assorted musings...

Bookshelf update

2005-11-24T11:50:00.000+13:00

I've just finished reading Brian McLaren's A Generous Orthodoxy. I know, long overdue, but well worthwile. If you have even 1/4 of a chance to read it, you should.

I've started reading Steve Taylor's The Out of Bounds Church? which he kindly sent me a copy of for cheaper than in the shops.

Next up after that is Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis which I have but haven't started. I also need to polish off the last bit of Tony Campolo's Speaking My Mind. My terrible habit of starting a million books and never finishing them.

On the music front, I've been completely taken aback by The David Crowder Band. You should be too, they're amazing. I'm listening to my friend's copy of A Collision. Genius.

A little misunderstanding.

2005-11-11T20:40:00.000+13:00

Somehow, somewhere along the way, I picked up the idea that unless somebody is told about the Gospel and led through a 'salvation prayer', then they are not saved. I don't know, am I the only person that assumed this?

I think I figured that people couldn't get saved without hearing about Jesus, then from there decided that somebody would have to tell them in order for them to hear.

I no longer believe this.

If I think this is true then it would mean that people are necessary for salvation. It would mean that Jesus should have said "no-one comes to the Father except through Me, via some Christian chap". It's simply not the case.

I completely believe now that God can (and does, more so than we will probably ever realise or accept) reveal Himself to people who never hear about Jesus or know Him by a name familiar to us.

Does this mean that there is no need to tell people about Jesus? Certainly not. No parent who has asked their child to do something likes having to do it themselves. Christians have been told to share the Good News and I believe God will step in where necessary. If He has to step in where we could have filled the gap, I'm pretty sure He wouldn't be too happy.

Motivation, perhaps?

Jesus wrecked my life.

2005-11-03T00:00:00.000+13:00

Are you offended yet? I hope so.

Well, it's true. Jesus wrecked my life and I hope He's wrecked yours too. If He hasn't, I'd be seriously concerned about your spiritual journey.

Jesus has ruined my life in a way not dissimilar to how married couples would say that getting married ruined their lives. I, for one, am not married but I draw this comparison from married friends that I've talked to.

You see, most married couples will tell you that marriage isn't all it's cracked up to be. In fact, from what I gather, it's damn hard. It requires commitment, sacrifice and a complete change of attitude in many respects. It is not something you can just slide into whenever you like and fit the other person into your way of living. It's a two-way deal.

Too often we slide Christ into our bookshelves next to the likes of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and Rich Dad, Poor Dad. The Bible is not a self-help book. It's not a three-point action sermon. It's not a formula. Listen to Jesus Himself:

"Don't look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don't fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life - to God! - is vigorous and requires total attention.
Matthew 7v13-14, The Message

Too often we want Christianity to improve our lives. We think that if we believe in Jesus and do the easy parts, conveniently glossing over the verses which make us uncomfortable, we will reap God's blessings and prosperity in our lives. Bollocks.

Name me a disciple that retired, enjoying the fruits of his God-blessed business. Name me a disciple who went to church once a week and used his mortgage to build a deck onto the beach house. Read the Bible as it is (and not wondering how it affirms your current status quo) and you'll find Jesus telling people to walk out on their livelihood and families (Matthew 4v18-22), a crazy man who lived the desert, surviving on locusts and wild honey (Mark 1v6) and the list goes on. Read for yourself, there is no end to the examples of people whose lives have been ruined by Jesus.

As usual, The Man Himself puts it best:

"Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters - yes, even one's own self! - can't be my disciple. Anyone who won't shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can't be my disciple.
Luke 14v25-27, The Message

"Simply put, if you're not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can't be my disciple.
Luke 14v33, The Message

It's not a safe proposition. It's not a "hmm" and "hah" notion, it requires a decision. A for-or-against decision. There is no fence-sitting with this Jesus, you're either all in or not in at all. Sadly though, most people will read these very words of Jesus and simply thank God that they're not like the people who don't commit properly. Then they'll go back to their middle-class gospel that allows them to spend their paycheques on clothes and sponsor a child for $1 a day so they can sleep at night.

Don't think I'm excluding myself here. If I ever imply that I'm not included in this message, it is entirely unintentional. I'm the worst of sinners and have nothing to boast of. It might sound like a harsh message to write about, but since when did that mean it should be watered down? If you're offended by what I (or Jesus) have said then you've been numbed by the 'Comfortianity' propagated by the Western church; if you agree but don't take action then the same is true. I know I need to change. Faith without works is dead. That is not a notion you can simply nod your head to, and change nothing.

Today is the day to take action. If you need direction, try this: if the current spread of AIDS is not significantly slowed, by 2010 there will be 18,000,000 children orphaned by AIDS in Africa alone. If that (or any other humanitarian cause) does not stir your heart to give until it hurts, then I suggest reading the Scriptures more.

One thing I've learnt from married couples that I haven't managed to understand is that despite all the complaining I hear about being married, despite all the blood, sweat and tears that go into making a relationship work and despite the complete change of lifestyle that occurs, few people would change things.

You know what? You don't have to be comfortable to be content. That's a lie that the World wants you to believe. And God's blessing doesn't always mean comfort. In fact I believe it rarely does. It means your needs are met, it may mean you have surplus to share with others, but it sure doesn't mean that you can settle down and think that the life God has for you is predictable and safe. It's far from it.

Søren Kierkegaard sums up these points well:

Nowadays we can become or live as Christians in the most
pleasant way and without ever risking the slightest possibility of
offense. All we have to do is start with the status quo and observe
good virtues (good-better-best). We can continue to make
ourselves comfortable by scraping together the world’s goods,
as long as we stir into the pot what is Christian as a seasoning,
an ingredient that almost serves to refine our enjoyment of life.
This kind of Christianity is but a religious variation of the
world’s unbelief, a movement without budging from the spot.
That is to say, it is a simulated motion.

Food for thought and prayer. How does the Gospel destroy your life as you know and want it?

Jesus Christ wrecked my life and I wouldn't have it any other way. I can only pray that you and I daily allow Him free reign to wreak whatever havoc He sees fit in our meagre existences.

Emergency Room

2005-11-02T11:00:00.000+13:00

Some things have got into motion with the little organisation that a friend and I are running (Emergency Room). It's quite exciting.

We're putting on a show on the 25th of November, here's the poster which you're most welcome to distribute as you see fit! There's a couple of changes to be made, mainly adding the address of the venue. I'll update it soon as I can.

We'll hopefully have a stall at Parachute, either in the village selling merchandise or in the missions tent talking about our work. Which is quite ambiguous at the moment but is becoming clearer to us as we go.

I suppose this was just a brief update on things, since I changed the theme and felt like writing something.

Relevant again.

2005-10-21T15:33:00.000+13:00

Relevant Magazine have produced another stellar article, worthy of your reading time.

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god_article.php?id=7005

Very well written and expresses where my heart is at right now. Good stuff.

I know I'm whining a lot about poverty lately but until the Church really gets it, I'll keep going.

Here's a reader activity: can you think of creative ways to help the disadvantaged? Post them as comments, it could be a good point of discussion.

The Spirit of the Emerging Church

2005-10-17T20:22:00.000+13:00

I've been doing a fair bit of Emergant reading lately when I've been able to fit it in. I really enjoy it and I feel there's an important wave of new thinking starting to spread amongst Christians which God is most definitely behind and in front of.

In fact it's this spread of ideas which also deeply concerns me. There are three things which I believe are central to the Emerging Church development that I want to discuss here. They are creativity, relativity and deconstructionism. Please do not adjust your computer monitors, I know that the latter two at least have very negative connotations amongst the Christian community, so let me explain myself before you burn my writings in the streets (you'll have to print them first, so the joke's on you!).

I want to explain how I think the Emergant movement is changing how we engage our faith and culture and how I fear it may become commercialised and lose its effectiveness.

CREATIVITY
The Emerging Church is very much about creativity. It's about thinking of new ways to relate to one-another, to God and to the unchurched. It's reclaiming the gift of creativity that for a while now, Christians seemed to have lost. Creativity is an important point. The moment the masses all start buying and mimicking Emergant literature or preaching sermons on Rob Bell's Nooma DVD series, the creative Spirit of the Emergent Church is lost. Not that there are no good ideas in Emergant books or that the Nooma series is bad; not at all. But the moment when these wonderful glimpses of creativity become idealised and mass-consumed, they become formulas. Imitated products. The very thing that the Emergant Church is making so much progress against.

RELATIVITY
I'd likely get in trouble if I said in some churches these days that there's a lot of relativity in this world. I don't mean that truth is necessarily relative, but I do mean that people are relative beings. We are not absolute. Life is far too complex to reduce to a formula, and even if it were possible to do so, no formula would ever be the same for any two people. Of course every person should get to know Christ, but no two people will get to know Him in exactly the same way. If they do we should be concerned. There is a danger for popular culture to latch onto some of the ideas put forward in books such as Blue Like Jazz and others, and to try and replicate the experiences in our own lives or in others'. The fact of the matter is, it will not happen because people are products of subjective experiences, no two of which are identical. Donald Millar's journey to faith, while it has many similarities and parallels, is completely different to my own. Thus it would make no sense to try and fit myself into his experience. I can learn from him, be inspired and taught by him, but I cannot imitate him. I must find my own path and relationship with Christ.

DECONSTRUCTIONISM
Deconstructionists are often seen as pessimistic and with a critical attitude about everything. This may well be true in some cases, but in its essence, deconstruction is a valuable tool. The Emerging Church is growing and learning by removing all the elements which we've added to Christianity over the years. It is pulling apart our faith and asking, "is this Biblical? Is this what Christ taught us?". If not, then it should rightly be discarded. If it is in accordance with God then it has justification to exist. Emerging churches are challenging conventional structures, worship styles, thought patterns and attitudes. Emerging culture is truly fundamentalist; if something is not expressly Scriptural then it is probably unnecessary legalism.

I suppose my concern is that these elements which are being so brilliantly theorised and put into practise now, will one day be assimilated by the larger 'Church' machine which eventually absorbs any truly radical thought and waters it down so that it becomes accessible, believable and inoffensive. We must remember that it was the 'Church' that hated and killed Jesus, not the World. Too many powerful moves of God in the past have been tamed, bottled and put on the shelf next to the Potions for the Comfortable Christian Lifestyle.

In order to retain the underground, subversive and challenging Spirit of this emerging Christian spirituality, we must be on our guard lest we become complacent or formula-driven. May we never settle for someone else's working model in place of seeking God for what He would have us do ourselves and in our churches.

The cornerstone of the Church is Christ. The cornerstone of the Emerging Church movement is Christ. The point on which all this hinges is a two-way, interactive, working relationship with a living God who actually wants to communicate with us. When we get lazy or don't want to talk to God directly, we will read accounts of others and copy them. By keeping our faith creative we can allow God to express His own flair in our lives. By keeping our approach relative we can address each person where they are at, not where our manuals-on-how-to-save-someone say they are at. By staying positively deconstructionist we can continually assess our methods to ensure that anything we add to the Gospel is quickly noticed and pushed to the background so that Christ is our model, our focus and our be-all-and-end-all.

Please comment on this article because it is not intended to be simply a read, but an interaction. If you think I'm wrong, please say so! If you agree with anything, feel free to expand where you see fit.

Grace and Love to you all.

Prelude

2005-10-17T01:57:00.000+13:00

Well I'm going to write something more insightful soon. I have just finished my last big essay for the year (but assignments are far from over).

Website of the moment: Church Marketing Sucks

Check it out, it's really great.

Ambidextrous social activism:

2005-10-13T15:25:00.000+13:00

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/therevolution/

Wow, I only just found this! I recommend a visit and a careful read.

I have been further inspired about the pressing need for myself, as a follower of Christ, to become socially active. If this does not ignite something in the heart of every Christian, I would be confused and concerned.

The best part is, it doesn't matter if you are Right or Left wing, or neither. The reality is that the poor are being oppressed while the rich get richer and while we buy things we don't need. The reality is we need to do something.

I'll undoubtedly write more on this later, after I've finished my Intercultural Communication essay.

Updating, only briefly.

2005-10-08T14:29:00.000+13:00

Quick update on books and music:

I've finished Searching for God Knows What and I have moved onto The Barbarian Way by Erwin Raphael McManus. It's pretty good. I'm also reading my new pocket-sized (for a huge pocket, apparently) version of the The Message Bible. It's great.

Music-wise I've been listening to UnderOath's They're Only Chasing Safety, and Becoming the Archetype's debut Terminate Damnation.

Literature listings...

2005-10-02T17:05:00.000+13:00

Well I was asked today to please keep a list on here of what I've been reading lately, which I am quite happy to do.

I have just finished reading The Outsider by Albert Camus and Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. Both of them were fantastic.

Currently I am gnawing my way through 1984 by George Orwell and Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller (anybody picking up a them here? Classic, Donald Miller; Classic, Donald Miller. How bizarre).

Music-wise (because I think that's important too) I have been listening to Aha Shake Heartbreak by Kings of Leon, Deadbeat Sweetheartbeat by The Juliana Theory, and the new Nodes of Ranvier and Stretch Armstrong CDs.

Rocking.

There's no such thing as up or down.

2005-09-30T12:40:00.000+12:00

I don't really know what I want to write about, but I know I want to write. I'd like to write books some day. Right now I think I'll just write this.

I'd been planning for a little while to write about the inconsistencies of the Right Wing but I have decided against it. It's not so much that I've changed my mind about my views or that I now think I'm wrong, it's more that I'm questioning the values and implications of being a political Christian.

Jesus was never political. He never expressed solidarity with any particular political train of thought, He merely loved and cared for the poor. That fact is what drove me away from the Right and towards the Left: looking after the poor. I can't stress how important I feel that is, but I'm not sure now about how political that should make me.

I am questioning how political I should be. I mean, it would be irresponsible to allow oppressive governments take advantage of the poor and bolster the incomes of the already-rich, but on the other hand there is the tendency to become blinded by politics to the point that it overrides my own actions to help people directly.

There is also the danger to believe that a political system will solve our problems as humans. That is the most dangerous consequence, I believe. Starting to think that there is anything less than the saving, life-changing and mystical power of Christ which is able to stop people being selfish is pure folly. I don't think, however, that this means we should encourage selfishness and oppression.

At the moment, I refuse to join a political party. I will vote and discuss politics with people at a reasonable level, but I will not become a champion of a political cause. I believe in nothing less than the radical, personal level of change brought by Christian spirituality.

This issue is swirling and changing in my mind. Right now this is what I think, and it makes sense to me.

A great article, worth a read.

2005-09-06T13:07:00.000+12:00

This is a really worthwile article that a friend put me on to. Check it out:

Theory an assault on faith by Graeme Finlay

The modern sin trap.

2005-08-27T23:30:00.000+12:00

The Church struggles with sin.

This is no big news to most Christians, or at least we think it isn't. The fact itself may be well understood, but exactly how we struggle with sin has been largely misinterpreted.

I believe there are some fundamental flaws in the modern Church's perspectives on sin. We have grown up, those of us brought up in the Church, believing that the goal of Christianity is to live a pure and holy life. Our views of a holy life have stemmed into fitting a few moral codes that we derived from the Bible. Most of them are quite Biblical, some weren't, but that's not the point.

Somewhere along the way we lost the plot. Somewhere in our journey from there to here we forgot what Jesus taught about the plank in the eye. Despite the teaching that we may have heard about God not counting certain sins as worse than others, we have come to believe that ourselves.

As Christians we have defined ourselves by our little behaviour codes and formed opinions of people who broke the rules. Hearing a Christian uttering a four letter word or seeing them smoking often pinpointed them as 'backsliders' or at least struggling in their relationship with God. Even if we never admitted it all the time, we sure thought it.

I remember hearing a speaker at Promise Keepers one year who was very passionate and was nearing the end of his sermon when he said "some of you may have had shitty backgrounds, but Jesus wants to heal you." You could almost see the air in the auditorium. I couldn't believe that I'd just heard a speaker say that word at a Christian event! I remember joking with my friends afterwards about security tackling him and kicking him out of the conference. The truth of the matter was, he was probably the most honest speaker at the event, and it seemed like he truly cared for those he was speaking to, but we couldn't see past a word that we thought was sinful.

Now in theory you'd expect this microscopic attention to sin to breed a Church that is extremely holy and committed to living a 'righteous' life. Not so. What we have ended up with is firstly a critical (often condemning) view of others who don't fit our behaviour patterns, and secondly a group of people who want to try so hard to look 'Christian' that they push sin below the surface of their masks so nobody will see it (and it never gets dealt with).

Examples of this are everywhere, especially with the remarkable numbers of church leaders getting tied up in a variety of felonies. The system we have ended up with has had the effect of making these 'big' sins into something that Christians (especially leaders) should not struggle with. I don't believe that they should necessarily be acceptable practice in the Church, but struggling with sin should be. We should help one-another rather than alienating people.

I'm not saying sin is ok. I'm saying that the way we are dealing it is not helping; it is pushing it more underground and rooting it even deeper in our lives.

There are, of course, many Christians who are having a positive influence. One who comes to mind is Bono from U2. I've been listening to U2 quite a bit lately and I'm constantly impressed with Bono's attitude in the public sphere. He's willing to be open about his failings and struggles, to write honest music and isn't afraid to sacrifice his own time and money to help others less fortunate (I'm sure he's still really well off, but he gives a lot from what I can see!). He's been criticised plenty of times by 'Christians' who just love to jump on the condemnation-of-sin bandwagon. Most of these Christians have no idea what the world is like outside of their bubbles.

Jesus was quick to forgive the sinners, and angered by the self-righteousness of the Pharisees. He called them "whitewashed tombs" which is the best analogy I've heard.

Everybody's a tomb. The first step to filling that grave with righteousness is not to hide the tomb or to whitewash it. It's to accept that it is what it is, and that it needs changing. Here's to honesty in the church and encouragement of one-another.

Love and Grace.

Grace, she takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
It could be her name

Grace, it's a name for a girl
It's also a thought that changed the world

And when she walks on the street
You can hear the strings
Grace finds goodness in everything

Grace - U2
from the album All That You Can't Leave Behind

Only the Truth

2005-08-25T15:32:00.000+12:00

I'm re-using my old domain name, this time to promote a muso gathering that I'm helping organise... check it out:

www.onlythetruth.co.nz

A quote that should change your life.

2005-08-25T00:13:00.000+12:00

Ah! So much is spoken about human need and misery and how to overcome it. So much is spoken about wasting our lives. But the only wasted life is the life of him who has so lived it, deceived by life's pleasures or its sorrows, that he never became decisively, eternally, conscious of himself as spirit, as a self. Or, if I may put it another way, he has never become aware - and gained in the deepest sense the impression - that there is a God and that "he" himself, is answerable to and exists before this God, and that this God can only be met by way of despair.
-Søren Kierkegaard

Elections, social policies and love.

2005-08-24T14:24:00.000+12:00

Every day we're hurtling closer and closer to the 2005 elections. To be perfectly honest I'm getting quite sick of hearing about it and can't wait until they're all over. Nevertheless I still hold opinions and feel like sharing them, if only to kickstart this blog that I hope to be fairly committed to (wishful thinking).

Lately I've been challenged on my views by some considerably right-wing Christians. This has been mainly due to the fact that I said I would prefer Labour over National despite the fact that I'm voting for neither. In fact I'm voting United Future because I think they will likely be a voice of reason and rationality to balance out whoever gets in power (Lord knows they both need it).

I do swing to the left in my social policy opinions. The political compass puts me almost directly in the same place as Gandhi which I found quite reassuring.

My left-wing tendencies come from my understanding of the New Testament of the Bible and of the character of God. Many Christians can't seem to understand that; I've even been challenged as to how I can "be a Christian and left wing". I think it's distressingly ironic and funny that Christians think that the gospel is so right-wing and conservative. Of course it is in some respects, but I don't understand how that translates to legislation applying to everybody. What we have is a modern-day Pharisaical conundrum; on the one hand there are legalistic Christians who seem to think that everyone should conform to Biblical moral ideals and on the other hand there are the teachings of Christ which naturally upset the Pharisees.

It's interesting to note in the Gospel accounts that the people who didn't like Jesus and who essentially got Him killed were the 'church' of the time, yet the 'sinners' accepted Jesus because of His Love and Truth.

Is this the modern-day perception of Christians by non-Christians? Do they see the Church as radically counter-culture and insightful? Not from what I read in the papers or hear from my friends! The perception of the Church is that all they want to do is ban this, ban that; flee this and flee that. Certainly not the example that Jesus gave.

This reasoning is beyond me. Where is the Biblical evidence to say that a country full of people obeying God's laws but neglecting a personal relationship with Him will make God happy? There is considerable evidence to the contrary, I find. In fact He says that He would prefer people to completely reject Him than to serve Him half-heartedly. You cannot serve two masters; you will only hate one and love the other.

Sure, there are some Biblical principles which should be upheld by the law: laws against theft, murder and rape would be obvious examples. These are not, however, legislated because they are in the Bible - they are legislated because they impose on others' freedom, cause harm to others and are generally recognised as unacceptable behaviour.

If you're going to base laws on the Bible, then don't stop half-way. If you have disobeyed one command of the Law, you have disobeyed the whole Law. Therefore, according to the reasoning used by some people, it should be illegal to worship idols. It should be illegal to covet and to not love God. Try making those into law.

That's enough for now. I haven't really thought out what I've written, just jumped from thought to thought. I guess if nothing else this is a pre-empting of what sort of things I'll talk about in future. Who knows, I may talk about completely different topics. Keep reading, if you like.

Initialisation...

2005-08-24T13:31:00.000+12:00

Here goes... the obligatory first post to make sure everything is working!

Hi.