Thursday, September 30, 2004

Ethan and Jesus

Ethan Hawke isn’t Jesus. However in Training Day. Denzel Washington’s character tells his new protégé that the only way he can change the corrupt system is to get inside the world and blow it up. Trying to change the state of affairs from the outside is futile.

When approaching the Christian culture debate about how to effectively minister to the current culture, Ethan is a literal filmic picture of Christ. Ethan penetrates the underworld without falling to its corruption and malignant lifestyles. Though surrounded by the evil world, he maintained, not his naivety, but his pure desire to see to see a cruel world transformed.

Being surrounded by sin doesn’t make one a sinner as long as the desire and grounding enough to withstand the pressures of crooked, debased moral standards are maintained. He engaged culture enough to transform it. When the purpose of strategic cultural engagement is transformation, one can navigate within the world as a distinctly separate yet involved entity. On the other side of engagement is wanted to be a part of culture so much that you want to become married to it, becoming one flesh.

Engage with, without being engaged to, our culture.

Monday, September 27, 2004

harbor helper.

tugboats. pushing others to the seas. never seeking grandiosity or praise. a humble life. so many depend on thee. the last great helper among a harbor of the huge and expensive. powerful punch packed in the belly. guietly guides without a thank you. everyday helping. always working. the life of a tugboat continually showing others the way.

tugboats are my new hero. we are called to show others the way. to gently guide them to the open waters of love. our service should never cease to see others' good before our own. in a harbor so difficult to navigate, tugboats are needed to show the way...

(i'm going to portland soon to see the tugboats at work)

Friday, September 24, 2004

the cradle of civilization

Screams in the night
unheard
No voice in the babe
muted

The terror nightmare
in mind
Such high crime
in side

She wails, she cries
tear
Rents turn over
fear

The baby lies helpless
paralyzed
The parents lie dreaming
refused


america will intervene in iraq. america will give money to israel. but trying to stop conflict, it will not. it's just too easy to forget (or simply not care) about the stories of people who live everyday under the threat of bombs, brutality, and oppression - even in the "holy land".

Thursday, September 23, 2004

new tools in the shed

A green toolbox awaited me this morning. Little did I know that a resounding smile would be the result of an older man’s careful attention to a small detail in my life.

How often do I totally miss the needs of others? How often do I have the ability to meet the needs of those around me, yet I refuse to hear their greatest (or smallest) needs because I’m so wrapped up in my own world?

Jesus never ceased to meet people exactly where they were. Every moment was an opportunity to provide for those around him. At a well. On a mountainside. In a garden. At a house. In the temple. On a road. At a cross…

Al, thank you for the tools.

Thursday, September 16, 2004

galicane

hurricanes and galaxies look similar.
both spin.
both have a central point - eye or black hole (?).
both begin as a result of natural atmospheric or cosmic phenomena.
both amass a large mass.
both are impressive to watch and study.

just thinking that nature is neat and amazes me...

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

wonder

pouring outside
or is it in
side mine mind?
a refreshing wonder
swirling clanging
opening imaginating
a smallish wonder
gathering loving
hashing out
differences between
what once was,
now what is
a tall wonder
bearing down
on shadowy past
dawning day new
a wonder
real-ing me in
to the storm
approaching bearing
saving purely
wonder

Friday, September 10, 2004

sojourners

America: The land of opportunity. The home of the free and the brave. The leader of the free world. And… The 90 days land that a VISA permits.

Every once in a while the Lord smiles quietly, directly at us. This week’s smile came in form of a dynamic duo of two long-haired, hitch-hiking, Cambridge graduates from the UK. Quite a funny thing when people walk into your life and you’re ready for them.

We crossed paths in a time of questioning. Trying to figure out life as an “adult,” attempting to reconcile our life with the God and “religion” of our parents. Oddly enough, these Brits had grown up in an Evangelical Christian home much like myself. Their time in college represented a break from the dogmatic religion of their parents and just enough space for a large degree of doubt and skepticism to nestle nicely between their mind and heart.

After the first day of their stay with me, I wasn’t sure where they stood in regards to God. They went to church once a week, but at this juncture they were “down a point” since missing the week prior. After that first day, I had learned a lot from them already, yet I felt that I had not given them anything more than a place to stay – which may have been all they really wanted, but that wasn’t really satisfying to me. Not to say that I wanted to share the plan of salvation with them, no doubt they already know it and most of the Bible. However, I was curious as to what answers their questions had lead them.

The “Electric Elephant” as Mikey referred to it (aka Elephant Room) proved to be an excellent backdrop for a great two hour convo regarding God, the church, cultural Christianity and the teachings of Christ. After hearing their thoughts on institutionalized religion and morality, I had to agree with much of their qualms with the present state of affairs in the Christian world. Yet we came to a bit of a crossroads. We questioned the same ideas, but came up with different answers. Mikey wanted to satart his own religion founded on the principle teaching of Christ to love God and love people. Dave was conflicted and hadn’t come to many conclusions except that he was burned out on church and church people.

Upon talking through some of this, I told them of what seems to be the Biblical view of church. That we are the church – the walking, tenting, presence of God to the world everywhere we go. That we didn’t need to go to church because a Christian is the church everyone he goes. After some further explanation and questions, Dave looks to Mikey, “Maybe we should think about this as we travel around.” It made sense to him. Mikey’s skepticism keeps him from affirming much of the Bible.

When Mikey’s domination of the convo centered around the founding of his own religion because the Bible wasn’t totally true, I asked him was his criteria for “capital T – Truth” was. He didn’t really have an answer, that’s why he’s trying to make truth based on the precepts of others and his own thoughts. Dave didn’t really have an answer either. So they asked me if I took the Bible as the definition of Truth. I said, “No, for me truth is what brings order out of the chaos.” And the Bible seems to do that pretty well. They didn’t have much to say to that except that they couldn’t believe all the Bible.

Twas a great time with the English sojourners. We are all sojourners - traveling in a land not our own, checking out new people and places, and ideas. Austin is merely a stop in the move out West.

When they asked which way to go all I could to was point them in the right direction. All I can do for them, or anyone else, is show them The Way.

Deut 10:19

-See Inkslinger’s “Diva” blog for more thoughts on growing up in a Christian home…

Monday, September 06, 2004

in other news

since i don't have the internet at my apartment, i've been watching the news quite a bit to keep up with the world. sadly, it continually leads me into prayer. there's truly something about seeing moving pictures that brings this to mind:

"blessed are those who mourn..."

if we don't weep for the hurting people of the world, no one will. if we don't allow ourselves to be moved by the devastation and grief in other parts of the world, we will end up just like the newscaster who can tell of familes burying their children and the growth in the global economy in the same monotone, emotionless breath. may we never cease to love in such a way that mourns with those who need out compassion and comfort.

Thursday, September 02, 2004

a time for everything... in this case - tear down

The first night, I almost cried. Hopefully it was only because it was a strange day and I had some emotions built up. The second day, my mind ached from satisfaction. It wasn’t from attempting to understand what was said either, it was because it made so much sense. Today, I had to take a deep breath because my heart began to beat faster than normal. This was not just from the chai; he was speaking directly to me.

One single idea shakes and excites my actual physical make-up. My life over the past year (and longer, but mostly just the past year) has brought me to a place where I’m ready for the breakdown – or should I say, deconstruction, like a good post-modernist. The ideas I’ve been wrestling with and mulling over in my mind are being fleshed out in these books. Could it be that I’ve been caught in a cultural tradition so strong and severe that even the thought of reacting against it is met with utter backlash and aversion from not only the populace, but from within myself as well. While at the same time, even my physical heart feels the freedom to which I have been called and the truth in dissecting the established, time-honored and revered myth.

What myth you ask… the myth that church is what we’ve made it. That it is so far from its godly origins that even a good post-modernist struggles with the thought of deconstructing the church and his place within it. Could it be that through years of distortion and disgrace, we have brought the church so far from its original intent and purpose that we have lost its original intensity and power? I feel it to my core that this is not only possible, but true. We have traded being for going, living for sitting, giving all for tithing some.

So what you ask? “I like my church. I enjoy the service. God gave us the church.” Good, great, grand. The people of Israel also wanted to go back to slavery, but God had so much more in store, about which they had no idea. The same is true of us. I feel it in my being. It shakes me. It rattles who I am. Who I can be. Who I am called to be. This initial bout with church is not a small matter, it sends a tremor down to my soul that I can not ignore. So, now what?

I’m learning… So bear with me… Maybe soon, we’ll have some answers…

(by the way, the title is a link to part of the preface of one of the books I’m reading – thanks Wolfgang)