Church and mission 10/28 The empire and the church

Constantine called for all the councils in order to regulate the faith throughout the empire. He could not afford to have division between the one thing that consolidated his empire: Christianity. The councils helped to establish our now orthodox views on Christian doctrine but the councils were not initiated by the church. It was the emperor who gathered the bishops together not because of a pure love for God but for pure love of empire. Does that discredit the creeds and theology that came from the councils?

Lord's prayer translation

We have been going over the Lord's prayer and reciting it throughout the day as a church. I have gotten some interesting feedback about this excercise and I thought I'd give my translation of the Lord's prayer from greek class. Can you spot the slight changes?

Our Father who is in heaven.
Let your name be made holy
Let your kingdom come
Let your will become
As in heaven also on earth
Our necessary bread give to us today
Forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors
And do not lead us into temptation
But deliver us from the evil one

Church and mission 10/26-The bigger things get..

In looking at the preConstantinian church it seems to me that the bigger things get the more structured and hierarchical they become. I do not see any way around it. Some may champion a smaller church but if you do smaller church good then inevitably it will grow. This is what happened to the early church. The smaller church grew and morphed into more structured forms. So what is the way forward from here? Do we advocate for smaller church? Maybe we need to advocate for a church that is more faithful to Jesus. That way no matter how big or structured ijavascript:void(0)t gets there is always a center to come back to.

Church and mission 10/21-Is formalization a bad thing?

As we took a look at the pre-Constantine church we see steps toward formalizing baptism, leadership and the Lord's supper. What amazes me is that these are the things that we have recently formalized at our church. I wonder if this is a good thing or a bad thing. We have added structure to them because we did not want people to 1) make mistakes in conducting them and 2) Not be a bad witness to those who are new. It seems to me that there is a difference between formalizing and giving structure and I think that it is necessary to give structure while it is not necessary to formalize. When there are large numbers of people (over 30) then there needs to be structure. I think the larger the group the greater the structure. What do you think?

Church and mission 10/19-The four F words of 1st century Christian leadership

1st century Christian leadership was flat, fluid, functional and many times female. This is also the kind of leadership that we need in the 21st century. We need flat leadership with less hierarchy or no hierarchy at all (although sometimes that's inevitable). We need fluid leadership with people not stuck in permanent roles and becoming institutionalized. We need functional leadership that is not about titles but the gifts that leaders bring to the table. We need leadership that is female because for years the body of Christ has been missing out on its key players-the women that have been sitting on the bench due to mishandled scripture and male insecurity. This is the kind of leadership we need but the question now is how does my church measure up to the four F words of 1st century Christian leadership?

Dating ain't easy #1-Find your well

One of the best things that I learned during my years of dating was to "Find your well". What do I mean by "Find your well." It means to go and serve where the kind of person you want to be your spouse congregates. Isaac's wife was found at a well serving. Moses wife was found at a well serving. Jesus even met a woman at a well and she turned out to be a great addition to his bride the Body of Christ. So many single Christians get themselves all twisted up because they met somebody at a gas station or at a bar or a club and they do not really know who this person is or what their character is like. When I realized this I started going to places where I would be around godly men (to hold me accountable) and women and not around skanks. Did I just say that??? Anyway in the process I found a beautiful woman to be my wife and helpmeet. Not because I was so focused on dating but because I was focused on serving. So ladies if you want to better your prospects then find your well! Fellas if you want to better your prospects. Find your well! I can't guarantee anything but it is a start. No use of fishing in the Sahara :)

While we are on the subject has anybody had a horror story of meeting someone at a club or on the street somewhere?

If you are married where did you meet your spouse?

Grace and peace,

Ramon

Reflections on The Great Emergence by Phyllis Tickle

Chapter 1

In this chapter Tickle explains what the "Great Emergence" is and shows how every 500 years institutionalized Christianity is shattered and renewal and new growth take place. When this happens a new living form of the faith comes into being and the older tradition is revitalized. At the same time the faith spreads into new geographic and demographic areas.

Chapter 2

This chapter shows how religion is a social construct using the analogy of the cable. The waterproof casing is the shared story/history of the community. The mesh sleeve of the cable is the common imagination or the community's view of how the world works or the way things are supposed to be. Inside the waterproof casing are the three strands of spirituality, morality, and corporeality. Spirituality is the experiences and values internal to individuals or groups of individuals in the community. Morality is the externalization or application of these values and corporeality is the physical and overt evidence of a group's existence. When the waterproof casing of a community's shared story and the mesh sleeve of its common imagination are damaged or called into question then the community takes each of the individual strands and changes them in order to adjust them to the new reality.

Chapter 3

This chapter focuses on the Great Reformation and compares it to the Great Emergence. In many ways they are similar as people in that time were attempting to answer the question of authority. It was also a time in which the shared story and common imagination of the church were shaken up by several new discoveries. Copernican theory showed that the earth was not the center of the solar system and this along with Columbus' discovery of the New World challenged the authority of the church. These things along with the rise of the nation state, capitalism, the middle class, and the use of the printing press were factors which led to The Great Reformation and also the Counter or Catholic Reformation. Both of these are examples of a new vital form of the faith coming into being, the old tradition being revitalized and the faith being spread to new geographic and demographic areas.

Chapter 4

New discoveries in the fields of biology, physics, and psychology led to the Great Emergence. The fields of biology and physics were radically altered by Charles Darwin and Michael Faraday. As a result the authority of sola scriptura was challenged and the reaction against biblical criticism, evolution, and liberal theology gave birth to the fundamentalist movement. Here Tickle describes the Great Emergence as an attempt to hold in tension the key tenets of evangelicalism and the new theologically diverse and pluralistic culture. Another factor that led to the Great Emergence is Joseph Campbell's Power of Myth television broadcast which challenged Christian exclusivity and particularity. In a way television and now the internet have become the new Gutenberg press for the Great Emergence. Because of the developments in biology, physics, and psychology the two questions important to the Great Emergence are 1) What is human consciousness and/or the consciousness of the human? 2) What is the relation of all religions to one another or how can we live as faithful adherents of one religion in a world of many religions?

Chapter 5

Here Tickle describes the external culture of the Great Emergence. The Heisenberg principle of uncertainty was based on Einstein's special theory of relativity and in turn influenced literary deconstruction. Literary deconstruction claimed that there is no absolute truth and challenges the authority of the Bible as the ultimate authority. Pentecostalism and African American particapatory styles of worship impact North American Christianity. The egalitarianism and experience based authority also leave their mark on the face of North American Christianity. The automobile takes the family away from Grandma and the nuclear family disintegrates and at the same time Biblical literacy increases. Alcoholics Anonymous, The Immigration act, and the Drug age pave the way for a new spirituality. Much of the Great Emergence's thinking is rooted in the two Vatican Councils of 1869 and 1962. Information has replaced cash as the new basis of power. The North American Great Emergence as fresh expression of Christianity is primarily a conversation.

Chapter 6

North American Christianity can divided into four groups: liturgicals, social justice, renewalists, and conservatives. There categories cross denominational lines partly because of the "watercooler" theology of the Great Emergence. These denominational lines have blended and eroded divisions. Divisions still exist and the most significant is between believing and behaving. The liturgical and social justice christains would be in the behaving category while the conservatives and renewalists are in the believing category. All these different groups are gathering towards a center and being blended together to form a new expression of Christianity. Tickle says the reacting Christians are the Great Emergence's ballast and this ballast is needed in order to keep the fresh expression grounded. She predicts that sixty percent of practicing Christians will be emergent or some clear variant thereof. There will also be Traditionalists who stick with the old faith and act in the same way as the Catholic/Counter Reformation, Re-traditionalists who refurbish their inherited church to make it more like it was originally, Progressives will remodel the faith and remove barriers in order to engage postmodernity, the Hyphenated Christians nearest to the Emerging center will use material from their inherited church but also build something new with this old material.

Chapter 7

The biggest question facing the Great Emergence is "Where now is the authority?" This question has divided the Great Emergence into two camps of orthonomy and theonomy. Orthonomy is the principle of using correct or harmonious beauty as a tool for discerning the truth. Theonomy is the principle that God can only be the source of perfect action and thought and interpreting the meaning of the Bible as the way to discern truth. The Great Emergence sees authority as networked among believers and in this way is a conversation. This way of thinking finds its origins in the Quaker movement and more recently in John Wimber's centered set theory. This centered set theory has been articulated by Great Emergence leaders as "belong-behave-believe". The Great Emergence also relies heavily on narrative versus metanarrative and this will lead into a new understanding of "the self" which is much different than the Hellenized Greek way of understanding "the self" and more Jewish in perspective. As the Great Emergence rewrites theology the Roman and Protestant communions will have to readjust themselves accordingly.

Church and mission 10/14-The hyphenated teacher

All leaders are usually teachers in some capacity or another. It is in the job description to define reality and to train others. In the five fold ministry passage(Ephesians 4:11-12) there has been debate over whether there were just plain old teachers in the early church. I know some people nowadays who can teach and only teach and I would not say that they were leaders necessarily. It seems to me that in order to lead you would have to be connected to the body in some other people oriented way other than teaching. What do you think?

Church and mission 10/12-The holistic Jesus and his compartmenalized church

Jesus' church is much more holistic than our modern version of church today. It seems like the parts flowed into a seamless whole. The sacramental act of baptism was initiation into community but it was also a means of forgiveness. Forgiveness brokered outside the wealthy and religious power bases was a characteristic of this community and at the same time community was a form of mission as those on the outside saw the distinct lives of Jesus' followers and how they included everyone and they in turn wanted to follow him as well. In contrast the way most churches do it is to have separate departments for each area (liturgy/sacrament, community, mission, leadership). This actually makes things more complicated and spreads our time more thin. I wonder how we can make our church communities more holistic and not so compartmentalized.

Resume of weakness

This past Sunday I talked about the left hand being weak and how God uses weakness to show how powerful he is in our lives. As a way for us to implement a theology of weakness in our lives I have taken an excercise from The Emotionally Healthy Church workbook by Peter Scazerro called "Writing a Resume of Weakness" This is an exercise where we write out the weaknesses and deficiencies that we have. I know it sounds like a real downer but it is actually refreshing because it helps us see that we are not perfect and that we do not have to be perfect. Here are the categories:

Deficiencies in training and education

Missing gifts and skills

Obstacles of personality and temperament

Questionable aspects of my past character

Weaknesses in emotional and spiritual maturity

Just list them out and share them with a friend or mentor and ask them to share with you as well. Your relationship will grow and you will definitely create space for God to move in your life

Judges 3:12-19 overflow

I didn't have the time to include and explain this comparison in my sermon this past Sunday on Judges 3:12-19 and the story of Ehud the left handed Benjamite but Ehud is very similar to Christ in the way that he defeated Israel's enemy Eglon the king of Moab:

He gave him a message of judgement. Satan and our sins were judged by Christ on the cross.

He cut his flesh. Jesus flesh was cut on the cross.

He sacrificed a fat little bull (that's what Eglon's name means) in order for his people to be free. Christ became the sacrifice in order to set his people free.

Also for those of you who are left handed here a couple of websites which applaud being "right brained" or in other words left handed:

A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

Oh yeah just in case you didn't know: Our new president is left handed as well.

It's our time! :)

Church and mission 10/7-Jesus outreach strategy

So many times I think what can we do to bring Jesus people? Is there a particular outreach strategy that the church is supposed to use? We just recently learned that the most effective outreach strategy is to be a community that lives distinctly and in close proximity those who have not yet experienced the kingdom of God. Then I am left with the questions: What does a distinct life look like in this North American context? How can we be in close proximity to those who have not yet experienced the kingdom of God?

Definition of "usurp authority over"

My exegetical method class with Dr. Love Sechrest requires me to translate passages from greek to english. It is a very eye opening process as I have read the Bible so many times that many of the phrases are hard wired into my brain. This makes it hard to come up with my own translation and not just copy what the NIV, KJV, ESV have done. One of the interesting nuggets that I am chewing on is the translation of the word αὐθεντεῖν which means "to usurp authority over". Here is the dilemma to usurp means to seize and hold (a position, office, power, etc.) by force or without legal right. Now in the context it is talking about women teaching or having authority over a man. My question is this: Is it talking about women having authority over a man or the way in which they have authority over a man i.e. seizing and holding by force or without legal right? What if they have a legal right? What if they do not seize and hold authority by force? Hmmmm.....

A new favorite-Spaghetti with garlic, olive oil, and red pepper

This is a great recipe that I found in the 15 minute fuss free cookbook Yvette gave me for Father's day. You can find it here on the Food Network site. It is an unusual take on spaghetti but I love it. The pepper and the garlic flavor keep it exciting even though it doesn't have a thick sauce. We ate it with spinach and it was delicious :)