I wrote an incredible blog about Oprah and the show she did today on world atrocities, but I decided not to publish it. It was just too mean.
I'm so mixed on Oprah. I think she does a lot of good for the world, especially in raising attention to overlooked issues. But at the same time, I feel that she is often a pseudo-intellectual, condescending, self-important wind-bag. Anyway, part of what God is doing in me is re-shaping the way I conceive of people, showing me to look for the good and beauty in people. I'm teaching next week at the Pepperdine Lectures about race and the church. One of the things I plan on saying is for us not to look at people, but to look inside people.
I suppose I should take my own advice.
____________________________________________
Speaking of Pepperdine: I will be speaking there next week. I'll stand behind a mic three separate times. My first class is entitled, "In Search of a 'Beloved Community:' Where We Are and Where We Ain't on Race and the Church" later that day I will speak to a gathering of Youth Workers, and later in the week I'll be speaking to a group of teenagers at what's called, "Pepperdine View."
I'm very excited about the week. The entire family is coming with me, which rarely happens when I am speaking somewhere. The Pepperdine Lectures always provide a wonderful opportunity to re-connect with old friends, make new ones, and hear some insightful, Godly women and men.
Top Ten Things I'm Looking Forward to at Pepperdine:
1. Playing on the beach with my two-year old daughter and wading in the vast, blue Pacific Ocean.
2. Watching my wife's eyes come alive as she encounters God through worshipping with The Zoe Group.
3. Having a long conversation with Russ Debenport over pie and coffee at 10:00 at night.
4. Seeing my friend, Chad Higgins, lead the Highland Oaks Praise Team.
5. 70-degree temperatures.
6. Having dinner with Jeff and Ronda Brooks...hopefully.
7. Teasing Dr. Jeff Childers about giving me a 91.4% in a class once. That's .1% from an "A". I mean, come on, man!
8. Looking for celebrities in nearby Malibu restaurants.
9. Talking with--hopefully over lunch--Drs. Dennis Lowe and Emily Scott-Lowe.
10. Spending way too much money on books that will have to wait a year to be read.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Friday, April 21, 2006
Thanks For Checking In.
1. I'm not dead, just busy. I'll be blogging again soon.
2. Took my daughter to see Veggie Tales Rockin' Live Tour last night. There's nothing like hearing 1,000 adults singing, 'The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything.' Who are those videos made for anyway?
2. Took my daughter to see Veggie Tales Rockin' Live Tour last night. There's nothing like hearing 1,000 adults singing, 'The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything.' Who are those videos made for anyway?
Monday, April 17, 2006
The News
Some time ago, I posted that I had significant news coming. I delayed in posting the news, and then I forgot about posting it. A few people have asked me if I was leaving Houston. At present I am not. But to answer the questions, I am now releasing the news.
I have been asked to play a small role in the publication of a new Bible translation: The Voice. The Voice is a dramatic re-telling of scripture. The process begins with writers and will conclude with theologians and academics making sure we didn't drive the train off the tracks. This is the opposite of how most translations are done. We are trying to capture the story of scripture, the beauty, the genres of the text, the emotion, the artistry. The Voice will be released in stages. The first stage (book) is called, The Last Eyewitnesses. Currently, you can order a copy at Amazon.com. I think it's between $11-$14. You may also visit the website www.hearthevoice.com, which will have some of the major writers listed (Chris Seay, Lauren Winner, Phyllis Tickle, Brian McLaren, etc...)
I am working with a few Psalms. They were due yesterday, but I'm still hammering out some of the language--what can I say, it's an extremely busy time.
Anyway, thought you all might want to know. Plus, keep your eyes open for future publications, all proceeds go to further the message of Jesus across the globe.
I have been asked to play a small role in the publication of a new Bible translation: The Voice. The Voice is a dramatic re-telling of scripture. The process begins with writers and will conclude with theologians and academics making sure we didn't drive the train off the tracks. This is the opposite of how most translations are done. We are trying to capture the story of scripture, the beauty, the genres of the text, the emotion, the artistry. The Voice will be released in stages. The first stage (book) is called, The Last Eyewitnesses. Currently, you can order a copy at Amazon.com. I think it's between $11-$14. You may also visit the website www.hearthevoice.com, which will have some of the major writers listed (Chris Seay, Lauren Winner, Phyllis Tickle, Brian McLaren, etc...)
I am working with a few Psalms. They were due yesterday, but I'm still hammering out some of the language--what can I say, it's an extremely busy time.
Anyway, thought you all might want to know. Plus, keep your eyes open for future publications, all proceeds go to further the message of Jesus across the globe.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Convert Or Die!
I hope you are as disturbed as I am about the case involving Abdul Raman, the 41-year old former Afghan aid worker who recently converted to Christianity. Raman is currently facing the death penalty in Afghanistan for his conversion to Christianity. Apparently, converting to Christianity--or anything other than Islam--is against Islamic law!
"Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die," said cleric Abdul Raoulf, who is considered a moderate and was jailed three times for opposing the Taliban before the hard-line regime was ousted in 2001.
There's been a lot in the media about Raman this week. Some say he is crazy and needs psychological attention (he admitted to his conversion on TV, knowing where it would get him). Others say that the Western presence in the region is the cause for his conversion and insanity. Still others say that if Raman is not sentenced to death, then someone--either in prison or on the streets--would kill him anyway!
The situation reminds me of the threatening and terrible circumstances those early Christians we read about in the New Testament lived under. Time and time again, the apostle Paul and others were being stoned, chased out of town, being lowered out of windows in baskets, and having to lace up their Nike sandals to try to outrun the gathering mob--made of both Jews and Greeks.
It's funny how we forget that, isn't it? It's easy to glaze over the fact that Jesus was killed in the most horrifying way for what He believed, and His disciples didn't fare much better. Christianity has never known a day when there wasn't somebody somewhere who wanted to kill Christians. Here's the crazy part: If you read the letters of the apostle Paul--check out 2 Corinthians, Colossians, and 1 Thessalonians--you will discover that Paul thinks that the more Christians suffer, then the closer they are to being like Jesus!
Though I am horrified by Abdul Rahman's situation, it is a reminder to me of what Christianity is: a radical, world-defying way of life that has always been threatening to all systems and people who would harbor visions of power and dominion.
That's why I think it's important for American Christians to be very careful before they bemoan the loss of their "Christian Nation" or protest the loss of "prayer in schools" or even people choosing to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". Afghanistan is an Islamic Nation. That means that anyone who comes to alternative conclusions about how, why, or who to worship must be killed. There's plenty of prayer in Afghan schools. It's all to Allah--or else!
Is that really what we want, only substituting 'Christian' for 'Islamic'? Do we think that's what God wants? A nation populated with people who worship and pray to God because if they don't they won't live to regret it. Do we really want a national religion? I don't think many of us realize what we are asking for when we are asking for it. If congress passed a law tomorrow allowing prayer in school, but it had to be to Allah or Buddha, so many Christians would be livid. But at the end of the day, it would be prayer in schools.
It's important to remember that though God wishes none be lost, that some likely will. It's important to know that the Bible tells this beautiful story of a God that goes to pretty incredible lengths to give His creation freedom, and that means the freedom to disregard Him. It's important to recognize that Christianity is a faith intended to be embraced by individuals and communities then lived out in the world. It is not a system of religious propositions by which all people must submit as if it were an imperial edict.
Because when a faith becomes a law, it becomes something that doesn't bring life, as Jesus promised, but rather something that brings death. You can ask Adbul Raman about that.
"Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die," said cleric Abdul Raoulf, who is considered a moderate and was jailed three times for opposing the Taliban before the hard-line regime was ousted in 2001.
There's been a lot in the media about Raman this week. Some say he is crazy and needs psychological attention (he admitted to his conversion on TV, knowing where it would get him). Others say that the Western presence in the region is the cause for his conversion and insanity. Still others say that if Raman is not sentenced to death, then someone--either in prison or on the streets--would kill him anyway!
The situation reminds me of the threatening and terrible circumstances those early Christians we read about in the New Testament lived under. Time and time again, the apostle Paul and others were being stoned, chased out of town, being lowered out of windows in baskets, and having to lace up their Nike sandals to try to outrun the gathering mob--made of both Jews and Greeks.
It's funny how we forget that, isn't it? It's easy to glaze over the fact that Jesus was killed in the most horrifying way for what He believed, and His disciples didn't fare much better. Christianity has never known a day when there wasn't somebody somewhere who wanted to kill Christians. Here's the crazy part: If you read the letters of the apostle Paul--check out 2 Corinthians, Colossians, and 1 Thessalonians--you will discover that Paul thinks that the more Christians suffer, then the closer they are to being like Jesus!
Though I am horrified by Abdul Rahman's situation, it is a reminder to me of what Christianity is: a radical, world-defying way of life that has always been threatening to all systems and people who would harbor visions of power and dominion.
That's why I think it's important for American Christians to be very careful before they bemoan the loss of their "Christian Nation" or protest the loss of "prayer in schools" or even people choosing to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". Afghanistan is an Islamic Nation. That means that anyone who comes to alternative conclusions about how, why, or who to worship must be killed. There's plenty of prayer in Afghan schools. It's all to Allah--or else!
Is that really what we want, only substituting 'Christian' for 'Islamic'? Do we think that's what God wants? A nation populated with people who worship and pray to God because if they don't they won't live to regret it. Do we really want a national religion? I don't think many of us realize what we are asking for when we are asking for it. If congress passed a law tomorrow allowing prayer in school, but it had to be to Allah or Buddha, so many Christians would be livid. But at the end of the day, it would be prayer in schools.
It's important to remember that though God wishes none be lost, that some likely will. It's important to know that the Bible tells this beautiful story of a God that goes to pretty incredible lengths to give His creation freedom, and that means the freedom to disregard Him. It's important to recognize that Christianity is a faith intended to be embraced by individuals and communities then lived out in the world. It is not a system of religious propositions by which all people must submit as if it were an imperial edict.
Because when a faith becomes a law, it becomes something that doesn't bring life, as Jesus promised, but rather something that brings death. You can ask Adbul Raman about that.
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