Iconoclast & Canon

DR Congo in turmoil

2008-11-11T09:09:00.002-06:00

Pray for one of Africa's most ravaged countries.

Schaeffer & his letters

2008-10-30T16:09:00.002-05:00

From a recent book report on Letters of Francis Schaeffer.

A Culture of Letters
To our great loss, this seems to be a neglected and even forgotten practice. (Ironic, given our age of "easy" communication?!)
Considering it is so thoroughly a biblical template for discipleship, its abandonment suddenly now worries me. We must ask, can it
truly be said that a handful of "sound-bite" emails, text messages, 30 minute coffee meetings and the like are comparable to a well
thought out letter joined to the receiver's meditative reading? Certainly the former things have their place, but I believe we are due
for a renaissance of letter writing. Even as I write this, I've opened a new document and begun writing a long overdue letter to a
young man I am currently discipling. I do hope this is the beginning of a kind of rediscovery of--if just in my own ministry--letter
writing for the sake of intensely heart-directed discipleship.

Taking Seriously the Concerns of Others
Consistently, Dr. Schaeffer takes the concerns and struggles of his friends seriously. His words in the letter "What is the Normal
Christian Life?" are emblematic of the entire collection: "I read your letter with care and would certainly want to do everything I can
to help" (159). Not once did I find a flippant comment, sarcastic or minimizing remark. The credibility this must have given him is
incalculable. How can I begin to grasp effective pastoral work if I first do not weigh and contemplate the words and thoughts--and
the pain therein--of my people? In the limited experience I have had in the ministry, there have been times I have attempted to
diminish one's hardships trying to help when in reality it came across as unloving or indifferent. Here I must learn from Dr.
Schaeffer.

Spirituality
Ringing out, again and again, is Dr. Schaeffer's emphasis on spirituality--an urgent and real devotional life before the Triune God.
Frankly, this shocked me. The Schaeffer I have assumed to understand for years is one of gargantuan intellect and rigorous
apologetics. (Really, I think I've been exposed as a one who has read very little Schaeffer!) He faithfully calls his friends and
correspondents to make certain the spiritual--communion with the God who is there--is in fact the center of their lives. Yes, the
other outer circles of the doctrinal and apologetic must be in place but not without the blazing center--the glory of the Most High
God, the beauty of the Son and the power of the Spirit. If, through vibrant prayer, fellowship with other believers, and pouring over
his Word, this is not in place, all is lost. Nothing can replace this; not organizational machinery, not tailored programs to people's
needs--nothing. This core will be shown to be properly in place when the person, the community, the ministry, etc. is led in full
surrender wherever the Spirit might lead. Few things grate as hard against our default functioning of autonomy, predictability and
control.

Casting Off the Approval of Men
My heart was penetrated when I read the following: "[Through the recent difficulties I have faced], the Lord taught me more than I
ever knew of the greatness of the Lord and the smallness of any man--and the corresponding importance of pleasing the Lord, and
the lack of importance of pleasing any particular man...[In spite of all that has happened there is no question of] personal
discouragement, for I am probably less discouraged than I have ever been since those bright days when I first saw the face of the
Lord, and before my feet got stuck in the problems of the prestige of man" (40-41). How much of my service in the church thus far
has been prompted and sustained by the approval of man?! Surprising it is to think of a man of Schaeffer's stature being susceptible
to such a stumbling block. Realizing the smallness of man in light of the glory and greatness of my God I have got to cast this off.
Lord, let my heart not tremble at their words, their looks, their silence, their anger or their pleasure with me. I belong to You and
You alone. Please, Father, let me live in the reality of your love for me above any other man, no matter their position or opinion.
Their prestige or the poverty they may bring is but a vapor. You alone are eternal, unchanging and Your promises are sure. Blessed
be Your name.

The tyranny of emotional comfort

2008-10-17T11:05:00.002-05:00

When I refuse to confront, when I attempt to sweep under the rug a hard issue of consequence, I relegate my soul to an eventual flaccid existence. What do I fight for? My personal solitude. What do I teach people in the process? That truth, that real things concerning the well being of Christ's church take a back seat to supposed interpersonal tranquility. Love is indeed the constraining factor in all interactions but it is also the brazen foundation and reason for dealing with conflict head on. If I reject this I will be the serf of my emotional comfort indefinitely.

Audible demonstrations

2008-10-14T14:48:00.003-05:00

For anyone interested, I have uploaded some rough recordings here.

Countermeasures to unchecked ambition

2008-10-14T11:10:00.004-05:00

"A kindly forewarning is given to pastors lest, while they satisfy the needs of those under them, they slay themselves with the dagger of ambition."
- Gregory the Great

Remedy-
"Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them."
- John 13:14-17

Slow Death

2008-10-12T16:11:00.002-05:00

If idolatry is diametrically opposed to the law of God
and the law of God is fulfilled
in love of God and neighbor,
then idolatry will necessarily bring about
the deadening of one's entire being
to God and neighbor,
and ultimately,
oneself.

From Dietrich's Pen

2008-09-25T11:03:00.002-05:00

“The word of grace cannot be proclaimed and accepted when a person lives in unrecognized and undisclosed sin. In such a case the word of grace becomes a poison. It no longer arouses us but rather lulls us into a deadly quietism. When the effect of the poison has worn off, one still has a disconsolate conscience. Impenitence and callousness become more firmly entrenched. Countless Christians hear the word of grace only in this way. For them it has become a sleeping pill. The person is cheated out of a salutary life in awe of God.”

From Spiritual Care

Guilt by association

2008-04-20T07:37:00.002-05:00

Waking up this morning to the news I couldn't help but notice that immediately after a report on the Pope's visit and most recent speech, there was an update on the ongoing fallout from the polygamist ordeal in Texas. If I am compiling news stories for a radio broadcast might I be able to ever-so-subtly jab at something I may think is opiate for the masses by simply putting them next to each other so as to cause the listener to think, "Good riddance, look at what religion does to the world..."?

In journalism, is there such a thing as silently critiquing one event by following it with a report of another ostensibly related event?

Every Intention

2008-04-14T15:28:00.002-05:00

I have every intention of posting consistently but rarely do these intentions bear fruit. If you are checking in right now, thanks for the visit. Hopefully you'll hear from me soon.

In the meantime, I suggest some or all of the following:
Blind Willie Johnson
Stars of the Lid
Dorothy Sayers

Joy to the World, the Sale is Come

2007-11-26T20:51:00.000-06:00

Things are not so subtle anymore.
We have taken so many Christ-centered Christmas songs, altered the lyrics, kept the well-known melody and heralded the arrival of our god, Buymore.
The sale has taken on flesh and dwelt among us.
"And Jesus, would you mind dropping us off at the mall?
Same time, same place next year? Great. See you then!"

Marketing consultants for the church?

2007-09-25T08:06:00.000-05:00

Just as mom and pop hardware stores are being replaced by Lowes and Home Depot, so the little church on the corner is being inadvertently shut down by the market-researching mega church. Granted, this is no new phenomenon, but today NPR had an interesting segment on Marketplace Morning Report.

From a dear brother in Uganda

2007-09-12T12:33:00.000-05:00

Here is an excerpt from an article by Rev. Henry Luke Orombi, the Archbishop of Uganda. Well worth a full read...

"For many of our tribes, revenge was esteemed as a virtue. If a family had been violated, the first instinct was to gather the clan, arm them, and seek revenge on the family and clan of the offender. In such realms, the Bible has had a profoundly transforming effect, given the teaching of Jesus on forgiveness. Traditional Ugandan society was driven by family loyalties, with little basis for loving those beyond your blood ties. The Bible brought the teaching of Jesus to love our neighbors and even our enemies. And, while there remain remnants of the old culture, the Bible has given us a moral and spiritual basis for transforming culture.

Traditional African objects of worship were limited to families and clans. This created a context in which no central beliefs could be held or shared beyond the ethnic setting. Yet ancestral spirits and such natural phenomena as earthquakes, lakes, and mountains could not satisfy the Africans’ quest for the living God. The Bible’s revelation of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit brought hope for deliverance from the fatalism that resulted from worshiping created things rather than the Creator and Redeemer.

The gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed to us through the Word of God enables warring tribes to begin to coexist and to embrace neighborliness. Indeed, the Word of God opened the way for the nation of Uganda to be forged. When evangelists from Buganda (in central Uganda) traveled to tribes in the east, west, and north, a new day dawned in our country. Instead of being armed with spears, they came armed only with the Word of God. Instead of a message of war and destruction, they delivered a message of Good News from the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Full article.

Big man on campus now on the periphery needing humility

2007-09-07T11:05:00.000-05:00

Christopher Wright has written a provocative little piece here on the massive shift of global Christianity over the past 100 years. One of his many challenges is for the Western church to simply recognize this and then go about the humbling work of relearning its missiology in a global context radically different than its grandparent's.

Intoxicated by a North American corporate success model

2007-08-14T12:34:00.000-05:00

A gut check for us on our next Barnes and Noble visit, looking for anything on church life and leadership.

"It is important for theology and the church to become partners again, even if that partnership challenges the triumphalism lingering around professional emanations of the local church intoxicated by a North American corporate success model. For Christian community to survive the 21st century, it must never forget its Hebraic roots in a suffering God who experienced the public failure associated with dying on a Roman instrument of torture simultaneously displaying the love of God for the world." - Paul Bischoff

African-American Spirituals - Teaching Us How to Lament

2007-07-10T19:27:00.001-05:00

There is much to learn from African-American spirituals in terms of lament. "'I surely will die?' That's the kind of negative thinking that'll ruin a perfectly good day!" If we are swept away by our present day's refusal to reflect on the gravity (and inevitability) of suffering and death, the following will be tragically lost on us.

I'm Troubled in Mind

Oh, Jesus, my Saviour, on Thee I'll depend
When troubles are near me you'll be my true friend

I'm troubled
I'm troubled
I'm troubled in mind
If Jesus don't help me
I surely will die

When ladened with troubles and burdened with grief
To Jesus in secret I'll go for relief

In dark days of bondage to Jesus I prayed
To help me to bear it, and He gave me His aid

http://www.negrospirituals.com/

Not Far from the Tree

2007-06-24T21:22:00.000-05:00

For those of you out there with a penchant for brooding, brink-of-self-destruction folk, I give you early Bruce Springsteen. Bleeding out of middle-America disillusionment, betrayal and murder, Nebraska will haunt you. Though it may seem silly to recommend an album 25 years old, I think you'll find it surprisingly consonant with the current works of any artist out there with an acoustic guitar and angst-ridden despair.

Worship - Escape or Engage?

2007-05-31T15:14:00.000-05:00

Is worship in the church for the purpose of getting a spiritual fix and escaping the ugly world OR might it be for the purpose of being confronted and engaged by our God, the Lord Christ who takes on flesh and immerses himself in the filth of the world? What if we came not for rose-colored lenses to be polished for another week in our big, bad surroundings, but to encounter the God who cares intensely about his creation? Are we Deists or are we Christians? Is our God aloof and indifferent or is he dynamically involved, calling his people to sacrifice everything that his presence might be seen, heard and felt in the here and now? As tears fill our eyes for the suffering around us are we not in a mindset, a heart-set pregnant with worship of and petitions to our God?

A suggestion: Some American bodies have partnered with churches abroad for mutual encouragement, missions contacts, etc. This is great, but what if it was taken in a direction for immediate impact on the liturgy? Take a church in say Burma or Uganda; what are they dealing with—socially, economically, relationally—both within the church and in their local setting? The answer to these questions could be grafted into the liturgy so that as the congregation was offering worship to the Lord they would simultaneously be united to their brothers and sisters abroad, becoming informed of their joys and pains, learning from them what it looks like to build the Kingdom under vastly different circumstances. It should go without saying that when one gets a glimpse of the world through a wholly-other context, immense clarity is gained for one’s own setting. Is this not desperately needed in our often blindingly affluent milieu?

Possible Stupidity

2007-04-13T08:25:00.000-05:00

The other day, while playing my $55 piano, I realized just how desperately it needs to be tuned. However, if you know anything about piano tuners, they can be on the pricey side, especially for a full-time student's budget. So, in curiosity, I found this site and am now convinced I have the necessary knowledge to tune my piano. Once I purchase the tools and go to work, I'll let you know how it tunes out.

Hauerwas Interview

2007-03-02T16:20:00.000-06:00

"If Christians really faced up to the facts of Jesus' story, they would be shocked. It is a radical tale: God revealed himself in inauspicious circumstances — in a provincial backwater of the Roman Empire and among a beleaguered people, the Israelites. Through his ministry and death, Jesus offered humankind a radical vision of forgiveness and freedom from revenge. To a world obsessed with power, that is outrageous. An omnipotent God incarnate who relinquishes his power and dies an ignominious death in order that human beings might "have life and have it more abundantly"? Whoever heard of such a thing?"

Full article

Afternoon Television...

2007-01-02T22:00:00.000-06:00

Watched Oprah this afternoon. (I can hear you jeering....) Something interesting though. The theme of the show was that of confrontation, confession and reconciliation in America's most challenging high schools. As the students gathered in the gym to practice a form of group therapy, it dawned on me; so much of what once took place in the home--honest communication and forgiveness--has now become a desperate act in the public sector. The most basic relational practices have so deteriorated in our homes we must now look to the government for healing. This is nothing less than a tragedy.

Call That Justice

2006-12-06T15:52:00.000-06:00

Every day, tens of thousands of children around the world wake up behind bars. Many of them will have committed no offence.

Calvin for the Christian

2006-12-01T10:25:00.000-06:00

“The Apostle assigns the reason, “Though he was a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered,” (Heb. 5:8). Why then should we exempt ourselves from that condition to which Christ our Head behoved to submit; especially since he submitted on our account, that he might in his own person exhibit a model of patience?” (p.431). Why are the calls to follow Christ and to suffer seen as mutually exclusive? When considering the normative life of a Christian we speak of living morally, attending church, being good citizens, etc. and then (maybe) make some concession for the reality of hardship. I pray I will be able to cultivate an ecclesial community someday which recognizes and even embraces a cruciform understanding of life.

However, this costly lifestyle of cross-bearing results in something profound. We will be privileged to taste of our Savior in ways luxury could never afford! Calvin assures us, “How powerfully should it soften the bitterness of the cross, to think that the more we are afflicted with adversity, the surer we are made of our fellowship with Christ; by communion with whom our sufferings are not only blessed to us, but tend greatly to the furtherance of our salvation” (p.431-432).

Mission + All

2006-09-18T21:54:00.000-05:00

Incarnate.

Liturgy as Newspaper

2006-08-20T20:12:00.000-05:00

Hot off the press, something has happened and is being reported as fact, taking place in space and time. We read, we think, we converse--we respond. Come in off the sidewalk and pick it up. It is declarative of something fresh, something alive--the news of a dynamic God on the move. He is assembling a people, building a kingdom, renewing the cosmos. Just as we open our city's daily newspaper with the expecation of being informed and even challenged by the realities of our world, so might we open our liturgies with the expectation of being informed and indeed challenged by the realities of our God and His world. War is Over, Christ is Risen.

Of Criminals and Their Transporation

2006-08-06T08:12:00.000-05:00

Driving through South City the other day. Stopping at a red light I look next to me and see a St. Louis Metropolitan Police van. This was no ordinary van. Through the windows a steel cage was visible, seemingly custom fit to match the entire space of the back portion of the vehicle. Then it hit me--People ride in the back of that van, locked inside that cage, through busy traffic, right down the middle of countless city streets. These are human beings who have, to some degree, forfeited their humanity through their crimes, many of which dehumanize their victims. Though my understanding of our justice system is extremely limited, I think it says something profound when we put a fellow human being behind bars. In effect, we are stating, "You have violated an image-bearer, another creature representative of the Creator God. This is ultimately an offense against God. As a result, measures must be taken to see that you answer for your actions." However incarceration must never be the end of the story. Should we not consider everything from the cage, to the courtroom, to the prison cell as means to the end goal of reconciliation with and restoration to humanity, the very community in which they committed the crime? This side of the Fall I would like to think of every van with a cage I see as the first step in restoring a criminal to his own humanity and humanity at large.