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Blogs for May
Breaking our Addiction to the Culture
Wherever I turn lately the Lord seems to be speaking a couple of themes: discipline and devotion. Only these things will pull us away from our addiction to our culture, which crushes our spiritual life.
Gordon Cosby says that "Most of us live as addicted persons.. striving after power and money and prestige." Robert Webber says that "Evangelicalism is all about power: how to get it, how to use it, how to build big churches, how to have political influence. I think that’s the opposite
of what Jesus is all about."
It has been clearly established that very, very few people ever break free of addictions on their own. This is a journey that is only made in community, where we have love and support, transparency, trust and accountability. And so the call to be healed is also the call to come into community, to join experientially, in relationship to the body of Christ.
Eugene Peterson is another whose voice I am hearing. Peterson says that "we simply have to get our identity from the Bible, from this Biblical story. And Americans are not very good at that. We assume we are living in a Christian country, and everybody's on our side. So we let the culture shape what we're doing because it seems so benign, and then we think, "We can Christianize it." But we can't. The church is a totally counter-cultural movement. As pastors, we have to be ready to be a failure in the eyes of the culture, and if we're not, we're seduced by the culture to "being religious" in the culture's way. Of course, they reward us wonderfully when we do that!"
As for discipline, John Maxwell's newsletter arrived this morning. Here is the intro:
H.P. Liddon said, "What we do on some great occasions will probably depend upon what we already are, and what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline." I believe that with all of my heart.
Discipline is doing what you really do not want to do, so you can do what you really want to do. What makes it hard is that in our own human nature, we do not want to do certain things, and so therefore, what happens is we have a tendency to be undisciplined in the areas that we do not care to do.
Three areas to develop discipline:
1. Disciplined Thinking
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
9:30 AM
This morning I discovered that the entire contents of Cutting Edge magazine is available ONLINE. Boy.. you gotta love the Internet.
I've been intrigued by the Church of the Savior since reading the writings of Elizabeth O'Connor shortly after I became a Christian. There was something different about this group.
First, they were in touch with a deep spirituality. Their people quoted not only Billy Graham, but St. John of the Cross and Fenelon. Yet they were evangelicals.
Second, they were a true community. They lived in the same neighborhood in Washington, DC. They shared much of their resources together.
Third, they were a true mission. They didn't just hold outreach to the poor, they tried to include them in their community. They lived the words they preached. They modeled the love of Jesus not only as individuals but as a transformed community of disciples.
Furthermore, they didn't separate the personal Gospel from the social one. They took on issues of justice in their city and in their neighborhood.
Finally, they sought to be a people of God, and to dissolve the false split between clergy and laity. The article at "Cutting Edge" opens like this:
“If men and women today began by the thousands experiencing the depths of Jesus Christ in a transforming way, there would simply be no place for their expression of experience to fit into the present-day straitjackets of Christianity. Protestant or Catholic, neither one is structured to contain a mass of devoted people who long for spiritual depth. We are structured towards infancy.” Gordon Cosby, Co-founder, The Church of the Saviour
An Interview with Gordon Cosby
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
9:40 AM
"Is America Eating Too Much?"
A Health journal recently ran this article. Scary stuff.
Twenty years ago the average plate was 8" in diameter. Now the average is 12-14".
An estimated 55% of North Americans are overweight.
Portion sizes in fast food restaurants have increased dramatically since the 1970's, corresponding with the trend to obesity and heart disease.
The average person in NOrth America east 300 calories more per day than the ate in the 1970's, contributing to an average weight gain of 15 pounds per year.
A 1950's fast food burger was one to two ounces of meat. An average burger today is six to twelve ounces.
And all this consumption in the face of starvation in many parts of the world..
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
9:20 AM
Gary Goodell takes on preaching at Next-Wave. Here is an excerpt to prompt you to read the article:
Not long ago we had a similar discussion on the Postmodern mail list. To peek in on the discussion click Here.
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
11:30 AM
IBM and the Holocaust. I was browsing at Chapters last night waiting for a friend and ran across this book. Having a half hour to wait I read the intro and the first chapter. Stunning... Here is a short review...
"Was IBM, "The Solutions Company," partly responsible for the Final Solution? That's the question raised by Edwin Black's IBM and the Holocaust, the most controversial book on the subject since Daniel Jonah Goldhagen's Hitler's Willing Executioners. Black, a son of Holocaust survivors, is less tendentiously simplistic than Goldhagen, but his thesis is no less provocative: he argues that IBM founder Thomas Watson deserved the Merit Cross (Germany's second-highest honor) awarded him by Hitler, his second-biggest customer on earth. "IBM, primarily through its German subsidiary, made Hitler's program of Jewish destruction a technologic mission the company pursued with chilling success," writes Black. "IBM had almost single-handedly brought modern warfare into the information age [and] virtually put the 'blitz' in the krieg."
"The crucial technology was a precursor to the computer, the IBM Hollerith punch card machine, which Black glimpsed on exhibit at the U.S. Holocaust Museum, inspiring his five-year, top-secret book project. The Hollerith was used to tabulate and alphabetize census data. Black says the Hollerith and its punch card data ("hole 3 signified homosexual ... hole 8 designated a Jew") was indispensable in rounding up prisoners, keeping the trains fully packed and on time, tallying the deaths, and organizing the entire war effort. Hitler's regime was fantastically, suicidally chaotic; could IBM have been the cause of its sole competence: mass-murdering civilians? Better scholars than I must sift through and appraise Black's mountainous evidence, but clearly the assessment is overdue."
"The moral argument turns on one question: How much did IBM New York know about IBM Germany's work, and when? Black documents a scary game of brinksmanship orchestrated by IBM chief Watson, who walked a fine line between enraging U.S. officials and infuriating Hitler. He shamefully delayed returning the Nazi medal until forced to--and when he did return it, the Nazis almost kicked IBM and its crucial machines out of Germany. (Hitler was prone to self-defeating decisions, as demonstrated in How Hitler Could Have Won World War II.)"
"Black has created a must-read work of history. But it's also a fascinating business book examining the colliding influences of personality, morality, and cold strategic calculation."
Margaret Wheatley has a new book out titled "Turning to One Another." Margaret is the author of "Leadership and the New Science" and more recently "A Simpler Way," both excellent works considering discoveries in the scientific world and their implications for the way we organize ourselves.
Last night I was thinking that when the Gospel came to us it came to a Hebrew (eastern) culture and then was rapidly transplanted into a Greek (western) culture. With every translation the emphasis shifts and we risk losing something. It seems to me that postmodern culture is more similar to eastern culture than to western culture, and so we are seeing not only a cultural clash, but an improved soil for the Gospel, more similar to the soil of birth.
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
8:30 AM
For the past six years or so I've made my living as a journalist. Prior to that I worked for four a half years as a marriage and family counsellor.
For nineteen years of my 45 years I have been a student. Now in some strange circle I find myself returning to both of these paths.
I am well on the road to hanging out a shingle again-- back to the counselling vocation. This is unexpected, though I have wondered occasionally whether I would find myself here again.
Returning to a vocation one has left behind feels strange. I wonder if I am moving backwards? I wonder if I a returning to the beginning "to know the place for the first time" (TS Eliot).
"All my life's a circle" someone wrote years ago. Maybe it's true.
I'm looking for a good PhD program that I can work on in my spare time. I'd prefer it was headed by a Christian or even part of a Seminary program (as at Fuller). I can't afford to study full time and I don't have a lot of interest in that approach any more. If you know of a good program in counselling psychology that can be done via distance learning, drop me a note.
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
9:30 AM
Of all the songwriters I have quoted over the years, I have quoted Bruck Cockburn more than any. The most common quote? There are two, but here is one of them:
Those who know don't have the words to tell;
Last night I watched an interview on CBC "Life and Times" recorded late in 2001. It felt really good to hear his life story in a cohesive frame. I've been a serious fan of his since 1981, so I've been able to follow his journey through his music. His life has often touched mine in powerful ways.
Bruce Cockburn has been performing for three decades, and his lyrics have been compared to the poetry of Wallace Stevens and T.S. Eliot. He's won ten Junos, and has twenty gold and platinum records. He's also highly visible as a social and environmental activist. On July 4th Bruce was named an Officer of the Order of Canada, one of the highest honors our country can confer.
Bruce became a believer somewhere around 1975. After that time his music increasingly reflected a spiritual perspective. Naturally, he also began to struggle with the wide divergence between the life and reality of Jesus and his experience of the church in the world.
In 1979 his song "Wonder Where the Lions Are" catapulted him to international fame. In 1999 his release "Last Night of the World" was a big hit in the USA, increasing his visibility as a world class artist and activist.
I suppose the most impressive thing about Bruce is his integrity as a believer and an artist. If you'd like to know more about him and his music try these links:
and some lyrics from a favorite song..
Child Of The Wind
I love the pounding of hooves
There's roads and there's roads
(CHORUS:)
Little round planet
One of the best known Bruce Cockburn Websites: Stealing Fire
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
10:10 AM
More thoughts on healing and theological systems...
I often run into people, usually less mature in their faith, who have heard of someone who experienced immediate healing, or who personally know someone who has been healed, and so they expect the same experience. If they pray for healing and are not healed, or if they attend a healing meeting and are not healed, they become depressed and feel that there is something wrong with them. They feel rejected by the Lord.
In their thinking, instant healing is "Plan A," suffering doesn't fit in their grid, and there is no "Plan B."
This set of assumptions seems even more common when dealing with addictions and mental disorders. Bob hears that Joe was immediately delivered of alcoholism (I know several people personally who have experienced this), and so Bob attends a bunch of meetings seeking deliverance. Deliverance doesn't happen, so Bob concludes that God is not there, is not trustworthy, is not Good, or has personally rejected him.
What is really happening here? An inadequate theology of the church and of spiritual growth.
Huh?
"Speaking the truth in love, we grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ--from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by that which every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causing the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." Eph. 4:15, 16
This is the normal plan of God for bringing us to wholeness. Jesus is present in His body, and it is as we love and serve one another that we are healed.
I know a few people who have been instantly delivered of addictions.. to alcohol, sex, cocaine, etc. But I know of many, many more who were healed through love, counsel, support and accountability. These people literally grew out of their addictions in the context of loving community -- the body of Christ operating as it should.
It's the Presence of Christ that heals. Sometimes that Presence is unmediated. I know people who were healed in their beds alone in the middle of the night. Sometimes that Presence is mediated by the prayer of one or two others.. the typical healing meeting or small group encounter. Sometimes, and most often, that Presence is mediated by a gathered group of people caring for one another. In this most common method of healing, the dynamic of love and support continues over months before people experience freedom. Freedom often comes slowly, and with struggle and failure.
This walking together toward freedom is where we get the counselling model that has become so prominent in our culture. Even when it is divorced from its spiritual roots, it remains a powerful model. Witness the thousands who have been freed from addiction in twelve-step groups.
"Community is the place where the healing of our own lives becomes the foundation for the healing of the nations."
"The ability of people to move to a new place tomorrow depends on the love and acceptance they feel today . . The only thing greater than our awareness of each other's sins is the awareness of God's love for us and God's desire to see us healed and made whole. The principal lesson of community is. . that God breaks in at the weak places." Jim Wallis
Healing in community is not "Plan B." It is not second best. The Lord designed us to be connected to others and to care for one another. His life in His body is as real in community as it is in individuals, but the gathered body has wisdom and power that the individual does not have. We know Him best in His body. Collectively, we are the dwelling place of God in the Spirit, a living Temple, the bride of Christ.
We live in an "instant fix" culture. We want to end the pain NOW. We read the Psalms and hear David move from pain and brokeness to praise in a few verses, and feel that real life is like that. In reality, most of these Psalms look back over months or years of struggle.
Thank God for deliverance. Thank God for healing when it is instant. Thank God for His body, and for the natural process of growth toward freedom.
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
10:10 AM
We have a local "apostolic" group doing a lot of evangelism in our area lately. They call themselves "Oasis of Love." I received an email notice from someone this morning of Pastor Ndifon's upcoming crusade.
They seem a truly sincere and evangelical group, and they emphasize healing. They seem fairly humble in spirit and genuinely loving in character. These are good things and I wouldn't want to underestimate them.
Curious, we've asked a few questions. This is a word-faith group, and while it may not be quite as simple as name-it-and-claim-it, blab-it-and-grab-it, if-you-doubt-you'll-do-without.. they really do believe that sickness is always from the enemy, and no believer should ever have to suffer with illness. I'm not sure if any of them ever die, but if they do there is an incongruency here somewhere.
It's not just a naive attitude with regard to suffering that worries me, however, it's what they do to make Scripture work with their system. You see, there are some passages in Paul that don't really fit.
Some of those passages include "If we suffer with Him, we will be glorified with Him," and "to know Him, the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering."
I can't blame them for looking for an easy way out. These are strange paradoxical statements.
Their answer to the inexplicable teachings of Paul is simple. Paul wasn't perfect. Sometimes he is expressing his limited human perspective. If Paul and Jesus disagree, go with Jesus.
In that simple answer doubt is cast on the entire body of Paul's writings. What hermeneutic can we then apply?
Easy. We take a position we like, and when Scripture disagees with it, we ignore the difference or attribute error to the writer. This is the basis of every heretical movement ever founded.
So what is the answer? Both power and pain, suffering and glory. Paul's statements are at the heart of the experience of the Cross, an experience that is impressed on the life of every believer in order to mold them into the image of the Crucified One.
The answer is both/and, the answer is paradox. The kingdom is both now, and not yet. We live between the times.
I believe in healing; I've seen it. I believe Jesus came to set the oppressed free. I believe in the power of the resurrection. I believe in the risen and glorified Christ, and His residence in me, and mine in Him.
I also believe in the falleness of creation, that Jesus victory was in defeat, that His suffering gave me life, that the Father sent Him to the cross to suffer and die a real death. I believe in full identification with Him. Until He returns, I'll live in that tension.
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
12:10 AM
After two weeks of writing and revision with Rob McAlpine, our article on "Postmodern Possibilities" is more or less complete.
What are some of the facets of postmodern culture that offer a unique opportunity for the Gospel?
I've decided to post the article in its current form while we work on another presentation. Rob is a graphic artist and is going to translate the current heady experience to a more visual and holistic form.
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
10:00 AM
"Scripture is in the hands, but not in the power, of the church. The church is most faithful to its tradition, and realizes its unity with the church of every age, when, linked but not tied to its past, it today searches the Scriptures and orients its life by them as though this had to happen today for the first time." Church Dogmatics, Karl Barth.
For some reason I have had Karl Barth on my mind for the last few weeks. Not that I am obsessed with theology.. and not that I think about Karl Barth every waking moment.. just that for some reason in quiet moments I find myself remembering a few of the things I have read by him or about him and I am curious to know more.
For those who don't know.. here is a bite..
"With a new generation of theologians reevaluating the theology of Karl Barth, some are suggesting that this pivotal figure of the 20th century may enjoy his greatest influence in the 21st. Doubtless many readers will recoil at such a prospect, but that may be because their own assumptions about Barth do not correspond to the vitality of Barth’s own work. The purpose of Christian theology for Barth was not to pursue any sort of "ism" but to understand the gospel, to hear the Word of God afresh, and thereby to resolve at every turn "to begin again at the beginning." From Barth and Beyond by Wm Johnson
Links? You want links? Barth at Religion Online
Try also The Postmodern Barth
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
1:10 PM
Peter Mansbridge of CBC
interviewed BONO of U2 on the AIDS crisis in Africa on June 28th.
"If I'm speaking to you, Peter, next year and there hasn't been a real historic movement to deal with the problem of AIDS in the world and to deal with a continent like Africa bursting into flames while we all stand around with watering cans, I'm going to feel like I have been had. Worse than that, I'm going to feel like I've been a tourist in other people's tragedies. I'll feel I let those people down."
"I'm still going to go there. I'm going to represent a broad movement. We will be back next year and you'll be hearing from me. You'll be hearing from the sleeping giant that is the church. I mean, what is going on with the churches? It is incredible. I tell these evangelicals in the United States there are 2,300 verses of scripture about the poor. It's the central message outside of personal redemption, the idea of dealing with the poor. And I'm asking them, where are they? Where are they on this? On a recent poll of evangelical churches, only six per cent said they wanted to do something about AIDS. It is unbelievable, the leprosy of our time if you like. But it's starting to turn; the Church is starting to wake up."
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
4:10 PM
Hot. Heat-waves. Desert. Hot-winds.
Western Canada is experiencing a heat wave. We gave up trying to survive in our normally cool home and spent the last six hours of the day at the beach yesterday. It's a huge lake but shallow. The water was around 80 degrees F. When the breeze finally picked up even the breeze was hot.
I'm guessing that the thermostat will hit 100 today, or around 40 C. I've been busily working on a few articles in my cool basement, but cool hits about 72 F by 6 PM. Off to the lake again today. Nice way to spend time with friends anyway.
Meanwhile we are picking cherries. Our trees have borne heavily again this year.
This morning the sprinklers came on at 7:30, and we were out picking by 8:15 for some canning. It was already about 75 F outside. When we were under the trees we were showered by the wet leaves.. very refreshing. It had me thinking about Adam in the garden, where "the mist rose up and watered the garden." I'll bet the mornings involved him picking exotic fruit from trees dripping cool water. Ahhhhhhhh.... heaven. And then the taste of that pre-fall fruit..
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
4:10 PM
Jordon Cooper writes that he has started a new email list. I was half hoping he would do it.. half hoping he would not :)
But now that he has done it.. aghh!. I guess I'll have to subscribe. Here is his announcement.
"Ahoy, I am working at getting some Canadian pastors networked together and talking to one another (online at first and then in person). I have started a Yahoo! Groups e-mail list that you can sign up by sending an e-mail to canadiancontext-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. If you can pass the word along, that would be helpful."
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
11:40 AM
In conversation with a friend last night about postmodernism. I'm convinced that our changing culture offers a unique opportunity for the gospel.
I'm equally convinced that the postmodern critique of the church offers a unique opportunity for renewal. And ultimately, these two opportunities are one. A renewed church will have a tremendous impact on our culture. Conversely, the church which fails to recognize the divine opportunity will become irrelevant and fade into the past.
Cleansing the Lens
My wife was sitting across from me, framed by the window that looks out across our small city. Although the sky was mostly cloudy, enough light filtered through the sky and through the glass to fill our living room. But I had a problem. My non-reflective lenses were greasy, and they were reflecting and refracting light in a variety of directions. It was really hard to see her expression as we talked about kingdom things.
I wonder how much of what I see is distorted by my own habits, experience, needs and fears. I wonder how much of the light in me is still darkness?
From time to time we have to clean the lens, or it distorts everything and it limits God's ability to reveal Himself to us.
From "Diary of an Old Soul," by George MacDonald.
"My prayers, my God, flow from what I am not;
Out of strange strife thy peace is strangely wrought;
By loss on loss I have severely gained
Less hopeless far the miser man might try
"Yet hints come to me from the realm unknown;
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
11:40 AM
"Postmodernism is a huge threat. Advocating the impossibility of knowing truth, it throws off all limits and casts us adrift in a sea of doubt."
"Postmodernism is a tremendous opportunity. It offers the potential for the rediscovery of spiritual reality and the integration of faith in everyday life."
Two positions. Two opinions. Is one position true, or both?
As I began researching the postmodern movement, I came across a host of opinions and observations, many contradictory. Furthermore, even postmodern advocates disagree as to definition. What is postmodernism anyway? Is it a cultural shift, or a worldview? What are its main tenets? And does postmodernism represent a crisis for the church, or an opportunity?
A Critique of the Modern World
If we can't have definition, we can move toward understanding. Leonard Sweet comments on Thomas Kuhn's "paradigm shift" that,
"When Thomas Kuhn introduced the language of "paradigm change" in The Structures of Scientific Revolutions, I wish he had used another phrase for "paradigm:" metaphor change.
"They mean the same thing. Paradigm is another word for "root metaphors." When the root metaphors change, so does everything else. The imaginative architecture of the modern world has collapsed, is in ruins, and a new imaginative architecture is emerging." (Interview at GINKWORLD.NET)
On one tenet most interpreters agree: postmodern culture represents a profound critique of modernism. Since the western church is a modern institution, the postmodern critique of culture also represents a powerful critique of the church. That critique, for a variety of reasons, is threatening to many of the old generation of leaders.
Postmodernism is a threat to some because they fear what they fail to understand. Imagine a Christian from the first century walking into a contemporary church service. Separated by 2000 years of history and culture, our modern church would be unintelligible to Peter or Paul. Similarly, moderns are a world-view distant from postmoderns.
Postmodernism is a threat to others because they have no first hand experience of it. They rely on modern interpreters who are reacting in fear. As a result, many modern leaders only hear a caricature of postmodern positions. They see only the negative, and not the possibilities.
For example, many modern leaders hear that in the postmodern worldview there is no possibility of objective truth. They assume that postmodern Christians must adopt relativism, and therefore "Christian" and "postmodern" appear as a contradiction in terms. They believe that to be postmodern is to lose every anchor point in Christian history. As a result, they are left with no option but to reject the postmodern critique of culture.
In reality, most postmodern Christians do not reject the historic faith or the reality of revelation. Instead, they reject modern assumptions and embrace paradox and the postmodern critique of culture. Often this is done with the hope of stripping away modern distortions and recovering the ancient faith once delivered.
"Modern society was a culture that consumed its own past. In contrast, post-modern pilgrims honor the bones of the dead and make those bones live." Leonard Sweet
When church leaders reject the postmodern movement, they risk becoming isolated from the culture they live in. This in turn guarantees that the church communities they build will gradually stagnate and die, becoming museum communities rather than missional communities. Instead, modern leaders must listen to the tolling of the bell that indicates the death of the modern world, and not ask for whom the bell tolls.
What are some of the tenets of postmodernism that offer a unique opportunity for the Gospel? Let's list them:
In the next article to appear here, we'll consider these items one by one...
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
10:00 AM
Project von Bora is underway. The discovery of a large man-made rectilinear structure on the top of Mount Ararat is a fascinating study. I've read through the reports and applications (to the Turkish government) on this website. If you're interested in archaeology or in the historicity of the Genesis account, this is a fascinating read.
Faking Fullness
"Have you noticed that true hunger has an uncanny ability to make us genuinely real and brutally honest? Just the mention of the word "hunger" recalls the image of a hungry baby who thinks nothing of disrupting a church service to display his hunger.
"Jesus must have had the boldness of a hungry baby in mind when he said, "Unless you are converted and become like little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."
"Some of us have faked fulness for most of our Christian lives. Whether in church or on the job, we live with a pasted-on smile, and we refuse to leave home without it. More and more fakers of fulness are saying, "I've had enough of that." Their inner hunger is beginning to get the best of them, and God is getting interested." (Tommy Tenney, "The God Catchers")
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
9:25 AM
John O'Keefe is a thoughtful guy. He is also a postmodern pastor and the founder of Ginkworld.
I was browsing the site this morning and decided to browse some of John's previous articles. I found some great stuff, and one in particular that looks to be from September, 2001. John's draft article on Church XP, the Upgrade is worth your time, as is his other writing.
Efficiency revisited
According to the World Evangelization Research Center it currently costs $330,000 for each and every conversion made within the church system. You and I know that the reason the cost is so high is because of the huge amount of money we invest in buildings, programs for the converted, and staff.
This past year I know of numerous house churches which doubled in size via conversion alone. I decided to interview a couple of house church leaders on their "cost per convert." (Ech.. I hate the category.. but I think the comparison is worth making).
What I came up with, if you include the cost of a mortgage or rent (relating to the building centered paradigm) is about $1000 per convert. Hmm. Another great argument for change.
More on Tribalism
Dave Bodine and crew have initiated a new website called Tribalchurch. Looks to me like they are on the right track.
Dave introduces the website with this: "The Tribal Church concept is a different way of doing Church. Still in its infancy, we seek to involve a global discussion on the tribal
church concept. We believe God is doing a new thing amongst the
"tribes" around the world. Tribal Church is a response to the
underground move of God among the dissatisfied around the corner and
around the world. Vibrant people with a passion to reinvent 'church'
that is relevant are linking together and working it out for
themselves."
You can also join the mail list discussion for this new group at http://www.tribalchurch.org/discuss.htm
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
2:05 PM
A friend sent a link to Tribal Generation, a ministry dedicated to networking Christians and supporting new expressions of church. The site looks good, and quite large. Worth exploring.
Dave Bodine of the Northwest Revival Network has written up a briefing on tribal church that is really helpful. Dave lays out the vision as well as citing some startling statistics.
For example, did you know that Christians spend more on the audits of their various churches and agencies than they spend on all their workers in the non-Christian world? Did you know that the total cost of Christian outreach averages $330,000 for each and every newly baptized person? Whew... where did we go wrong?
Read Tribal Church.
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
11:35 AM
"Two people were shot dead and at least two others were wounded Thursday at Los Angeles International Airport after a gunman opened fire at the ticket counter for Israel's El Al Airlines, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department said. The gunman was one of those killed. He was shot by El Al security personnel."
July 4th, the American Independence Day. CNN is reporting only this incident so far. Let's pray there won't be any more.
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
1:35 PM
Blog-block.
I stare at the page. It stares back at me. Fear and anxiety.
This happens to writers on occasion. It isn't that there is nothing to say, nothing to write. It's that nothing presents itself with the required passion to make the writing appear worthwhile.
ie. lack of motivation.
It's a dull day. I don't think I am much affected by weather. SAD and I haven't actually met.
Probably a combination of post-holiday fatigue.. Generally feeling tired and need another night to catch up on sleep. Facing the mundane tasks of back to work as a freelance writer. Same old same old. Working up ideas and submitting them to editors who then grab or reject them. Meantime I myself am rarely much excited about said ideas, so can I blame them?
Sigh.
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
1:30 PM
I just returned with my family from a trip to the coast and my Dad's 75th birthday. The celebration was a great success.
On the final day, just when we were about to return from Vancouver to my sister-in-law's home near Chilliwack, the fuel pump in our car died. This is the second car in two years where we have had to replace an electric pump. The bill both times was $500. Ooooh.. that hurts. These things are so trivial.. and so annoying when the budget is tight. I can think of a million things we need more than a new fuel pump.
Yet life is like that. It throws us unpredictable curves. We have to affirm, in the midst of this, that our God reigns.
* * *
The postmodern list raised the question of eternal security. I've never liked the question much, since the New Testament doesn't directly raise it.
One of the list contributors responded with these thoughts:
"..this is a core of the Evangelical historical trap... a focus on self rather than
God in the relation of God and person... so that the first thing that comes to mind is "am I saved?"
"To focus instead on God, and let GO of self, is a revolution as radical as moving from geocentric
ptolemaic space to the sun centered model. It is a revolution which for many Evangelicals will seem
a betrayal of what religion is about..."
He is right. We evangelicals on the whole have placed self at the center of the Universe. We ask how everything affects us. In the end, faith becomes all about us instead of about HIM and His Kingdom. Our individualistic culture seems to make this inevitable. As a result we sometimes ask the wrong questions.. and that gets us in trouble. CS Lewis addresses the problem when he comments that..
One of the tensions we have lost on this question of salvation is the tension of the now and the not yet kingdom. The kingdom is present.. yet it is to come. It is here.. but it is still arriving. So with salvation.. we are saved.. and we are being saved. Salvation is both an accomplished event, and a process.
That blows our categories and our attempt at neat and clear-cut answers.
It's not about my salvation.. it's about His kingdom. Furthermore, it's not about my salvation alone.. it's about what He is doing in building His church. We are primarily a community and a people on a journey.. the laos of God.
Our western culture has individualized salvation. Yet the Scriptures seem to
speak more of the church than the individual. The images are communal.. we are a living Temple, a body, and a people. This answer of the communal nature of the body of Christ is tough to frame post Einstein in an individualistic (and atomic) Universe, where we were focused on the parts more than the whole. Rationalism pushes us in this direction out of our need for control.
But this means that the current postmodern perspective may be helpful. In the quantum world of Neils Bohr and David Bohm "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.." and the parts cannot be known in isolation. The community is more real than the individual. The body is more real than the Christian. In fact.. maybe the isolated Christian doesn't really exist.
We may not entirely like the implications, particularly those of us who were raised in the "modern" church. The concept of covenant has been abused, because we used it as one more means of control rather than as a means of release in relation to the kingdom call of Jesus. I wonder what we'll discover as we walk out this new understanding?
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
4:15 PM
The science of photonics deals with light. Not long ago a Canadian scientist was convinced that with a pure enough material, light could be captured. No material pure enough to capture light exists in nature.
Eventually he convinced other scientists that it could be possible to capture light, and within a few years a tiny silicon crystal was created that was so pure, no light would escape it. This discovery will eventually revolutionize communications and computers. Moore's law could soon be history.
posted by Len Hjalmarson |
3:30 PM
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