God in the mosh pit

The lights were dim and a thick layer of moisture laced the club as 500+ people were packed next to each other, shoulder-to-shoulder. A mixture of cheap beer, cigarettes, and sweat was the aroma that filled the vicinity of the room. There was standing room only and people had clothes drenched in sweat from the heavy activity in the mosh pit and the consistent movement of the crowd. This is the atmosphere you get at a hardcore show. Now, most people at hardcore concerts are there for the music and to experience a band’s live performance, and that is certainly the reason why I was there, however I experienced something I was not expecting. I encountered God.

Underøath is perhaps one of the most prominent metalcore/hardcore bands to come on the “scene” in the last 4 years or so. With over 1 million records sold, they’ve reached mainstream status followed by musical grandeur. With success at their doorstep, you would think that they’d be like any other rock band….alcoholics, womanizers, and drug users. But Underøath is different. Underøath is, as a band, about the name of Jesus Christ. Underøath is what several within Christian subculture would consider a “Christian” band. However you won’t find them doing mega-church tours or Christian youth events and you won’t find them preaching a salvation message from the stage. In addition, you won’t find the average gathering of “churched” youth group kids at an Underøath show. The band of course has fans who are followers of Christ, but they aren’t out to “target” a particular demographic and aren’t about “selling Christ.” Nevertheless Underøath is my favorite band, not just because I love their music but also because of their faith in Christ. The band, at their core, is real and honest with people about who they are and do not separate their faith from the culture they’re part of. Their message is revealed by their actions more than their words (not necessarily lyrics, but “words” from the stage and in the media) and I am particularly eager to see them play tonight!

On this cold November evening at the Roseland Theater in downtown Portland, Underøath puts on a stellar performance and my small yet energetic body is enthralled by the show. The energy from the crowd of devoted fans is astounding and ecstatic! It’s down to last minutes of the show and after an amazing and hard hitting 14 song set the band takes the stage once again for their encore performance.

As anxious as I am to know what their encore will be, my ears prick up and I am soon screaming my heart out in approval as the band begins to play a new fan-favorite off their latest record (Lost in the Sound of Separation), a song entitled Too Bright to See Too Loud to Hear. Unlike the typical scream-rich hardcore/metal music you get from Underøath, this song utilizes the smoothness of vocalist/singer and drummer Aaron Gillespie rather distorted screams of front man Spencer Chamberlain. The song is slow and sweet! I, as well as many other fans, love this song because it speaks of the reality of God’s forgiveness and grace and how we are all loved and cherished as God’s children.

Chills overcame me as I peered at others in my proximity. Not surprisingly, I saw several people, bodies drenched in sweat, with their hands raised in praise and worship to God and embracing the song’s beauty. I soon felt something move inside me that I couldn’t hold back. In the midst of hundreds of sweating, tired, hardcore kids I lifted my hands in worship to my savior, singing a long at the top of my lungs. Before long, it became apparent that I was encountering God’s presence! I stood their basking of the awe of my Savior’s grace, in quite a strange place--a hardcore show! My experience encountering God with Underøath is something I have not forgotten! Every time I hear this song, I am reminded of that night.

I think so many times in our American Evangelical subculture we tend to limit the places and ways in which we can “encounter” God’s presence, having created religion. It seems as though we’ve put God in this box with rules attached to Him, and we’re only “allowed to” encounter and experience God in certain ways (Prayer, “quiet time”, church on Sunday morning, etc) as if He’s not around other times or doesn’t care. I think worship is holistic in nature, being an embodied response to God for what He’s done for us, regardless of our environment, upbringing, etc.

When it comes to encountering God in the arts, artistic expressions of faith have been limited, if not totally removed from “Christendom” except for the likes of Thomas Kinkade paintings or Fireproof-esque movies (the list could go on) that are created within the subculture with the sole purpose of bait and switch evangelism of the broader culture or being created specifically for Christian people within the subculture. It appears to me that we as evangelicals have restricted God to our finite, western, American, religious systems and nothing more. Where have the artistic expressions of faith gone? Where has the engagement of culture gone?

Too Bright Too See Too Loud to Hear was not written with the intention of worshipping God and the band’s purpose was not evangelism, but it appeared to create an atmosphere of worship among the crowd that night and I believe people encountered the true and living God. The song is first and foremost a work of art, regardless of whether it expresses the faith of the band or not. It led me to encounter God and I felt no different worshipping God in that crowd of people than I did in a church on a Sunday morning. While several within Christian subculture today would say that a hardcore concert at a “secular” venue with “secular/non-Christian” bands performing alongside “Christian” bands is not where we’d go to worship our Savior, I know for a fact that God revealed himself to me there! I experienced God in a place that was not expected and I experienced God through the medium of poetry and music…through art.

I believe the Kingdom of God will break in when and where we least expect it, and God will move in ways we least expect Him to. As MTV’s Diary of a Rock Star says “You think you know, but you have no idea!”

To listen the song Too Bright to See Too Loud to Hear, go here. Click on the “more info” link in the side bar to see the lyrics while the song is playing.

advent conspiracy

in light of the christmas season and the state of the economy, i invite you to take part in the advent conspiracy.

[worship fully]
[spend less]
[give more]
[love all]

can we agree?

If you were to take a room full of 100 Christians and ask them about their theological tenets you would more than likely have a group with rather a wide theological spectrum of beliefs, practices, doctrines, backgrounds, and convictions. Before long you would be able to develop a rather extensive list of disputable matters among these Christians and if you shared the list with its creators, you'd more than likely end up with relatively blistering arguments and rising tensions. This of course would not be a pretty sight to watch.

Moreover, if you took a room of 100 people, 50 Christians and 50 non-Christians, and asked similar questions, you might as well put a bunch of hungry monkeys in a room with only one banana. The vibe in the atmosphere would certainly not be pleasant.

I think we as humans can correctly state that we can become rather uncomfortable around those of which we do not agree with. Be it theology, politics, ethics, personal practice, etc. we, the human race, throughout history have naturally tended to gravitate toward those in which we are in alignment with.

Ever since I can remember I have always struggled to love and befriend those of which I find disagreement with. More recently within the last few years, as my theological and political beliefs have shifted quite profoundly, as a Bible college student I have found myself becoming more and more uncomfortable with those of which I disagree in areas such as theology, politics, and personal practices. In some cases it has even gotten to the point where I don't feel like I can completely be myself in some ways unless I am with people of whom I agree with. This is sad, but true. As in other cases, it has become a rather shameful practice of mine to subconsciously stereotype individuals of whom I disagree with into a completely separate group of people. For example, when disagreements arise, I have essentially said to myself "you think (blank) about this, you must be one of them" Fill in the blanks with whatever labels you wish (liberal, conservative, Calvinist, Arminian, etc) and voila, you have my rather vial thought process. I have conceived a rather dangerous “me vs. them” mentality. This is a personal aspect of which I do not envy, and I have spent many restless nights fighting with myself over my desire to be a truly loving person.

On a wider scale I have always asked the question of how we as evangelical Christians can engage those within our postmodern culture who share different beliefs. I have noticed that we seem to get so hung up on the other’s "wrong" beliefs that we never get past arguing, wasting precious time bickering with one another.

It wasn't until recently that I truly began to understand engagement with culture can look like. I was listening to a sermon MP3 and the pastor mentioned this…
We could spend our time asking questions about rather mundane issues of theology, politics, morality, etc.

But what if we asked different kinds of questions?
Can we as opponents agree, as different as we are, that Christ's body was broken and blood poured for the healing of the world? Can we agree on that? What would it be like if the next time we were in a shouting match with a fellow Christian we said
"Can we agree that Christ's body was broken and his blood poured out for the healing of the world? Can we agree on that?"

Imagine what it would be like if the we engaged someone who was not a Christian, who didn't want anything to do with God, Jesus, The Bible, or Church? What if we asked, "do you agree that the world needs healing? I believe Jesus' body was broken and blood was shed for the healing of this world. Can we agree that the world needs healing? Can we agree on that?"

Also, can we agree on our need for the grace and peace of Christ? Can we agree on that? The interesting thing about our opponents is that we both agree that we both need the grace and peace of Jesus Christ. We a connection we didn’t know we had. Our boundaries would soon look much different and we wouldn't want to throw bombs at each other if we realized our mutual need for the grace and peace of Christ.

What it would be like if this was how we viewed things?
How would our world change?
How would our faith as followers of Christ be changed?

grace and peace,
jeremy

setting the record straight

for quite a while I've been ambiguous about my particular views and opinions on certain individuals and opinions/views. Basically I'm letting it all out for the world to know.

here's the skinny:

- i am voting for Barack Obama because I cannot stand the corruption of America's health care and education system and i want our troops to get out of Iraq and to come home or go to places like Afghanistan where the fighting actually matters. I also think with clear boundaries and guidelines, we can successfully conduct embryotic stem cell research without destroying living embryo's or putting a demand on abortions and in turn possibly cure HIV/AIDS and other diseases.

- i am a political moderate who doesn't care for big government and has a moral stance against abortion, homosexual marriage, and meaningless war but at the same time i don't like like that the government screws over less fortunate Americans, disregards global climate change, and allows human trafficking to exist.

- i am tired of fellow believers and politicians trying to push a certain view on me that doesn't matter. I am an individual and I have a right to my own opinions/views.

- i am a strong egalitarian and do not have a single problem with women in church ministry, eldership, or the pastorate anywhere. period.

- i am tired of people treating certain individuals (Christian leaders, professors, etc) like they are the next best thing since sliced bread. These people are human and capable of fault just like anyone else. Just because they are advocating a particular view doesn't mean they have it all nailed.

- i do not agree with the likes of Pastor Mark Driscoll and think he has made some seriously offensive statements and remarks as well as expressed theological and social arrogance towards others that is uncalled for, anywhere at anytime to anyone. the same goes for people like Wayne Grudem, John Piper, and John MacArthur. They are great men of God but I do not agree with them fully on everything. You will not be able to "convert" me to the likes of these men, so if you are trying to do so, STOP!

- i do not have a problem with Emergent Village and support them completely. I do however have strong disagreements with Doug Pagitt and I think he is a universalist who is teaching false doctrine and a dangerous theology rooted in subjective postmodern relativism. However I think some of Doug's points about preaching, prayer, and community are worth consideration. I have some heavy disagreements with Brian McLaren and Tony Jones as well, but I do not think they are wolves in sheep's clothing.

- i do not agree completely with the theological positions of Rob Bell or Mars Hill Bible Church. However, Rob's teaching has significantly changed my life and my world view ever since the Summer of 2004 and I consider him a great influence in my life. I do not think that Mars Hill or Rob Bell teach heresy and believe they are theologically solid at their core.

- i do not have a problem with homosexual civil unions (to a degree) and think we must move to loving and caring for people regardless of their sexual orientation. however, i believe that all homosexual practices are sins clearly condemned by scripture and constitute the lust of the flesh. I will not allow homosexual practice to be placed on a higher level of a"sin chart" above other sexual sin. all sexual sins are sexual sins regardless and are equal in offense to God.

- i do not believe heaven and hell are physical places but rather spiritual realms which we as humans cannot fully comprehend outside our physical world. i believe heaven and hell, while both real and literal, are only described as physical places for our limited understanding.

- i believe we are called to love everyone unconditionally and that an aggressive, angry, hate filled gospel is not what Jesus came to establish. i believe Jesus taught grace, peace, and love. i believe the gospel to be the ultimate expression of God's love for the world.

- i enjoy watching romantic comedies that would fall into the category of "chick flick" but not all the time. i enjoy war movies and horror just as much.

- i am tired of fellow Christ follower's gossiping about other believers and passing it off as "rebuking sin."

- i have a strong passion to fight injustice and will not stand for injustice against minorities and those who are "different" in the church.

- i think that American Evangelicals in the last 10 years or so have done a terrible job at representing the true Christ and have created a gospel of political agendas, hatred, and exclusive "you're in, you're out" rights that is not equivalent to what Christ taught in the scriptures.

- i think that at their core, the Roman Catholic and Orthodox church truly teach the gospel of Salvation in Jesus Christ.

- i think speculating about end times eschatology in this current age is a ridiculous practice that gets people nowhere in their fellowship with Christ.

- i believe that God is mysterious and the we cannot know everything there is to know about God through theological systems, the scriptures, or even prayer. God keeps us thinking, dreaming, and desiring Him.

- i think George Bush and his administration has done both good and bad for our country during his presidency.

- i agree with both ray lubeck and dan christiansen even though they at different ends of the hermeneutical spectrum.

- i used to be a fan of boy bands like Nsync, BSB, and 98 degrees back when i was young.

- i wish i was thinner, taller, and had less hair.

there you have it.

grace and peace to you,
jeremy

mississippi burning| day 003

Mississippi burning

Anger, tears, sadness, broken heartedness, pain, disgust, passion, justice, and peace. These are just a few words I used to describe my experience while watching the film Mississippi Burning. The film was based around a murder investigation where two white civil rights activists and a black man from Jessup County, MS in 1964. The film weaved throughout the investigation were scenes of Klansmen who were guilty of murdering and severely beating the blacks of the city. The scenes of the oppression and hatred toward the black people were disgustingly real. Seeing such bigotry and racism while being exposed to the very same thing just hours earlier in Jackson made the film very real. I had a lot of riveting thoughts while the film went on.

What I felt was most interesting was the fact that the very same types of oppression could happen to our team here, today. There were several scenes were homemade gas bombs were tossed through the windows of black families homes, causing the houses to burst into flames and threatening the lives of the family. I became very real to me that some white supremacists could easily realize that there is a group of white Christians who are trying to “disrupt” our way of living and so we should go through bombs into their house and kill them. Even as I am writing this, the thought still passes through my mind and it makes me wonder how I am going to sleep tonite. How would you respond if you were in this situation? I realize now how I take so much for granted and how little I really do understand about social tension in America. I am beginning to realize how much of a racist I am and how horrible that truth is. It’s a destructive force that has been fueled by the screwed up American media and by the oppressive political forces in this country. At the same time, I realize it is only the love of Christ that can change me and change the people around me. I must be wiling to submit myself to the lordship of Christ and embracing the redeeming power of the cross. It was powerful and sad to see the cross, which is seen by so many of us as a symbol of unity, being used as a symbol of segregation and division. The burning crosses of the KKK used as symbols of hatred angered me. Throughout the film I really wanted to get a hold of these white Klansmen and kill them, but at the same time I realized that I was a part of the problem and in a lot of ways was no better than them. I think I just cloak my racism with “culture” and then think nothing of it.

One of the things that really irritated me about myself in this was that I don’t really know how to stop such a problem. How do we stop a problem that we’ve been embedded with in this country? It is a true question of cultural and societal engagement.

this is a poem I wrote about the issue of the KKK using the cross as a symbol of destruction rather than a symbol of unity.

The true Cross.

A house around me mourns in agony as a wooden cross blazes with flames.

A message of destruction is fashioned to a symbol that resembles peace.

This wood stands marred with flames as fear and tears tremble down this innocent face.

Screams and shrieks come from inside as God’s beloved children burn in pain.

Here there is no grace given by those who live with hate.

But this burning cross does not destroy.

Instead it makes them stronger.

Empowered, they fight for righteous justice and to live peace and harmony.

The cross that showed us grace and peace now burns with flames of bigotry.

That freedom was stolen on a faithful day when our brothers breathed their last.

A crowd around me mourns in agony as a wooden cross bleeds with blood.

A message of redemption is fashioned to a symbol that resembles death.

This wood stands marked with blood as tears of passion role down His innocent face.

Screams and shrieks come from inside as God’s beloved Son bleeds in Pain.

Here there is no death given by one who lived by peace.

This bleeding cross does not destroy.

Instead it makes them stronger.

Empowered, He fights for precious justice living life in peace and harmony.

A cross that once made us afraid now stands in noble victory.

That justice was served on that faithful day when our savior breathed His last.

Mississippi day 002 | charles

Charles| 05/19/08

Charles Evers is an African American Civil Rights activist from Jackson. Charles is the older brother of the late Medgar Evers, the famous Mississippi civil rights activist who was murdered in 1963 in front of his own family. Medgar Evers’ story is portrayed in the film The Ghost of Mississippi.

Monday afternoon we went for a session of dialogue and discussion with Charles Evers, who is still rather active in the Mississippi area as an activist and owner of a local radio station. There’s a lot to be said about Charles. But I think the one word that can sum him up is PASSIONATE! Charles Evers is one of the most insightful and entertaining individuals I’ve ever met.

Just look on Wikipedia for Charles Evers or even YouTube him and I think you’ll see what I mean. Charles has some of the most awesome quirks, mannerisms, “phrases”, and “things” about him that you can’t just help but smile. One guy has even referred to him as the “Snoop Dogg of Civil Rights.”

Mississippi day 001-002 - the church

This is the first of a daily series of blogs about my trip to Jackson, Mississippi working the John M. Perkins foundation for a week. Each blog will begin with an explanation of what the day what the day was to look like and then commentary on each daily experience/event that I/we encountered. I apologize for posting so late. It's been go go go go since day one and I haven't been able to blog as frequently as I originally thought I would. Nevertheless this is what i have written so far.



The church 05|19|08

The morning began with John (yes, I am calling him John. We are on a first name basis with him) talked about us having a big vision for the church and showed us how the apostle John had a powerful vision of the church and for Christ’s followers. In today’s society, we should have powerful vision (what he referred to as a BIG BOOM!) for justice and reconciliation within the church. John’s devotion was pretty basic, and it was really a starting point to get the ball rolling (or get the justice rolling).

After John’s message, we loaded up the vans and headed for New Horizon Church, an all black church in Jackson. I was eager to attend church, because I’ve always wanted to experience a black southern church service. The only thing I’d ever known of any African-American church service was what I’d seen in the media. Films such as Blues Brothers and The Preachers Wife were my only “exposure” to a predominantly “black” house of worship.

My experience was more than I expected.

As the hot Jackson sun beamed down on my face, I made my way across the street to the medium sized brick building that was New Horizon Church. The group appeared eager to be there, and we all seemed rather enthusiastic about it.

Like I said, this was my first experience in an all black congregation and I’ll be honest that I felt a bit out of place knowing I was a minority. While there were 11 of us who would have been considered “minorities,” (I knew I wasn’t alone) still something felt a bit uncomfortable. I suppose it was because I didn’t know what to expect. I had a large mesh of stereotypes protruding my uneducated cranium as I neared the doors of the church.

My head raced with questions as I entered the building. Right away I was greeted by several people, both greeters and “non-greeters” alike, welcoming me to their church. They appeared genuinely excited that I was visiting their church and they didn’t seem at all suspicious that a group of white people were there to worship with them. The rush that captivated my body was intoxicating and I couldn’t really explain it. It was like I had this intense feeling that I was home. It felt like I was in a safe environment where people genuinely loved me and cared for me. I was thrown off by how passionate, loving, authentic, and radical the congregation was. The color of their skin never once occurred to me. My heart seemed to pound with Joy as I saw genuine praise to God being lifted up.

I figure a lot more could be said about the service, but I want focus on one particular aspect.

Love.

From the minute I walked into New Horizon Church, I felt a real sense of genuine love and concern that abided within each of the congregants. The atmosphere in the room was thick with emotion, love, and The Spirit. This feeling is something I didn’t get from the “white church.” It seems that these people had a deeper connection with reality than what I am used to seeing in the church.

It makes me wonder about cultural, racial, and class issues within the suburban American “white” church. It seems like white American Christians are really reserved and up tight, especially when it comes to church. We don’t want people to know about our problems and we want people to think we’re doing alright when on the inside, that’s not really the case.

Down south it’s different. Down south, everyone appears to act like their family. People are genuinely concerned about each other, and people are united as the body of Christ. The group was even invited home for lunch, or at least that’s what I heard. You wouldn’t see that in the white parts of America.

We white folk seem to want our own personal space. We want to see a personal Jesus divorced from the rest of the Body of Christ. I think that the people can learn a lot from southern black communities of Faith. I think we need to look past our racial and class barriers and wake up to what we can learn from each other.

Enough is enough…time to face the truth. this is my life part 5

This is probably one of the hardest blogs I will ever write. Of all of them, this one probably hits the closest to home. This blog is really 15-17 years in the making, because it involves the most intimate parts of my relationship with my family. However, it comes with a current context.

Let me put a few things in perspective. This summer I am hoping to take 2 online courses (English 204 – fulfills advanced writing requirement, MUS101- fulfills Fine Arts requirement) that will significantly lighten my load here at Multnomah. I was advised by several individuals and faculty members to take both these courses online over the summer. The problem is it costs 2000 dollars, and I don’t have that kind of money. Now, to put this in perspective, my parents are running low on income because my families medical and utilities bill went up a mere 47% in the last 4-5 months, no doubt its because of this war recession this country is in. So, my family is almost flat broke. Also, I am planning to go on this missions trip to Mississippi for a week after school gets out that is going to cost around $700. I need 2700 dollars for the summer for school. I have no way of getting a job and I already applied on campus and all the positions were filled. I am flat broke as well. In short, I am going to need to rely on God for those 2700 dollars to get me through school and this trip and the summer. One of the main reasons I want to go on this mission trip is not just for the experience but for ministry credit as well.

Last night around 8PM I called home to tell my parents to email some addresses so I could send out support letters for this mission trip. What ended up happening a stern lecture from my parents about how they don’t have any money for school or support (I could get SOME money from FAFSA, but not enough to cover entire cost.)

My older brother Nate is getting married in the middle of July and my family and I are coming to Portland for the wedding this summer. Because of wedding expenses and the high cost of living now threatening my family, our finances are a wreck!

As the Lord would have it, last night we had a community praise/worship and prayer thing on campus last night for about 3 hours or so. The idea was to focus on praising God through all things, but what really convicted me wasn’t so much about my need of praising God, but my need for dependence on God.

This is the first time in my life that I’ve really felt a sure strong dependence entirely on God’s grace in my life solely on my own. In the past, I’ve of course had a dependence on God, but what it depended on was the conforming of my character to the likeness of Christ. This is the first time were my very life and future depends on MY dependence on the Lord.

Here’s the kicker.

I don’t deserve God’s grace and the blessing of the money I need.

Why?

See, for as far as I can really remember, my brother and I have had a completely non-existent relationship. Prior to spring break, the last time I had talked to him was June 1, 2007 I believe. Nearly 8 months ago. Even during Spring Break, we didn’t have personal conversations, but said things in passing VERY briefly. I have pretty much ex-communicated my brother from my life and have selfishly and subconsciously decided that our relationship is irreconcilable in a lot of ways.

Something that began as simple sibling rivalry when we were kids turned into a strong resentment for the other when we got older. We are both equally guilty with equal amounts of blood on our hands. I’ve even recalled dreams that I have had at night where my brother died and I didn’t really feel much discomfort or grief or sadness over his death. For most of my life I’ve wanted to get away from him and being my own person. In some ways it’s like I grew up in his shadow, and in other ways it’s like he grew up in my shadow. I’ve said so many harsh, hate-filled, words that in reality it seems to be no surprise that we’ve grown so distant.

THAT’S NOT RIGHT! WITHOUT THIS RELATIONSHIP, I HAVE NOTHING. I HAVE NOTHING! NOTHING ELSE IN MY LIFE OTHER THAN MY DEPENDCE ON GOD MATTERS BUT MY RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FAMILY THAT GOD HAS GIVEN ME!

Friends and education and money and classes and ministry, all this stuff is really secondary to the family God has given me.

My brother and I disagree on a lot of things concerning our worldviews, but that shouldn’t drive us further apart. If anything, it should make us want to come closer to learn about each other’s journeys. But nevertheless, he has become distant me and I from him.

My relationship with his fiance’ is great and I think she’s a great girl and I love her a lot. I really felt convicted last night that if I am to ask God to provide for me, I need to be sure that I’m not hiding anything from Him, because why would God chose to bless me if I’m not honest with Him. My relationship with my family and my brother is far more important than education or a mission trip experience. God has no right to bless me if I cannot forgive the sin of my own brother (Matt. 5:23-24; 6:15.) Scripture says that God’s love holds no record of sin (1 Cor. 13:4) and by not reconciling things with my brother I am certainly holding a record of sin.

I have decided that enough is enough! I want to truly reconcile our relationship (or in some ways, begin to build it) and apologize for the way I’ve treated him over the years because I am as guilty as he is when it comes to being disconnected, willfully choosing not to associate with him. Our differences don’t matter, because as part of the body of Christ we are both redeemed and free.

Jesus died to reconcile all things to himself and he desires to redeem every part of this broken world…through his blood shed he is reconciling and saving us from our sin and our brokenness; our brokenness with each other, creation, and Him. God’s gift of eternal life is holistic. God invites us to be a part of his redeeming gospel of hope for the world, and by holding by a grudge against my family I am not being a part of that redemption. God is looking for people who will be the Eucharist to the world, people who will break themselves open and pour themselves out for the redemption of the world. I cannot change the world if I first do not change myself.

My favorite passage of scripture is John 10:27 where Jesus confronts the skeptics on his claim of being the Christ. He clearly says “My sheep listen to my voice, I know them, and they follow me.” If I am hostile and hating and unforgiving toward my brother, am I living a life worthy of being called one of his sheep? I don’t think so. I am no better than the rich man who demanded favor from Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31).

Jesus wants to save me from my sins and my mistakes regarding my relationship with my brother, and that is a gift of salvation that I have not yet accepted. I realize that by not accepting this part of God’s redemptive story, I am essentially saying I don’t want any part in what God is doing in this world.

I need to offer confession, repentance, forgiveness, and grace to my brother. That is what Jesus did. I need to break myself and pour myself out for the sake of our relationship. Only then can I be free to accept God’s blessing.

With that, I would like to ask you all for prayer. Pray that I have the courage and the strength to be gracious with my brother and to not be hostile towards him and to be patient and embracing and to be like Jesus to him. I need prayer that God will provide reconciliation between us and my family and that He will graciously provide way for me to pay for summer school, because I need God now more than ever before. Regardless of my summer situation, pray that my relationship with my brother is redeemed and reconciled.

grace and peace to you,

jeremy

The Great "emergence"!

I just found this post at Andrew Jones' blog and I'm starting to wonder if the emerging conversation will soon morph into a "Purpose-Driven" empire for the 21st century of young people:

The Great Mergence

Emergent
AGmergent
Convergent
Submergent
Baptimergent
Anglimergent
Luthermergent
Reformergent
Methomergent
Presbymergent
Cathlimergent?
Fundamergent?
Neveremergent?
Shuttheheckupaboutemergent?

The last thing we need is another Christian capitalistic empire to suck in all the young "evangelicals" and divert them from what's really happening in this country. If such an atrocity happens, then the emerging conversation, or Emergent more likely, has become the very thing it dared not to be from the beginning. There's already a movement of "Emerging women", next all we need is "emerging youth, men, children, seniors, etc," and viola, we have a new form of a Christian consumer empire for the new generation, it's just subconscious.

Something like this makes you wonder if Emergent has already gone into the stages of a consumer driven empire because such a response like this means that Emergent is having a different kind of effect on Christians then what was expected. Being "emerging" is the hip cool new thing to be **having flashbacks of Purpose-Driven era!** and it has become a catch phrase within Christianity. When people hear the word "emerging" I have a feeling they think cathedral-esque church with candles and low romantic type lighting with art hanging around as Sigur Ros or The Album Leaf plays as people come to sit with an "stage"/alter that’s at the same level as they are. In the back you have fair trade coffee and tea. Simple overhead screens show projections from a Mac Book of artsy images meant to enhance our worship experience. We come to a discussion about some biblical theme or watch a teaching film and talk after words. This atmosphere is very soothing to the tastes of a younger generation and suits THERE NEEDS. What we have is nothing more than a re-visit to the consumer driven society we so despised. We're just consuming different things.

In reality, the use of candles and indie music with coffee and low lights are not what makes something "emerging." They are simply instruments of tradition that may help us connect with the deeper reality. The DEEPER REALITY of it focuses on being missionally minded Christ-followers in this postmodern era when people are more skeptical of everything they see, smell, touch, hear, etc. Realizing a world in need of authentic, loving communities who offers real help besides just how to get to Heaven when we die. Responding to social justice in a real way of active involvement rather than giving our $5 to Compassion each month. Focus on the embracing the gospel as the holistic means of God restoring and redeeming all of his creation (not just human souls) to himself via the crucifixion on the cross.

It seems that a lot of "evangelicals" who are embracing the emerging conversation appear to be more concerned with "how" things are done rather than "why" they are being done. "This is cool, let's do this." Sitting in a living room drinking coffee talking about how to reach out to gay people is not the embrace of this "emerging" conversation. Going and engaging in dialog with homosexuals and listening to their stories for the sake of showing them the love of Jesus seems to be more adequate, because it involves DOING SOMETHING. If coffee and candles are what makes us different then we've done nothing to make a real difference except change our appearance. If living simpler, giving more, spending less, and loving the marginalized, oppressed, and broken hurting parts of hell on earth are what make us different, then we've done something.

I pray that this emerging conversation remains focused on practicing what is preached rather than finding new ways to preach! I pray it continues to wrestle with the tough questions of this world and how God's truth applies to it. I pray that the ambiguousness that is "emerging" continues to stay on the front line of what God is doing in our world.

a slightly demented view of easter

NOTE: I AM NOT THE AUTHOR OF THIS BLOG....THE ORIGINAL POST CAN BE FOUND AT http://emergingashlie.vox.com/library/post/a-slightly-demented-view-of-easter.html


by xAshliex

In honor of Easter, I'd like to bring out 2 guests: Jesus Christ and The Easter Bunny!

me: hi there, mr. bunny and my Savior!
Jesus: hello, my child.
bunny: *wrinkles nose*
me: right...so, lets start this interview!
Jesus: ask my child, and it will be given to you..knock, and it will be opened.
me:sweet! so Jesus, what is the real meaning of easter?
Jesus: Well, one day, two of my fathers creations messed up. now, i'm not naming names *COUGHADAMANDEVECOUGH* but, this really messed up things in the universe. So, I came to this Earth to get humans back in connection with God. Tragically, it meant I had to die....*Jesus looks forlorn*
me: Dude, that sucks.
bunny: I like chocolate.
Jesus: NO! It gets better!! *Jesus gets all excited*
me: WHAT? HOW?!! You died! What more is there?
Jesus: I raised from the dead.
me: Now..why would you go and do that?
Jesus: Because, my death takes away your sins, but ultimately, my raising frees you from them. I loved you, and all of creation enough to come back to you. To prove that my spirit and love will never leave you. By coming back, I have made it clear you are to do the same thing to everyone else. You must die to your pride, and come back and serve them. Free them and free your guilt.
me: wow..thats heavy.
Jesus: not really, it's pretty simple. humans just like to complicate this stuff.
me: ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?! YOU'RE THE MESSIAH. OF COURSE IT'S EASY FOR YOU!
Jesus: Okay, now there is no reason for you to get testy with me young lady. I was the one who was a poor carpenter in the middle of the desert in 100 degree weather, remember? Oh, and I was born in a trough. Have you ever been crucified? No, I think not. I mean, really...can a Savior get a holla?
bunny: HOLLA!
me: okay, seriously bunny...why are you even here?
bunny: listen, someone said to show up here for some free carrots. you got free carrots?
me: yeah, they're in the fridge..but hurry. my readers have ADHD and I need to make a point, hopefully.
*bunny scampers off*
Jesus: see, my child? it really is just about loving others and loving God. you guys get all hung up on buzzwords, and whether you got to be a Calvinist or not, just...absolutely mindless stuff. I don't care that you talk about it, but do you need to argue about it?
me: you got a point there. I mean, those God Hates Fags' people make me want to shoot my brains out.
Jesus: Christ. Seriously, that's totally not my fault.
me: The Inquisition?
Jesus: Actually, that was Gabriel. We tried to tell him no, that it was a prank that would go wrong, but he wouldn't listen.
me: Angelina Jolie?
Jesus: THAT was my fault.

In essence, we need to look at the egg. A symbol for new life, it gives us hope for a new transformation. It lets us believe that we can rise above our past mistakes, and the errors of our past generations. It makes it possible to live for tomorrow. We have the choice to live for others, should we accept it. Not out of insecurity, but confidently in Christ's love. This Easter, while we eat dinner, lets pick up a new attitude. Lets reframe our existence. When we hold each others hands during grace, lets hold each others hearts. Make this season an opprotunity not only to accept the bulimic, but love the homosexual, care for the homeless, help the murderer and shelter the abused.

What matters is not the sacreligiousness, or the dogma, but how controversially one must speak in order to drive people to thoughtful reaction.

How will you react to the controversy Christ shows us through the egg?


something to think about....

Concerning Mark Driscoll on Rob Bell and Emergent Village

Recently there has been a load of commentary about Mark Driscoll’s recent sermon surrounding the Emerging church movement. Before I go any further, I will say that I respect Driscoll greatly and agree with him on a lot theological topics. The man is a brilliant thinker, communicator, is hella funny, and a great Pastor. I think Mars Hill is a great church doing the work of God and is blessing the city of Seattle. This is not meant to personally bash Mark Driscoll or Mars Hill Church.

Driscoll began with his history of how he became a Christ follower and how when he was 25 (around 1998 or so), he was asked by Leadership Network to be a part of a church and the cultural postmodern shift. This became what was known then as the Young Leaders Network and the catch phrase "emerging church" became the prominent (coined by Dan Kimbal) term for which their churches and (church models) were defined and the "emerging conversation" was the dialogue in which these individuals were a part of. Pastor named Doug Pagitt was selected to lead this team of young leaders as they wrestled with what it meant to be the church in postmodern culture. The team was heavily influenced by the late Missiologist Leslie Newbegin his thoughts on what it meant to be a "missional community" in the postmodern era. Along with Mark were a few men such as Dan Kimball, Chris Seay, and Andrew Jones. Months later, Pagitt brought in Tony Jones and Brian McLaren to help lead this team of young men. To make a long story short, Mark eventually distanced himself from this group, because had some growing theological disagreements with them that he felt were "non-negotiable" issues and because he was in the middle of starting Mars Hill Church in Seattle as well as having a wife who was pregnant with their first son. This team of pastors morphed into what was known briefly as the TerraNova project which included theologians such as Dr. Lenoard Sweet and Dr. Stanley Grenz. TerraNova soon morphed into what is now known as Emergent Village. Where Mark parted ways with these men was the "conversation" shifted from "how do we do church in the 21st century?" to questioning particular doctrines of orthodox Christianity such the substitutionary atonement of cross, the authority and inspiration of the Bible, the exclusivity of Jesus, the virgin birth, etc by Doug Pagitt and Brian McLaren.

It should be noted that Mark says that at a young age he considered himself to be very stubborn, selfish, and impatient. He notes very clearly that he dearly loves McLaren, Pagitt as well as the rest of the original team of pastors. They have not personally harmed him or sinned against him in anyway and he still considers them friends.

After this brief emerging church history lesson, Mark then proceeds to take particular classifications of the Emerging church from missiologist Dr. Edward Stetzer in which he uses two, the relevants and the revisionists. Mark concludes that the relevants are individuals who are basically evangelical in when it comes to doctrine and theology but are concerned about reaching a new generation of emerging postmodern minded individuals. "Relevants", Mark considers, are people he such as Donald Miller, Dan Kimball, Rick McKinley, and Chris Seay (to name a few). He shares stories about individual encounters with these folks and to the best of his knowledge, he considers them basically evangelical in their theology. Mark then quickly shifts over to the Revisionist stream, are often connected with or a part of (but not limited to) the organization known as Emergent Village. The revisionist stream, while also passionate reaching a younger generation, also appears to call into question key doctrines of orthodox Christianity, something which Mark finds dangerous. Mark claims that there are three individuals most commonly influential within the Revisionist stream are Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt, and Rob Bell. Mark then continues to deconstruct and debunk the "toxic theology" of these three individuals and considers their teachings dangerous and unorthodox.

Concerning McLaren and Pagitt, I will give Mark the benefit of the doubt when calling these two out because Mark knows them personally and has interacted in personal dialogue with them. However, when it comes to Rob Bell, Mark has no NO such interaction. Mark admits that he has never met Rob Bell personally and has never talked with him. My problem with Mark’s lecture/sermon is that I believe he greatly misquotes and misrepresents Rob Bell’s teaching, theology, and doctrinal beliefs. My critique is that Mark just casually ASSUMES that Rob Bell is a part of the Emergent "Revisionist" stream because at one point Brian McLaren preached at Rob’s church (Mars Hill Bible Church. Driscoll and Bell’s churches often get mixed up. The two are not connected in anyway, shape, or form.) and In Mars Hill’s "recommended reading" section of which they use to engage covenant members with the mission and ideology that has influenced Mars Hill community, you will also find recommendation of Brian McLaren’s earlier works (A New Kind of Christian - A Generous Orthodoxy.) At one point, Doug Pagitt also spoke at Mars Hill, when Rob was apparently sick with bronchitis. Pagitt did was not apparently asked, but did Rob a favor by filing in for him for that day. There was no real agenda in Pagitt’s message, and it was simply, from what I can tell of it, a "fill-in" message for the community of Mars Hill. Pagitt’s relationship with Mars Hill comes from a slightly different angle that just being another pastor. Doug’s daughter’s fiancé, the names of whom are undisclosed, is a covenant member of Mars Hill Bible Church. While Doug and Rob share similar visions for social justice, community, and teaching the scriptures (to name a few), I can be sure of it that Rob Bell and Doug Pagitt would have some pretty differing theological disagreements.

Concerning Pagitt and McLaren, I cannot say that I agree with them on all of their theological concepts and ideologies, however I do not in and of myself find (as much as I have read of each) anything that is extremely unorthodox. In McLaren and Pagitt’s later works (The Secret Message of Jesus, Everything Must Change, An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches, etc), I find both men caving to a world of liberal theology. Regardless of my theological disagreements with them, I do not think it wise to throw out everything that McLaren or Doug Pagitt has ever said and I find a lot of McLaren and Pagitt’s insights to be helpful, refreshing, and hopeful.

Now, back with Rob Bell, I find it hard for Mark to make the conclusion that Rob Bell is some how a part of the Emergent stream of the emerging church. Rob Bell has never been part of nor associated with any of the constructs of Emergent Village. While he may have friends who are part of Emergent, that a lone cannot be the basis for writing him off as Emergent. Mark however seems to think that because Pagitt and McLaren have taught at Bell’s church, he must somehow be a part of Emergent. However, if that basis writes off Bell as Emergent, that apparently there are other individuals who must be considered Emergent as well. Dan Kimball, Rick McKinley, Donald Miller, and Chris Seay have ALL also taught at Mars Hill Bible Church and all consider themselves friends with Rob Bell. Furthermore, Dan Kimball and Chris Seay, two of the "evangelicals" that Mark mentions, are members of the Board of Directors for Emergent Village! Mark appears to be assuming that because of Pagitt and McLaren’s liberal theological influences within Emergent, then Emergent must be essentially limited to their beliefs.

Mark proceeds to call out Rob Bell on some of his theological statements in his book Velvet Elvis, particularly, his statement about the Virgin Birth of Jesus. Mark, I believe, greatly takes Rob’s words out of context. Mark’s essential paraphrase of Rob Bell essentially goes "Yeah, we can pull a few bricks out of the wall of theological doctrine, and it’s not gonna fall down. In fact, would we really loose anything if we got rid of the Virgin birth?" However, a clear read of this particular section of Velvet Elvis and one will find the latter statement to be quite a stretch of ideas. In Velvet Elvis, Rob literally says this:

What if tomorrow someone digs up definitive proof that Jesus had a real, earthly biological father named Larry, and archaeologists find Larry’s tomb and do DNA samples and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the virgin birth was really just a bit of mythologizing the Gospel writers threw in to appeal to the followers of the Mithra and Dionysian religious cults that we hugely popular at the time of Jesus, whose gods had virgin births? But what if you study the origin of the word Virgin you discover that the word virgin in the gospel of Matthew actually comes from the book of Isaiah, and then you find out that in the Hebrew language at that time, the word virgin could mean several things. And what if you find out discover that in the first century being "born of a virgin" also referred to a child whose mother became pregnant the first time she had intercourse?...

Could a person still love God? Could you still be a Christian? Is the Way of Jesus still the best possible way to live? Or does the whole thing fall apart?

I AFFIRM the historic Christian faith, which includes the virgin birth and the trinity and the inspiration of the Bible and much more. I’m a part of it, and I want to pass it on to the next generation. I believe God created everything and that Jesus is Lord and that God has plans to restore everything.

But what if the whole faith falls apart when we reexamine or rethink one spring (DOCTRINE) then it wasn’t really that strong in the first place, was it?

(Velvet Elvis, p. 27 Emphasis mine.)

Mark Driscoll claims that Rob Bell says after his discourse about the virgin birth, "would it really matter? Would we really lose anything? He goes on to say, now I believe in the virgin birth, I’m just saying we don’t need it." However, you can clearly see that Rob Bell makes no such claim to throw out the Virgin Birth nor does he objectively question it. Any literary critic can easily tell that Rob Bell is essentially using a HYPOTHETICAL argument to get us to think about our faith. Also, Rob never says we are to "throw out" doctrines, but ponder them, question and wrestle with them, and rethink them, for the sake of coming to affirmation about them. Nowhere in the text of Velvet Elvis does Rob Bell ever say we can throw out Orthodox doctrine. With the statements made by Driscoll, I come to doubt that he has even read Velvet Elvis in it’s entirety and given it some serious thought. To me it seems he simply read another individual’s response to this statement and agreed with them. In this, Mark Driscoll is essentially reading words into Rob Bells mouth (or pen, for that matter) that are not there. What a foolish way to offer critique!

Driscoll also calls into question Rob Bell’s essential analysis of doctrinal foundationalism. Bell essentially argues that doctrines in 20th century evangelicalism have function sort of like a brick wall. Each doctrine stacked onto the next, each one building upon the previous one, creating a brick wall and if one of these doctrines or bricks are even brought into question, all faith and doctrine and theology is lost. Rob Bell essentially says in Velvet Elvis:

"…we can take a spring out and examine it, discuss it, probe it, question it. It flexes and stretches.

In fact, it’s stretch and flex are what makes it so effective. It is FIRMLY attached to the FRAME and the mat, yet it has room to move…" (Velvet Elvis, p. 22, emphasis mine)

However, Driscoll states in his lecture "Now what he says is theology isn’t like a wall where there are many bricks, and if you take one out if falls down. Theology is like a trampoline and it’s flexible and it bends. And he’s arguing in that analogy for post-foundational theological presupposition. Yet, I’ve seen a trampoline. And what I’ve noticed is that it has a frame that sits upon a firm foundation of the earth. He tends to have over looked the obvious in the illustration." However, as you can see above, Rob Bell clearly states that the "spring" doctrines are FIRMLY attached to the frame of the trampoline. The point he is making is that if we aren’t open to respecting other views (flexible) and theology/doctrine and interpretations, being rigid and attached to our own view, then we become extremely biased. Rob Bell states in the book:

"What happens in brick world is that you spend a lot of time talking about how right you are. Which of course leads to how wrong everybody else is. Which then leads to defending the wall… I am far more interested in jumping than arguing who’s trampoline is better." (Velvet Elvis, p. 27)

Driscoll goes on to say what will inevitably happen if one objectionably rejects the virgin birth. Driscoll that Mary said she was a virgin (already assuming the word "virgin" meant one who has not had intercourse) and that if she was really a "lying whore" then that changes the story. Why would anyone believe the claims of the human son of a lying whore? Following, why believe the claims of Jesus brothers James and Jude? While what Driscoll is pointing to is in fact logically true, his argument and Rob Bells point in his hypothetical questioning of the virgin birth are two VERY different things. Rob Bell is stating all the while that if we have rigid theology and won’t ever listen to and invite people into our world and theology and explore with us, then we are really no better than the religious leaders of Jesus time. Driscoll is arguing that if claim that the virgin birth didn’t, we’ve got issues with Jesus’ future claims about himself. That is true, but that’s not Rob Bell’s point. Furthermore, Driscoll already assumes that God HAD to use the immaculate conception of Mary to give birth to Jesus. Did God HAVE to use the divine, immaculate conception of a virgin Mary? No, he’s God. He can do what he desires. However, he chose to divinely input Jesus to us by the way of a virgin, one who has not had intercourse. It’s clear that Rob Bell doesn’t deny the Virgin birth.

Driscoll than goes on to cite that Rob Bell and Brian McLaren both site Ken Wilbur’s (a Buddhist philosopher) book A Brief History of Everything as an influence in how they live their lives. However, in reality I believe Bell and McLaren are essentially just affirming truth in it’s time. Regardless that Ken Wilbur is a Buddhist philosopher, that does not mean that EVERYTHING he says is ultimately not true and unprofitable. The authors of scripture affirmed truth in any religious system, regardless of it’s apparent source. All truth is God’s truth. Regardless of the receiver, if it’s truth it belongs to God. All human beings have received general revelation from God, while not capable of Salvation, is still revelation from God. If it’s true it belongs to God.

As I listen to Driscoll’s disagreements with Rob Bell, I question why he feels he has the right (much less a convincing argument) to paint Rob Bell as a heretic. As he said in this lecture, he does not know Rob Bell and has never talked with him. As someone who has personally met Rob Bell and has listened to his teaching for the past 4 years and as a theology student here at Multnomah, I can honestly say that Rob Bell’s theology is nowhere near liberal and is completely Orthodox. I further doubt that Driscoll has ever listened to one of Rob Bell’s sermons or read any of this books. If Driscoll has read Velvet Elvis, then I discredit him for doing such a poor job at analyzing Rob’s statements in the book. It would be better stated "I disagree with some of Rob Bell’s statements." Regardless of Driscoll’s disagreements with Rob Bell, even if some are simply just theological differences, no one can’t not applaud Mark Driscoll for being such innovative, authentic, creative, and theologically sound teacher and pastor that he is. God is using both Mark Driscoll and Rob Bell (and Brian McLaren and Doug Pagitt for that matter) to advance his Kingdom as he brings about restoration to this broken creation.

grace and peace to you,
jeremy