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May 31, 2006
commenting...
I hated to do this, but I installed Typekey last night because spam has been killing me. Besides the 300 plus spam that is filtered out everyday, I have to delete another 200 or so. That just takes up way too much time that I don't have.
Commenting is very important to me and I want to keep it a part of my blog. So I hope that you will continue to comment using Typekey, and I will begin to verify regular commenters so that there won't be any future hassle.
If any of you have any great ideas to get around spam besides this measure, I am all ears.
Posted by rhett at 11:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
My post 1am reflection...for what it's worth!
It's 1:03 am and I was just thinking and reflecting on this verse. I know that as the school year winds down and many of my students ponder their uncertain futures, this time of life can present itself with a lot of anxiety. And often to calm people's anxieties we "toss" Bible verses at them, or amusingly remark "that everything is going to work out okay." This may all be true, but saying these things is different than being these things to people, or modeling these things to others.
Does that make sense? What good is it to throw a verse out there at someone if you are not "being" that verse if you will. What good is it to throw out your wisdom, without being a presence in that person's life.
Proverbs 3:5-8 (NIV)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
The beauty of trusting in the LORD is that we have a relationship with Him. Scripture does not throw out advice or truth in hopes that it may may "stick" and work on some people. Rather, Scripture is truth that is lived out in real life relationships with people.
Why am I ranting on this? As we approach the end of this school year, look around and think about those students who need your prayers, who need your time and presence. Rather than just throwing out some cliche like, "Don't worry, everything works itself out", why don't you be that presence that helps others trust in the LORD....that presence that points to the power of Christ in your life.
I am learning a lot about this in counseling. When someone comes in the room and sits across from me they can immediately discern whether or not I am a calming and non-anxious presence...if I am not, the anxiety in the room increases...if I am, then they can relax and begin to trust the relationship that is forming between the client and the therapist.
I think the same goes with us and God at times. If others can sense a non-anxious presence and that we trust the LORD, then it allows others the desire to want to have that...to be in on that relationship. But if we as Christians present ourselves as always anxious and not trusting, then we nothing we say will impact the lives around us.
So for all my students and friends who find themselves at some difficult crossroads in life right now...I am praying for you. And I am praying that our relationship can be a model of what it looks like to trust in the LORD and allow Him to guide our path.
Posted by rhett at 01:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
"Crowdsourcing"
Rich Kirkpatrick has a great post, Crowdsourcing: New Way to Look at Church Volunteers. Rich reflects on an article in Wired Magazine and how it may apply to church volunteers.
Technology continues to influence our lives in many ways and it is going to transform how we minister.
Posted by rhett at 12:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 30, 2006
a few notes....
Yeah, I exactly haven't been posting much the last few weeks. These last few weeks have been absolutely nuts, and I am hoping that as soon as my quarter ends (this week) I will be able to pick up the pace and post daily.
I am excited that the God Blog Conference website is up and running. Check it out......
Also, does anyone have any suggestions on filtering out spam...I am getting killed by it. Help please.
Posted by rhett at 10:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 26, 2006
Creative and Artsy Fridays...
Many bloggers seem to be displaying their more creative sides on Friday's.
Brent Thomas is doing "Poetry (and sometimes music) Friday.
Joe Thorn and Steve McCoy display photos.
So in honor of these guys and everyone else who displays their creative sides on their blogs or in any other context, I leave you with a quote from one of my favorite theologians.
"It is a feeble view of art that isolates it as a sphere of its own for those who find it amusing. The word and command of God demand art, since it is art that sets us under the word of the new heaven and the new earth. Those who, in principle or out of indolence, want to evade the anticipatory creativity of aesthetics are certainly not good. Finally, in the proper sense, to be unaesthetic is to be immoral and disobedient."
-Karl Barth, Ethics [lectures from 1928-29], ed. Dietrich Braun (New York: Seabury Press, 1981), p. 510.
HT: Ben Myers, from which I pulled this entire quote
Posted by rhett at 01:50 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
"For the love of God: 20 Theologians and why we love them."
That is the title of the blogging series that Ben Myers is currently posting. Great stuff. Check it out.
Posted by rhett at 01:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
"Serving the University"
Chris Gonzalez has got some great posts on Serving the University over at his site. Chris pastors a college group that serves primarily Arizona State University. That is a huge campus, and so I respect very much the great work Chris has done in bringing Christ's love to ASU.
Posted by rhett at 01:41 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
"Death by Ministry"--Driscoll
Mark Driscoll has posted a blog on Death by Ministry.
In it he looks at "Some Statistics", "Some Signs", "Some Solutions." Great stuff.
I have tried really hard recently to not let technology rule my life. In fact, I posted this last week regarding my struggle to use technology, but not to be ruled or dictated by it.
I have also tried really hard to carve out a Sabbath day each week, which I often find very difficult.
And I agree with Driscoll about working out. I do not think I would be able to survive my schedule and ministry if I wasn't working out regularly. It is one of the things that keeps me sane, and keeps my daily clock and schedule balanced. I have been running about 2-3 days a week and lifting about 2-3 days a week, and I have never felt better. Doing it in the morning really keeps me on track all day, though I don't always get up in time.
I can see how many pastors burn out fairly quickly and Driscoll takes a sobering look at this.
Posted by rhett at 01:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Brian has had enough....
My friend Brian has had about enough of people talking crap about John MacArthur.
Brian was in our college ministry when he was a senior. He later became my intern after he graduated from college while he was attending seminary at John MacArthur's The Master's Seminary.
Brian is a great guy and did a wonderful job mentoring many of the college guy's and overseeing many of the Bible studies. We definitely had some interesting talks over the last few years, and we often poke jokes at each other about one another's experiences at our respective seminaries (Fuller and Masters).
Brian finished up interning with me after the 2004-2005 school year and went on to plant Shoreline church.
Brian says some nice things about me in his post, but the reality is, is that we both learned a lot from each other. I think one of the things that we learned the most was the ability to work together even though we had some differences theologically, ministerially, etc. I think it was a process that refined both of us in many ways.
I have been known to do my fair share of pointing out some things I disagree with MacArthur over as well. But I am learning more than ever that if we are going to really change the cities and communities that we find ourselves in, it's going to take more than us just staying in our own little cozy, theological camps. We are going to need to come out and work together across denominational and theological lines.
And even though Brian and I have headed different directions and have different ideas, I know that we still have the ability to come together and work together on some very important things.
Posted by rhett at 01:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 22, 2006
Are you Biblically illiterate? Fascinating reading...
David Plotz over at Slate Magazine is doing a series called "Blogging the Bible." I have always wanted to do this myself, so I am interested in reading his observations. Plotz who describes himself as a "proud Jew, but never a terribly observant one, " became interested in doing this when he read the story of the rape of Jacob's daughter Dinah in Genesis 34 and the unsettling details that followed. Though he grew up reading and studying the stories in Hebrew school and in a rigorous Christian high school, it was this story that he doesn't remember being taught. He says,
This is not a story they taught me at Temple Sinai's Hebrew School in 1980: The founding fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel lie, breach a contract, encourage pagans to convert to Judaism only in order to incapacitate them for slaughter, murder some innocents and enslave others, pillage and profiteer, and then justify it all with an appeal to their sister's defiled honor.
I think there are many Christians that find themselves in similar circumstances. They begin to read parts of the Bible that they find very disturbing and they wonder why they were never taught those passages growing up, or why the same stories were made to be so nice and tame when they were little.
So Plotz has decided to blog through the Bible, posting observations from the viewpoint of someone who is ignorant to the Christian or religious teaching of it. He says,
Like many lax but well-educated Jews (and Christians), I have long assumed I knew what was in the Bible--more or less.........
So, what can I possibly do? My goal is pretty simple. I want to find out what happens when an ignorant person actually reads the book on which his religion is based. I think I'm in the same position as many other lazy but faithful people (Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus). I love Judaism; I love (most of) the lessons it has taught me about how to live in the world; and yet I realized I am fundamentally ignorant about its foundation, its essential document. So, what will happen if I approach my Bible empty, unmediated by teachers or rabbis or parents? What will delight and horrify me? How will the Bible relate to the religion I practice, and the lessons I thought I learned in synagogue and Hebrew School?
I'll spend the next few weeks (or months) finding out. I'll begin with "in the beginning" and see how far I get. My wife, struck by my new biblical obsession, gave me a wonderful Torah translation and commentary for Hannukah, the Etz Hayim, which was prepared by conservative Jewish scholars. I'll read that and dip into the King James and other translations on occasion. (But I'll avoid most commentary, since the whole point is to read the Bible fresh.) I'm sure I'll repeat obvious points made by thousands of biblical commentators before; I'll misunderstand some passages and distort others--hey, that'll be part of the fun. I hope you'll tell me how I've screwed up by e-mailing me at plotzd@slate.com.
I am very interested in what observations David will be making, and in fact, I am already a little behind in my reading since he has already begun posting. But I wonder this. How many Christians have ever read the entire Bible from cover to cover? I didn't till I was 23 years old. And why haven't we read the entire Bible? If it is the inspired book that we live our life by, and are willing to even lay down our life for, why haven't you read it? I am amazed at what people will fight tooth and nail over concerning the Bible, and then I find out they haven't even read the whole thing. If that is the case, then I think you will be curious at the observations that Plotz makes. Post-seminary, and five years into being a pastor, I know I am still amazed more and more everyday at the parts that I missed before. I am amazed more and more at the questions I have as well.
Check out his post and I would be interested to see what you think.
Posted by rhett at 03:47 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Being the "Bible Answer Man" and the pilgrimage of theology....
Last Tuesday night I went out to Brentwood to attend one of the guy's Bible studies that meets in our college ministry. It is getting near the end of the school year and they had me out so that they could pose a lot of different questions to me...to see if I could give them some sufficient answers to some difficult questions. What was really intriguing to me was that the questions they asked me, were really many of the same questions that I remember asking others when I was in college. It's almost as if there is a path that people, or at least college guys, have to tread, and have certain questions answered, if they are to move forward. And I say college guys, because I think that I remember college girls asking different questions. That is a stereotype, but I don't generally remember the guys and girls asking the same questions, though they both were important to one's faith development. But, we were in non-coed Bible studies, so what do I know.
So it was no surprise that the first question posed to me was in regards to Romans 9:13-21. So you know where that question is going. Free will vs. determinism. Predestination. Etc. With some minor discussion about open theism.
Then the question meandered over to the problem of evil, or theodicy.
Then the discussion led to Biblical inerrancy and infallibility.
Then we ultimately closed with a lengthy discussion on Creation and issues relating to it. Was the earth created in 7 days? Are parts of Genesis to be taken literally, like the Creation account, the flood, etc.? What do we make of the multiple creation and flood stories in other cultures that predate and have similarities to the Biblical account?
That is the gist of the two hour conversation that I had with about eight guys last week. Needless to say that I was a little overwhelmed. Not because I hadn't asked those same questions myself. Not because I haven't already studied those ideas in detail. But rather, how do you answer tough questions, but allow people to come to the conclusions themselves; to mature and to grow. Meaning, how do you not just become the "Bible Answer Man" that spews out answers, but doesn't challenge others to take on and own their faith and wrestle with the tough issues. These guys are all very smart guys, and they have taken on and owned their faith, and are clearly wrestling with these questions. And I think they were just generally interested in what I had to say, especially as I have been pastoring them, and some of them for over four years.
What do you do when you come to an antinomy in the Scriptures for example. For example, what do you do when you come to passages that seem to stress God's sovereignty over an issue, say salvation, like Romans 9. But then you have passages, say in John's gospel (3:16-17), where one's belief in God seems to require an act of free will and not coercion. How do we hold these two in tension with each other?
I have a lot of questions. And I think I have a lot more questions now at 31 years old than I had prior in life. Some questions have been answered for me, and others seem to be unanswerable, or require me to live in mystery without trying to have everything figured out.
The difficulty in being a pastor in ministry comes when tension arrives between feeling the pressure to be the "answer man" and have everything figured out for the congregation, and sometimes wrestling with your own questions, and not wanting to be inauthentic by throwing out an answer to satisfy. My students know this well about me. They know when I am being inauthentic and have doubts and questions about certain things, versus when I am really passionate and have little or no doubts in some areas.
Now hear me clearly here. This is not to say that we wade out into the Christian life without any foundation, with no answers. That would be inaccurate and the scriptures give us plenty to be confident in. For example, in I Cor. 15 Paul says that if we don't believe in the resurrection of Christ, then our faith is in vain, and we are to be pitied. Belief in resurrection is necessary to our faith. Does that mean people don't doubt it, or don't wrestle with it? No. But it means that resurrection is ultimately an event and doctrine that we believe and place our faith in as Christians. But that is different than saying that I clearly understand the issue of free-will and determinism perfectly. It is here that I very much like Augustine's dictum: "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity." - Augustine.
There seems to be doctrines and truths that we must clearly have unity in, and there seem to be other doctrines that we have more freedom in to disagree. And so how do we as Christians and leaders discern between these two?
I was thinking about these things when I read Brent's great post today. Brent looks at the issue of "total depravity" and "open theism" in Genesis 5:6-7. It's a great post and I recommend you read it. I had some questions for Brent in the comments section of which he responded as well. If people were to read Brent and I's blogs, they would know that we are probably very different theologically on many issues. I've known Brent since college and I can remember us disagreeing on theological issues for a long time. So how do Brent and I as Christians, come together and hold to, and agree on essential issues of doctrine, while at the same time not allowing our disagreements on certain doctrinal issues not keep us from dialoguing or working and serving together.
I am going to close with a quote from a fairly controversial evangelical figure, Clark Pinnock. Which is sort of apropos, since Brent was discussing "open theism" and Pinnock is one of the leaders in the "open theism" movement. And no, I'm not an "open theist" so save the emails :-) But I like what Pinnock has to say about the role of pilgrimage as a theologian, and I think it is pertinent to us as Christians. Because, do we really have all the answers at 18, or 22, or 30, or does our faith and theology grow and mature and sometimes change as we grow older and mature? I know that my faith has evolved a lot in the last ten years, and it has evolved even more in the last five years as I have been pastoring The Quest. We are often afraid of change, especially in our theology, but changing may often bring us closer to God and the truth, rather than our fears of moving away. Pinnock says:
The great majority of theologians change their minds quite often. We often refer to their early work and their later work, and sometimes also to the middle stages of their thought. Karl Barth, undoubtedly the greatest theologian of our century, illustrates this very well, and he was not ashamed of changing his mind. It is better to change one's mind than to continue on a wrong path. Of course there are some who do not follow this rule: they refuse to change. Theologians like Bultmann and Van Til, for example, seem to have thought they possessed all the "right" answers from graduate school on and never saw any reason to change them afterward, though many of their readers saw reason to change. But such theologians are the abnormal ones, and it is rather hard for ordinary mortals to identify with them. The reason for this is that in theology we are dealing with great mysteries and intellectually complex problems that can be excruciatingly difficult to sort out and to understand. So almost anyone who seriously tries to resolve them will experience struggle in doing so and changes in his or her understanding. Not only are individual topics like predestination and election remarkably challenging in themselves, but also the interconnections between such themes and other topics in the total grammar of the Christian faith are tricky to establish and maintain in a balanced way.
So I do not apologize for admitting to being on a pilgrimage in theology, as if it were in itself some kind of weakness of intelligence or character. Feeling our way toward the truth is the nature of theological work even with the help of Scripture, tradition, and the community. We are fallible and historically situated creatures, and our best thinking falls short of the ideal of what our subject matter requires. A pilgrimage, therefore, far from being unusual or slightly dishonorable, is what we would expect theologians who are properly aware of their limitations to experience.
The Grace of God and the Will of Man by Clark Pinnock, pp. 15-16
Posted by rhett at 08:32 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 19, 2006
Blog obsessed? Is technology making its own demands upon us?
This has been a very difficult week for me, mainly because it has just been so busy. But busy in a way that leaves little capacity for me to really think through posting a blog. Besides work and school I have also picked up 10 clients that I counsel each week so my ability to "meditate" properly on issues has been somewhat diminished these last couple of weeks, but I hope that with more practice I can better manage my mental, emotional and intellectual functioning. But what this week has done for me, is to bring to a collision my "obsession" with blogging and my inability to sometimes post a blog though I so desire to.
I am a big fan of online technology and am a proponent of blogging whenever I can be. I led a workshop last October at GodBlogCon at Biola on blogging and college students, and this August, I will be moderating a couple of discussions for some prominent theologians, along with other bloggers, at GodBlog Conference 2006. So anything I can do with blogging I do, and I am looking forward to being a part of the launching of a new blog site soon. So I think you get the picture. I love to blog, and when I don't post something, at least five times a week, then I start to feel a little down, or like I'm failing in my area.
So I have just been re-thinking a lot the purpose of my blog. Have I gotten away from what I want to do? What is my intended audience? Am I too obsessed with traffic and linking? All of these things sometimes compel me to blog when I wonder if I have anything good to say. But that's the good thing about linking. When I have nothing good to say, I just link those of you who have good things to say.
Blogging is definitely a part of my own job description as the college director and I am working hard on getting some of the other pastors to blog....I think I have almost convinced them how important it is. But with blogging as essential as it is to ministry now, how do we balance our lives and ministries in such a way so that we reap the benefits of blogging (communication, connecting, information, etc.) without succumbing to some of it's failings (inauthenticity, dual personalities, exchanging human relationships for online ones, etc.)? This is the question I am pondering right now.
I have recently been thinking about this guy, and more specifically his book, The Technological Society, which is quite frightening when you consider it was written and translated in the 50's and 60's. Talk about prophetic to the issues facing us now, especially with the emergence of online communities and blogging. Ellul says,
Modern technology has become a total phenomenon
for civilization, the defining force of a new social
order in which efficiency is no longer an option but
a necessity imposed on all human activity.
So with the necessity of efficiency imposed upon us with technology, how do we make best use of it? How do we use it effectively without allowing it to impose upon us at all, but rather us using it when we want? Is there a time and place, especially in ministry and the spiritual life where efficiency is a detriment to who we are and want to be, and what we are trying to do?
Ellul and others are causing me to pause and think about the way I have sometimes allowed technology to dominate my life and impose its own demands upon me. So how do I as a Christian and pastor and husband and friend, use blogging technology to my benefit while not allowing it to control me, or make me feel down because I haven't posted in a day or two? How do I make blogging and the use of technology a spiritual discipline in my life, rather than something that distracts?
Just some questions I am thinking and pondering right now.
In the modern world, the most dangerous form of determinism is the technological phenomenon. It is not a question of getting rid of it, but, by an act of freedom, of transcending it. How is this to be done? I do not yet know. That is why this book is an appeal to the individual's sense of responsibility. The first step in the quest, the first act of freedom, is to become aware of the necessity. The very fact that man can see, measure, and analyze the determinisms that press on him mean that he can face them and, by so doing, act as a free man. If man were to say: "These are not necessities; I am free because of technique, or despite technique," this would prove that he is totally determined. However, by grasping the real nature of the technological phenomenon, and the extent to which it is robbing him of freedom, he confronts the blind mechanisms as a conscious being. At the beginning of this foreword I stated that this book has a purpose. That purpose is to arouse the reader to an awareness of technological necessity and what it means. It is a call to the sleeper to awake.
(Excerpt from The Technological Bluff, published in 1990, which is an expanded, re-write of The Technological Society)
Posted by rhett at 10:16 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 18, 2006
passing out i pods in church with Da Vinci Code sermons...
this is a cool way to get people talking about the Da Vinci Code and to provide answers for the many questions it raises.
Posted by rhett at 12:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
can't wait...
I am so looking forward to the movie Apocalypto. Check out the trailer. Mel Gibson has made some epic movies and this movie is going to be huge I believe.
In 2001, I lived for 3 months in Central America. I was living in Antigua, Guatemala, and I travled a couple of times by bus down through Central America, going through Honduras, El Salvador, Nicragua and Costa Rica. I loved my time there so much and I spent a couple of days in the ancient Mayan ruins of Tikal and Copan. Watching the sun rise and set atop the ancient ruins of Tikal while monkeys howled and jaguars roared was something I will never forget. Some of you might have seen Tikal in the first Star Wars movie as a guard stands in a tower looking out over the rainforest.
Apocalypto looks fascinating and I am fascinated by the Mayan culture as I very much loved my time in Central America and all of the people.
Posted by rhett at 12:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 17, 2006
Da Vinci Code...
I think a lot of people have read the book, not just as a popular page-turner but also as an experience in shared frustration with status-quo, male-dominated, power-oriented, cover-up-prone organized Christian religion. We need to ask ourselves why the vision of Jesus hinted at in Dan Brown's book is more interesting, attractive, and intriguing to these people than the standard vision of Jesus they hear about in church. Why would so many people be disappointed to find that Brown's version of Jesus has been largely discredited as fanciful and inaccurate, leaving only the church's conventional version? Is it possible that, even though Brown's fictional version misleads in many ways, it at least serves to open up the possibility that the church's conventional version of Jesus may not do him justice?
Brian McLaren on the Da Vinci Code
HT: Mike DeVries
I'm sure that this thought and article will stir up some conversation. But whatever your thoughts on the Da Vinci Code, the movie is coming, and is going to be a huge hit even though the critics at Cannes don't love it.
I hadn't read the book till these last couple of weeks. I probably never would have read it, except I didn't want to see the movie first, and I figured that if I'm going to be a part of the conversation, then I should read the book at the very least. The book was okay. It's definitely a page turner and a very easy read, but as far as novels and literature go, it's pretty average stuff. I enjoyed reading the book and I didn't take any of it too seriously, though I could see where some people might take it pretty seriously. The book gets a little tiring with all its conspiracies, cliches and over the top code breaking, but it made for fascinating reading.
I am no Da Vinci Code expert and I have no intention of writing at length on it because there are plenty of others doing this.
If you are interested in what is going on check out Mark Roberts blog as it is the most comprehensive of anything that I have read relating to the Da Vinci Code, the Gnostic gospels, the NT, etc.
Posted by rhett at 08:42 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 11, 2006
Women in Ministry: I can't keep up with all the varying posts on the blogs!
On April 28th, I posted this blog entry regarding some of the articles of confession at the The Together for the Gospel Conference. As an egalatarian, and as someone who fully supports women in all forms and positions of ministry I took defense to what they had drafted up. Since that conference there has been a flury of activity on the internet regarding the gender issue, but I have had a hard time myself keeping up with all the posts and comments from various bloggers.
This has been an issue that has changed and developed for me over the years. I grew up in a non-denominational Bible church, graduated from a Southern Baptist College, completed my Master of Divinity at Fuller Theological Seminary and currently serve as the college director at Bel Air Presbyterian Church. So my position on this issue has moved over the years, primarily from one of indifference to one of great support of women in ministry. In fact, I would say that my current graduate work in Marriage and Family Therapy has even moved me much further in the direction of egalatarianism than I was after completeing my M. Div., but that is a blog for another time and place.
There are a lot of great and wonderful Christians on both sides of this issue. In fact, I would say that that has become more clear as this discussion and debate has heated up. I have been able to have some wondeful conversations with those that I both agree and disagree with. And I hope this continues.
JollyBlogger has been posting about this here, here, here and here. He and I disagree on this issue, but I hope that we can continue to dialogue, especially as we will be working together at the GodBlog Conference at Biola in August.
As well as many men posting on this issue, this is one of those topics where I received a lot of email and comments from women, as well as coming across a lot of blog postings.
Emily wasn't thrilled about the TG4 Articles and posts on this issue. As does Revabi and Jan. And Susan whom I have enjoyed reading her blog, wonders if complementarianism leads to abuse.
There are many, many more that I could cite, but it eventually becomes very time consuming to follow the tracks all over the place.
When it comes to my understanding of women and ministry and my full-support of that position, I want to mention some people who have been very influential in my thinking. There are many of them and a lot of my own thinking is pulled from a lot of different areas, but here are four thinkers that I have greatly appreciated.
Miroslav Volf and his unbelievable book Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation. This book has been life transforming and Chapter IV on "Gender Identity" is paradigm shattering.
Dr. Ray Anderson's great book on practical theology, The Shape of Practical Theology: Empowering Ministry With Theological Praxis. Chapter Six, "The Resurrection of Jesus as Hermeneutical Criterion" makes a great theological and biblical case for women in ministry. Read pp. 90-101 under the heading "A Case for Sexual Parity in Pastoral Ministry."
I have also recently been greatly challenged and enlightened by the work of biblical scholar Phyllis Trible and her work. Two of her books, God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality as well as Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives are very challenging. Two great books, and unfortunately many I'm afraid will not read them because the word feminist is a loaded word and has negative overtones to many. Trible is a great scholar and makes some wonderful arguments, and I find her female voice a much needed addition in biblical scholarship.
The work of Paul Jewett and his books, Man as Male and Female: A Study in Sexual Relationships from a Theological Point of View and The Ordination of Women: An Essay on the Office of Christian Ministry.
These scholars and writers have been very influential in my life and I know in the life of many others. I am thankful for them.
Posted by rhett at 11:38 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 09, 2006
Wondering out loud....
Judges 13:17-18:
17 Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the LORD, "What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?"
18 He replied, "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.....
I was reading this passage the other day and something just really struck me. And that is our desire to always want a complete understanding of everything. Or maybe it's the desire to know what we are getting ourselves into. This passage is interesting because Manoah inquires of the angel several times regarding Samson and how he should be raised, prior to these verses. And as he poses each question, he begins to manuever his way so that his questioning will ultimately lead to the one question he is desiring to know. Ultimately, "What is your name? And who are you?" Manoah, like all of us is wanting something tangible to grasp onto and knowing one's name is a chance at doing that. Naming gives us a sense of control over someone or something, helping us characterize and stereotype that person or thing based on their name. Manoah is not the first to do this. Moses tried to get a name from the burning bush and only received "I am who I am" (Exodus 3:14). Jacob tried to do the same in Genesis 32:29, but only received the reply, "Why do you ask my name?" Is this desire a bad thing? I don't belive so, but it ultimately reflects that the LORD is not tangible in that way, and that He is beyond any type of control that we desire to exert over Him.
Often when I am sitting across from someone in counseling this type of interaction arises. The client will want more personal information from me and my life, in which we are usually taught to say in return, "Why is that important to you? Or, why do you need to know that? Or, what would that mean for you to have that information?" It's an attempt to level the sometimes power differential that occurs in a therapeutic setting.
As followers of the LORD there is an obvious power differential for lack of a better analogy. And for us to level that out we attempt to gain control or ask questions that maybe are unanswerable. Not because we aren't allowed to ask them, but because the answers to them are not for us to know. Maybe some things are meant to be a mystery in the relationship between us and God. Maybe it is to remind us that we are not God and that we are not ultimately in control. Maybe it is to remind me that the Christian life is lived out in faith. A life of faith that asks me to leave my homeland and follow the LORD to people and places that I do not understand. Maybe it is an act of trust, that I follow God even when I don't know why sometimes, or when I don't understand Him.
Posted by rhett at 10:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 05, 2006
Doctrine Statement, or no Doctrine Statment?
Yesterday, Tony Jones posted at the Emergent--US site yesterday the issue regarding whether or not Emergent needs a doctrinal statement.
The post was written by professor and scholar F. LeRon Shults. At the last Emergent Conference in San Diego I was unable to attend the workshops with Shults, but he was a huge draw as he is a brilliant thinker and writer. Shults has a long post, but here is an excerpt:
Such a move would be inappropriate. Various communities throughout church history have often developed new creeds and confessions in order to express the Gospel in their cultural context, but the early modern use of linguistic formulations as "statements" that allegedly capture the truth about God with certainty for all cultures and contexts is deeply problematic for at least two reasons. First, such an approach presupposes a (Platonic or Cartesian) representationalist view of language, which has been undermined in late modernity by a variety of disciplines across the social and physical sciences (e.g., sociolinguistics and paleo-biology). Why would Emergent want to force the new wine of the Spirit’s powerful transformation of communities into old modernist wineskins? Second, and more importantly from a theological perspective, this fixation with propositions can easily lead to the attempt to use the finite tool of language on an absolute Presence that transcends and embraces all finite reality. Languages are culturally constructed symbol systems that enable humans to communicate by designating one finite reality in distinction from another. The truly infinite God of Christian faith is beyond all our linguistic grasping, as all the great theologians from Irenaeus to Calvin have insisted, and so the struggle to capture God in our finite propositional structures is nothing short of linguistic idolatry.
You can follow this discussion over at Scot McKnight's blog with his posting, Emergent and Doctrinal Statements. And you can follow the discussion over at Think Tank.
I'm sure this discussion will be heavily posted and discussed. I know that my friend Brent Thomas finds Emergent confusing, especially in regards to the issue of defining terms and language.
Personally, I have enjoyed attending two of the Emerging Conferences over the last few years. I have enjoyed interacting with "emerging church" communities, thinkers, pastors, writers, etc. Though many people find Emergent confusing and want more defined rules and structure, I personally find my engagement in the emergent community as a breath of fresh air. It is one of the few opportunities that I have had and that I know others have had to truly engage in important discussion without automatically being excluded from discussion because of where one may reside denomintionally, theologically, politically, etc. I have never viewed Emergent as a denominational movement, but rather a collection of people who gather together to openly discuss various theological issues, without having to necessarily nail down statements, visions, purposes, confessions, articles, etc. Not everyone likes that, but many embrace it. I don't think it is neither good nor bad if Emergent doesn't come up with a doctrinal statement, because that never seemed to be the intent of their gatherings. Whatever happens I am going to continue to enjoy my interaction and relationships with many in those communities.
Posted by rhett at 12:11 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
May 03, 2006
What Five Novels Would You Take On A Deserted Island?
My friend Brent Thomas is a really smart guy and I respect his opinion on many things. One of the areas that I wanted to get Brent's opinion on is in the area of novels because I know Brent likes literature and is well read. So I posted a very random question in the comments section of one of his blog postings. The question was,
if you had to tell me five novels that I should read...what would they be...totally side note...but I was just curious what your top five novels were...not in any category...but the five you would take on a deserted island.
That was the question. Basically, I was looking for some suggestions of some novels I should be reading that I haven't read. And I was curious what are those novels that people love so much they read them over and over again. Or as I said in the question, what are the five novels you would take with you on a deserted island?
Brent posted on this issue here with a list of his five books. It's a good list. Brent lists:
* The Stranger by Albert Camus
* The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
* A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
* Moby Dick by Herman Melville
* Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Here is my list:
* Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
* My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
* Glittering Images by Susan Howatch
* The Stranger by Albert Camus
* The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Surprisingly Brent I both listed The Stranger by Camus. Great book.
If you get a chance, go over to Brent's blog and list your books so he can post them.
Posted by rhett at 11:15 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Trends in college life according to the Ivy Jungle College Ministry Network
The Ivy Jungle college ministry network sends me regular information regarding their conferences, job openings, trends, etc. Below are some recent trends in college ministry around the country. This is just an annotated list of what they sent me, but I thought you might be interested in what is going on with college students, especially if you work with them.
Below are seven trends or items of news that they have found to be prevalent:
U2 Eucharist: A new communion service found its way into Episcopal churches across the nation. In the service, songs from the rock band U2 are interspersed with the familiar elements of the liturgy. The format, based on a play list created by Rev. Pagie Blair, a parish priest in Maine has spread by word of mouth and clergy email lists and has injected life and numbers into a number of congregations. U2 front man, Bono, who has been outspoken about his faith and justice issues, has not commented on the use of the band's songs in the worship service. (AP April 14, 2006)
Students More Invested in Religion: A Harvard University Institute of Politics poll shows that 70% of college students believe religion is somewhat or very important. One in four say they have become more spiritual since arriving at college. 54% say they are concerned about the moral direction of the country. (Knight Ridder News April 11, 2006)
Religion Gaining or Losing? In the same Harvard University Institute poll of college students, one's political views shaped student views of the roll religion plays in the country. 62% of those identifying themselves as Republicans said religion is losing its influence on American society, while 54% of those claiming to be Democrats see it as increasing its influence. (Knight Ridder News April 11, 2006)
Hookahs All the Rage: Popular in Middle Eastern immigrant communities, hookah bars are catching on among college students. Once an exotic water pipe used by marijuana and hashish users, today's hookahs are used to smoke flavored tobacco. Students have found the social component of sharing a hookah appealing, cheap ($5-$25 for a pipe) - and unencumbered by the hangover or regrets of a night of drinking. According to Smokeshop Magazine, nearly 300 hookah bars have opened since 2000, many near college campuses. Health experts stress that smoking tobacco through a hookah is not safer, and in fact may be even more dangerous than cigarettes. (New York Times April 19, 2006 A21)
College Grads Head to the Big City: While many of the nation's largest cities have lost ground in total population over the last couple of decades, nearly all have added college graduates. The Northeast and Midwest continue to lag behind the South and West in both total population growth and college graduate growth. Economists believe the percentage of college graduates relates directly to a city's economic growth and success. Currently about 25% of the population 25 and older holds a bachelor's degree, up from only 10% in 1970. Studies show graduates follow both jobs and culture to the city. However, as the Northeast demonstrates, cities often have a harder time retaining college grads once they begin families. Even though Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey are among the top five states in regard to percentage of population with degrees, Boston was the only city in the Northeast in the top 20 cities for college graduates, with most degree holders opting for the suburbs once they have children. Seattle boasts the highest concentration of degrees with just over half of its adult population having finished college. (AP April 12, 2006)
Soulforce Tour Hits Christian Colleges: A homosexual activist group has embarked on a bus tour to bring their message to 19 colleges that have policies against homosexuality; many of them part of the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities. While some schools have barred the group from their campuses, others such as Azusa Pacific and Wheaton College have created open forums for student interaction when the group arrives at their campuses. The schools say they remain committed to the historic biblical stance against homosexuality, but will make the most of the uninvited group's arrival for student discussion on the challenging topic. (Chicago Tribune March 29, 2006 p. 8)
Spring Break and Anorexia: As spring breaks draw near, many female students begin dieting in preparation for trips to the sun and beach, often banding together for support and accountability. For some, this dieting leads to something far more dangerous - anorexia and bulimia. What were once ad hoc groups of friends and sorority sisters have become more organized thanks to the internet. A number of websites and message boards fill up with information on diets, support groups and controversial "pro-ana" material as winter turns toward spring. Some provide contests for who can starve the most - with points for days subsisting on less than 500 calories, points for diet pills consumed and even points for posting pictures of skinny celebrities for "thinspiration." Many experts fear that girls use spring break as an excuse to dabble in risky eating habits. (New York Times April 2, 2006 p.6)
Posted by rhett at 08:55 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 01, 2006
Thanks...
Wanted to thank Hugh Hewitt for his continual encouragement in many areas of my life such as blogging. But I especially appreciate how encouraging he has been to many of the students in my ministry that he came into contact with a couple of weeks ago.
Hugh was especially encouraging to our worship leader and band. They were excited about the interest he took in them.
Thanks.
Posted by rhett at 05:21 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Here is the song in reference to the below post...
Good To Be With You written by Kevin Carey and performed by The Quest College Ministry Worship Band.
Posted by rhett at 05:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Congratulations one more time...
Again....congratulations to our college ministry's worship leader and band, as they took home the "best band" award at UCLA's Spring Sing
Despite being the last performers, Kevin Carey and the Quest Band took the award for best band entry for their song, "It's Good to Be With You."
Posted by rhett at 12:29 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Looking for answers to the Da Vinci Code...
If you have any questions about the Da Vinci Code, Mark Roberts has probably answered it in length. Check out his site and click on the questions you have.
Posted by rhett at 10:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Commuting....Impact on Church, etc.
Steve McCoy has been posting a lot of interesting stuff on the suburbs, urban living, etc. But I found this posting interesting, regarding the flight from the cities and even the suburbs, to farther out places in search of affordable housing. Makes me wonder what impact this is going to have on the church? Then the other day I read this article, The Long and Grinding Road: The rat race is turning into a marathon. Inside the lives of 'extreme commuters'.
As more and more people commute farther and farther to work so they can live in places that are affordable, I think it is going to have a devastating impact on certain aspects of the church community. This is already an issue in Los Angeles, and it is an issue in our church community because our church is sort of off the beaten path...not in a suburb, but up on a hill off the 405. Traffic city!
How does it affect us in the church:
1. For example, it affects me as the college director. My wife and I live in Pasadena, CA. I commute from Pasadena to Los Angeles (near Encino). That's only a little over 20 miles, but that is 20 plus miles in LA traffic...210 to the 134 to the 101 to the 405 south. Hour to an hour and a half in traffic. Plus as the college director I spend a majority of my time out of the office with students in Westwood, near USC, near LMU, etc. So on top of commuting to and from work, I probably spend at least another 2-3 hours driving around to meet students, volunteers, etc. That's not everyday. But that's on a pretty long and busy day.
2. For example, it affects people who volunteer. I have students who go to school full-time, who work part-time to make money, need to study, etc, etc, and they volunteer in the college ministry. But sometimes it is hard to get up to church. A student can live in Westwood (UCLA), which is only like 5 miles from the church, but during rush hour that commute can sometimes be about 45 minutes.
3. For example, Saturday night events at our church are greatly impacted because we are off the 405. And no one wants to be on the 405 on Saturday, especially going south.
Cost of Living. Affordable Housing. Traffic. Commuting. Etc. These are all interesting factors that are impacting church communities and will continue to do so. Especially since we as Christians often seek churches outside of our communities we live in and head into other communities that have churches that we want to be a part of. And in Los Angeles, it is very difficult to live anywhere in this city. So often, church staff often have to commute into work since they cannot afford to live in the neighborhoods that their churches are in.
Just my ramblings, but I'm wondering what long-term impact this is going to have. And if gas prices keep rising...well, who knows what is going to happen.
Posted by rhett at 09:33 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
