So I just noticed that I wrote in my previous post that I'd mentioned in the past how much I loved Rob Bell's book, Velvet Elvis. But I remembered that I have not blogged about that book on this site. I blogged about it on my less "public" site. So I thought I'd add bits of my other blog here because it's just such a good book and I have to convince you to read it. lol...
"...This past week I finished reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. LOVED IT!....
...One of the things Bell talks about is a comparison of faith being a trampoline or faith being a brick wall. If your faith is a brick wall, one brick (doctrine) can fall out and the entire wall can crumble. And time is often spent defending the wall. A trampoline on the other hand is not something you spend time defending. You are excited to invite others to join you in jumping! If one spring (doctrine) breaks, the trampoline is still standing.
I really am not a fan of apologetics. Proving faith to be true on the basis of logical arguments just doesn't hold a lot of weight for me. I'm not saying others aren't convinced that way, I'm just not.... So you won't find me arguing the finer points of faith with people.... I believe faith is bigger than logic. If you know me (at least in my recent years) you probably wouldn't say I'm someone who blindly accepts everything that comes my way either. My husband actually described me as a "thinker" in the "feeler/thinker" comparison. I question...a lot. I desire to understand Jesus and his teachings better than I currently understand them. But I'm not going to argue them....
Now on to recent times...
{I talked about The Da Vinci Code hype here but it's not that important...}
...Back to the whole faith as a trampoline vs. brick wall thing... What if it were true? I'm not suggesting that it is. But what if it were? What if Jesus was married? Does that make him less divine? What if Jesus had a family? Does that make him a sinner? And what if there are descendents of Jesus and Mary today? Is our God not big enough that Jesus could have a family that was fully human, not divine, while he was still both fully human and fully divine? Would your wall crumble if it were true?
Our faith must be stronger than a brick wall. It must not crumble if our understanding of one thing changes....
I'm not trying to say that everything we believe to be true is wrong. I'm just saying that our faith has to be bigger. We have to believe that God is so much bigger than our simplistic understanding of things. We must be humble, not seeking to argue but seeking to understand and walk alongside. We must believe in God more than doctrine. Our faith must be alive not static.
...If a church is a church that follows Christ than it teaches the Bible. It may be a different understanding or interpretation of the Bible, but it is still the Bible. No one person or one denomination holds a monopoly on the truth of Bible. We all bring our own undestandings and experiences to the words on the pages. No one is objective when it comes to the Bible. That is why your faith cannot crumble if one thing you believe to be true is questioned...."
Anyway, that's just a peek at some of the direction of Bell's book. I appreciate the fresh perspective he brings on God, the church, the Bible, culture and more. Read it! :)
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Chosen and Believed In
I know I already said how much I loved Velvet Elvis but there's another thought that has rolled around in my head for a while that I read there and thought I would share. Please bare with the "background" information because it's important to my point.
In Jewish culture boys at like age 12 would start this process of education with the hopes of someday becoming a Rabbi. At certain points during the process there would be an evaluation and boys who weren't cutting it were sent home to learn the family business. At the end of this process the boys that were left were to choose a Rabbi to follow. They would go to that Rabbi and request to be their disciple. The Rabbi would then put them through this evaluation that would help him decide whether the boy/man could be his disciple. If the Rabbi truly believed that this man could in fact be just like him (because that was the goal of a disciple - to be just like his Rabbi) then he would choose him. If he did not believe that he could be just like him, he would then send the man/boy home to learn the family business.
Along comes Jesus. A Rabbi. He finds fishermen, rejected boys sent home to learn the family trade, not good enough to be a disciple, not believed in by a Rabbi. And Jesus says to them, come, follow me, be my disciples.
Now it has always seemed strange to me that these men just dropped everything and followed this random man who came along and told them to. I now understand that it was common for a man/boy to drop everything and leave his family to follow a Rabbi and Jesus was known to be a Rabbi. It was an honor to be called to follow and any normal Jewish man would have been thrilled to be chosen.
The fascinating thing is this...Jesus called the rejected, cast out, not good enough men and believed in them. Jesus believed that these men had what it took to be just like Him.
Consider the story of Peter walking on water with Jesus. While we may think it strange that Peter would want to do this, it would have been common for a disciple to want to do exactly what his Rabbi did. Could it be that when Peter began to sink and Jesus said, "Why did you doubt?" he didn't mean "Why did you doubt me?" he insteand meant, "Why did you doubt yourself? I called you. I chose you. I believe in you. Why can't you believe?"
I imagine Jesus says this a lot to me. I used to be SO full of ideals and hopes and passions for what could be. I believed in who I could become. So much has happened in recent years that I find it hard to believe anymore. I find it hard to see myself as chosen and called and believed in. This deeper understanding of the reality of this situation with Jesus calling his disciples has helped renew that hope in me that I can be as Jesus called me to be.
We all need to see ourselves in light of that. We have been called by God. That means for whatever reason, he believes we can be like him. We put all this focus on getting into heaven when I wonder if really we are called and chosen so that we can be Jesus on earth. We can make this world a better place by being Jesus on earth. By following his teachings and fighing against the injustice of the world and standing for all that is weak and powerless, we can be Jesus on earth. We are called and chosen not for a "personal" relationship or "personal" salvation but to be Jesus for the world. To bring hope, life and love to a world desperately in need of those things. Being a follower of Christ isn't about crossing over a line from hell to heaven. It is about being like Jesus so the world can become a better place. It is not about waiting for heaven to come so we can be rid of all the junk of this world. It is about being like Jesus so the junk of this world becomes infested with the love of Jesus.
The Kingdom of God is now. Jesus believes in us. He believes that we can be like him. And as idealistic as it may sound, Jesus believes that we can make this world a better place. We are called to make this world a better place. We are called to stop waiting and wishing for heaven and to start working to bring heaven here and now.
In Jewish culture boys at like age 12 would start this process of education with the hopes of someday becoming a Rabbi. At certain points during the process there would be an evaluation and boys who weren't cutting it were sent home to learn the family business. At the end of this process the boys that were left were to choose a Rabbi to follow. They would go to that Rabbi and request to be their disciple. The Rabbi would then put them through this evaluation that would help him decide whether the boy/man could be his disciple. If the Rabbi truly believed that this man could in fact be just like him (because that was the goal of a disciple - to be just like his Rabbi) then he would choose him. If he did not believe that he could be just like him, he would then send the man/boy home to learn the family business.
Along comes Jesus. A Rabbi. He finds fishermen, rejected boys sent home to learn the family trade, not good enough to be a disciple, not believed in by a Rabbi. And Jesus says to them, come, follow me, be my disciples.
Now it has always seemed strange to me that these men just dropped everything and followed this random man who came along and told them to. I now understand that it was common for a man/boy to drop everything and leave his family to follow a Rabbi and Jesus was known to be a Rabbi. It was an honor to be called to follow and any normal Jewish man would have been thrilled to be chosen.
The fascinating thing is this...Jesus called the rejected, cast out, not good enough men and believed in them. Jesus believed that these men had what it took to be just like Him.
Consider the story of Peter walking on water with Jesus. While we may think it strange that Peter would want to do this, it would have been common for a disciple to want to do exactly what his Rabbi did. Could it be that when Peter began to sink and Jesus said, "Why did you doubt?" he didn't mean "Why did you doubt me?" he insteand meant, "Why did you doubt yourself? I called you. I chose you. I believe in you. Why can't you believe?"
I imagine Jesus says this a lot to me. I used to be SO full of ideals and hopes and passions for what could be. I believed in who I could become. So much has happened in recent years that I find it hard to believe anymore. I find it hard to see myself as chosen and called and believed in. This deeper understanding of the reality of this situation with Jesus calling his disciples has helped renew that hope in me that I can be as Jesus called me to be.
We all need to see ourselves in light of that. We have been called by God. That means for whatever reason, he believes we can be like him. We put all this focus on getting into heaven when I wonder if really we are called and chosen so that we can be Jesus on earth. We can make this world a better place by being Jesus on earth. By following his teachings and fighing against the injustice of the world and standing for all that is weak and powerless, we can be Jesus on earth. We are called and chosen not for a "personal" relationship or "personal" salvation but to be Jesus for the world. To bring hope, life and love to a world desperately in need of those things. Being a follower of Christ isn't about crossing over a line from hell to heaven. It is about being like Jesus so the world can become a better place. It is not about waiting for heaven to come so we can be rid of all the junk of this world. It is about being like Jesus so the junk of this world becomes infested with the love of Jesus.
The Kingdom of God is now. Jesus believes in us. He believes that we can be like him. And as idealistic as it may sound, Jesus believes that we can make this world a better place. We are called to make this world a better place. We are called to stop waiting and wishing for heaven and to start working to bring heaven here and now.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Preschoolers are Great
I teach preschool...3 year olds to be exact. And they are hilarious. Seriously, I love to just watch them explore and interact with each other. Today we were walking back from the playground and there were birds flying over head between a couple of trees and the top of the building. I never knew birds could be so exciting! They went on and on. They were all talking at once about the birds. About what color they were. About where they were sitting and where they were coming from. About the noises they were making. Then I turned around to see them flapping their arms like wings and making "tweeting" sounds. It was cracking me up because I was simply amazed at their amazement of something so simple.
I'm not one to say that I'm excited to have children of my own. I love being able to send them home after a few hours. But I think everyone should spend time with kids from time to time. They offer a perspective on life that so many of us have lost.
It's so obvious to me why Jesus talks about approaching the Kingdom of God like a child. You can't fully understand this unless you've spent a lot of time with kids but I think this may be one of the key points to a "religion" that is alive and powerful.
As adults we (I) are (am) SO cynical, so jaded. We can only see the world in the way we've always seen it. We miss so much. We read the Bible like a text book instead of a beautiful piece of mysterious literature. We approach God with three easy steps and we have patterns and plans for spiritual growth.
Kids don't see the world that way or experience the world that way. Every day is fresh and new and a little black bird is an awesome sight to see. Children ask questions. Lots and lots of questions. They love to learn new things and experience new things! They aren't embarrased to share their excitement and amazement. They find great joy in sharing their observations and joy with their friends and anybody who will listen. They don't get hung up on unnecessary details. They see life as something to be lived fully, without hesitation and without fear. They jump in head first! They love deeply and aren't afraid to show it. They forgive quickly and trust easily. The world to a preschooler is a great mystery to be loved and explored and passionately lived.
If we could catch just a mustard seed size of that "child-likeness," life and religion would be full of genuine joy and amazement each and every day.
I'm not one to say that I'm excited to have children of my own. I love being able to send them home after a few hours. But I think everyone should spend time with kids from time to time. They offer a perspective on life that so many of us have lost.
It's so obvious to me why Jesus talks about approaching the Kingdom of God like a child. You can't fully understand this unless you've spent a lot of time with kids but I think this may be one of the key points to a "religion" that is alive and powerful.
As adults we (I) are (am) SO cynical, so jaded. We can only see the world in the way we've always seen it. We miss so much. We read the Bible like a text book instead of a beautiful piece of mysterious literature. We approach God with three easy steps and we have patterns and plans for spiritual growth.
Kids don't see the world that way or experience the world that way. Every day is fresh and new and a little black bird is an awesome sight to see. Children ask questions. Lots and lots of questions. They love to learn new things and experience new things! They aren't embarrased to share their excitement and amazement. They find great joy in sharing their observations and joy with their friends and anybody who will listen. They don't get hung up on unnecessary details. They see life as something to be lived fully, without hesitation and without fear. They jump in head first! They love deeply and aren't afraid to show it. They forgive quickly and trust easily. The world to a preschooler is a great mystery to be loved and explored and passionately lived.
If we could catch just a mustard seed size of that "child-likeness," life and religion would be full of genuine joy and amazement each and every day.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Martin Luther and a New Age
I just picked up a book titled, "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell. I read about half a page and was struck by something very interesting. Martin Luther ushered in a new era for the church. In his time the Bible was only read and understand by the priests, ministry was only done by the priests, and it wasn't all that easy to know and have a relationship with God. Luther revolutionized faith by fighting the institution and inviting people into a personal relationship with God. He insisted that the Bible should be written in a language that the average person could read and understand. He believed that ministry was the job of the people, not just those employeed by the church and he was certain that faith was about relationship, not money and power.
The people of his time must have sensed the greatest freedom as they began to experience this living faith. I bet they read the Bible like it was some great mystery that they had never been priveledged to but now by the grace of God have been given access to. I bet they passionately served God in their churches, sang with all their hearts in words that meant something to them and loved God like they never knew they could.
I wasn't there. But the world of Christian religion has been forever changed because of this time in history. It must have been a great time, a hard time, but a great time.
Looking at the state of the church today I fear that we have lost the power that was given us through this great movement. We are happy to let the priests do our reading for us. We are happy to let the priests do our serving for us. And to sing to God in words we can mean and understand has lost it's value and ferver.
The church today needs a revolution. A reformation movement of a new kind. As my generation sees and is frustrated by the institution we need to stop running for the hills and breaking with our passion for God's kingdom. We must be the life-bringers, the hope-givers, the passion-livers. We must seek and desire the fame of God above all else and in the spirit of Martin Luther, usher in a new era of faith for a new generation.
The people of his time must have sensed the greatest freedom as they began to experience this living faith. I bet they read the Bible like it was some great mystery that they had never been priveledged to but now by the grace of God have been given access to. I bet they passionately served God in their churches, sang with all their hearts in words that meant something to them and loved God like they never knew they could.
I wasn't there. But the world of Christian religion has been forever changed because of this time in history. It must have been a great time, a hard time, but a great time.
Looking at the state of the church today I fear that we have lost the power that was given us through this great movement. We are happy to let the priests do our reading for us. We are happy to let the priests do our serving for us. And to sing to God in words we can mean and understand has lost it's value and ferver.
The church today needs a revolution. A reformation movement of a new kind. As my generation sees and is frustrated by the institution we need to stop running for the hills and breaking with our passion for God's kingdom. We must be the life-bringers, the hope-givers, the passion-livers. We must seek and desire the fame of God above all else and in the spirit of Martin Luther, usher in a new era of faith for a new generation.
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