Since God jerked me from my troff of stupidity, I have slowly become more and more of a reader. It had been a while since I truly finished a book cover to cover, so finishing two books last week was particularly satisfying to me.
'On the Road' by Jack Kerouac has been my introduction to the Beat Generation. Since digging into the book again I have been combing the web for articles by and about the Beats. Its got me wondering if the Beats, being a generation that grew up in the shadow of WWII has any lessons for a generation growing up in the shadow of 9/11? The Church in America sure seems to be going through some re-thinking.
Emerging
Neo-Calvin
Relevant
The death of the 'seeker-sensitve' movment adds to my hope though...
'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy left me feeling doubtful if I could read anything other than another Cormac McCarthy novel next! I tried to pick up 'The Shack' but had to put it down, I felt like I was wading through the deep weeds of punctuation and adjectives...
I just finished two books I've been reading. 'The Road" by Cormac McCarthy and 'On the Road" by Jack Kerouac. The later I have been trying to finish for the last three years, I had gotten so disgusted with the choices that the charecters, Sal and Dean were making when I first started the book that I only made it half way through. Three years later I finished the book last friday and boy what a fantastic journey that was, traveling east to west across the north american continent with a final journey to Mexico City. It was a great intro to the beat poets!
A friend let me borrow his copy of 'The Road' Sunday night and I had it finished by Tuesday afternoon at second brake at work. Great read. Hope, fear and survival in a dark and brooding world. I very much identified with the man in the story. Making his decisions out of the fear of danger or loss. The boy in the story could see the fear and need in other peoples lives and vary much so wanted to reach out to them in spite of his fathers opposition.
Looking back over this last move that we have made to Medford I wonder if there was some fear in that decision. Trusting only my own reasoning and making decisions quickly. I confess I made many decisions in 08' out of fear and selfishness. I pray that God gives me the courage to repent and trust in him. That I make myself accountable to good men around me. I'm sure that'll take some time to establish, but it must be done. Else I wander the barren land in loneliness.
So here we are in Medford, like Abram coming up out of Ur into a strange land. How are we to explore this new land. How are we to communicate Christ?
Lord help me to be obedient!
Last night Julie and I had an opportunity to go out on a date for the first time since landing in Medford. We ventured over to the local Barnes and Nobel/Starbucks and spent our hard earned gift card on some caffeinated beverages. I always loved looking through the art/photography and graphic arts section. While Julie spends her time in the food and-or craft sections.
We went to Table Rock Church this morning and boy is it big compared to our Nazarene church in Creswell. Everything about the church was good. Great Sunday School for the kids, a right-on worship band and I liked that they do communion every Sunday. But, it just didn't feel right for us. Maybe if we spent enough time there and got connected into the core group. Maybe, I don't know. But this next week-end we are going to visit our old church New Song, which I am looking forward to.
This video starts a little slow, but really comes around in the end. My wife and I had the chance to see John Piper at the text and context conference at Mars Hill in Seattle. He has a wonderful way of delivering the Gospel in its simplicity and its entirety at the some time. Blows the mind!
For the last forty days the church that I attend has been going through a curriculum put out by Pastor Warren called Forty Days of Community, a series I have struggled with. As part of the series I chose to include the bible study God has blessed us with into the small group portion of the Forty Day curriculum. It has been trying to meld the methods and content of Pastor Warren into the culture of our group. Though we have struggled through it and watched the video (some slept through it), and read the devotional (well....), it has proven to be beyond me to reconcile it to the group in a way that I felt content with. To put it bluntly I screwed it up.
Last Wednesday night was our last Forty Day group meeting, and instead of turning the group over to Pastor Warren, I decided to pull the content for that evening from the previous Sunday sermon ( also part of the Forty Day curriculum, and well delivered by our pastor, thanks Stacey) and Mark Driscoll's Vintage Jesus (page 160something). It was the first time that I ever lead a topical Bible Study, though I think it went rather well. Worship is an all encompassing topic. We spent time defining what worship was and wasn't ( we decided that music was only a very small part of it ), and what worship looked like practically in our lives.
Here are a few of our talking points...
We are all worshippers Christian or not
Worship isn't a musical style (thank you Jesus!)
Worship is holistic and on going
Without sacrifice or a person or object of glory, worship is not happening
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hop laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of truth, the gospel...
Colossians 1.19-20
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
and I ramble....
November 4th was a very exciting day for me. Because it was a day that conservative leaning elements of the Church in America can look back on as a great stepping off point. A victory if you will. An opportunity to divorce ourselves from a political party that has been groping us for far too long. To pack our bags only with the Gospel and go out into the world as the bride of Christ and not the servant of a political party. Hopefully when you cast your vote, it wasn't for an old man from Arizona, or a young upstart from Chicago. But, for the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation. Who's platform is to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. What could be more important? Nation first? America the hope of the world? Where do you cast your lot?
I've been wrestling with a decision I made a few months back to change jobs. There was a lot of excitement surrounding the idea of becoming an electrician and though I didn't expect to be where I am today, here I am. I have been driving to and from Crescent Junction everyday ( 1.5 hours each way ) and it is exhausting me and my family. I use to be very involved in my church and community, but this new job is robbing me from a lot of what is important to me. Sometimes I wish I had kept that lesser paying job, where at least I was a part of a community and not a collective of individuals.
Early this morning I had an hour in our church's prayer room and I opened my bible to 1 Corinthians 12 and the verses that jumped out to me were vs 21-26. To me it describes a community that is interlocked in both its strengths and weaknesses, and a community like that takes some sacrifice. To have the same care for one another? Treating the less presentable parts with a greater care and modesty? Suffering together and sharing the honor? Can we truely do this?
These verses are followed by a section on various giftings given by God and how they range in authority in the church. Paul talks much in 1 Corinthians of the churches need of structure. An organization of individuals (vs 27) committed to Christ and his teachings, individually unique yet collectively united. Chapter 13 is filled with the gooey adhesive that we call love, showing us how we can propel this community daily. An honest reading of Chapter 13 tells me one thing. Love isn't about me, is it.
Paul paints a picture of a faith community that is sacrificial one person for another. With purpose, vision and direction that is bonded together in the love of Christ. To what extent were its members committed? To what depths did they have to submit their lives to it?
I titled my blog Move Sucks Move after a line from a Rage Against the Machine Song - Renegades of Funk -. That spoke a lot to me of were the church in America is going. We are a stone statue that is coming to life. The church has painstakingly crafted itself as a perfect, clean and pure marble statue to this nation that is cold to the touch and unbearably heavy. Though I don't agree with Rage Against the Machines' violent and revolutionary overtones (anarchy and Christ are incompatible), I can't help but feel that there is something in what motivates them that is redeemable for God's Kingdom. And that is seperation. We are called to be in the world, but not of it. How we have compromised for the world, HOW I HAVE COMPROMISED!
