10.23.2007

Holiness IS

Holiness IS NOT:

Don't drink alcohol, or play cards, or dance, or wear clothes that reveal your calves. (A contemporary version of this list could include: vote Democratic, use drugs, listen to Eminem, engage in homosexual activity.) Don't associate with the types of people who do these things. Don't associate with the types of people who don't condemn these things. Don't associate with people who aren't holy like us...

Holiness IS:

'Keeping in step with the Spirit,' and producing the fruit of that. Embracing the 'abundant life,' the 'spring of living water,' and the overflow of God's goodness. Jesus tells us that God desires mercy and not sacrifice; He desires for us to overflow with goodness to show how holy we are, not to give up good things to show how holy we are.

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Holiness is a positive thing, not a negative thing; it is a quality or state of being, not the absence of something. Holiness is something true about your being, not something true of your circumstances. If we are 'Holy as God is Holy' then that holiness will send us into the midst of the community of sinners, it will not cause us to flee it in a panic, afraid the unholiness will rub off on us, but rather impell us with hope that the holiness will rub off on them.

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Holiness is something, unholiness is the absence of something; not the other way around.


Here are some applicable passages:

Romans 12:1-2 Living Sacrifices, embracing what God is doing, not what the culture is doing (not rejecting, but embracing)

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 Sexual sin is wrong because it denies the reality that God wants us to embrace

Galatians 5:22-25 The Fruits of the Spirit and 'keeping in step with the spirit'

Matthew 5:20 Righteousness surpassing the Pharisees

Luke 6:43-45 Good fruit v Bad fruit, we are not simply cutting off branches, but producing good fruit

Matthew 9:9-13 Mercy not Sacrifice; have compassion on people instead of focusing on avoiding sin; overflowing v cutting off

Luke 10:25-37 Good Samaritan; the 'evildoers' are those who refuse to take responsibility, they are holy and undefiled, but the are not holy!

John 7:37-39 Streams of living water overflowing

John 10:10 Life abundant

Luke 13 healing on the sabbath v propriety

Luke 11 frauds pharisee dinner, clean the outside but the inside is dirty

10.16.2007

Jump in to the Deep End...

"All we're offering is a chance to change things, and a guarantee that something god-driven and spiritual will occur."

Author of The Breakist Manifestos

10.14.2007

Christian Paganism: Cinderella and Original Sin...

I had an opportunity to discuss the concept of 'original sin' with a woman who used to be a Christian, but is now an atheist. Her understanding of the doctrine is essentially that the world is evil, there is nothing good in it, especially in humanity. We are totally evil, with no redeeming features whatsoever. (Helen, if you are reading this and I mis-characterized your characterization, feel free to correct me...) This was one of the things she criticized about Christianity, its focus on evil; pointing out the problems in the world, and ignoring the beauty...

I responded that my understanding of Jesus' spirituality was quite contrary to this bleak view of the universe, and that I was compelled by my spirituality to see the world in terms of it's inherent beauty, power, and goodness. The ensuing dialogue rumbled about in my brain, sparking along the dusty synapses, and shining light into the remote regions of my intellect...

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The next morning I was deeply engaged in a wonderfully insightful film with my three year old daughter. I was suddenly struck by the relationship Cinderella had with the creatures living in and around her home. She sang with the birds, cared for the mice, chided the cat, loving them and evoking love in them in return.

The rusty four-cylinder engine between my ears turned over once or twice again...

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Pagans (loosely defined) see gods behind everything. There is a god in the elm and the maple, a god in the water and in the sky; the salmon and the osprey are manifestations of divine spirits; the moon and the stars are filled with spiritual significance and power. We can interact with these powers, calling them forth, making demands upon them and submitting to their demands; calling upon them for aid, and looking to them for guidance. The universe is alive with divinity, beauty and potency spring forth from every rock and flower; mysterious energy is present in all things.

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One of the first major intellectual challenges the disciples of Jesus faced in the early centuries of Christian thought was brought upon the spiritual community by a group who came to be called the "gnostics." They espoused a fundamentally Greek view of the Universe. A dualism between matter and energy, between the physical world and the spiritual world, was the backdrop for their understanding of Jesus. They believed matter and everything associated with it to be inherently evil. Jesus was not a man at all, but pure spirit, sent to rescue us from a material world of pure evil. They at times encouraged highly ascetic practices, giving up sex completely, eating sparse and restricted diets, avoiding pleasure.

This stands in stark contrast with the Universe of the ancient Jewish scriptures...

In the beginning God creates a world of dirt and plant, water and fish, birds, flowers, stars, clouds, and all manner of things; His spirit/breath is present within this Creation. God creates Adam and Eve, breathing His spirit into them, they bear His image and are responsible for the world arround them. Adam is in intimate relationship with the plants and animals, He 'names' them, and rules over them as a king over subjects. He is duty-bound to protect them and provide for their care; and they honor Him as the reflection of the Creator. The world is alive with divinity, beauty and potency spring forth from every rock and flower; mysterious energy is present in all things. God pronounces this caucophany of material and spiritual union, 'very good!'

...and so, when the first Christians were faced with the gnostic framework for seeing the Universe, given the spiritual and intellectual heritage they had as followers of a Jewish prophet-king, they naturally rejected such a view. Jesus came to affirm and bring 'life to the full,' not to reject it.

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The simple reality is that the western world (and western Christians within it) have unreflectively embraced the gnostic paradigm. We have not rejected an intimate Creator outright, but we have embraced a cruel mechanistic world, and so (unintentionally) God has no place in our conceptual framework. We have become deists...

Afraid of the messy comedy, raw sensuality, and blatant hedonism of the natural world, we have slayed it with our dissecting scalpels, our microscopes and telescopes. We have tamed the gods of the trees and the rocks. We have killed the sea god, 'analyzed' and 'studied' the heavens, and demystified the animals. The beasts and trees, the rocks and skies, still sing, but we have lost the ability to hear the melodious voices. The Spirit of God still 'hovers over the waters,' the Breath of God still whispers throughout the earth, but our cold eyes are closed the very medium of His goodness...

...and yet, if we are approached by the God who invented garlic and cumin, roses and peaches, nebulae and waterfalls, children and laughter, alcohol and orgasms, rhythym and melody; then perhaps He can awake in us the sense of divine play, the capacity for joy and energy required to hear the voices of the trees again.

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...and so we should not be surprised at the growing interest in pagan ideas (neopaganism, wicca, etc.) in fact, we should not even be that alarmed. Christians worship the Lord of Life, to any and all who seek to find true power and beauty, they are pursuing Jesus, the giver of new wines and new eyes, the waker of the dead, the party-goer, the True Vine, and the Spring of Living Water. The call to follow Jesus is the call to awaken our hearts to the haunting melodies, the inventive harmonies, and the heart-pounding rhythyms to be found in life; embracing wonder and awe at the awakening of the trees, the glorious skies and the monsters of the deep floor of the sea; embracing the joy and pleasure to be had simply by breathing in and out, exploring the wonderous diversity that humanity and its home has to offer.

What a terrible horror that ever did occur (were it even in but one mind, although it has unfortunately been in many) that Christianity became confused with asceticism, that the warm embrace of a loving Creator became the dark chastisement of a vengeful and distant Progenitor. How could we ever think that God doesn't enjoy that which He has made, and that we are invited to enter into His joy...

"A nightmare, long engendered in the modern mind by the mythology that follows in the wake of science, was falling off him. He had read of 'Space': at the back of his thinking for years had lurked the dismal fancy of the black, cold vacuity, the utter deadness, which was supposed to separate the worlds. He had not known how much it affected him till now - now that the very name 'Space' seemed a blasphemous libel for this empyrean ocean of radiance in which they swam. He could not call it 'dead'; he felt life pouring into him from it every moment. How indeed should it be otherwise, since out of this ocean the worlds and all their life had come? He had thought it barren: he saw now that it was the womb of words, whose blazing and innumerable offspring looked down nightly even upon the earth with so many eyes - and here, with how many more! No: Space was the wrong name. Older thinkers has been wiser when they named it simply the heavens - the heavens which declared the glory - the

'happy climes that ly
Where day never shuts his eye
Up in the broad fields of the sky.'

He quoted Milton's words to himself lovingly, at this time and often."


Out of the Silent Planet

10.12.2007

Homosexuality

Some thoughts and questions…

Loved the distinction between scriptural uses “establish/generate,” that is a very helpful and insightful distinction that gives some flesh to the “exegesis/eisegesis” distinction.

I am intrigued by the notion that Christian homophobia has more to do with cultural roots, than with scriptural mandate (this seems clear to me in our present context, however, I am less familiar with other contexts).

I do find it very problematic, however, to use the term ‘homophobia’ to refer specifically to those who call homosexual acts immoral. I find that use of terminology to be confusing (whether this is intentional or not is a point for debate, but it does seem to me to be an intentional strategy). It seems only prudent to distinguish between those who dislike, disparage, or discriminate against, and those who engage in deep friendship and partnership while simultaneously holding to the position that homosexual activity is unethical. Would you agree that this distinction should be made? Or would you lump both groups under the heading ‘homophobe?’

I am a little confused at the statement that there are no clear condemnations of homosexual activity in Scripture. I agree that it (homosexual activity) is far from central, and in fact quite peripheral to the narrative arc of God’s activity within history, but it seems to me that to claim what Jennings claims is not counter-intuitive, but rather simply inaccurate. God’s primary concern, His most cherished hope for humanity, is hardly that all people engage in heterosexual married sex. How banal! However, it seems to my reading of Scripture, that a life submitted to God’s activity would be moved in directions other than homoeroticism. I’d love to hear your response to that…

FInally, it seems to me that the claims of an integral role for homoeroticism in the Biblical story are simply an example of the homosexual community engaging in the same eisegesis that the fundamentalists are accused of…

To read David and Jonathon as homosexual lovers is to expose oneself as having never had deep, non-erotic, friendship. I have kissed a male friend in the midst of a deeply fervent time of prayer together. I have given my heart to other men in ways perhaps as deep as to my wife and children. I have also actually tried to see another man as in any way sexually arousing, and that attempt really made me laugh! I don’t have that desire (although we could enter into the nature/nurture conversation on that point…)

Again, I would love some feedback from you. This is clearly a topic of great concern to the future of the Church. I hope and pray that the way forward preserves a true integrity of faith in Jesus, and yet leaves behind the alienation that has at times and places come with spiritual fervor in His name. Thanks…

10.06.2007

Aidan Michael Schenk

Well...

the first two were both a week late, this one however, was a week early. That is why he was so small, only a skimpy 7 pounds 15 ounces. Okay, that isn't really small, but the other two were 8 1/2 and 9 1/2 pounds. Everything went great, we went into the hospital at 8:00pm and delivered around 4:45am, Aidan is totally healthy, and so is Tamy.

So far (fingers crossed) Aidan has been extremely quiet. Even when he isn't sleeping he just looks around quietly observing. That is the way his big sister was, his older brother, on the other hand, still hasn't stopped wiggling, hollering, and instigating...

The first two pictures are of some freinds who stopped in to visit, they have two of their own about the same ages as Zane and Zoe...







10.03.2007

The Story

Here is what was shared at our Sunday evening gathering. If you were there, I would love to hear your thoughts on any of this...

Outline:

1) God and His Creation
A) God is Beauty, Power, Creativity, Life, Goodness, Joy, Love
B) God creates a world that reflects His character, "It is good."
C) God creates humankind, He breathes (spirit/wind) into Man, Humanity is the caretaker, image-bearer, God-reflector

2) The Breaking of the World
A) Humanity rejects God and His image, steps out of fellowship with God and His place in creation
B) Humanity loses the Beauty, Power, Creativity, Life, Goodness, Joy, Love

Pain, Fear, Rage, Doubt, Despair, Alienation, Loneliness, Opression;
Confused about who we are and what our place is;
We use each other, sex objects, for money, we lie, and cheat and steal, we hurt and injure each other;
There is murder and rape, people hate each other for the color of their skin or their gender, religion, or sexual-orientation;
There are countries where whole people groups have been exterminated by the millions
There is disease, aids, cancer, ebola; there is poverty and starvation;
Even the world itself is broken, the skies and the waters are polluted and diseased, the animals and the plants are dying off

C) The Creation loses the reflection of God into it, instead humanity reflects brokenness and pain

The world is broken because humanity is broken; we have reflected our brokenness into the world...

3) God's Promised Restoration
A) From the beginning God pronounces His plan to put things right
B) He promises to bless Abraham and use his family to put the world right

4) The Call of a People
A) God choses the descendant's of Abraham, the twelve grandsons, to be His people
B) He places in their midst His Law, His Prophets, His Temple, His very Presence (Image/Spirit/Wind)
C) They are to be a light to the world, Blessed to be a blessing, the promise fulfilled through them, image-bearers, God-reflectors
D) They have a choice; their own agenda or God's, will they see God's blessing and chosing them as a reason for arrogance and pride, to keep the blessing to themselves, to hide the light they have been given; or to step into God's mission?

5) The Son of God; the Second Adam
A) Jesus comes, he is the Second Adam, taking upon himself the restoration and role of the first, God's Spirit (breath/wind) decends upon Him, He is God's image, Son, reflection into the world
B) He takes upon Himself the mission of God, to put things right, reconstituting the nation of Israel (the people of God) around Himself, to possess the indwelling of God (Jesus IS the Law, Prophets and Temple), the light and blessing of the world
A) Jesus chose 12 symbolic students (a renewed Israel, a renewed people of God), God gathered thousands to Jesus after His resurection.
C) He confronts the counterfeit people of God, people must chose between the People of God and the Mission of God as Jesus presents them, as opposed to the ethnocentric, political, nationalistic vision of the Pharisees, Zealots, Sadducees.
D) Jesus is executed as a Rebel, a false claimant to the throne, but in so doing He fulfills the promise, the Crucifixion is God taking the brokenness of the world upon Himself, putting things right through His own pain, reflecting the image of a loving-forgiving-redeeming-suffering God
E) Jesus OVERCOMES the brokenness and death; Resurrection! Jesus is vindicated! He IS God's true light, Israel's true King, He is God's Son doing God's work, redeeming the broken world, putting EVERYTHING back together

6) The Call of a People
B) A choice must be made, my vision of the world, or God's, will I allow God to remake me in His image, will I accept my own brokenness and allow Jesus crucifixion and resurrection to become my defining reality? Dying with Him in repentance and resurrecting with Him by His Spirit?
C) These are the people of God on the Mission of God, they are going to be used by God to fulfill His promise for the world, God's 'Rushing Wind' (spirit/breath) falls on the Church, they are God-reflectors, the Body of Christ, the light of the world, and the source of Blessing

7) The Mission of God
A) The Church has a Mission, "NO!" The Mission has a Church! It is not that God's people have a purpose attached to them, it is that God's purposes have a people attached to them! The Church is the only communty that exists primarily for the sake of it's non-members!
B) God is setting the world right. Restoring broken individuals, restoring broken relationships, restoring broken societies, restoring a broken environment.
C) As Jesus suffered to redeem the world, so too the Church must enter into the brokenness and suffering of the world to redeem it. We must pray with one hand in heaven and one hand on the brokenness and pain that is around us.

8) The Buffalo Vineyard Church
A) We have a choice! Will we repent and allow God to define us, to heal us, to set us right? Allowing ourselves to be connected to God by His redeeming death and resurrecting Spirit, will we submit to His Spirit (Breath/Wind)?
B) The Church is in danger of the same judgment as the nation of Israel if we do as they did, we must recognize that we are chosen to serve. We cannot create a bubble of Christians, marginalizing everyone else. We must be the church for the world, or esle we are not the Church! The Church for too long has rejected God's purposes in the world, and rejected the peopple that God loves and wants to bring in...
C) Becoming the people of God, connected to each other through community, truly and deeply knowing and loving each other.
D) Joining the mission of God, connecting to the broken places and people around us in our own lives, in the larger city, and in the larger world.
E) I say YES! We are a small group of people who meet in a home weekly to worship and learn and pray, to eat and listen and encourage and challenge, to serve the needs of the poor and the broken, to warmly invite others to participate, to include anyone who desires, to see that reproduced around the city. We are beginning to experience God's restoration, God's healing breath and spirit, (I invite you to participate and receive Him) There are people in our church who are dreaming about making an impact on the world around them; connecting the arts and spirituality, serving the broken and needy people in our city; THEY GET IT! The Church is for the world!
F) To have an expanding network of small communities of people who are commited to the Mission of God, reflecting His image, allowing the Christ-life to dwell in their midst, to invite others to participate and to see that same thing reproduced a thousand times throughout our city and our world...

So now it gets practical---

We want to see more, in more places, we don't want to hold on to this

GIVE AWAY THE BLESSING!

*MAYBE YOU NEED TO BE PUT RIGHT, HEALED, WE ALL DO!

How do we share what we are experiencing? What we are commited to?

Handout: See the end.

10) Conclusion
A) Story - You are invited to find yourself in God's Story!
B) Mission - You are invited to put the world right!
C) Repentance - It begins with the choice to allow God to put your own soul right, to take your brokenness upon Him and to create you anew, and Breathe (Spirit/Wind) in you again



Handout:

Begin your day by praying the Lord’s Prayer
Pray through the book of Psalms
Pray over the daily Buffalo News Headlines
Read the Gospel of Mark every day for a week
Ask someone to recommend a book to read
Worship God
Compose a song or poem praising God
Spend time in contemplation on who God is
Be silent for an extended period of time
Spend a week without listening to any radio/TV
Give up food for a day and buy a homeless person lunch and/or pray for starving children
Confess something to someone else
Go out of your way to encourage someone
Pray for God's insight, and then write an encouraging letter to someone
Invite someone to join you in any of the activities on this list
Invite someone here to your home for a meal
Open your home to start a second home group
Spend time with someone who has nothing to offer
Offer to perform a menial task for the Church
Spend time with someone you wouldn't normally
Get someone here's phone number and go have coffee together, ask each other deep questions
Rake leaves in your neighborhood
Visit sick people in a hospital and pray for them
Share with someone your spiritual journey
Invite a friend to be a part of our community
Sponsor a child with World Vision or Be-A-Hero
Help someone move
Offer to pray a blessing over a random stranger
Tip 100% at your next meal
Volunteer at the Homeless shelter
Listen to someone
Meet someone’s practical needs
Organize an art show exploring spirituality
Research ways our community can practically make an impact on: AIDS, Environment, Global Poverty
Pick up trash on your block
Organize a drive to replace light bulbs with energy efficient ones
Volunteer with Aids Community Service
Travel to another country to serve their needs
Pay the toll for the car behind you
Start a blanket drive
Volunteer with Big Brothers-Sisters
Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity
Start a Sunday School for children that meets at one of the housing projects in the City