Trying to follow

(note: Originally written my sophmore year of college in January 2003)
Continued from part II (and part I)

It’s one of the biggest atrocities of the church that we do not give even close to the ten percent that we as believers should be giving—At LEAST. I would submit that most Christians in America could give 20% of their income without seriously suffering in their day to day life. If you equate suffering with not being able to buy a new car every few years, or any other material possession which you have no real dire need of then maybe there is a slight potential one must suffer.
Do you have any idea what the church could do with the money if each Christian gave 10%? Even assuming ¾ of the people who go to church are not bonified Christians, if the last ¼ all gave 10% the resources would be amazing. We could fund hundreds of missionaries overseas; we could give resources of all kinds to the persecuted church; we could feed and educate hundreds of children in needy countries. But there are so many facets to this, so many.
If we gave to the point that we need to choose a standard or quality of living that was below, noticeably below the people who we might be living around (assuming you haven’t had to sell your middle-class suburban home), what message might that send to your neighbors? Might they “see your good deeds and worship your father in heaven?” What if some of the money you tithed went to giving to the needs of those in your neighborhood? What if you tithed 10% of your time (If there is a resource of capital we budget nearly as much as we do our money its probably our time) to the specific task of tangibly “loving your neighbor as your self?” There are 168 hours in a week, that leaves approximately 17 hours to serve your neighbor. Even if we didn’t count sleep time (8 hours a nights) that would still be 11 hours a week to serve your neighbor, by baking a cake for their birthday, writing cards, shoveling driveways, mowing lawns, babysitting, or maybe just talking. We often talk of the mission field as those countries and tribes far away that have never heard the gospel. We forget that Jesus said we will be His witness first “in Jerusalem,” that is, our home, our city, our community.

This week I’ve got a video you need to go and watch that isn’t embeddable, it’s a music video to Radiohead’s All I Need.
Go Now. (ht. Keane)

Here is a user created video to the same song with a different topic

Immigrants (ht. Jamie)

What did you think of that one?

This is another one from the archives, I wrote it five years ago at Wheaton College, after the Class Films…

I’m taking a contextualization class at Wheaton College, in it we learn about other cultures and how to contextualize the gospel. It’s a great class and I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve learned. Basically it’s taught me to look at my culture and say, “how are we not contextualizing the gospel into our culture?” It causes you to look at a lot of things.

Take bridesmaids for example. Did you know that originally the reason for bridesmaids was a pagan belief that they came before the bride to ward off any evil eye that someone might have toward the bride. Weird! But, now it’s a regular part of nearly all Christian marriages. Shall we toss it out as pagan, or is it so a part of our Christian heritage and carries none of the meaning it once did for us? Now take prostitution, is it possible to have a Christian brothel? Obviously not, because it goes against so many basic Christian values. Have we effectively contextualized music? The arts? And so many other things? These are the questions you ask in trying to contextualize. So join me in this case study.

A Christian College host a large event for the students modeled after the Academy awards. Four student films were produced, one for each class, and the event consisted of viewing the films and then giving awards accordingly. The evening started with students arriving quite early at the doors of Edman Chapel. A red carpet was laid out at the central doors, where a limo pulled up and those involved in each film where escorted into the theater. There was much cheering, but the focus was on excitement for friends, rather then the glitz and glamor and focus on who is wearing what that is such the focus of the Academy Awards. The doors opened and students rushed in for seats to view the four films which where all of excellent quality.
After the films a pair of people where introduced to come and announce the winner of best supporting actress. After the introduction three people walked on to the stage. The pair that was introduced stepped up to the microphone and dialogged a bit before announcing the winner. The third person, a female, stood silently in the back holding the Academy Award style trophy. She presented it to the winning actress and then escorted her off the stage. Again, a pair was introduced, three people walked on stage, the pair spoke and the third, a female again, stood silently in the back holding the trophy. She presented it to the winner and escorted him off stage. All evening I watched this happen. Near the end of the ceremonies there where some thank yous and congratulations to those who had helped make the evening come together. Never once did any of the females with the trophies speak, never once were their names mentioned. The only recognition they got was some banter teasingly saying they where stealing a boyfriends attention.

Did our attempt to do a Christian Academy Awards miss something? Is displaying females without a name or a voice, and only recognizing what they look like, Christian? I think we can agree that it is missing something, or it is flawed.

This will be a brief review. I read a novel, The Church Ladies, by Lisa Samson. I wanted to read a known fiction Christian author and Lisa was the only one I could think of (besides Peretti and the left behind books). Anyways this was the shortest one available at the library and so I picked it up.

It’s a pretty decent book, a quick and easy read. I definitely felt like it was geared toward a female audience because there was some references to things, haircuts and such, without explanation, that I had know idea what they were referring to. The story was well put together as well, and though I did find some of the references and scenes a bit cheesy, I got teary eyed at others.

I sort of wanted to know if my recent fiction project, Giving Up, came even close to being able to have a chance in the ‘Christian’ fiction genre. It might, I’m not sure, but I do know Lisa Samson is a veteran in the field and has written and been awarded for her great work. I just hope I learned a thing or two from reading some of her work.

(note: Originally written my sophmore year of college in January 2003)
Continued from part I

Initial thoughts of the Christian community in America would say that we are indeed bearing much fruit. Many gain lovely relationships with Christ through the small groups and Bible studies and the sermons of the American Church. And our giving and outreach to the community is certainly there. Let me change our way of thinking for a moment.
I submit that the standard to which we hold our Christianity is nothing but the relative standard of what our non-Christian American neighbors are doing. But our standard should be Christ and His word, nothing less. When the cop pulls you over for speeding it does not matter whether every other car on the road was speeding twice as much as you were, if you were speeding you were speeding. It does not matter how “good” you are compared to your atheist neighbor, God’s standard is not your righteousness in relation to other sinners. And this is were our interpretation of the Bible and it’s words is falling drastically short of what it should be. I present a Bible verse to keep in mind as we endeavor to change our worldview to one that is Christ centered from one that has been self focused. “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” And as Christians in America our suffering is to be honest, completely absent. The Scripture is full of verse about suffering about Christ revealing himself in our need and in our trials. The word is full of calls to serve and to give and to be selfless. There are a billion and a half ways we can and should and need to be doing those things.

(Note: This series was written five years ago when I was a Sophomore in college, January 2003. It does not necessarily represent where I am at today, but that’s not to say it’s maybe more where I would like to be.)

Imagine for a moment that you discovered the text of scripture apart from the society in which you live. To imagine this is impossible almost because your culture and society has shaped the way you see scripture and interpret it and react to it. My premise is this Christianity in America is not Christianity. Those are strong words and I would hesitate to hold fully to it amongst a group of biblical scholars who would argue the theological and doctrinal nuances of the scripture and what “America”* believes. I am not saying that Christians in America are not “saved” in that their “belief” and faith in Christ our genuine and true. My main point is that Christians in America live lives that are so sparse of the fruit of the Spirit that we should be ashamed of ourselves.

*I will use the term “America” for the course of this series, but with the understanding that I am speaking specifically about the USA, or rather, what is commonly referred to in this country as “America.” Though, you should be aware, America is much more than this country, it includes two continents and a great many people who do not align themselves with the values of this country.

Book of Hope (ht. Nathan)

Aim Lower (what’s your take on this strategy?) (ht. Chris)

No Handlebars (music vid) (ht. Josh, JR)

And this is another pretty sweet Music Vid, Go To Hell, David Ford (ht. JR)

Digging into the archives again. I wrote this over five years ago when I was at Wheaton College. It’s a parable…

Once there was a great king who had three servants. The King had big plans for the servants and so he gifted them in different ways to accomplish their different task. To the first he gave a small home and food and immediately sent him about doing the daily chores that were essential to the functioning of the house. The second he also feed and clothed, but he sent this servant away to learn the skills for the trade he had in mind for him. He also had plans for the third servant to participate in the works he had planned. For the third servant he abundantly feed and clothed him; He gave the servant a very comfortable living quarters so that little could distract him from his studies and work. In addition he gave the third servant an abundance of resources with which to carryout his task. After a few years the King returned to check on his servants. The first reported, “I have diligently done those task which you gave me to do since you left, and I thank you for the blessing of food and clothing.” The king replied, “Well done. I have many more joyful works for which you can be a part.” The second servant reported, “I have learned the skills you sent me to learn and am ready for the task that you have prepared for me.” The king replied, “You have been faithful in your preparation, go now and participate in the joyous works I have in store for you.” Finally, the third servant reported, “I am proud to tell you that I have done well in the studies you have put me to. I far exceed in skill and intelligence your second servant, and in comparison to my peers in this school I am quite up to par. I do have a request though, I know the food you provide me is the best there is, but I’m tired of those slaves who provide the food telling me when I can eat, don’t they know who I am?” The king replied, “You wicked and foolish servant! Do you think you are deserving of anything you have been given?! You some how think that the resources and education and provisions you have been given are for your own worldly pleasure?! I have a plan for you to participate in my work in a way that is different, but no more superior to your fellow servants. But you have disgraced me and your fellow servants by using your gifts to satisfy your own desires. You foolish servant! Do you think I do not have your best interest in mind?! I have given you those resources so that you could share in the amazing joy of giving to others. But more importantly you have missed completely the point of your studies. I have not blessed you with your intelligence and put you in this place for you to measure up to the worldly standards of GPA. You lazy glutton! You are throwing away my gifts to you!! You have been blessed with knowledge so that you can bless others. There is a huge part of my body of believers that does not have a through knowledge of scripture. There is a world full of poor to which I plan on my hands reaching through your gifts. There is economic problems, I have given you the knowledge to fix it. There is political problems, I have given you the knowledge and ability to solve them. There are health problems, I have given you the resources and know how to heal them. How dare you take what I have given you and use it for yourself!”

Instead of reviewing a book today I wanted to review one of my favorite magazines. Geez Magazine is one of the best magazines I’ve read in recent times and I’d highly recommend it to anyone, regardless of faith background. I recently got a hold of issues #7 about Monsters and #8 about food.
Monsters, you say? Yeah, it was about monsters. At first when I saw that was the upcoming issue I was a bit skeptical. What in the world would they write about ‘monsters’? Isn’t that a little, oh, elementary? But when I started reading the issue I was enthralled. The opening article gives a glimpse:

When we pull back the covers, we find monsters in our heads and in our hearts, monsters we hide from, and monsters we hide behind, monsters we blame for atrocities we can’t otherwise explain, and monsters we may never fully glimpse. To Frankenstein and Leviathan, Grendel and the Wicked Witch, we’ve added monsters our grandparents couldn’t have imagined, plastic, polluting, disposable, heavily-armed, heavily-armored, highly-scheduled, commodified, mercenary, bio-tech-ed, and hairsprayed monsters of the heart, soul, earth, mind and sky. And, whew, do they scare us.

The Food issue is phenomenal. It’s gotten me thinking about my food in a whole new way. And they don’t just jump on the ‘organic’ bandwagon either. They have great interviews with conventional local farms. As well as an awareness raising article and info on farm subsidies, corporate farming and the chemical and seed industry. Here’s a great image on the topic:

One other reason I really like Geez is they have a lot of female writers. I find it encouraging to hear new and unique voices on topics I’ve probably considered, but not from the new perspectives many of the writers bring.

Anyways, this is my review for the week. I read some books, but I really wanted to post about Geez Magazine. Check it out if you haven’t already.

Okay, so, just a heads up on what you’ll be reading this month.
I’ve been digging through old files and have found a lot of stuff I want to share on here. I used to do fifteen minute writing sessions before bed. Often, they where just a journal of my thoughts from the day, but other times I had some constructive things I put together. I figure they are old and my views have changed somewhat, but I think posting them and allowing for dialog will maybe help reignite some old thoughts and questions and maybe bring some positive conversation out.
The other honest reason I’m doing this is because I want to make sure I’m outside more. I’ve been trying to get ahead on my writing on here so I’m not trying to put together a post the night before, but I seem to have dropped the ball on that. So, I’m going to try and future post the majority of the month of May’s posts, in hopes that I’ll be able to get further ahead in my June writings. Does that make sense? Basically, I’m saying it’s gorgeous out and I’d rather be outside then trying to write a blog post.

I think I’m also going to take a brake from weekend postings. Though we’ve had some good dialog on those posts, a lot of people don’t read blogs or write blog posts on weekends (seems like a good idea to take a break) so I figure I won’t either, at least for right now. I’ll do a post tomorrow for my book review, but then I’ll do book reviews on Friday’s until June.

Sorry for the housekeeping post, I figured it was necessary at the moment.

Finally, I’ve had a lot of new readers lately, and I just wanted to give proper shout-outs. Go check out these blogs (some of you have been reading for a while, but I wanted to still make sure I got you some link love):

http://www.simplelifeinchrist.com/
http://bluetonz.blogspot.com/
http://sobeale.blogspot.com/
http://asiaheppersonrock.blogspot.com/
http://www.benlukecooper.blogspot.com/
http://myspace.com/biasedwriter
http://christophercocca.wordpress.com/
http://www.chatfieldumc.org/
http://www.fousty.blogspot.com
http://blog.teamcrossworld.com
http://www.christopherbennett.blogspot.com
http://www.communicatecorrectly.com/
http://www.jamiemulhern.com/blog
http://www.smoochagator.com/
http://brianalexander.wordpress.com/
http://emergentmindedchristfollowers.com/intothewilderness/

Every year, since I’ve been married (five years on June 21st!), I tried to read at least one book on marriage. That’s advice from Jerry Root, Pre-marriage counselor extraordinaire, who also suggest that in twenty years you write a book on marriage, because then as a couple you’ll have 40 years experience and the collective knowledge of 40+ marriage books.

Anyways, I haven’t read one this year so I’m looking for suggestions. But, I’m also just looking for blog posts, articles, advice, etc. If you’ve got some thing leave a comment, or paste the URL below:

And since we are on the topic of marriage, here is me and my beautiful bride on our wedding day…

Inspired by Jake, I’m going to pull some stuff from old writings, journals, papers, etc that I’ve done and post them here. Below is some rambling thoughts from my journal after my first Art Appreciation class at Wheaton College with Jeff Thompson. But before that, an explanation of my history with art.
Though my mom painted all over our house (literally), I’d never been a big fan of ‘formal’ art. One particular event scarred my art appreciation. Sometime during middle school my parents got a membership to The Art Institute of Chicago, and in doing so, received tickets to view the Monet exhibit when it came through one summer. They dragged us along and I had the terrible experience of waiting for nearly three hours in a line as we wove in and out of exhibit halls waiting to see Monet’s work. Some of the art while we waited was cool, like a painting that nearly looked like a photograph of a man’s face, but others where ridiculous like a massive black canvas with a random digital clock time painted on it. There where also drawings and sculptures that my kid brother could have easily done. When we finally arrived at the famous Monet (sarcasm, but remember, I was a middle schooler), I walked through the 50+ paintings of haystacks in less then a half hour and a fell asleep on a bench at the end of the exhibit. That experience forever scarred my appreciation of art… now back to Thompson’s class.

Here are my notes after my first evening of class:

So artist are people who try to express, communicate, through language, not just words, but body and audible and written and more. They try to communicate the perfect embodiment of human kind. God is an artist. He perfectly embodied his divine nature in the person of Jesus Christ. Thompson is a crazy guy, truly an artist in the stereo typical sense. He’s off the wall with his comments, and yet was quite linear in what he talked about today. He gave some bible verse today, about the rocks crying out and things like that. I appreciated it a lot. The goal is to develop more my appreciation for art and so far so good. Though we haven’t really looked at very much art. His advice to us is when we see an artist encourage them. Listen to them, look at them. But are we all artist? Do we all in some way embody artistry? Or has God put this desire for expression in only a few of us? That is a question worth contemplating for a while I think. But I wonder, what benefit is it for the kingdom to spend hours and hours practicing to play a small part in a ballet that is attended by the very rich? The rich need Jesus too, don’t get me wrong. And I certainly believe God can use all things to bring people to himself, like the worshipful communication that one might see in a ballet, but isn’t there other ways? More direct, or applicable ways to bring people to Christ? I wonder. What would the world be like with out art? God is certainly an artist, with words, with creation, with people, with everything. Are we to be like him in that attribute and create our own artistic expression? Are we to encourage extravagantly expensive artistic activities and individuals spending countless hours expressing themselves in this way? Then again can you draw a line down the middle and decide which art is worshipful expression and which art is superfluous? Can you? I think maybe we just can’t. Well that’s all for now.

Those were real questions, and though I had some of them answered during the course of the class, a lot our still floating out there. Any thoughts?

Dove and Palm Oil (ht. Corporate Babysitter)

Condoleezza Rice (ht. Thom)

Liberia needs clean water (ht. twotp)

Old School Poision- Something to Believe In (ht. Gavin)

3 Trillion Dollar Shopping Spree (ht. Thom, Mike, MOA)

Here are a few stories of creativity I’ve read recently…

1. With all the foreclosures there are a lot of neighborhoods with houses with rather unpleasant plywood covering the doors and windows. An artist in Chicago took advantage of the opportunity and began offering his boarding contract services with a twist. Basically he puts boards on windows, but he paints the boards to look like windows and doors, rather then just boring plywood. He’s done it to a few houses in my part of the city and is hoping to get a big city contract. I’d sure like to see more art in the neighborhood. -Star Tribune
2. There’s this guy Steve Lambert, who is pretty awesome. He runs the Anti-Advertising Agency. They are responsible for stuff like PeopleProducts123, and this video (which I’ve shown before)
   
   There’s a great interview with Steve in Gelf mag.
3. And the last one is this pastor from Detroit named Harvey Carey. He spoke at Sanctuary Covenant recently and he mentioned one of their creative activities. The men of the church go camping every summer. They get their tents and lanterns and they set up in front of the drug houses in the neighborhood. They hangout, cook s’mores and basically keep any business from happening. And when they drug dealers move out to a new location, the church camp out moves with them. He said they’ve shut down 15 drug houses that way in the past few years.

We need more creative stories.

Okay, this will be a terribly undeep discussion. Aaron sent me a link to WorldNetDaily the other day and I read the article, commented and then browsed a couple of the links. From what I gather, WorldNetDaily is a christian news website (I think it used to be a magazine?), so one of it’s article titles struck me: “Obama aide says he didn’t mean to blaspheme Jesus”

The title doesn’t strike me because it has anything to do with politics, but that it seems to imply that they think this guy blasphemed Jesus. I clicked the article to see what they considered blasphemy; wouldn’t want to show up in one of their articles myself. Here’s what they said:

(Subtitle of article) Stopped using ‘gay’ video piece after Christian confronted him

[Larry Lessig] denies he had blasphemous intent by including in his lectures a video of a ‘gay’ Jesus Christ sashaying nearly naked down a city street to the tune of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” only to get run over by a bus.”

From what I gather what’s blasphemous is:

1. The writer at WorldNet finds the way Jesus is depicted in the video as ‘gay’.
2. Lessig’s showed the video (not made by him) to others.

But, here’s what’s crazy about this to me:

1. From what I can see in the video and the article, the only person insisting Jesus is ‘gay’ is the WorldNet author. The character in the video is certainly expressive, but it is quite simply reinforcing a stereotype to say that his personality in the video is ‘gay’.
2. WorldNet news actually shows the video on their website article! They have a concise youtube video embedded in the article, available for you to see the whole thing. If Lessig’s blaspheme was in showing the video to others, then WorldNet is just as blasphemous.

So, I guess the decision is up to you. Is the video blasphemous? And if so, are Lessig’s and WorldNet news both guilty? (And I guess I might be guilty as well in suggesting you should go watch the video)