One of the running themes in my life has to do with this blog. Just when I stop blogging for a while, thinking that no one is reading or benefiting from it, several things happen that remind me that God is working even though I'm not aware of it. One of the reasons that I haven't blogged in a while has to do with reading. I have a ton of it and much of it is not very fun. As a matter of fact, I read three books last week and only one was half good. However, I did manage to stumble across one or two thought-provoking, er, eh, em, "thoughts"--I think that's the right word. (Can you have thought-provoking thoughts? If not what does thought-provoking provoke? Can someone just have thought-provoking?) Anyway, as you can see, all the reading has fried my mind. Clearly the provoking is of the thoughts...Right?
Anyway here you go...
From Michael Frost's and Alan Hirsch's The Shaping of Things to Come: "We believe the missional genius of the church can only be unleashed when there are foundational changes to the church's very DNA, and this means addressing core issues like ecclesiology, spirituality, and leadership. It means a complete shift away from Christendom thinking, which is attractional, dualistic, and hierarchical."
From Marjorie Thompson's Soul Feast: "Many of us have absorbed tacit or explicit taboos about what we are permitted to bring into prayer. We may have learned, for instance, that doubt, anger, hatred, or despair were inappropriate to express to God. Yet we know what happens to human relationships when negative feelings are suppressed. Communication becomes artificial or breaks down; the two parties become emotionally estranged; intimacy becomes impossible. Why should we imagine it is different with God? In prayer, we need to speak whatever truth is in us: pain and grief, fear and disappointment, yearning and desire, questions and doubt, hope and faith, failure and weakness, praise and thanks, despair and sorrow, anger and, yes, even hatred."
From Urban T. Holmes' A History of Christian Spirituality: "...thinking as Christ thinks is the same thing as repenting."
From Kenneth Boa's Conformed to His Image: "We honor God when we allow him to define us and tell us who we are regardless of our feelings or experiences to the contrary...when we know who we are, we have nothing to prove."
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Monday, December 19, 2005
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.
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.
Monday, November 28, 2005
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)
"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)
Friday, November 18, 2005
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.
----------
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
