I am curious as to who thought up the "six more weeks of winter" thing for Punxsutawney Phill to discover with his shadow. In Central New York State, where I live, six more weeks of winter would be considered a blessing and a good thing. ONLY six more weeks, we cry, and there is much rejoicing. It is difficult to live in a place that has six season -- Winter which is January and February, unlocking season which is March and April, Spring which is May and June, Summer which is July and August, Autumn or Fall which is September and October and then there is the locking season which is November and December. Fully six months of that time it is getting cold, still cold or starting to not be cold any more. SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is simply a medical term for the depression that sets in because we live in a cold and gray place.
There are amazing advantages . . . (wait a second and I'll remember them). . . oh, golf is cheap, when the weather turns it is spectacular. We don't have deal with Hurricanes (like the south east), Tornadoes (like the Midwest), 100 degree heat (like the southwest). We don't have to deal with earthquakes, mud slides (like the far west). People have lived here long enough to learn how to deal with the changing seasons. Curiously, we adjust.
My warmer climate friends often ask -- why do you still live in such a place. My response -- two things. First it is where God has placed me to serve and work. Second, it is home.
Those should be the only answers.
bj
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
working my way back
Hi:
I've been off the grid for a few months and haven't been posting. Here's to beginning the end of the first month of the new year with a renewed commitment to putting out there what has been on my mind.
I am currently working with the idea of Idolatry. Jarrett Stevens' "The Deity Formerly Known as God" and Timothy Keller's "Counterfeit God's" have been illuminating and helpful on the journey. I am especially captured by the modern incarnation of all of the ancient deities. Consider the biggest gods of the American culture: Money, Sex, Power, Self (one could add a variety of others including: Success, etc.). In the old days there were statues and temples for these powerful motivators . . . today we make just as many sacrifices, perform just as many rituals, and entrust our lives to these same false gods. We just don't call them deities.
It is common among certain Christian circles to speak of priorities and having our priorities straight in our lives. This conversation usually involves linear lists of items. The conversation usually goes like this: "put God first, then your family, then your work . . . and so on". (I'm old enough to remember JOY (J-Jesus O-Others Y-yourself). The problem with this presentation is that it is not biblical.
A better image would be from astronomy. The largest gravity well determines the orbits of everything else. In a human life that gravity well is our god (notice not should be, not becomes, but simply is). Whatever is at the center controls the relationship of everything else. If I have a right relationship with God at the center (or at least becoming right from my side -- already made right by God) then my family, work, play, etc. align themselves properly and appropriately. If I have anything other than the Creator at the center of my life I have chaos and the other aspects of the constellation of my life are banging into each other and out of alignment.
That alignment is why the conversation about idolatry is still relevant and vital. If money, sex (youth, beauty, whatever), power or my own self is the deepest gravity well . . .
bj
I've been off the grid for a few months and haven't been posting. Here's to beginning the end of the first month of the new year with a renewed commitment to putting out there what has been on my mind.
I am currently working with the idea of Idolatry. Jarrett Stevens' "The Deity Formerly Known as God" and Timothy Keller's "Counterfeit God's" have been illuminating and helpful on the journey. I am especially captured by the modern incarnation of all of the ancient deities. Consider the biggest gods of the American culture: Money, Sex, Power, Self (one could add a variety of others including: Success, etc.). In the old days there were statues and temples for these powerful motivators . . . today we make just as many sacrifices, perform just as many rituals, and entrust our lives to these same false gods. We just don't call them deities.
It is common among certain Christian circles to speak of priorities and having our priorities straight in our lives. This conversation usually involves linear lists of items. The conversation usually goes like this: "put God first, then your family, then your work . . . and so on". (I'm old enough to remember JOY (J-Jesus O-Others Y-yourself). The problem with this presentation is that it is not biblical.
A better image would be from astronomy. The largest gravity well determines the orbits of everything else. In a human life that gravity well is our god (notice not should be, not becomes, but simply is). Whatever is at the center controls the relationship of everything else. If I have a right relationship with God at the center (or at least becoming right from my side -- already made right by God) then my family, work, play, etc. align themselves properly and appropriately. If I have anything other than the Creator at the center of my life I have chaos and the other aspects of the constellation of my life are banging into each other and out of alignment.
That alignment is why the conversation about idolatry is still relevant and vital. If money, sex (youth, beauty, whatever), power or my own self is the deepest gravity well . . .
bj
Monday, August 10, 2009
Musings
Hi: I've been away from my blog for a few weeks . . . it happens. : )
I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be a Christ follower. I had a great conversation with a young person (anyone younger than yourself is a "young person") the other day. This young friend is not yet a Christ follower. One of the biggest obstacles is fear that the "crazies" have it right and that the violent, lunatic fringe of "so called" Jesus followers or, and perhaps this is worse, the lifeless insipid banal "so called" Jesus followers are the real deal.
I suggested, as someone once told me, that religion does not create fanatics . . . but it does attract them. Any cause or movement has its people on the edge. Consider the environmental movement, or the animal rights folks (both excellent causes) but do those who perpetuate violence speak for the whole? I doubt it and the same is true for Christ followers -- those of us who are seeking an authentic relationship with our creator through Jesus Christ tend to be pretty balanced and rational people.
The passionless and the misplaced (guided?) impassioned have never been the mark of Christ's followers. Jesus is seen in the Gospels as a compassionate, passionate, principled person. He challenges injustice, he confronts hypocrisy, and his offering on the cross is correctly referred to as "His Passion" . . . but he is not Ned Flanders, nor is he Caspar Milquetoast and he is certainly not using violence to win his point. On fire . . . with grace.
Jesus calls us to live lives that matter in ways that make a difference, as servants of all.
It is quite the challenge.
bj
I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be a Christ follower. I had a great conversation with a young person (anyone younger than yourself is a "young person") the other day. This young friend is not yet a Christ follower. One of the biggest obstacles is fear that the "crazies" have it right and that the violent, lunatic fringe of "so called" Jesus followers or, and perhaps this is worse, the lifeless insipid banal "so called" Jesus followers are the real deal.
I suggested, as someone once told me, that religion does not create fanatics . . . but it does attract them. Any cause or movement has its people on the edge. Consider the environmental movement, or the animal rights folks (both excellent causes) but do those who perpetuate violence speak for the whole? I doubt it and the same is true for Christ followers -- those of us who are seeking an authentic relationship with our creator through Jesus Christ tend to be pretty balanced and rational people.
The passionless and the misplaced (guided?) impassioned have never been the mark of Christ's followers. Jesus is seen in the Gospels as a compassionate, passionate, principled person. He challenges injustice, he confronts hypocrisy, and his offering on the cross is correctly referred to as "His Passion" . . . but he is not Ned Flanders, nor is he Caspar Milquetoast and he is certainly not using violence to win his point. On fire . . . with grace.
Jesus calls us to live lives that matter in ways that make a difference, as servants of all.
It is quite the challenge.
bj
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Free but not cheap
I am rereading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's excellent "The Cost of Discipleship". I began this reread on my journey to Halifax, Nova Scotia for my Uncle's funeral. A little light reading on the plane and before bed time. This great book is a study of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. Bonhoeffer begins his book with a detailed discussion of grace. He wrote this in Germany in 1936-7 in the days leading up to the second World War. His primary concern was for the renewal of the church. He believed that the church had settled for a "cheap grace". That is an understanding of grace that was essentially "all about me". A grace that "got me saved" but never engaged my will or my transformation. "Cheap grace is not the kind of forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves." (Page 44 touchstone edition). He argues that the church fell into a double standard where a "maximum obedience," what was expected of monks, martyrs, and other "saints," and a "minimum obedience", what was expected of the rank and file church member, was killing the churches witness and effectiveness. (And, I might add, continues to do so!).
Grace becomes costly (rather than cheap) when it not only brings us to forgiveness but also brings us into obedient alignment with the way that Jesus Christ taught. Who Jesus is is more important than what he says. However, obedience to what he says is the key component to living a life in grace.
I am finding echos of Bonhoeffer's writing in some modern writers like Erwin McManus (see Unstoppable Force or The Barbarian Way) and Rob Bell (Jesus came to Save Christians).
The key component of "Costly Grace" is reorientation of our values and priorities from "what do I get out of it (consumer meism driven religion)" to concern for the poor, the oppressed, the disadvantaged, etc. If we accept this understanding the only logical conclusion is that our American consumer driven religion is the antithesis of biblical Christianity. Lord have mercy and help me change my heart, my priorities, my values, my focus . . .
I will keep reading. . .
Dr. BJ
Grace becomes costly (rather than cheap) when it not only brings us to forgiveness but also brings us into obedient alignment with the way that Jesus Christ taught. Who Jesus is is more important than what he says. However, obedience to what he says is the key component to living a life in grace.
I am finding echos of Bonhoeffer's writing in some modern writers like Erwin McManus (see Unstoppable Force or The Barbarian Way) and Rob Bell (Jesus came to Save Christians).
The key component of "Costly Grace" is reorientation of our values and priorities from "what do I get out of it (consumer meism driven religion)" to concern for the poor, the oppressed, the disadvantaged, etc. If we accept this understanding the only logical conclusion is that our American consumer driven religion is the antithesis of biblical Christianity. Lord have mercy and help me change my heart, my priorities, my values, my focus . . .
I will keep reading. . .
Dr. BJ
Monday, June 8, 2009
Acts 8
Acts 8 shows the early Christian movement moving out from Jerusalem. Did everyone notice what got the Church moving from complacency? Persecution. God uses our discomfort to get us moving to where he wants us. With the great successes of Pentecost and the terrific fellowship of the Jerusalem the early church could easily have fallen into a nice little bless me party. Peter Wagner calls this "koininitis" a condition where the church gets so enamored with being together it forgets its mission. The death of Stephen and Saul's work to drag believers off to prison serves to move the church away from Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria (remember Acts 1:8). The first non Jewish convert (Samaritans) the first not Semitic convert (the Ethiopian) are in this chapter all of it because the church was scattered away from their home base. What will it take the 21st Century church to leave its complacency and move back out into mission?
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Wondering About Hope
The Syracuse Newspaper runs a column in the Saturday edition about what people believe. The past few weeks the articles have been written by people who were "areligious"; my read would be that they were more agnostic than atheistic but that is just my perspective. The essence of the two presentations is that this is all that there is so make the most of it. On the surface that sounds great -- live for today, make every moment count, etc.
I find myself wondering, however, why bother. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that if this is all there is we are most to be pitied ("If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all peple most to be pitied." 2 Corinthians 15:19). Life becomes a pathetic, accidental and somewhat pointless existence. The question "what am I here for?" has no context and therefore not even a sniff of an answer. I believe we are hard wired to seek meaning and purpose. Victor Frankl's book "Man's Search for Meaning" found that survivors could see a future beyond their current circumstances. This "potential future" gave them hope and that hope helped them survive.
I'm not arguing for a dogmatic control focused "religion" (I can't imagine anything more antithetical to the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth). I am suggesting that a look to an eternal future is one way that people find hope. This hope not only allows them to survive life's difficulties it also gives them the courage to attempt taking on the structures, powers and inertia of human society that often grinds people to dust. I have read that during the days of the black plague the areas of Europe that were more "Christianized" had a lower death rate. The Christians saw a better future and were not afraid to risk. Because of this they took care of their dead (instead of leaving them in the streets). This extra care saved many lives.
"All these died in faith without having recieved the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. (Hebrews 11:13)"
What gives you hope?
I find myself wondering, however, why bother. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that if this is all there is we are most to be pitied ("If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all peple most to be pitied." 2 Corinthians 15:19). Life becomes a pathetic, accidental and somewhat pointless existence. The question "what am I here for?" has no context and therefore not even a sniff of an answer. I believe we are hard wired to seek meaning and purpose. Victor Frankl's book "Man's Search for Meaning" found that survivors could see a future beyond their current circumstances. This "potential future" gave them hope and that hope helped them survive.
I'm not arguing for a dogmatic control focused "religion" (I can't imagine anything more antithetical to the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth). I am suggesting that a look to an eternal future is one way that people find hope. This hope not only allows them to survive life's difficulties it also gives them the courage to attempt taking on the structures, powers and inertia of human society that often grinds people to dust. I have read that during the days of the black plague the areas of Europe that were more "Christianized" had a lower death rate. The Christians saw a better future and were not afraid to risk. Because of this they took care of their dead (instead of leaving them in the streets). This extra care saved many lives.
"All these died in faith without having recieved the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. (Hebrews 11:13)"
What gives you hope?
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Crisis de jure
I am frequently bewildered by the ferocity and energy of the 24 hour news cycle. When News stations had a half hour an evening they tended to stick to "hard news" and were usually covering stuff that mattered -- we might debate how they covered it but generally it was information that was recognized as important. There were newspapers that tried to tell the news in written form so you could read it at your leisure. Nobody screamed at us.
Now everything has to be a catastrophe, a crisis, an Armageddon. This is not to say that the economic situation, ABMs 100th day, or swine flu is not important. It is to say that when the news channels have an enormous financial stake in keeping us watching there is a tendency to present things as more critical and more important than they actually are. All the air time devoted to the Octo-mom would be a prime example of this. I don't need television to have a game of "spot the loony", I can play that game on my own in my own time just by wandering around town for a while.
I think we could create a real crisis . . . stop watching the TV news channels and see what happens. Between the declining revenue streams and declining advertising dollars we might see some of the hysteria for what it is . . .
I choose NOT to be afraid. Whenever there is a visitation of God in the Bible (generally an angel) the first words of the angel are "do not be afraid". When Jesus appears to the disciples on the first Easter evening he says "do not be afraid." I am convinced that the opposite of faith is not doubt (doubt is good, healthy and keeps us seeking); the opposite of faith is fear.
Turn off the news, look around you, trust, pray and above all else . . . do not be afraid.
dr. bj
Now everything has to be a catastrophe, a crisis, an Armageddon. This is not to say that the economic situation, ABMs 100th day, or swine flu is not important. It is to say that when the news channels have an enormous financial stake in keeping us watching there is a tendency to present things as more critical and more important than they actually are. All the air time devoted to the Octo-mom would be a prime example of this. I don't need television to have a game of "spot the loony", I can play that game on my own in my own time just by wandering around town for a while.
I think we could create a real crisis . . . stop watching the TV news channels and see what happens. Between the declining revenue streams and declining advertising dollars we might see some of the hysteria for what it is . . .
I choose NOT to be afraid. Whenever there is a visitation of God in the Bible (generally an angel) the first words of the angel are "do not be afraid". When Jesus appears to the disciples on the first Easter evening he says "do not be afraid." I am convinced that the opposite of faith is not doubt (doubt is good, healthy and keeps us seeking); the opposite of faith is fear.
Turn off the news, look around you, trust, pray and above all else . . . do not be afraid.
dr. bj
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