thoughtsofagyrovague.com

January 30th, 2008

I was thinking about the $ 1500 check I am going to recieve from Uncle Sam (or Uncle Bush, depending on how you view it) and of course I am exited. I like having money, it has been a little harder to come by for me as of late. But I was thinking about the words of Paulo Freire in the book Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Then, this quote ended up in my e-mail this morning from the same book:

“In their unrestrained eagerness to possess, the oppressors develop the conviction that it is possible for them to transform everything into objects of their purchasing power; hence their strictly materialistic concept of existence. Money is the measure of all things, and profit the primary goal. For the oppressors, what is worthwhile is to have more–always more–even at the cost of the oppressed having less or having nothing. For them, to be is to have and to be the class of the ‘haves.’”

I could not have articulated it better myself. Bush is giving us all this money with the hopes we will spend, spend and spend some more. Prop up the economy, increase the tax base blah blah blah. What our nation needs is not economic revivial, it needs spiritual revival.

As long as we as a nation believe we can solve all our needs materialistically, and that every scientific, economic and moral choice we make as a nation can be solved by materialism, we loose. In the end the materials we gain will fall away, they will rot, cars will break, clothes will wear out. Thank God the Word of God is eternal, His love is never ending, and He never leaves or forsakes His children, no matter how much I deserve it.

Wess Stafford our president here at Compassion International has a great quote that is so very true. Simply stated he says “The opposite of poverty is not wealth, the opposite of poverty is enough” If you want to really know that your tax rebate is doing some good, donate it to Compassion International, or a charity of your choice that is doing the good work of the Gospel in foregin countries.

• Thoughts on Christ and His Church
• Comments(2)

January 24th, 2008

This is a copy from an e-mail I get when the New York Times is breaking a big story. I could not pass up the irony in the statement today.

_____________________________________

Breaking News Alert

—–

____________________________________________________

• Politics
• Comments(2)

January 22nd, 2008

Today is supposed to be a day where we all stop as a nation and remember the life of Martin Luther King. I am afraid that instead it has become another excuse in the life of our nation to take the day off and rest from our lifes that are getting busier and busier. One question keeps rolling around in this bloggers head though and the question is “where has our compass gone?” By that I mean where are the men and women who are willing to risk life and limb and reputation to stand on the side of justice, of mercy, of compassion?

I am afraid that society today no longer places value on the traits of character, leadership, integrity and honor. Sure there are the exceptions, sure there are good people out there doing good things, but as a whole our nation has lost it’s bearing on what matters most. What matters most is taking care of those less fortunate, is giving a voice to the voiceless, is guiding the next generation to follow in our footsteps in being virtuous, showing largess in all we do and following the God of our forefathers as best as we can in our short time on this earth.

I am afraid that my generation is drowning out the voices of reason, of love and forgiveness with the IPOD, the Playstation and the computer. No longer do we take time to go to the library, (who would when we have the internet?), go to public meetings and debates. We only go to that which is required in order to survive in daily public life. We no longer focus on others, we only focus on ourselves and our bottom line. It is a lonely and dangerous place to be for to long.

As long as we look at national tragedies such as rampant steroid abuse in baseball, academic cheating in high scholl and college, corporate greed and money grabbing and so on as the cultural norm we will never get better as a society. Generation after generation will loose further and further the tenuous grip we have now on reality. Sooner then later our entire nations moral fabric will collapse. What will take it’s place in the moral vacuum is to scarry to even contemplate. It is the stuff that gives me nightmares. I shudder to think that my son could grow up in a world where the predominant religion is Islam and we look to them to define for us as a culture what virtue is.

I challenge myself, as well as anyone reading this to stop and listen for the voices that are trying to change the fabric of society. The voices of people like Chuck Colson, Ben Stein, Colon Powell and the like. There are so many people out there who are voices in the wilderness. We must astutely listen, follow, and then model for our children the way of life they are reminding us will lead us down the golden path, the path to a unified nation and unified world. To do any less is to abdicate our responsibilities to the generations looking to us for guidance. We need more people like Martin Luther King who are willing to put it all out there, to answer the call God gives them and say I count my life but as loss as long as God be glorified.  

• Voices in the Wilderness
• Comments(2)

January 20th, 2008

O.K., I am a preacher, as such I like allegory. Love it or hate it I use it to explain things to those around me and to teach my 6 year old the facts of life. (Any suggestions for the birds and the bees talk, an allegory in and of itself would be appreciated I dread the day that talk comes.

I am watching Sky High, a movie that came out a few years ago and finding a lot of fun spiritual parallels in the plot of the movie.

A group of freshmen superhero kids at a high school especially for super heroes are learning how to use the powers they have been given. Each is assigned as either a side kick (hero support) or as a hero. Each is learning how to use the powers they have to define who they are, and what they are going to do in life. Ultimately we find out that who you are is not defined by the circumstance of your birth or your gifting, it is by the content of your character. I know it is a time worn lesson, but I think the church sometimes needs to hear this as well.

How many times have you heard “thats not my gift” or “I am not a musician because that is not my gift” or something like it spoken in the church? It is true that we all have a gift (sometimes multiple ones) given to us to serve the church and the body as a whole. But, how often do we use that term to get out of something uncomfortable? I am not gifted for evangelism, I am not gifted to teach, I am not gifted to lead a small group and so on?

Many people today strongly desire the big gifts, you know the preaching, teaching and so on. To a point it is O.K. to be ambitious for such things, but I think the church is all to consumed today in the search for spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians 14:1 tells us “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts…” The first command is follow the way of love. We must remember that in all our drive to grow in the gifts our first motivation must be love. Love for God, love for the church, love for Gods people.

What exites me about the emerging church is the way we are seeing things differently. We are looking past the burecracy and looking at the big picture. We are seeing through the rose colored glasses of the love of Christ. No more coming to a church seeing those with the gift of administration answering phones, those with the gift of hospitality collecting the offering, those with the gift of singing purely leading worship. We are seeing where God is using people who are truly trying to be the empty vessels He wants and are letting Him grant the increase. We all make ourselves servants to one another, not to the gifting we are given. A pastor should answer the phones, the person who does not sing should give it a shot once in awhile, and those who do not think they can teach should share that which God puts on their hearts in the right time and place.

What the emergent church must do in order to continue to grow is to avoid the “two tiered” approach to gifts where you have the uber elite (prophets, preachers) and the other class (side kicks) doing church administration, hospitality and other such mundane things. Nothing is mundane in the kingdom of God and even the small things are big things in God’s economy. I love Proverbs 30 24-28 “Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise: Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer; coneys are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags; locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks; a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces.” When we are working as God designed us to work we are a force that brings fear and trembling to those who set themselves as opposed to the will and direction of God.

Technorati tags: Emergent Church, Spiritual Gifts

• Thoughts on Christ and His Church
• Comments(0)

January 19th, 2008

1) If the first words of the e-mail say agree or delete, I opt for the latter and delete it.

2) If my computer takes 30 seconds to load the whole thing, I delete it. I do not need all the fancy fonts and colors. E-mail is about reading, not entertaining.

3) If the e-mail subject line begins with Fwd: Fwd: Fwd: I do the next person down the line a favor, I delete it.

4) If it contains any vulgarity what so ever, I delete it.

5) If it ends in “now forward this to 15 of your friends in the next 5 minutes and I guarantee you will be blessed” I feel sorry for myself for reading it all the way to the end, and then delete it. I do not need to forward an e-mail to obtain the blessings of God. All I need do is ask for them.

6) If it comes from a person who I know who only ever uses e-mail to forward things that are a waste of my time… you guessed it, I delete it.

7) If it is from a Nigerian widow who knows of my philanthropic endeavors and she wants me to move millions, I delete it.

If you have noticed, I am irked about e-mail. 32 e-mails this morning, 24 spam, 8 of substance.  I am on a big sucker list somewhere and I get lots of unnecessary e-mail.

• Random Thoughts , Uncategorized
• Comments(0)

January 17th, 2008

“Unlike the claims of consumer society, the community operates with a powerful vision, a vision that affirms that the future is not yet finished. God has a powerful intention and resolve to bring us to a wholeness not yet in hand.”

Walter Brueggemann quoted from Texts under Negotiation

• Quotes to Note
• Comments(1)

January 14th, 2008

I believe that when God put us on this earth He provided us with three things to stimulate and inform the soul. Good music, good coffee and good books. Today I had some time to myself and found myself using it to cleanse my soul and commune with a piece of the divine.

I get a laugh when I tell people this, but I am half way serious. God and I have come to an agreement that when I leave this terrestrial plane and enter through the gates of heaven and I am given a mansion, I want it to be on a Hawaiian or Sumatran Island where I can grow coffee beans. I will be the supplier to the angels, and to those who have gone before me into the gates of heaven. I can think of no more peaceful place, no more satisfying to my soul then to grow coffee.

I found myself lost in Barnes and Noble with a Venti Chai Latte and a lot of time to worry about nothing. I purused the books on philosophy, religion, history, and so on. So many good books, but unfortunately I was still bound by the clock. Then I went and listened to what was new in the music section. The Jazz of Count Basie, the incredible voice of Paul Potts, the soothing rock of Collective Soul and others found there way into my soul like an intricately weaved afghan of peacefulness. I do not think I could have been at a better time and place then where I was. I felt God was smiling at me and telling me to rest my weary and tired soul. So much has gone on over the last few months that I have lost focus and lost my center. Today I found it, and now I need to hold onto it.

Music reaches into the divine and primordial part of our souls. Every society, every culture we have ever found, peaceful or not, has some sort of music. It tells the stories of the people, it communicates history and culture to the next generation, and it reaches out for the divine. Of course cultures disagree on what that divine is, but it is divine none the less. I have felt the presence of God sitting in a Navajo Hogon listening to the Shaman tell stories of his people and dance and act them out, I have felt God’s presence in praise and worship at church, and I have felt his presence sitting on the dusty floors of a Hindu temple in India. God inhabits the praises of His people. We are all God’s people bought with a price. Music touches on that, even if one does not realize it.

Books provide knowledge and stimulation to our heart, mind and soul. Good writers such as Umberto Eco (my personal favorite), Donald Miller and others find there way into the soul to speak universal truth and direction and it is up to us to listen for them. Divine messages encoded and ensconsed in the words of those who have gone before us, written to be remembered, and words yet to be written or spoken come together and teach the soul that is on the long and sometimes perilous journey how to grow and how to leave it’s own mark on the cosmic landscape.

Coffee…well coffee provides stimulation and a common theme. Almost all society in history has had some sort of communal drink. It might be ceremonial in nature, it might be social in nature, or all the above. Coffee houses have served for hundreds of years as places where the seeds of democracy were birthed and grown. They have served as incubators of civil, and sometimes uncivil, anarchy. Many of the great ideas we have today we owe to someone having a conversation with other souls in a coffee house. Coffee houses are places where the cosmic, the divine, and the soul in need of nourishment can come together to commune as one, even if no one is aware of it.  

My Three chords came together and resonated in the same harmony today. It has sent a cosmic vibration through my soul and it is a vibration I will make every effort to keep. Meanwhile, enjoy this little clip I found of a much younger Nana Mouskour singing Black Coffee.

• Thoughts about Life
• Comments(2)

January 12th, 2008

1) Sing in the bath no matter how bad, they dance to their own song.

2) Bring you rocks from the street and ask you to keep them. After all, there might be gold in them rocks. In the mind of a 6 year old, you bet there is.

3) Do anything that they know will embarass or harass their mom, who despite her best efforts just does not understand. Things they might do are pick their nose, play the see food game, burp, fart, or just let out a noise of some sort, all the see mom’s reaction.

4) Harass the hard working sample ladies at Sam’s club on a Saturday morning until he has visited each sample station at least once. Sometimes multiple times.

5) Eat a big meal and 10 minutes later say “moma, I’m hungry”.

6) Come home asking questions that I am not ready to answer. Questions such as “Dad, what is an African American?”

JACOB I LOVE YOU. YOU MAKE MY LIFE COMPLETE. HAVE A GREAT DAY BUDDY. I AM LUCKY TO HAVE YOU IN MY LIFE.

• Uncategorized
• Comments(1)

January 11th, 2008

You have got to see what Rick Warren is up to now. Follow the link to Lark News. I wonder when the first church service will be?

• Random Thoughts
• Comments(1)

January 10th, 2008

I have been working on my personal theology of belief and what direction I am headed from some time (see previous post) and have come to the conclusion that I am an evangelical, but I am an emergent evangelical to the core. A prime example of why I am an emergent is happening at Young Life right now.

Young Life is a wonderful and Christ centered organization hands down. I think they do great work. Because of them my father accepted Christ as a teenager. Had he not, I likely would not be a Christian either. So what I am talking about here is a policy they have put in place, not the organization as a whole. I am not like other organizations and Christians who shoot their wounded and devour every last morsel.

Young Life put in place a new Non Negotiables of Young Life’s Gospel Proclamation policy in November. It has caused much consternation among Young Life because of a statement that exists(ed) that all Young Life Staff sign must sign off on. One statement says (in the words of Tony Jones who is doing a great job unpacking all this) 

“It seems that YL President Denny Rydberg and others in the organization are worried about the influence of neo-orthodox theology, and they are thus battening down the hatches on a certain type of conservative, Reformed orthodoxy. For instance, staffers are told in the statement that they must not introduce the concept of Jesus and his grace until the students have been sufficiently convinced of their own depravity and been allowed to wallow stew in that depravity (preferably overnight).”

In otherwords, they are concerned that emergents, orthodox and otherwise are coming in and corrupting the system.

I am an emergent because of this VERY thing. I grew up in a STRICT Baptist home. Until I came across Real Live Preacher I seriously thought that to be a Baptist minister you had to 1) Be White 2) Middle Aged 3) walk around with a plug up your butt about anything that is remotely different then what you are used to and 4) had to be willing to cast aspersions at the other guy any time he tries to do something to corrupt the “true” gospel. God in an infinite, omnipotent, omniscient God who allows us to travel many different paths to His doorstep. To simply say that a person MUST stew in their own juices and feel total and complete depravity before they are saved is just…well it is just bull. If I am to believe this I need scripture. The scripture says you are depraved, but not that you have to fully and completely understand that before you are saved.

In every church there is a grasp for structure and form. We tell ourselves that we need this structure to grow, to prosper and to reach souls for God. Unfortunately, my generation and those behind me are not looking for form, structure and out dated ways to reach people for the kingdom. We are looking for a real and authentic encounter with Jesus Christ, we are looking to follow Him in all His ways, we are looking to reach into a lost and dying generation and share the love of Jesus before it is to late. God is so creative and so powerful that He does not need us and our carefully crafted paradigms. What is so Cool about us is that He wants our depraved and fallen souls.

• Thoughts on Christ and His Church
• Comments(0)