this and that

My days have been full preparing our 2008 program of public services. My colleague Sharman Hartson and I have been working hard to get some things on paper as a first step. We've got lots going on, and lots more planned.
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Our evenings have been full of homework and books and stories and evening meals and the rhythms of life lived by the school calendar. I'm enjoying experiencing kindergarten as a parent. Laura and I had lunch with Darby and her class last week. Great fun. Ella is gaining daily in personality (no shortage of that), verbal skills and vocabulary. It is at once hilarious and precious.
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I'm nearly finished with Romans (on Sunday mornings) and Galatians (on Sunday evenings). I've got more bulletins articles coming when I can cut-and-paste them into blogger. I've not done full manuscript sermons, only handwritten notes, so you won't be seeing the sermons. On the horizon: parables from Luke in the AM and miracle-stories in the PM.
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And I've rolled up my sleeves for a winter project consisting of new flooring in our sunroom, kitchen and living room-dining room, basically the entire downstairs. DIY laminate flooring. So far so good. Our sunroom is 98% finished and the rest will go more quickly since A) I know now what I'm doing, and B) there's no more heavy furniture to contend with. Maybe I can post some pictures. Power saw notwithstanding, my finger count stands at a robust and articulate 10. Let's hope it stays that way.
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I'm returning to some earlier research on Nashville Churches of Christ; I've got some more data to collect as I revise the paper for a conference in April.
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Stay tuned for Washington DC.

grace and peace.

worth reading

Obviously hurt and disillusioned, and probably bitter, Roger Ray nonetheless says some things we need to hear.

If you can give him a sympathetic reading, I think you will find his piece a fairly typical representation of the feelings of many.

Folks in my corner of the woods will react strongly to his jettisoning traditional doctrinal formulations. At the same time, we have been (Churches of Christ) a strongly anti-creedal bunch from the very get-go, so his rejection of such formulations may be closer to our heritage than we would like to admit. That said, I think his response to doctrinaire and abusive preaching, though understandable, is an overreaction. The corrective to bad doctrine isn’t no doctrine, its better doctrine. I suspect he’s heard a lot of sermons which parse doctrine and touch not the hem of the garment of where we all lives our lives. It is ironic that he rejects the claims of deity for Jesus (which Jesus makes for himself, seems to me, and which would subsequently make Jesus and the writers of the New testament documents something less than a good prophet or faithful witnesses, it would make them all liars). Anyhow, though he would reject Jesus as divine, the program he envisions for the church of his dreams is certainly in line with the mission of God, which Jesus so clearly and repeatedly embodies. I don’t think it necessary to jettison faith in Jesus as God in order to embrace a ministry of compassion, peace, mercy or sacrifice. Seems to me that is exactly what claiming to be a Christian, a subject of the Risen Lord, is all about. It is unfortunate that he has reduced it to an either-or scenario when that is unnecessary at best, and at worst misleading concerning the New Testament witness about Jesus and his mission.

As for his Kierkegaard quote, well, that’s wonderful. What a fine commentary on the nonsense that’s unfortunately everywhere present in churches. May God have mercy when we turn church into something trite or crass or self-serving. His criticism of such is worth reading and ought be required reading for every Bible major in every ministry course in our schools.

Now, I understand that his article doesn't represent how everyone feels about church, and there is a lot of good done by a lot of churches (which Mr. Ray doesn’t acknowledge, for whatever reason). But this is how he feels, and I bet a cup of coffee that his column represents many. Probably most of my generation in my demographic (30's, college-educated, city-dwellers and suburbanites) would agree with a lot of what Ray says. So, read his provocative column, especially the final paragraph and ask yourself what reason for faith and ministry would your church offer to a Roger Ray?

http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071229/LIFE07/712290332

God's Invitation to Kingdom Living

“Out of his wonderful love, God invites us to live in his kingdom, to surrender willingly to his reign, to live in that place where his will is done. That surrender to God is no defeat for us, since God’s kingdom is the only place where we can live to the fullest. God created us to enjoy abundant life. This is not self-actualization or a “name it, claim it” gospel. It is not living successfully according to the fallen standards of our world. Instead, this is living a purposeful life in relationship with God and others. This is the good news that Jesus announced: we can live under the reign of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15). But if we do not understand the nature of God’s loving invitation into his kingdom, we will miss the abundant life found there. Learning to live life in its fullest expression in relationship with our Creator is the purpose of genuine spiritual formation.

“How does “church” relate to kingdom? The church is to be a colony of God’s kingdom in our world. But not everything done by churches or every group that calls itself a church truly participates or lives in the kingdom. The kingdom of God is anywhere God’s will is done (see Matthew 6:10). A church comprised of authentic believers who have submitted their lives to God is a true manifestation of the kingdom. Those in that church are living according to God’s will and enjoying his gracious guidance. Once again, God’s kingdom is where his will is being done, where God lives his love through us.

“Living under God’s direction answers the age-old question, “Why are we here?” God created us in his image and his likeness (Genesis 1:26). He made us to be like him, made us for relationship. In creation, God gave humans the most exalted role, to represent and even share in the character and person of God himself. Those who choose this life under God’s direction embody God’s kingdom. They serve as God’s ambassadors, calling others to the joys of relationship with God.”

--Gary Holloway and Earl Lavender, Living God’s Love, An Invitation to Christian Spirituality, 28-29.

Teachers and authors Gary Holloway and Earl Lavender have done us a service by writing this book on Christian spirituality. It is my top recommendation for anyone desiring a deeper spirituality. Too often we mischaracterize and misunderstand spirituality as something flaky (so we avoid it), elusive (we fear we can never achieve it), or worse, irrelevant (so we ignore it). But true spirituality is something beautiful and godly and transforming. They contend that true spirituality is living out the love of God. Over the course of the next several weeks in this space I will share some insights from their book. In my morning sermon Sunday I called upon us, from Romans 12, to authentic spirituality: that is, to integrate into our lives what we hold to be true in our heads. Romans is one of Paul’s attempts to shape a community of believers around the life-changing truth of the gospel. The gospel declares the love of God for sinners, and that good news has implications for how life ought to be lived. As we conclude Romans, I think it helpful to have additional instruction in integrating into our lives the grace of the gospel message. Gary and Earl will give us instruction by reflecting on Scripture. We will begin there next week.

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This is the first installment in a series I’m running in our bulletin.