Still trying the new site, but realized I gave the admin link last time. Here's a good link to the new post:
http://ifgraceisanoceanwerealldrowning.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/fear-of-the-lord-is-wisdom/
Monday, March 19, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Trying new site
I've had several complaints in regard to using this site, so I'm trying WordPress. Here's today's blog:
http://ifgraceisanoceanwerealldrowning.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=4&action=edit&message=6&postpost=v2
grace and peace,
Lang
http://ifgraceisanoceanwerealldrowning.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=4&action=edit&message=6&postpost=v2
grace and peace,
Lang
Monday, March 5, 2012
Imagination
Hi Everyone-
I pray you're doing well on this wet and windy day (here in the Northwest). On my walk to the ferry one gust of wind blew my umbrella inside out and my hat off! Craziness.
What do you think of when you hear the term imagination? I think of art, stories, children, fairy tales, music, and the like. But what about God and the Church? I know I don't typically associate the two directly that often. So, I was struck by what Barbara Brown Taylor writes:
"The church's central task is an imaginative one. By that I do not mean a fanciful or fictional task, but one in which the human capacity to imagine--to form mental pictures of the self, neighbor, the world, the future, to envision new realities--is both engaged and transformed." She goes on to add that, "'Faith,' says theologian James Whitehead, 'is the enduring ability to imagine life in a certain way.'"
Personally I love that. Faith and what we're called to do and be as the Church isn't fanciful or fake, but it is imaginative. We must first imagine a world without sickness, poverty, abuse, war, and the like before we can make it a reality. It takes imagination to envision God's past, present, and future recreation of the world through the works of Jesus. On a personal level, I use imagination to see the better husband, father, friend, brother, son, student, etc. that I can be through the transforming work of the Spirit before I start becoming those things.
This brings to my mind some of the words of John Lennon from "Imagine":
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too (I view Christianity as better than religion)
Imagine all the people living life in peace
You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one
What do you think? How's your imagination today?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I publish new posts, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
I pray you're doing well on this wet and windy day (here in the Northwest). On my walk to the ferry one gust of wind blew my umbrella inside out and my hat off! Craziness.
What do you think of when you hear the term imagination? I think of art, stories, children, fairy tales, music, and the like. But what about God and the Church? I know I don't typically associate the two directly that often. So, I was struck by what Barbara Brown Taylor writes:
"The church's central task is an imaginative one. By that I do not mean a fanciful or fictional task, but one in which the human capacity to imagine--to form mental pictures of the self, neighbor, the world, the future, to envision new realities--is both engaged and transformed." She goes on to add that, "'Faith,' says theologian James Whitehead, 'is the enduring ability to imagine life in a certain way.'"
Personally I love that. Faith and what we're called to do and be as the Church isn't fanciful or fake, but it is imaginative. We must first imagine a world without sickness, poverty, abuse, war, and the like before we can make it a reality. It takes imagination to envision God's past, present, and future recreation of the world through the works of Jesus. On a personal level, I use imagination to see the better husband, father, friend, brother, son, student, etc. that I can be through the transforming work of the Spirit before I start becoming those things.
This brings to my mind some of the words of John Lennon from "Imagine":
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too (I view Christianity as better than religion)
Imagine all the people living life in peace
You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one
What do you think? How's your imagination today?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I publish new posts, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
Monday, February 27, 2012
What Do You Do With ...
Hi Everyone-
I hope you're having an awesome day. It's beautiful and sunny up here in the Northwest. I love riding the ferry to school on days like this.
Today, my question is what do you do with those stories in the Bible that are hard or just don't make sense? Take for instance when God sends the Flood to wipe most of humanity out or when he orders Abraham to slit Isaac's throat or God tells the Israelites to kill all the people (including women and children) and animals in an area. Here's what Barbara Brown Taylor has to say about these passages:
"It is a book in which wonderful and terrible things happen by the power of an almighty God, whose steadfast love for us does not seem to preclude scaring the living daylights out of us from time to time."
I love that last part, "does not preclude scaring the living daylights out of us from time to time." Too funny.
Still, what do you/we/I do with those passages?
I've been reading a lot about the Book of Job for a class I'm in this term, which doesn't give me definitive answers to my question, but I do have some ideas. My starting point here is that God is love. What I think the Book of Job shows through its behind the scenes description of Satan talking to God and God talking to Job at the end is two key things. One, God is very close to us and desires relationship with us, so much that when Job "calls" him out, he comes and talks to Job. We are after all made in God's image. Conversely, God is also completely beyond us, beyond our comprehension, beyond our definitions, and beyond our ability to understand his purposes and plans in every situation.
When I have time I've been reading Peter Rollins' How (Not) to Speak of God, and this is a major point he makes. In a concept that blows my mind, Rollins points out that God is in actuality beyond our "definition" of him as beyond definition. Crazy!
So, some of what I do with hard stories in the Bible is remember that God is love and desires to be close/in relation with us, but God is also God and thus way, way, way, way beyond my little self (in a good way!).
What do you think/do?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I publish new posts, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
I hope you're having an awesome day. It's beautiful and sunny up here in the Northwest. I love riding the ferry to school on days like this.
Today, my question is what do you do with those stories in the Bible that are hard or just don't make sense? Take for instance when God sends the Flood to wipe most of humanity out or when he orders Abraham to slit Isaac's throat or God tells the Israelites to kill all the people (including women and children) and animals in an area. Here's what Barbara Brown Taylor has to say about these passages:
"It is a book in which wonderful and terrible things happen by the power of an almighty God, whose steadfast love for us does not seem to preclude scaring the living daylights out of us from time to time."
I love that last part, "does not preclude scaring the living daylights out of us from time to time." Too funny.
Still, what do you/we/I do with those passages?
I've been reading a lot about the Book of Job for a class I'm in this term, which doesn't give me definitive answers to my question, but I do have some ideas. My starting point here is that God is love. What I think the Book of Job shows through its behind the scenes description of Satan talking to God and God talking to Job at the end is two key things. One, God is very close to us and desires relationship with us, so much that when Job "calls" him out, he comes and talks to Job. We are after all made in God's image. Conversely, God is also completely beyond us, beyond our comprehension, beyond our definitions, and beyond our ability to understand his purposes and plans in every situation.
When I have time I've been reading Peter Rollins' How (Not) to Speak of God, and this is a major point he makes. In a concept that blows my mind, Rollins points out that God is in actuality beyond our "definition" of him as beyond definition. Crazy!
So, some of what I do with hard stories in the Bible is remember that God is love and desires to be close/in relation with us, but God is also God and thus way, way, way, way beyond my little self (in a good way!).
What do you think/do?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I publish new posts, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Surprised by Grace
Hi Everyone-
Sorry it's been a bit longer than usual between blogs, it's Reading Week at school, which means I don't have classes (although homework continues) ... so Carla and I are in Tucson visiting friends and enjoying the sun. I hope you're doing as well as we are.
One of the passages in the Bible I've long considered one of the most inspirational is Jesus talking about the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46). I don't want to post the whole passage, but the gist is in the end Jesus will come and there will be the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. He says to the sheep that when he was hungry they fed him, when he was in jail they visited him, when he was naked they clothed him, etc. And conversely he says to the goats they didn't. Both sides reply by saying, what do you mean? I don't remember feeding you? To which Jesus says, "‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’" In other words, a point he's making is that in loving and providing for those in need we're also loving and providing for Jesus.
At some level I've found myself thinking, silly goats, don't they know that to love people is to love God? ... Duh!
So, on my checklist goes: 1) Feed, clothe, visit, etc. the unfortunate ... So, when I do this I feel good.
Then, recently I was reading a book by Barbara Brown Taylor, and she points out that both the sheep and the goats are surprised by what Jesus says. The sheep are just as surprised at the goodness of their actions as the goats are at the less awesomeness of their inaction. I think perhaps this passage shows that at some level we should be ignorant of our own good works. Perhaps we should be so busy doing good that we don't even notice it?
I think today I'd sum it up by saying it's all grace. It's all grace from God that loves and saves us, which leads us to act towards others with grace.
Barbara Brown Taylor goes on to say, "One thing the sheep know how to do that the goats have never tried: to look, to see, to seek Christ in the last, the lost, the least. ... Charity is no substitute for kinship. We are not called to be philanthropists or social workers, but brothers and sisters. We are called into relationship ... We are called to look at each other and see Christ."
When we're in a healthy relationship I'd say we tend to do good things and take care of the other person without a second thought. We act out of grace, without even thinking. In some sense it'd surprise us if someone else pointed out a good deed we did for a friend. This makes me think of Carla during the accident. She stayed to take care of me for 6 months, losing her house and job and being separated from her son in the process ... A heroic act if I ever saw one, but her response is, "that's what anyone would naturally do." She acted out of grace. She saw me with grace.
Let me put it this way, Carla saw me with grace colored glasses. And I think Barbara Brown Taylor is saying we should wear them when we look at everyone.
So, perhaps in the Sheep and the Goats Jesus is calling us to wear grace colored glasses.
What do you think?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I publish new posts, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
Sorry it's been a bit longer than usual between blogs, it's Reading Week at school, which means I don't have classes (although homework continues) ... so Carla and I are in Tucson visiting friends and enjoying the sun. I hope you're doing as well as we are.
One of the passages in the Bible I've long considered one of the most inspirational is Jesus talking about the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46). I don't want to post the whole passage, but the gist is in the end Jesus will come and there will be the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. He says to the sheep that when he was hungry they fed him, when he was in jail they visited him, when he was naked they clothed him, etc. And conversely he says to the goats they didn't. Both sides reply by saying, what do you mean? I don't remember feeding you? To which Jesus says, "‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’" In other words, a point he's making is that in loving and providing for those in need we're also loving and providing for Jesus.
At some level I've found myself thinking, silly goats, don't they know that to love people is to love God? ... Duh!
So, on my checklist goes: 1) Feed, clothe, visit, etc. the unfortunate ... So, when I do this I feel good.
Then, recently I was reading a book by Barbara Brown Taylor, and she points out that both the sheep and the goats are surprised by what Jesus says. The sheep are just as surprised at the goodness of their actions as the goats are at the less awesomeness of their inaction. I think perhaps this passage shows that at some level we should be ignorant of our own good works. Perhaps we should be so busy doing good that we don't even notice it?
I think today I'd sum it up by saying it's all grace. It's all grace from God that loves and saves us, which leads us to act towards others with grace.
Barbara Brown Taylor goes on to say, "One thing the sheep know how to do that the goats have never tried: to look, to see, to seek Christ in the last, the lost, the least. ... Charity is no substitute for kinship. We are not called to be philanthropists or social workers, but brothers and sisters. We are called into relationship ... We are called to look at each other and see Christ."
When we're in a healthy relationship I'd say we tend to do good things and take care of the other person without a second thought. We act out of grace, without even thinking. In some sense it'd surprise us if someone else pointed out a good deed we did for a friend. This makes me think of Carla during the accident. She stayed to take care of me for 6 months, losing her house and job and being separated from her son in the process ... A heroic act if I ever saw one, but her response is, "that's what anyone would naturally do." She acted out of grace. She saw me with grace.
Let me put it this way, Carla saw me with grace colored glasses. And I think Barbara Brown Taylor is saying we should wear them when we look at everyone.
So, perhaps in the Sheep and the Goats Jesus is calling us to wear grace colored glasses.
What do you think?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I publish new posts, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Wrestling with God
Hi Everyone-
I pray you are doing well this Sunday and enjoying the blessings of God. Another season of small groups at newlife started this week and I get to lead a group on studying the Bible, which I'm really excited about. Two of the coolest/most useful things I've learned in the last long while about studying the Bible are that we should read like a lover (as opposed to a consumer, student, etc.), which would be a good blog topic ... but it's not today's.
You might be familiar with the story in Genesis where Jacob wrestles God (Genesis 32:22-32), it's a pretty weird and memorable story. Can you imagine wrestling God? I know that seems a pretty far out there concept to my mind. That said, I think God wants us to, in a manner of speaking. Follow my thinking here:
Jacob wrestles God in the middle of the night and there's several results. First, God "touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket" (Genesis 32:25, NLT). When Jacob walks away in verse 31 he does so with a limp. This is just the first result though, the more important, and lasting, one comes later. In v. 26 Jacob asks for a blessing, and in v. 29 God blesses him. To put it bluntly, Jacob wrestles God and God blesses him for it. Wrestling God = blessing.
Now, we could say that was just Jacob and doesn't apply to everyone. However, at least two things indicate otherwise, in my mind. First, it's the Bible, the Word of God, and as such is meant to affect and apply to our lives in various ways, although not always directly/literally. More importantly, in v. 28 God renames Jacob. Jacob becomes Israel, the forefather of God's nation of people. Like many Hebrew words there are a multiplicity of meanings for "Israel", but the one that sticks out to me is incredibly relevant to this passage.
Israel means "one who wrestles with God."
Jacob wrestles God, is blessed, and God changes his name to "one who wrestles with God." AND God's chosen people are therefore named as people who wrestle with God.
Now the Bible is the Living Word of God, in many ways our most direct encounter with God. Other passages in the Bible indicate the same thing, but this one pretty literally shows God wants us to wrestle with him. Therefore, we should wrestle with God through our reading, grappling with, and striving to understand the Bible. In my mind, this means reading the Bible and wrestling with what it means to us until it blesses us. I think this applies in particular to the hard passages, like where God tells Israel to kill women and children or Paul says women shouldn't talk in church or Elijah has bears maul kids for making fun of him. We grapple with them, think about them, pray about them, and seek to comprehend them until they bless us. We many limp for a while, but God will bless us, and I think that's worth anything.
What do you think?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I publish new posts, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
I pray you are doing well this Sunday and enjoying the blessings of God. Another season of small groups at newlife started this week and I get to lead a group on studying the Bible, which I'm really excited about. Two of the coolest/most useful things I've learned in the last long while about studying the Bible are that we should read like a lover (as opposed to a consumer, student, etc.), which would be a good blog topic ... but it's not today's.
You might be familiar with the story in Genesis where Jacob wrestles God (Genesis 32:22-32), it's a pretty weird and memorable story. Can you imagine wrestling God? I know that seems a pretty far out there concept to my mind. That said, I think God wants us to, in a manner of speaking. Follow my thinking here:
Jacob wrestles God in the middle of the night and there's several results. First, God "touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket" (Genesis 32:25, NLT). When Jacob walks away in verse 31 he does so with a limp. This is just the first result though, the more important, and lasting, one comes later. In v. 26 Jacob asks for a blessing, and in v. 29 God blesses him. To put it bluntly, Jacob wrestles God and God blesses him for it. Wrestling God = blessing.
Now, we could say that was just Jacob and doesn't apply to everyone. However, at least two things indicate otherwise, in my mind. First, it's the Bible, the Word of God, and as such is meant to affect and apply to our lives in various ways, although not always directly/literally. More importantly, in v. 28 God renames Jacob. Jacob becomes Israel, the forefather of God's nation of people. Like many Hebrew words there are a multiplicity of meanings for "Israel", but the one that sticks out to me is incredibly relevant to this passage.
Israel means "one who wrestles with God."
Jacob wrestles God, is blessed, and God changes his name to "one who wrestles with God." AND God's chosen people are therefore named as people who wrestle with God.
Now the Bible is the Living Word of God, in many ways our most direct encounter with God. Other passages in the Bible indicate the same thing, but this one pretty literally shows God wants us to wrestle with him. Therefore, we should wrestle with God through our reading, grappling with, and striving to understand the Bible. In my mind, this means reading the Bible and wrestling with what it means to us until it blesses us. I think this applies in particular to the hard passages, like where God tells Israel to kill women and children or Paul says women shouldn't talk in church or Elijah has bears maul kids for making fun of him. We grapple with them, think about them, pray about them, and seek to comprehend them until they bless us. We many limp for a while, but God will bless us, and I think that's worth anything.
What do you think?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I publish new posts, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
Monday, February 6, 2012
What Temptation Tries to Do to Us
Hi Everyone-
I hope you enjoyed the Super Bowl commercials ... and the close game too. I also hope you're having a good day. I know here in the Pacific Northwest it is absolutely gorgeous, praise God. Sun, water, mountains, trees, blue sky ... wow. I think this is what heaven looks like.
Something an author wrote about the temptation of Jesus has me thinking a bit about temptation in our lives. David Ford writes that the temptations Satan used against Jesus were the opposites of his story's fulfillment, crucifixion and resurrection. Here's what he says:
"[Jesus'] death can be seen as the fulfillment of a vocation diametrically opposed to the one set before him in his temptations: acute suffering instead of physical satisfaction; weakness and humiliation instead of power and authority; utter failure inflicted by political and religious authorities instead of spectacular success by miraculous means."
The three temptations at the beginning of Jesus' ministry were to turn stone to bread (he'd been fasting for 40 days and was probably pretty hungry), to rule the world politically, and to have angels miraculously save him after he launched himself off the Temple. Ford is saying these were counter to Jesus fulfilling his mission, death and resurrection. I think this makes a lot of sense...
Satan told Jesus to gratify his hungry belly by turning stone into bread, but Jesus rejected physical gratification. Death on the cross was about the furthest one could get away from physical gratification. It was purposefully one of the most painful ways to die ever invented.
The Devil then offered Jesus political rule over all the nations of the world, which Jesus also rejected. Instead, he was eventually politically rejected himself by being crucified. Crucifixion was a political punishment the Romans used for people they viewed as rebellious.
Finally, Satan tells Jesus to jump off the Temple, because after all angels will save him. While he's dying on the cross people mock Jesus by effectively telling him to get angels to miraculously save him if he's really the Messiah. Just like in the temptation, he could have called angels in order to "further" himself, but he didn't.
I think the symmetry to these two parts, beginning and end, of Jesus' ministry is pretty cool, but more importantly I think it has good applications to our lives. I think it shows that the things we're tempted with are meant to lead us directly away from what we're meant to do. Jesus was meant to die on the cross for us, so Satan tempted him with things that would have been the exact opposite of his purpose. I'm guessing Satan would never have guessed the cross was Jesus' destination, but I'd think he did know Jesus' purposes included selflessness and sacrifice, so the Deceiver tried to tempt the Son away from these areas.
So, my questions are ... What did God make you to do? What are you tempted with? Do you see any connection, do your temptations threaten to lead you away from your purpose?
What do you think?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I publish new posts, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
I hope you enjoyed the Super Bowl commercials ... and the close game too. I also hope you're having a good day. I know here in the Pacific Northwest it is absolutely gorgeous, praise God. Sun, water, mountains, trees, blue sky ... wow. I think this is what heaven looks like.
Something an author wrote about the temptation of Jesus has me thinking a bit about temptation in our lives. David Ford writes that the temptations Satan used against Jesus were the opposites of his story's fulfillment, crucifixion and resurrection. Here's what he says:
"[Jesus'] death can be seen as the fulfillment of a vocation diametrically opposed to the one set before him in his temptations: acute suffering instead of physical satisfaction; weakness and humiliation instead of power and authority; utter failure inflicted by political and religious authorities instead of spectacular success by miraculous means."
The three temptations at the beginning of Jesus' ministry were to turn stone to bread (he'd been fasting for 40 days and was probably pretty hungry), to rule the world politically, and to have angels miraculously save him after he launched himself off the Temple. Ford is saying these were counter to Jesus fulfilling his mission, death and resurrection. I think this makes a lot of sense...
Satan told Jesus to gratify his hungry belly by turning stone into bread, but Jesus rejected physical gratification. Death on the cross was about the furthest one could get away from physical gratification. It was purposefully one of the most painful ways to die ever invented.
The Devil then offered Jesus political rule over all the nations of the world, which Jesus also rejected. Instead, he was eventually politically rejected himself by being crucified. Crucifixion was a political punishment the Romans used for people they viewed as rebellious.
Finally, Satan tells Jesus to jump off the Temple, because after all angels will save him. While he's dying on the cross people mock Jesus by effectively telling him to get angels to miraculously save him if he's really the Messiah. Just like in the temptation, he could have called angels in order to "further" himself, but he didn't.
I think the symmetry to these two parts, beginning and end, of Jesus' ministry is pretty cool, but more importantly I think it has good applications to our lives. I think it shows that the things we're tempted with are meant to lead us directly away from what we're meant to do. Jesus was meant to die on the cross for us, so Satan tempted him with things that would have been the exact opposite of his purpose. I'm guessing Satan would never have guessed the cross was Jesus' destination, but I'd think he did know Jesus' purposes included selflessness and sacrifice, so the Deceiver tried to tempt the Son away from these areas.
So, my questions are ... What did God make you to do? What are you tempted with? Do you see any connection, do your temptations threaten to lead you away from your purpose?
What do you think?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I publish new posts, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
Monday, January 30, 2012
What's the Worst Bad Word?
Hi Everyone-
I pray you are doing well and experiencing blessing in your lives. I hope that you enjoy the blog, I certainly enjoy writing about these things, to the point that I literally have a page of quotes, notes, and ideas for future blogs on my iPad.
What's the worst bad word in your opinion? I'm coming to think a "regular" word is actually one of the worst ...
In reading for a class the other day I came across this story about Carl Sundburg, a well-known historian, poet, and entertainer from years past:
A reporter interviewed him near the end of his life and asked, "What in your opinion is the ugliest word in the English language?" Sundburg paused and repeated the question. He sat silently, looked around and rephrased it. After sitting for a while longer and letting some poetic tension build he said, "The ugliest word in the English language is ... exclusive."
As I reflect on the Gospels and the story of Jesus' life, I think He very much lived against the tendency us humans have to exclude. Think about the Pharisees and religious leaders who frequently were at odds with Jesus. What words would you use to describe them? Legalistic? Judgmental? Hard-hearted? I think perhaps the best word to sum them up was exclusive, and by contrast one of the best ways to sum Jesus up is inclusive.
Time and again Jesus was accused of, or looked down upon for, hanging out with the "bad" sort of people. He ate with prostitutes, tax collectors, unclean, etc. He talked to and touched unclean foreigners. Jesus accepted everyone for who they were, He included. He didn't leave them the way they were, but He accepted them the way they were by including them right off the bat. The religious leaders, on the other hand, excluded. They were the chosen people who obeyed the laws and kept themselves clean. So, they shunned, stayed away from, and prided themselves in NOT being like the "sinners". They excluded.
Perhaps the epitome of this is the story of the Good Samaritan. In it, the religious leaders shy away from the hurt man. They don't want to become unclean, have to go out of their way, or spend their money, so they exclude him by walking on by. The Samaritan, however, goes up to and lovingly takes care of the hurt fellow, he includes him.
I think this is one of the most fundamental things that Jesus calls anyone who follows Him to do. Christ Followers and the Church are urged to strive to be as inclusive as possible. Which isn't always easy. Read Acts 10 as an excellent example. God challenges Peter to include Gentiles and has to tell him three times to get the point across. Peter's realization is summed up in Acts 10:28, "Peter told them, “You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean."
What do you think?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I publish new posts, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
I pray you are doing well and experiencing blessing in your lives. I hope that you enjoy the blog, I certainly enjoy writing about these things, to the point that I literally have a page of quotes, notes, and ideas for future blogs on my iPad.
What's the worst bad word in your opinion? I'm coming to think a "regular" word is actually one of the worst ...
In reading for a class the other day I came across this story about Carl Sundburg, a well-known historian, poet, and entertainer from years past:
A reporter interviewed him near the end of his life and asked, "What in your opinion is the ugliest word in the English language?" Sundburg paused and repeated the question. He sat silently, looked around and rephrased it. After sitting for a while longer and letting some poetic tension build he said, "The ugliest word in the English language is ... exclusive."
As I reflect on the Gospels and the story of Jesus' life, I think He very much lived against the tendency us humans have to exclude. Think about the Pharisees and religious leaders who frequently were at odds with Jesus. What words would you use to describe them? Legalistic? Judgmental? Hard-hearted? I think perhaps the best word to sum them up was exclusive, and by contrast one of the best ways to sum Jesus up is inclusive.
Time and again Jesus was accused of, or looked down upon for, hanging out with the "bad" sort of people. He ate with prostitutes, tax collectors, unclean, etc. He talked to and touched unclean foreigners. Jesus accepted everyone for who they were, He included. He didn't leave them the way they were, but He accepted them the way they were by including them right off the bat. The religious leaders, on the other hand, excluded. They were the chosen people who obeyed the laws and kept themselves clean. So, they shunned, stayed away from, and prided themselves in NOT being like the "sinners". They excluded.
Perhaps the epitome of this is the story of the Good Samaritan. In it, the religious leaders shy away from the hurt man. They don't want to become unclean, have to go out of their way, or spend their money, so they exclude him by walking on by. The Samaritan, however, goes up to and lovingly takes care of the hurt fellow, he includes him.
I think this is one of the most fundamental things that Jesus calls anyone who follows Him to do. Christ Followers and the Church are urged to strive to be as inclusive as possible. Which isn't always easy. Read Acts 10 as an excellent example. God challenges Peter to include Gentiles and has to tell him three times to get the point across. Peter's realization is summed up in Acts 10:28, "Peter told them, “You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean."
What do you think?
Grace and peace,
Lang
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Sunday, January 22, 2012
Can We Pray Without Ceasing?
Hi Everyone-
I hope you're doing well. We had a pretty crazy week with a snow storm hitting us, which threw all our schedules out of whack. Have you ever read, or heard, anything from the Bible and thought, "Yeah, that sounds cool, but it's totally not doable'? Or maybe, "Yeah, right. The author has got to be exaggerating for effect!"
I have long thought this about Paul's words in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. He writes, "Never stop praying." (NLT)
Really? Never stop praying (or "pray without ceasing" in other translations)? That can't be possible, Paul must be speaking in hyperbole. Right? I don't think I've been alone in this thought have I?
One of my classes last term was Spiritual Formation: Prayer, Practice, and Presence. We talked and read a lot about prayer. Something I learned, and am still learning, is that with intention anything/everything can become a prayer. The key word, in my opinion, is intention. First let me briefly give the foundation for this and then a couple examples.
God is everywhere. And prayer is a conversation with God. So, every place and situation contains the opportunity for conversation with God, right? So, it is technically possible to always be praying, if we recognize the opportunity.
I learned/discovered last term a few cool ways to recognize and take advantage of this truth last term. First, when I see beauty out in the world (the snow capped mountains, the sunrise, beautiful forests, etc) I try to remember to use that as an opportunity to prayerfully praise God for the goodness of His creation. Another thing I think is pretty cool is combining the Jesus Prayer with walking or running. It can look a lot of different ways, but what I've experimented with is repeating "Jesus ... Have ... Mercy" in time with my footfalls, over and over again. As I do this, some images of what this would look like come to mind as prayer-images. Finally, I like to work out. So, I've started trying to pray for God to use and bless particular body parts as I use them in a workout (biceps, shoulders, legs, abs, breath, core, etc.). I found this particularly connecting to God during the hardest parts of workouts.
I'm not saying I actually pray all the time, but I am praying more and more. Plus, I see Paul's exhortation as not a hyperbole, but a possibility.
What do you think? Is it doable? What are some ways you can imagine prayer becoming more a part of our lives?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I publish new posts, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
I hope you're doing well. We had a pretty crazy week with a snow storm hitting us, which threw all our schedules out of whack. Have you ever read, or heard, anything from the Bible and thought, "Yeah, that sounds cool, but it's totally not doable'? Or maybe, "Yeah, right. The author has got to be exaggerating for effect!"
I have long thought this about Paul's words in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. He writes, "Never stop praying." (NLT)
Really? Never stop praying (or "pray without ceasing" in other translations)? That can't be possible, Paul must be speaking in hyperbole. Right? I don't think I've been alone in this thought have I?
One of my classes last term was Spiritual Formation: Prayer, Practice, and Presence. We talked and read a lot about prayer. Something I learned, and am still learning, is that with intention anything/everything can become a prayer. The key word, in my opinion, is intention. First let me briefly give the foundation for this and then a couple examples.
God is everywhere. And prayer is a conversation with God. So, every place and situation contains the opportunity for conversation with God, right? So, it is technically possible to always be praying, if we recognize the opportunity.
I learned/discovered last term a few cool ways to recognize and take advantage of this truth last term. First, when I see beauty out in the world (the snow capped mountains, the sunrise, beautiful forests, etc) I try to remember to use that as an opportunity to prayerfully praise God for the goodness of His creation. Another thing I think is pretty cool is combining the Jesus Prayer with walking or running. It can look a lot of different ways, but what I've experimented with is repeating "Jesus ... Have ... Mercy" in time with my footfalls, over and over again. As I do this, some images of what this would look like come to mind as prayer-images. Finally, I like to work out. So, I've started trying to pray for God to use and bless particular body parts as I use them in a workout (biceps, shoulders, legs, abs, breath, core, etc.). I found this particularly connecting to God during the hardest parts of workouts.
I'm not saying I actually pray all the time, but I am praying more and more. Plus, I see Paul's exhortation as not a hyperbole, but a possibility.
What do you think? Is it doable? What are some ways you can imagine prayer becoming more a part of our lives?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I publish new posts, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Is it Important to be Disappointed?
Hi Everyone-
May this winter find you enjoying cool breezes, snow, rain, and all the other wonders it brings before new life comes in the spring. One of my classes this term is Homiletics (a class about preaching), and I'm very excited as I get to preach three times, next week being the first. So far this term I've been struck by a rather pleasant trend ... all the books I've been tasked to read so far have been great. In reading for Homiletics I came across the following conclusions about the nature of disappointments in as they pertain to our relationship with God. The author contends that instead of driving us away from the divine, they can draw us closer. She writes:
Disappointments "draw us deeper into the mystery of God's being and doing. Every time God declined to meet my expectations, another of my idols is exposed." "Did God fail to come when I called? Then perhaps God is not a minion. So who is God? Did God fail to punish my adversary? Then perhaps God is not a policeman. So who is God? Did God fail to make everything turn out all right? Then perhaps God is not a fixer. So who is God?" - Barbara Brown Taylor in Preaching LIfe
My short summary of what she's saying is that disappointments shatter our misconceptions about God, which become our idols, which allows us to know Him better/truer and draw nearer our God. I'd say the Bible is littered with tales of this. Abraham and Sarah were old and childless, which had to be very disappointing. It was only through this disappointment that they got to know the awesome power and love of God who allowed them to have a son at an age beyond the possibility of humans reproducing naturally. Take David as another example. He's anointed as the future king and kills Goliath, but then ends up hunted and on the run from Saul. He writes Psalm after Psalm lamenting his fate and pleading with God to help. I'd imagine it was pretty disappointing to know one's supposed to become king, but then be fleeing for one's very life. But, God proves His awesomeness and comes through big time for David. I think David draws nearer God in the midst of, and through, his time of disappointment.
Personally, when I got divorced I was pretty disappointed. Yet, through it I learned so much about God, I drew near to Him in ways I never had before. My life began to be transformed in ways it wouldn't have otherwise. There was a lot of significance in my disappointment I think.
How about you? Have you experienced this to be true? What do you think?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I publish new posts, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
May this winter find you enjoying cool breezes, snow, rain, and all the other wonders it brings before new life comes in the spring. One of my classes this term is Homiletics (a class about preaching), and I'm very excited as I get to preach three times, next week being the first. So far this term I've been struck by a rather pleasant trend ... all the books I've been tasked to read so far have been great. In reading for Homiletics I came across the following conclusions about the nature of disappointments in as they pertain to our relationship with God. The author contends that instead of driving us away from the divine, they can draw us closer. She writes:
Disappointments "draw us deeper into the mystery of God's being and doing. Every time God declined to meet my expectations, another of my idols is exposed." "Did God fail to come when I called? Then perhaps God is not a minion. So who is God? Did God fail to punish my adversary? Then perhaps God is not a policeman. So who is God? Did God fail to make everything turn out all right? Then perhaps God is not a fixer. So who is God?" - Barbara Brown Taylor in Preaching LIfe
My short summary of what she's saying is that disappointments shatter our misconceptions about God, which become our idols, which allows us to know Him better/truer and draw nearer our God. I'd say the Bible is littered with tales of this. Abraham and Sarah were old and childless, which had to be very disappointing. It was only through this disappointment that they got to know the awesome power and love of God who allowed them to have a son at an age beyond the possibility of humans reproducing naturally. Take David as another example. He's anointed as the future king and kills Goliath, but then ends up hunted and on the run from Saul. He writes Psalm after Psalm lamenting his fate and pleading with God to help. I'd imagine it was pretty disappointing to know one's supposed to become king, but then be fleeing for one's very life. But, God proves His awesomeness and comes through big time for David. I think David draws nearer God in the midst of, and through, his time of disappointment.
Personally, when I got divorced I was pretty disappointed. Yet, through it I learned so much about God, I drew near to Him in ways I never had before. My life began to be transformed in ways it wouldn't have otherwise. There was a lot of significance in my disappointment I think.
How about you? Have you experienced this to be true? What do you think?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I publish new posts, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Joy
Hi everyone-
I pray the new year is going great for you. I started the spring term at school this week and have some pretty interesting classes.
The professor gave used a quote in New Testament class which is really sticking with me. Here it is:
"Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God" - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
I think there's something profoundly true about this statement. What's more, from my experience I believe I've seen this to be true for myself as well as others. First, let's look at the converse. Would you consider people who are bitter or hostile close to God (generally speaking)? Wouldn't these typically be markers that someone isn't connected to the Holy One? When you're bitter do people want to be around you? I know I'm absolutely no fun when I'm bitter about something ... and if God is "with" you people will generally be drawn to you, right? So, I think one could conclude that there are attitudes that indicate a person isn't near the presence.
Now, consider the flip side. Do you know anyone whose typically pretty joyful? Don't you find yourself drawn to her/him? I know I am. It's easy to by joyful when things are going well though right? Have you ever met a person whose life circumstances just plain suck (sick, unemployed, getting divorced, etc) but they're filled with joy? Has it ever seemed to defy reason, as in there's no way they should have joy in that situation? I think that's God. God isn't about happiness, in my opinion, God is about joy. God brings joy.
With that in mind, I think joy is the best indication of a person being near to God. What do you think?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I publish new posts, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
I pray the new year is going great for you. I started the spring term at school this week and have some pretty interesting classes.
The professor gave used a quote in New Testament class which is really sticking with me. Here it is:
"Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God" - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
I think there's something profoundly true about this statement. What's more, from my experience I believe I've seen this to be true for myself as well as others. First, let's look at the converse. Would you consider people who are bitter or hostile close to God (generally speaking)? Wouldn't these typically be markers that someone isn't connected to the Holy One? When you're bitter do people want to be around you? I know I'm absolutely no fun when I'm bitter about something ... and if God is "with" you people will generally be drawn to you, right? So, I think one could conclude that there are attitudes that indicate a person isn't near the presence.
Now, consider the flip side. Do you know anyone whose typically pretty joyful? Don't you find yourself drawn to her/him? I know I am. It's easy to by joyful when things are going well though right? Have you ever met a person whose life circumstances just plain suck (sick, unemployed, getting divorced, etc) but they're filled with joy? Has it ever seemed to defy reason, as in there's no way they should have joy in that situation? I think that's God. God isn't about happiness, in my opinion, God is about joy. God brings joy.
With that in mind, I think joy is the best indication of a person being near to God. What do you think?
Grace and peace,
Lang
If you want to receive email notifications when I publish new posts, please put your email in the "Follow by email" block to the right.
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