Faith

When Jeremiah said, in his people’s hour of direst need, that “houses and fields [and vineyards] shall again be bought in this land,” * it was a token of confidence in the future. That requires faith, and may God grant it to us daily. I don’t mean the faith that flees the world, but the faith that endures in the world and loves and remains true to that world in spite of all the hardships it brings us.

Doing Church Wrong

From "Leaving Church" by Barbara Brown Taylor

All these years later, the way many of us are doing church is broken and we know it, even if we do not know what to do about it. We proclaim the priesthood of all believers while we continue living with hierarchical clergy, liturgy, and architecture. We follow a Lord who challenged the religious and political institutions of his time while we fund and defend our own. We speak and sing of divine transformation while we do everything in our power to maintain our equilibrium. If redeeming things continue to happen to us in spite of these deep contradictions in our life together, then I think that is because God is faithful even when we are not. When we are able to trust the gospel that our human love of God and one another is the sum total of what we were put on earth to do, and that we have everything we need to be human, then redeeming things will continue to happen, both because and in spite of us. They will happen because God loves life so much that even at the grave we make our song Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
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What if people were invited to come tell what they already know of God instead of to learn what they are supposed to believe? What if they were blessed for what they are doing in the world instead of chastened for not doing more at church? What if church felt more like a way station than a destination? What if the church’s job were to move people out the door instead of trying to keep them in, by convincing them that God needed them more in the world than in the church?

The Bible

"I have my own canon, in which I hear God speaking most directly to me, but I also like the parts in which God sounds like an alien, since those parts remind me that God does not belong to me."

from Leaving Church by Barbara Brown Taylor

Thoughts on Church

That’s where we miss the boat. We think it’s about us. It’s not. It’s about the Father. Likewise, we wrongly come to the conclusion that it’s “our” church...The church is not ours; it never was. We’re not owners; we’re only stewards. We will never value the things God values until we give back what is already his.

What would happen if a group of people collectively gathered around the mission of being good news as a way of life. What would be the impact on our community?

The Syrian Refuge Crisis

The proper response to this current global crisis has been on my mind.  My thoughts really came to a head last night during a discussion with Angela.  For every legitimate article I can find talking about the vetting of potential refugees being brought into the United States (Wall Street Journal) (Time), I can find other articles quoting officials from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI saying our vetting procedures are inadequate or unrealistic (NY Post)(Washington Post).  This aside though, personally this really comes down to a Gospel Issue (Gospel Responsibility).  So it therefore is no longer a civil or government responsibility, but  the responsibility of the church to do something about this.  The debate in the secular sphere is irrelevant, aside for the legality and mechanism of getting these people here.  So, now what do we as the church do about it besides post on FaceBook and complain.

Whom Shall I Fear

Read this passage earlier this week.  Seemed appropriate for these times and the commentary on the current state of affairs in America.

12 Do not call conspiracy
    everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
    and do not dread it.
13 13 The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
    he is the one you are to fear,
    he is the one you are to dread.

(Isaiah 8)

Discipleship

A couple thoughts that have been on my mind and I have been meaning to write down.

• The first is our faith in Christ and our walk with God should cost us something.  This has many ramifications in the life we choose to live and the daily choices we make.  Too often our "American Christianity" is too cheap.  Especially in the south where everyone is a "Christian".  An individual spoke to this in a conversation I overheard the other day about visiting the Pacific Northwest.  He was talking about how it means something up there when you say you are a "Christian", because of the majority of the people are not.  This is unlike the south where everyone "goes to church".  He labeled this being a "legitimate Christian".  I would say we need to legitimize our faith.
• The second is related discipleship and making disciples.  This has been on the forefront of my mind and something I have been looking for as we search for a new church home here in Alabama.  Something I just read in Bandon Hatmaker's book "Barefoot Church" spoke to this.  Actually it speaks to both points.

Following Christ should change our lives.  We should not be the same.  Discipleship is transforming. Yet when we think about our spiritual development, it's easier to see a change in our practices than in our passions.  We continue to add rings to replace things, yet our hearts remain the same.  We seem to think discipleship is an agreement to knowledge instead of a commitment to a gospel that makes all things new.