. I couldn't not ask for a better wife. Ro, you don't look but a day over 30! :-)

Drivin' and Sleepin'

Guess what? I'm typing this from my new ibookG4. It's a fantastic machine; sleek, slim, fast. What I said before may be true, I might never go back to my PC. For some reason I can't get my e-mail to work yet, but either I will figure it out or go to the Genius Bar at my local Apple Store. My experience with Apple has been terrific so far. You should get one if you can.
------------------------------------------

Did you all hear the about the Macedonian man who left his wife at an Italian service station and only realized that he had driven off without her SIX HOURS later? The couple was traveling with their 4-year old daughter and had stopped for gas. After fueling the tank, the husband drove away, not noticing that his wife had got out of the car to go to the restroom.

The poor wife had no money and no documents. She contacted the police who eventually found her husband in Milan--210 miles north of where he had left her.

The husband said he hadn't missed his wife because she always sat in the back of the car with their daughter.

Now, most folks will think that this guy is crazy, abusive, unthoughtful, controlling--something, but I think it could be an honest mistake. If you had ever been on a road trip with my wife you would see it too. The only reason I know that Rochelle is in the car is because she's sitting next to me. If she were in the back, I might leave her too. The reason? She sleeps the entire way!

Rochelle is always wanting to go on road trips. Recently we were talking about a much overdue trip to Mississippi and Atlanta--the two places I lived before I moved to Texas to go to university ("university""--like Madonna, every now and then I like to pretend that I'm British). I try telling her that that is a lot of driving, but she rebutts by telling me that it's not that bad. Well sure, it's not that bad for her. Driving to Atlanta, for Rochelle, would be like a 16-hour nap. I can see a man getting out of his car, pumping gas, and hoping back to head down the road thinking his sleeping wife and daughter were still sleeping.

There is one lagging question though: What kind of gas did he pump that he could drive SIX HOURS without having to stop again, and when did he plan on stopping to feed the 4-year old? Now that I think about it, maybe he did leave her on purpose, maybe she hadn't been sleeping, maybe she was talking too much? :) (That's just a joke everyone, my wife is not overly chatty)

Top Five

A new friend of mine asked me to e-mail him a list of my top five books that deal with the modern to post-modern shift, spiritual formation, the Emergent conversation, missional theology etc... That was awhile back and I never did it,--not the best way to keep new friends--so I thought I would list my top five books that cover these issues in this space. The list--though a top five--is not in any particular order.

• A New Kind of Christian--Brian D. McLaren
• More Ready Than You Realize--Brian D. McLaren
• soulTsunami--Leonard Sweet
• The Emerging Church--Dan Kimball
• Missional Church--Darrel l. Guder, ed.

So, what's on my reading table right now? I thought you'd never ask.

• The Faces of Forgiveness: Searching for Wholeness and Salvation--F. Leron Shults
• The Barbarian Way: Unleash the Untamed Faith Within--Erwin Raphael McManus
• Morph: The Texture of Leadership for Tomorrow's Church--Ron Martoia

I hope you're reading some great and challenging stuff too. What's on your top five list of recent reads?

Right vs Wrong

Much is always being made about who (or what idea) is right and who (or what idea) is wrong. It doesn't matter what the subject is, people love being right because it makes us feel superior or righteous. It seems to me that this is very true in the Christian community. True, we have a lot riding on right and wrong and we should, but I hope these words from Donald Miller's "Searching For God Knows What" might help us have some epistlemological humility. Perhaps a little humility might lead us to love people first and argue philosophies later!

"If you think about it, right and wrong aren't even people, they are ideas, philosophical equations and that sort of thing, and so it is funny that anybody would think they are right in the first place. I suppose what we really mean when we say we are right is that something out there in the soup of ideas is right, and we simply agree with whatever it is the soup is saying. But this doesn't have anything to do with our rightness or wrongness; it just means we can read."

Interesting thought. What do you think?

Exciting Times

I get excited about the oddest things. This week it has been the impending arrival of my new 14-inch iBook G4. With it I will be able to put together better slideshows, learn video production, and a host of other things I will need without the viruses and malfunctions of a PC. This will be my first time using a MAC since my freshman year in college. I'm a little nervous but two things give me solace; (1) I love my iPod and (2) Once you go MAC you never go back--their users swear by them.

Since the laptop I'm using now is about 5 years old and quickly dying, the iBook has a lot of upgrades I'm interested in; built-in bluetooth; built-in wireless; iLife software, Microsoft for MAC, 6-hour battery life (my current Gateway has NO battery life); and best of all, MACs work! Now I can go to my local Port City Java and sip coffee, write, read, study and cruise the information super highway. Not to mention that I'll be able to put together better, more interesting visuals and videos for teaching classes. The machine will pay for itself in video making and editing alone!

Doesn't that get you excited?

Sure, it doesn't! But I had to tell someone and my wife is sick to death from hearing me talk about it. If this goes well, I can see myself completely switching to Apple products.

So, how about you? What do you think? Is a MAC better than a PC? Tell me what you think.

On Being Authentic Part 2

I've recently been everywhere but here (home that is). Summer is just like that, I guess. Anyway, I continue to get comments and e-mails concerning my blog about authenticity a few months ago. There were some GREAT comments. I'm glad the subject struck a cord with so many of you. My hunch is that all of us long for true authenticity, if not in a large group, at least we long to be in relationship with a few people with whom we can be authentic.

It seems to me that our inauthenticity is breed out of fear. Fear that the real 'me' won't be acceptable or loved or valued. We tell ourselves, "If I can be the smart one, the rich one, the funny one, the pretty one, the educated one, the well-dressed one, the iconoclast, the weirdo, or whatever else I choose to be then if people reject me then they are not really rejecting me, they're rejecting the caricature that I project to the world." I suppose that posture is insulating; it protects us. Here's the problem though: We can get lost in that caricature and discover that we don't or never knew ourselves, and/or we find out that we are standing alone in a crowd, which is to say, that no one knows us. I think that would be a terribly lonely feeling--standing alone in a crowd. Maybe this posture insulates us a little too much?

So what can we do to cure our leaning toward inauthenticity?

First, I think we need to discover that we are children of God. That's all we are and all we will ever need to be! All of who we are is wrapped up in God. Only in identifying ourselves as children of God will we be able to let go of life's comparison game and escape arrogance and self-deprecation. We have no other value outside being a child of God, which makes us eternally valuable. It also makes our neighbor--in the sense that Jesus uses the word "neighbor",--eternally valuable as well. How we treat that "neighbor" reflects how we feel about the eternal value God has placed in us. We can't live as children of God and treat ourselves or others the same.

Second, allow people who don't like you to not like you. Trust me, a lot of people don't like me. I'm okay with it! Really. I have decided not to turn my core identity off and on depending on who is in the room. That's not to say we should be brash or abrasive, but rather it is to allow ourselves the freedom of not bowing to everyone's perceptions and opinions (think of what that might do for politicians alone). I remember what former basketball-player, Charles Barkley, said to younger player once. Barkley told him not to worry about the crowds, the fans, and the media because "those people don't love you." How true that is. Many people spend much of their lives dancing for the applause of a bunch of people who don't and won't ever love them. Doesn't it make more sense to live your life performing for the One who does?

Third, we all need a lot more time alone, listening to our deepest desires in quiet. Life is just too loud and too busy! In the quiet, God begins to speak to us, raise up and heal our deepest wounds and tell us who we really are. If you want to know who you really are, spend a few days in the quiet with God and dare ask him to tell you why He made you.

I suspect, if all of us spent the next year just asking God, "Who am I?" then many of our false fronts and inauthenticity might fall away. What do you think?

Camp Week

2nd time writing this. Somehow deleted the first one. Longer the first time. Out at camp this week. Love you all. Check back next week sometime.

--Sean

Mission Trip

I'm out of a mission trip with some of our high school students this week. I always love getting away with our students and seeing them grow and develop their gifts. Unfortunately, that doesn't leave a lot of time for "blogging." I will catch you guys up on our happenings when I return.

Theological Worldview

I recently took a test to discover my "theological worldview." This is how I came out; you should give it a try. You scored as Emergent/Postmodern. You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this. Emergent/Postmodern 82% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 75% Reformed Evangelical 75% Neo orthodox 71% Charismatic/Pentecostal 61% Classical Liberal 43% Modern Liberal 43% Roman Catholic 36% Fundamentalist 29% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Explosive Fourth

Ahh, the Fourth of July. A time for fireworks, flags, barbecue, and, oh, yes vomit! That's right, Sunday morning my wife woke up with a queasy feeling in her stomach. After taking the initial steps to get ready for worship we jointly decided it would be best for her to stay home and rest. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one feeling queasy. About 10 minutes later, we went to check on our 19-month-old daughter. We stopped at the door. The foul smell of regurgitated spinach wafted through the air. We were two for two, both my girls--my wife and daughter--were sick.

Malia, my daughter, lay nearly motionless in a bed of spinach remixed. It was in her hair, she had rubbed in in her eyes--which showed the effects in their degree of swolleness--and her pajamas and mattress looked like a salad exploded. You might be picking up on this by now; it was gross.

Well, my wife, Rochelle cleaned up the baby while I cleaned up everything else and we were off to the races. At one point all four of us were sick--and by "four" I'm also counting Malia's stuffed dog, Puppers, whom she held onto nearly all day Sunday.

Monday, the 4th of July was only worse. Rochelle and I were felling better, but Malia still couldn't eat. We tried to give her some Emetrol, which is supposed to settle nausea. It did. As a matter of fact, it settled--actually it stained--on my gray T-shirt after Malia couldn't hold it down. But Malia's day was harder than mine.

Malia wouldn't eat or drink anything. Better put, she wouldn't and couldn't eat or drink anything: What went down must come up! We tried it all; Pedialyte, water, diluted Gatorade. Nothing worked! The problem wasn't only that she couldn't hold anything down anymore, it was that she refused to drink anything, which is odd for her because she usually can't drink enough. It really got worrisome when our pediatrician--himself out of home-remedies to give us--suggested that if she wouldn't drink anything we would have to bring her in to hydrate her with an IV. Malia doesn't like being stuck with needles and her dad doesn't like watching her being stuck with needles. Fortunately, she was finally willing to drink and hold down some milk. Milk isn't the best for hydration, but it's better than nothing.

Thank God it's Tuesday, Malia is off to the doctor's office this morning to make sure everything is okay.

There was an upside to the sickness, though. 19-month-olds are usually pretty busy creatures; running, walking, playing. Malia doesn't sit still anymore or allow you to hold her for very long, but when she's sick she does. Now don't get me wrong, I don't like her being sick and not feeling well, but I do like being able to rock her in my big, leather chair, and having her lay between her mother and me on the floor as I explain how the ceiling fan works. And I love to see the way her eyes begin to light up when she starts to feel better.

When Malia was an infant I tried to burn into my chest and arms the feeling of holding her as she rocked to sleep. I couldn't. Some things can't be captured. It was nice, though a little messy, to have a cuddly baby again yesterday. I can't tell myself enough, and I can't tell others enough either, how desperately important it is to treasure every moment--both good and bad--with your children. So I guess I say all that to say this: I don't think it's so bad to a have your child throw up on you as long as you get to hold them when they're done.

On Being Authentic

Last night was a great blessing for me. It was the second meeting of our summer Tuesday night gatherings for young adults at my church. This summer we are reading through Donald Miller's, "Searching for God Knows What".

Instead of meeting at our church building, we have decided to meet at places around town. I think this is good for at least two reasons. One, I have become more and more convicted about taking faith public. I don't mean shouting from street corners or bothering your co-workers to the point that they all avoid you at the Christmas party. Rather, I'm talking about living and breathing and expressing faith in public places and calling people into the Kingdom of God. Secondly, getting away from the building invites conversation--and more real conversation at that. There's something about an institutional church building that screams, "BE FAKE HERE!"

Last night's conversation was great. Miller's book is a thought-provoking, humorous launching point for discussion, and I have to say that last night's conversation was one of the most authentic I've ever had with a Christian/Church group. As of late, my heart have craved authenticity. The problem is, I'm not sure I know it when I see it.

Lots of churches--especially newer churches--are talking about being more "authentic."That sometimes means that in a Bible class someone might unleash a small profanity or something like that. But is that authenticity? Is "authenticity" the church's' new license to say something profane or ridiculously unorthodox? I hope not, but I can see why that might be a necessary step--kind of a spiritual adolescence--to shake many of us out of our pat, churchy answers and responses to life.

And then there are churches where authenticity means you can wear jeans and not comb your hair. I don't have anything against jeans, or not combing your for that matter, but I'm starting to sense that authenticity means--to some at least--just NOT doing whatever they do at your parent's church. Or authenticity means trading the sub-culture of suits and didactic Bible classes from the established church for a new sub-culture of goatees and coffee-house "Bible dialogues" in new churches.

I guess I have a lot of questions about what authenticity really is. Is it authentic to make fun of the traditional, established church or be a Democrat because it seems that so many in the traditional church are Republicans? Is it authentic to have your ipod filled with Green Day instead of Third Day? Is that authenticity? Is that what it means to be real?

Here's a sad thought: Are Christians and churches struggling with being "authentic" communities of faith because we have had such little practice at it? Or maybe that's the goal of life; we all struggle to be real and it's the community of faith that helps us understand what reality is. At the very least, I would hope that that is what authenticity can be.

I would very much like a church dedicated to helping people regain reality. It seems to me that those outside church walls aren't doing any better at becoming real, at least not in the sense of realizing who we are and why we're here. Perhaps some our churches need new mission statements? How about something like this: "The Community Church: Working to be Real" or "The Community Church: Journeying Toward Authenticity."

Like I said before, I'm not sure I know authenticity when I see it. What do you think?

Onward, Moderate Christian Soldiers

Below I have posted a recent article by former Republican Senator John C. Danforth. Danforth--also an Episcopal minister--represents an alternative voice for Christians in our country's current political conversation. Some will ask: "Sean, do you agree with everything in this article?" The answer: "No, I do not!" But what I do like is that many Christians--Danforth included--are beginning to step forward and remind our country and the media that a few proported "Christian" leaders do not represent all Christians, and that there is more than one way to approach faith and politics.

I hope you find the article interesting and thought-provoking. Moreover, I pray that this article cause all of us to think deeply about the way we think Christ-followers should behave in and react to the world around us.

--Sean

Onward, Moderate Christian Soldiers

By JOHN C. DANFORTH
Published: June 17, 2005 N.Y. Times

IT would be an oversimplification to say that America's culture wars are now between people of faith and nonbelievers. People of faith are not of one mind, whether on specific issues like stem cell research and government intervention in the case of Terri Schiavo, or the more general issue of how religion relates to politics. In recent years, conservative Christians have presented themselves as representing the one authentic Christian perspective on politics. With due respect for our conservative friends, equally devout Christians come to very different conclusions.

It is important for those of us who are sometimes called moderates to make the case that we, too, have strongly held Christian convictions, that we speak from the depths of our beliefs, and that our approach to politics is at least as faithful as that of those who are more conservative. Our difference concerns the extent to which government should, or even can, translate religious beliefs into the laws of the state.

People of faith have the right, and perhaps the obligation, to bring their values to bear in politics. Many conservative Christians approach politics with a certainty that they know God's truth, and that they can advance the kingdom of God through governmental action. So they have developed a political agenda that they believe advances God's kingdom, one that includes efforts to "put God back" into the public square and to pass a constitutional amendment intended to protect marriage from the perceived threat of homosexuality.

Moderate Christians are less certain about when and how our beliefs can be translated into statutory form, not because of a lack of faith in God but because of a healthy acknowledgement of the limitations of human beings. Like conservative Christians, we attend church, read the Bible and say our prayers.

But for us, the only absolute standard of behavior is the commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves. Repeatedly in the Gospels, we find that the Love Commandment takes precedence when it conflicts with laws. We struggle to follow that commandment as we face the realities of everyday living, and we do not agree that our responsibility to live as Christians can be codified by legislators.

When, on television, we see a person in a persistent vegetative state, one who will never recover, we believe that allowing the natural and merciful end to her ordeal is more loving than imposing government power to keep her hooked up to a feeding tube.

When we see an opportunity to save our neighbors' lives through stem cell research, we believe that it is our duty to pursue that research, and to oppose legislation that would impede us from doing so.

We think that efforts to haul references of God into the public square, into schools and courthouses, are far more apt to divide Americans than to advance faith. Following a Lord who reached out in compassion to all human beings, we oppose amending the Constitution in a way that would humiliate homosexuals.

For us, living the Love Commandment may be at odds with efforts to encapsulate Christianity in a political agenda. We strongly support the separation of church and state, both because that principle is essential to holding together a diverse country, and because the policies of the state always fall short of the demands of faith. Aware that even our most passionate ventures into politics are efforts to carry the treasure of religion in the earthen vessel of government, we proceed in a spirit of humility lacking in our conservative colleagues.

In the decade since I left the Senate, American politics has been characterized by two phenomena: the increased activism of the Christian right, especially in the Republican Party, and the collapse of bipartisan collegiality. I do not think it is a stretch to suggest a relationship between the two. To assert that I am on God's side and you are not, that I know God's will and you do not, and that I will use the power of government to advance my understanding of God's kingdom is certain to produce hostility.

By contrast, moderate Christians see ourselves, literally, as moderators. Far from claiming to possess God's truth, we claim only to be imperfect seekers of the truth. We reject the notion that religion should present a series of wedge issues useful at election time for energizing a political base. We believe it is God's work to practice humility, to wear tolerance on our sleeves, to reach out to those with whom we disagree, and to overcome the meanness we see in today's politics.

For us, religion should be inclusive, and it should seek to bridge the differences that separate people. We do not exclude from worship those whose opinions differ from ours. Following a Lord who sat at the table with tax collectors and sinners, we welcome to the Lord's table all who would come. Following a Lord who cited love of God and love of neighbor as encompassing all the commandments, we reject a political agenda that displaces that love. Christians who hold these convictions ought to add their clear voice of moderation to the debate on religion in politics.

A Useful Faith

I posted earlier this week that this Sunday's sermon will deal with the topic of forming a useful faith; a faith that seeks to benefit the world and not just me, my family, and other well-fed American church-goers. In preparation I came back to this quote from Brian McLaren, which may or may not make the cut for this week's message.

"...I seek to develop virtues not just for my own benefit, but so I can inflict less damage and more blessing on the world. I seek to better understand Scripture not just for my own sake, but so I'll be equipped to serve God and my neighbors." (from : A Generous Orthodoxy)

What a great thought! What if there is more to being Christian than just hanging out with other Christians and waiting for the next personal blessing?

I think there might be something to that. How about you?

Mini-Vacation

Rochelle and I returned yesterday from a short, mini-vacation. The highlight of our four days was getting to see two movies; Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and the new Adam Sandler vehicle, The Longest Yard. About half-way through every Adam Sandler movie, Rochelle and I remember that our senses-of-humor could not be more different. She's usually rolling her eyes and I'm usually rolling in the aisle! ("Big Daddy" may be a possible exception. She liked that one.) Well, since we NEVER get to go to the movies, we were glad to pay way too much for popcorn.

On the spiritual/philosophical front, I was continually haunted by one question during my time away. The question: Is my faith useful? I know I have faith, and I know much about faith, but is it useful? And by useful I mean, "Is it useful to anyone besides myself?" Sure, it's useful to me, but what about the ones around me, and not just to them, but to the world around us all? Is there a way my faith impacts the poor in the inner-city--not just with an occasional check, which you don't need faith to write, by the way--and is my faith useful to the oppressed around the world, the down-trodden, the hurting?

These questions, hopefully, will occupy my week and the months to come. In fact, that question is the genesis of this week's not-yet-written-sermon. Maybe by next Monday I'll be closer to an answer, or at least, maybe I'll be asking better questions.

Updates

Just to let you know, Rochelle and I are out-of-town this week on vacation. Please pray for relaxation--it usually takes me about four days to relax enough to enjoy relaxing.

I also just ordered some "Palmer Perspective" t-shirts from zazzle.com. They're pretty cool. You can make your own personalized shirts at zazzle for under $20 each. Check it out.

Summer is here. To have a great summer you need to do two things; spend time with your family and read all you can.

I Am From Sudan

Every now and then, God hits me in the face with how shallow, self-concerned and small I have become. This past Sunday was one of those times. Two days ago I met a 22-year-old man who had recently moved to Houston. The reason: He is a Sudanese refugee.

As the words, "I am from Sudan" fell from his lips, my heart fell. I was overloaded with embarrassment and shame. I felt the force of those feelings because my days are spent haggling over power questions in the local church and dealing with all kinds of "Church Issues" that don't have the least little thing to do with extending the Kingdom of God, justice and mercy, or helping my faith community become a grace-extending body. What's more, is that I fear many American Christians do not even know what is happening in Sudan, particularly Darfur, and worse, I fear fewer care.

So here's some background:

Sudan's population is composed of two distinct cultures -- black African and Arab. Since gaining independence in 1956, a series of military coups, a civil war, and severe famine have burdened Sudan with political and economic instability. The civil war between the mainly Muslim north and the animist and Christian south lasted 21 years and cost the lives of 1.5 million people. After two years of bargaining, the Arab Muslim government and rebels signed a comprehensive peace deal in January 2005.

Just as the war in the south was winding down, in 2003 fighting broke out in the western region of Darfur. The residents, mostly black African Muslims seeking greater independence from the Sudanese government in Khartoum, launched an insurrection. The Sudanese government responded by bombing villages and by backing Arab militias known as the Janjaweed. The government and the Janjaweed have killed at least 70,000 black villagers in the Darfur region. Some observers have calculated the number closer to 300,000. The Janjaweed have also been responsible for thousands of rapes and have driven some 2 million residents of Darfur into refugee camps, many in neighboring Chad.

The United Nations describes the Darfur conflict as one of the world´s worst humanitarian crises. In September 2004, then U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell announced that the State Department "concluded that genocide has been committed in Darfur and that the government of Sudan and the Janjaweed bear responsibility." So far, neither the label "genocide," nor U.N. pronouncements, nor a small force of about 2,400 African Union peacekeepers, has been able to stop the killing, rapes and the massive refugee situation.

Every day, black, Sudanese women are raped by Arab, Muslim, fundamentalist, terrorist who leave them with these words: "Hopefully your children will have different skin color." As I sat next to my new friend, I realized that he and I shared two common characteristics that no one else in the room shared. We were both black and Christian! As I listened to him talk about his family, and the fact that he knew that some of them had been killed by the Janjaweed, I realized that had I been born in Sudan, the people who killed his family would want to kill me too.

I'm not sure how much I can do from my desk in Houston, TX, but I can tell you one thing: I'm going to do something. If you feel the same urging of heart that I do, please visit www.savedarfur.org As a matter of fact, I have to end this post now...I have something I have to do!

Emergent Return

I just returned from Nashville and the Emergent Convention, which is a out-growth of the emergent church conversation. Here are some of my impressions:

1. I was joyfully surprised by the diversity. There were participants from across the Christian/ theological spectrum. It wasn't just 'liberals' or 'conservatives,' I think that has to be good. There was also a good deal of racial diversity. Many have claimed that the issues unearthed by the emergent conversation were specific to upper-class whites. Being neither upper-class or white, I knew this conclusion to be false. There was strong geographic diversity. Participants ranged from across the U.S. and Canada. In addition, a broad spectrum of ages were represented. Again, the critics claimed this conversation was merely about GenXer-angst. It's not! There were more baby-boomers there than Xers and still some people even older than that. And then there was the theological diversity represented by presenters. Sometimes in fact, presenters teaching the same class were not completely in agreement. I think this is wonderful. It typifies a core value of Emergent: Conversation.

2. LeRon Shults is one of the smartest people I have ever heard. This past week was my first introduction to LeRon, and he blew me away! Rarely in Christian circles do I hear someone say something and think, "Man, I have NEVER thought about that." LeRon is a professor at Bethel Seminary and his writings will go to the top of my list.

3. If you disagree with Brian McLaren's views about church, politics, or theology you'd still have a hard time being disagreeable with the man. I'm a big fan of Brian's, as you know, but in meeting and talking with him personally you feel his own, personal accessibility, warmth and grace. I hope to soon make a trip to D.C. to spend a day with Brian and his church staff. I can't wait!

4. I now know that I am on a personal and ecclesiological spiritual journey that I cannot turn from. My association with Emergent (first as an outsider looking in, then a friend, then a cohort leader, and who knows what else next) isn't me discovering something new. In many ways, though not nearly all, it is simple me finding who I always was. In one of his workshops, Brian said that people tell him often that "You're not saying anything new. I always thought this. You just put it into words." That's much how I feel. Though I'm not comfortable with everything that is associated with Emergent, more than most of it fits who I am and how I view God and our world.

News and Updates

There's been a lot going on recently. Our student ministry is gearing up for the summer; mission trip, camps, musical, summer youth series, tons of stuff. It's an exciting time. This is also the time of year we say good-bye to our graduating seniors.

Yesterday our congregation celebrated its annual 'Senior Bless.' This is a day when our students are blessed with words, honors and gifts for who they are. It's a great day. (I probably cry more on this Sunday than any other day of the year.)

All of that is to say that life has been a a little hectic, I haven't had the opportunity to write in this space much...or do the needed updates on the emergentHouston blog, but I did want to give you all some updates and things to think about.

1. I'm headed to the Emergent Convention this week. Pray for safety, learning, and conversation. I'm hosting a forum at the convention, pray that goes well also.
2. Rochelle's mom is doing well with her radiation treatments--only 30+ more treatments to go.
3. For those interested, we will be having the 'Searching for God Knows What' conversation this summer. I'll announce the dates and times soon.

I hope all is well with you and yours. God Bless....

Birthday Holiday

Yesterday was my mother's birthday. You can probably imagine my year's of stress having to deal with my mom's birthday and Mother's day in the same week. Two presents, two cards, two dinners; two of whatever families do for mom's birthday and Mother's Day. I always felt bad for this kids--like Donna from Beverly Hills 90210--whose birthday's were on Christmas. I wondered how they ever knew which gifts was for what.

My mom never had that problem. She has always treated her birthday like a national holiday. She doesn't go to work, friends or family take her out to eat. It is her day! And those around her have always known to be very clear about which gift was for her birthday and which was for Mother's Day. She took it easy on us though, she never cared much about Mother's Day. Her birthday was the thing.

Not surprisingly, I have inherited her love for birthdays. And now with my wife and daughter, we celebrate birthdays with more excitement and fervor than any other holiday. Here's kinda how I see it. Everyone celebrates Christmas, Father's and Mother's Day, Valentine's Day etc.... And while I know that people around the world share birthdates, there is something special in taking one day, while the rest of the world continues in its mindless hustle and bustle, to say to someone you love, "I celebrate you."

What a wonderful gift to be able say, "you are special, not in the generic 'everybody's special' sense but you are special to me. I choose to be in relationship with you. Your life makes my living better. I am grateful to God for the gift of you."

It seems to me that there some kind of external pressure with national holidays, but celebrating birthdays seems to be more about personal privilege. The privilege it is to be in relationship with someone, to love someone uniquely, to say today is your day.

So it is in that spirit that I say to Gloria Palmer, "I love you" and "Happy Birthday."

Words to Remember

I have a terrible memory. I also read a lot. This means that much of my reading is simply re-reading things that I have already read. It happens all the time. I go back to read something that I thought was very profound, only to discover that my memory under-served the text and the words are much more profound than I remembered.

Here are a few powerful quotes for recent re-reads.

1. From Philip Yancey's Disappointment With God: "Some Christians long for a world well-stocked with miracles and spectacular signs of God's presence. I hear wistful sermons on the parting of the Red Sea and the ten plagues and the daily manna in the wilderness, as if the speakers yearn for God to unleash his power like that today. But the follow-the-dots journey of the Israelites should give us pause. Would a burst of miracles nourish faith? Not the kind of faith God seems interested in, evidently. The Israelites give ample proof that signs may only addict us to signs, not to God."

2. From Mother Teresa, (a quote that I always try to take into the pulpit with me): "What we say does not matter, only what God says to souls through us."

3. From Dan Taylor's Myth of Certainty: "Mistaking this active life of faith for an institutionally backed and culturally bound belief system is similar to reducing the Mona Lisa to paint-by-numbers."

4. From Soren Kierkegaard: "Christian scholarship is the human race's prodigious invention to defend itself against the New Testament, to ensure that one can continue to be a Christian without letting the New Testament come too close."

Email me some of your though-provoking quotes!

5 More Things I Think I Think

I good while back, I blogged about "5 Things I Think I Think". Well, here's five more.

1. No Matter How Beneficial Something Is to No Matter How Many People, Someone Somewhere Will Find a Way To Criticize It. This is particularly true, I think, in religion. A ministerial practitioner writes a wildly beneficial book and the theological gliterrati respond; "Have you seen his book? He misses this completely, he misinterprets this text, he is working from praxis (practice) and not theology." Or just the opposite. A thoughtful theologian writes and insightful text and practitioners begin to shout; "So, what? Is this helping anybody. The Academy is out-of-touch. You got to meet people where they are and not force heavy theology on them right away." I've never understood why people simply can't accept the offering of others, accepts what feeds them and their community of faith and use it as a launching pad for further growth.

2. Without Email and My Cell Phone I Feel Cut-off From The World. I don't know why. I haven't always had email or a cell phone, but when my phone is not with me or my email is not working, I feel as if the world is moving ahead while I am standing still. I get my news through email and communicate to colleagues and friends through email, so if my electronic addictions aren't working, then I'm worthless.

3. As It Was When I Was A Kid, I Think Worship Services Are My Least Favorite Part of Being A Christian. It's not that I don't enjoy them, the worship services at my church are great. I like them. But I would trade any worship service for summer camp, retreats, service projects, small groups, mission trips, a good, long conversation over cup of coffee, etc. I have just always felt like true Christianity was best expressed outside the church building.

4. The Designated Hitter Rule Should be Abolished. Hey, American League Baseball, if you can play in the field you can stand in the box. That's the way you play on the playground, in high school and college and in the National League. You're the only ones who play DH ball. Don't you think there's something wrong with that?

5. Discipleship Is The Lost Art of The Church. Somehow, Christianity become about facts, figures, propositions and doctrinal statements. Discipleship became a science instead of an art. People learned the data, but often never became more personally devoted to the cause of Christ in the lives, their family or society. Too many church-going men abuse their wives and children. Christian executives host Bible studies during lunch and then rip off their investors by cooking the books at the next days board meeting. Many children never see their parents pray except at church or over dinner. So-called Christian activists parade in front of news cameras with signs reading: "God Hates Fags!" Does that sound like something you would hear Jesus saying? We've had far too much emphasis on looking like Christians and not enough on being Christians.

One Voice!

It was just me and my daughter, Malia, this past weekend. My wife, Rochelle, was off at our church's annual women's retreat. The women's retreat must be much more fun than our men's retreat. At the men's retreat, guys so up late and leave early. At the women's retreat, ladies show up early and stay late. What's up with that?

This year, I spoke at the men's retreat and Rochelle spoke at the women's. I am so grateful to have a marriage in which we compliment each other so well and share many of the same gifts. At our house, you can tell who is going to speak somewhere and who is not. The person leaving is getting on the person staying's nerves. It's non-stop questioning: "How does this sound? What should I say hear? How do you think this will go over? Can you think of a story about...?"

Public speaking and preaching at our house is a family affair. When our daughter was a newborn, my in-laws visited every weekend so that I could have Saturday nights to go over the sermon again and again and so I could get some sleep. After those sermons, my late father-in-law--a former preacher himself--and I would break down the sermon like football coaches break down game tape. Poor Rochelle, by the time a sermon is heard in public, she's heard it 20 times. And the same is true when she is speaking. But that's the way we like it. Or at least that's the way I like it.

I like that when I speak, I am not just approaching the text with my eyes, my experiences, my insights. I have Rochelle speaking alongside me. And I need her, several weeks ago I was speaking at a retreat for a large church in Dallas. For the second session, I had nothing! I asked Rochelle about it and from her words emanated the session. And if you were to ask those present about the retreat, they would probably tell you that the second session was the best. I hope that I am as much of a help to her as she has been to me.

We compliment each other and we challenge each other. I think that's the way it is supposed to be when the "two become one." We share the same passions, frustrations, loves, and hopes. That's not to say that there are not places where we could not be more different, but it is to say that God has worked a miracle in our marriage. He has taken two people from two very different places, with different backgrounds, different experiences, different family styles, and even from different races and given them one voice!

I don't think I could ask for more.

New Pope, The Old Pope

I'm not Catholic, but I caught about 30 minutes of the media's coverage about the new Pope, Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI). Apparently, it doesn't take long for a new pope to find new enemies--or old enemies re-emerging.

Ratzinger, like all German boys his age, was forced to participate in 'Hitler Youth'. And in his adulthood he has been a staunch defender of traditional Catholic doctrine and faith. At 78-years-old, he was John Paul's "enforcer" (as he was dubbed by the New York Times). It appears--depending on how much you trust the mainstream news--that a minority of Catholics, and non-Catholics, are 'troubled' by his selection. But should they be?

It seems that some commentators and religious observers neither understand the church or the papacy. They somehow view the Pope like an elected political leader, storming onto the scene with a new agenda, perhaps dismissing the executive orders of the previous administration. To hear people talk one might think that the Pope's job is to bring the church more in line with culture. And American culture at that! His job might be exactly the opposite. His job might be to bring society in line with the church, insofar as the church represents the lifestyle and teachings of Jesus Christ. (By the way, that job doesn't stop with the Pope. It is the call of all those who name Jesus Christ as their savior.)

Recently an American pundit--speaking of John Paul II--stated: "In an age of an AIDS epidemic, he (John Paul) was against condoms and Ratzinger will bring more of the same." Well, of course he will! What escapes the minds of some talking heads is that both John Paul II and Benedict XVI are Orthodox Catholics. Should we anticipate that a new pope would be much different in theological leanings than the old pope?

Think about this. What if every person in the world followed the teachings of Catholicism, Orthodox Judaism and Orthodox Christianity concerning sex; abstinent until married and then faithful to your spouse. What might that do in the fight against AIDS? Others have said that Benedict XVI is the "grim reaper" of the faith, being a "hard-liner on matters of faith and doctrine." These kinds of statements say much more about those making them than they do Benedict XVI.

I find it surprising that so many people expect that a theological institution should exist in the world without theological moorings. It seems that some people want a church that reflects the lifestyle choices they have already made. The answers that the church provides, however, are not rooted in the prevailing culture, popular behavior, opinion polls, or pragmatics. Or at least they shouldn't be.

There is a lesson for all Christians in the election of Benedict XVI: We are a theological people, and our thoughts and behaviors should be informed by the life and teachings of Jesus, not what is acceptable to the prevailing culture. In response, the culture will not always like our lives being theologically informed and will press us to be more like the culture. Of course, we need to make every effort the reach out to the culture, engage it, love those within it (as we ourselves are), and redeem it (as we ourselves are). Those of you who read this page frequently know how I feel about the church's lack of zeal in communicating Christ in our culture. But at the same time we cannot be overcome by culture. We need to be prepared to guard against the winds that would blow us farther away from the course set out by Christ and closer to the shores of secular society. If we know one thing from history we know that cultures change, the message of Jesus does not!

May the God of all grace continue to guide us and reveal to us how to be "of the world, but not in it."

Putting the World Right

Words from C.S. Lewis are always both insightful and challenging. I read these words from Mere Christianity this morning.

"If you do not take the distinction between good and bad very seriously, then it is easy to say that anything you find in this world is part of God. But, of course, if you think some things really bad, and God really good, then you cannot talk like that. You must believe that God is separate from the world and that some of the things we see in it are contrary to His will. Confronted with a cancer or a slum the Pantheist can say, 'If you could only see it from the divine point of view, you would realise that this also is God.' The Christian replies, 'Don't talk damned nonsense.' For Christianity is a fighting religion. It thinks God made the world--that space and time, heat and cold, and all the colours and tastes, and all the animals and vegetables, are things that God 'made up out of His head' as a man makes up a story. But it also thinks that a great many things have gone wrong with the world that God made and that God insists, and insists very loudly, on our putting them right again."

Power-Plays

I've done a lot of thinking t about power over the last few days. For some reason everyone seems to want to be in power, keep others out of power, know people in power, or influence those in power. This is quite natural, I suspect.

Anyone who aspires to freedom or self-determination can easily surmise that power is the fast-lane, one-way highway for reaching that goal. Unfortunately, I see very little in the way of power-grabbing in the way Jesus lived. As a matter of fact, Jesus does not only not reach for power, He goes out of His way to relinquish it; to "empty himself," as the apostle Paul put it.

When Peter ask Jesus what the disciples will receive at the end of days, the Savior responds with blessings but then informs the disciples that many who are now first shall be last. "The first shall be last," is the same statement Jesus made when the disciples were arguing among themselves about which one of them would sit at the right hand of Jesus.

It seems that Jesus has little time or appreciation for power-plays. He is not interested in those who want to puff themselves up, regardless of the reason or issue. It seems to me that the one person in the history of humankind who could have wielded unending, unthwarted, unbelievable power chose not to. Instead He lowered Himself, considered others better than Himself, and died for them.

Did He suffer an injustice? Yes. Did He suffer because someone else was wrong? Yes. Could He have stopped it and been right for doing so? Yes.

Be He didn't!

Jesus seemed to know what many of us either forget or never learned. Power is cold, callous, and conflictual if it doesn't originate in love. Not love for what we want, or a love for how we think it should be, not even a love for what we think is right, but love for what God loves--people.

Jesus knew that all authority on Heaven and Earth had been given to Him, but it is His restraint in unleashing it that is most impressive. I suppose Jesus knew that displays of power would lead us to worship power instead of God. Unfortunately, from all my years of church attendance, participation, and ministry, I know that Jesus was right. For most churches, it is power not Jesus to which most of us aspire.

Perhaps we should heed these words from C.S. Lewis, "The descent to hell is easy, and those who begin by worshipping power soon worship evil."

My prayer for myself and for the church is simple. The next time any of us has an opportunity to display our power let us first ask to be made empty.

More On Evangelism

I've been doing a lot of writing lately. Unfortunately, I haven't been writing much here. Sorry! I thought I would give you some words today from one of my favorite contemporary Christian thinkers, Brian McLaren. The following is from his book, "The Church on the Other Side."

"For starters, somehow we Christians, especially evangelicals, convinced ourselves of the myth that America used to be a Christian nation--"our" nation--and some bad people took it away from us. Let me just ask: When was it a Christian nation? When we were killing, culturally imprisoning , and stealing the lands of millions of native peoples in a New World version of the holocaust? When we were importing and exploiting millions of slaves? I believe the Christian nation myth is untrue, but more than that, it is pernicious for what it does to us.

"The myth turns us into victims (Those bad guys took away our country!), aggressors (We're going to take it back, so watch out!,) and defenders (Quick! Circle the wagons!). As aggressive, defensive victims, we hardly carry the posture of Jesus Christ, who came to seek and to save the lost, who had compassion on the nameless crowds. As aggressive, defensive victims, we sound more and more like the Pharisees, who said, "This cursed mob doesn't know God's Word!" (see John 7:49), and less and less like Jesus who said, "These poor people are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (see Matthew 9:36). The cover story of the November 1995 issue of Moody Monthly described the problem too well: 'Sinners in the Hands of Angry Christians.'

"In the new church, this attitude toward non=Christians will change. 'The world' will be viewed less and less as the bad boys out there whom we fear, fight, and resist, whom we seek to control through legislation and intimidation with a self-righteous sense of superiority. Instead, 'the world' will be viewed more and more as the needy neighbors who haven't yet found the grace that has found us, who receive our love because God loved them enough to send his Son to give them 'eternal life' (John 3:16), who are doing the best they can with what they've got, and who can't be expected to do any better until we find ways to help them want what we've got."