Yet another great thing about praying

Prayer is one of the ways we can "keep company with Jesus" . . .

Whether or not you feel his presence - He's there, He's listening, so keep talking . . .

a.k.a. praying . . .

"How often does being listened too, seem of more importance than getting answered?"

To blog or not to blog?

Just reading a list on Abraham Piper’s blog on “Six reasons why pastors should blog”.

His take is pastors should blog to … 1. Write, 2. Teach, 3. Recommend, 4. Interact, 5. develop an eye for what is meaningful, and 6. be known ...

My response to his list and the extra expansion he gives (http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1156_6_reasons_pastors_should_blog/) is a big YES!!!

I love the list and expansion . . .

My thought from Piper’s thought . . .

“the discipline of posting thought for interaction and feedback gets us preachers out from behind "coward's castle" (the pulpit) and enables risk-growth opportunity to “shift my rhetoric to reality” though interactive formation ... I get to listen to the listeners ... think with the thinkers ... be formed with the formers ... “

Going around or going somewhere?

I have an older brother, which makes me the younger brother ... duh! Stay with me there’s a thought and story here . . .
When we were growing up and older, my brother was really into sports as a participator ... I was (still am) a spectator, you gotta have them you know.
His bedroom walls were “decorated” with hand-written motivational ruminations. Many inspiring, others challenging, some my first exposure to oxymorons, and the one I best recall - a confusing and “extra-biblical” sign stating . . .

“Blessed are those who go round in circles, for they shall be known as wheels”

Recently I’ve been ruminating on the circular interface of virtues (generally called values these days) and actions . . .

Virtues exist . . .

• Virtues are held by persons and communities . . .

• Virtues shape actions . . .

• Actions enhance and support commitment to have and hold existent yet dynamic virtues . . .

But that’s not the “end of the sequence” . . .

• The optimal circular action between one's outer life actions and inner life virtues/values is "inner to outer" . . .

• If I allow the reverse, outer to inner, I do a “wheely” . . . I "spin-out"

• If I function inner to outer I can be a “wheely” . . . I will be going somewhere . . .

“Blessed are those who live from the inside out, for it can be seen where they are going is where they come from”

Don’t assume thinking by cyclical-reasoning is advocating circular-reasoning . . . so much for this encyclical

Try describing the church by its “isness”

Lately I’ve been chewing over how regularly some folk find it important (important to them that is) to tell me what the church isn’t, or from their perspective “what it ought-to-be as belief and behaviour”...

For me (and I suspect Jesus too) the best enjoyment of what the church is, is community ... of course I could be wrong, but don’t assume I am ... think about it this way ...

As community the church is no mere repository of correct doctrines or exemplar of divinely desired human behaviours; it is a family of incarnation, interaction and fallibility ...

Why not try describing the church by its “isness” ... not its aint’ness

How hard can it be?

Don’t be afraid of simple answers to challenges of daily life.

Remember, true simplicity is always based on the profound ... that’s why it’s workable ... "don’t mistake depth for difficulty”.

In other words, “when the waters deep swim!!!”

When I get to church, what do I do then?

Hey, over some years now I’ve been at many churches with the worship motto, “enter to worship depart to serve”. For a while it seemed an OK slogan, but then I got to thinking (dangerous) ... “is this experience more like, an in one door and out the other deal?” Because we ‘all know coming to church and participating is important, in fact it was Jesus’ thing.

Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom (Luke 4:16).

Jesus not only was at church in his day, he knew how to participate as a worshipper in community. When he entered to worship and departed to serve, it was not an in-out experience but an “into it” reality.

Christian public worship is a high faith-community priority. We don’t just come to church, we are church. As church we come together to “do church”. Like Jesus, being together as the people of God is “our custom”.

In “chewing over” on this one I’ve become aware of 7 public and participative worship actions, attitudes and engagements of Christian custom . . .

Enter expectantly

Engage communally

Pray fervently

Worship passionately

Listen integrativly

Respond personally

Leave missionaly

Since you are reading this, you are most probably also likely to go to church sometime ... so when you next get there, ask yourself “how’s the participating?” -

Methinks I will.

Some "original" one-liners

As a kid (I was not born at the age I presently am), I started the practice of making “one-liners.” Problem was back then they weren’t written or generally received as insightful and wise … in fact often my quick mouth/mind got me in trouble. Still does; even though it got me ‘caned’ a couple of times in high school days, I remain a faithful follower of the “Qoheleth tradition”.

So, here are a few “outputs” from my ruminations over the last twelve months . . . 

• "Does life get out of you what it puts into you?" - JCD

• “A master plan for life … envisage your future, make decisions and plans – then, just keep getting out of bed. - JCD

• “Getting older means you are alive … dead people don’t age well” - JCD

• “God and us have at least one thing in common … we can choose to forgive the sins of others” - JCD

• “God is for us – We did not recruit Him … He called us, delivers us, and He works for our good. He really is for us, even though at times it sure doesn’t feel like it!” - JCD

• “Life is an it, you are an is … remember that is’es outlive it’s”. - JCD

• “Our best response to the Divine gift of life on this earth is to love it, live it, and not loathe it before we leave it”. – JCD

• “Remember nothing’s impossible ... and not every ‘far-out-thing’ needs to be dismissed as improbable!!” - JCD

• “When we respond to revelation through human conscience we appropriate grace”. - JCD

Pentecost 2009

This year’s Easter celebrations are now fifty days into the “rear-vision mirror”. Like life, the year drives on. Christian faith and its community, the church, celebrates journey and expects its future from the perspective of “historical present”. The God of the past, and Lord of the future, lives in its present. As the last book of the Bible opens, Jesus self-introduces as he that is, was and is to come – Lord God Almighty (sorry Bruce).

The church’s “historical present perspective”, began with the coming of the Spirit at the Feast of Pentecost; this weekends’ celebration.

Jesus had called women and men around him during the period of his historic ministry. He told, taught, and through himself showed his Father to them. Through his presence with them, Father God was among them. Those first-followers lived, learnt, cared, acted and made a difference in the lives of others because of the presence of Jesus the God-Man’s being there as centre and circumference of their pilgrim community. But wait ... there’s more. The third person of the Divine trinity was personally and powerfully present in the life of the God-Man, the Spirit himself was with them. Life and faith were exhilarating. Then Easter came, with Jesus’ arrest, trail, death and resurrection – had their pilgrim community come to an end? No just a rather abrupt transition.

This radical shift of the community’s divinely centred pilgrimage is continuity through the coming of the Spirit, now not just with them – also, in them. Saint Luke describes how Jesus prepared his followers’ understanding for transition.

Then Jesus said to them, "Everything I told you while I was with you comes to this: All the things written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms have to be fulfilled." He went on to open their understanding of the Word of God, showing them how to read their Bibles this way. Saying to them, "You can see now how it is written that the Messiah suffers, rises from the dead on the third day, and then a total life-change through the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name to all nations—starting from here, from Jerusalem! You're the first to hear and see it. You're the witnesses. What comes next is very important: I am sending what my Father promised to you, so stay here in the city until he arrives, until you're equipped with power from on high – the Spirit himself will be in you."

I can hear a question in the listeners, “so Jesus, when can all this happen?”

This weekend ... it’s Pentecost!

Christian Churches in my geographical community (yours' too) celebrate journey and expect the future from the perspective of “historical present”. The God of the past, and Lord of the future, lives in our present. The coming Spirit has not only come ... He still comes!

Self-rejoicing; lifelong habit that outlasts life

Just finished Easter as triumphant celebration, my annual celebration that death is again overcome through resurrection, but death still happens.

Death is inevitable. I’ve seen it. I will experience it. I just won’t engage in retrospective reflection on the experience

Been reading and ruminating with my old friend Thomas A’ Kempis again, who reminds me that the fear of death or planning its avoidance is futile. For this reason I should strive now to live in a way that the hour of my death will be characterised by rejoicing, not by others, but by me; self-rejoicing.

Self-rejoicing is a one of the few “life habits” which will certainly transcend death.

“Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute! Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.” Philippians 4:4-6 (Message Bible)

When icons become idols

Been thinking; “Icons existed long before they appeared on my computer screen”. Duh?! Hey, stay with me, I'm going somewhere with this . .

Icon is a Greek word meaning image.

It is the same word used in Genesis 1:27 : when God said, "Let us make humans in our image" and again in Colossians 1:1 5 : “Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation”. To Eastern Christianity where their use originates, an icon is specifically a sacred image which represents biblical stories or personalities, painted in accordance with Church traditions. But icons are more than pictures, they are “image windows” ... to see God more clearly, by seeing through them.

The power of an icon is to see through it ... not look to it. Just look to it, it can become an idol. Appreciate the art, reflect on the significance, "see through it", and it serves as a “window of forming my Christian spirituality”.

How can an icon become and idol?

Icons become idols when we no longer see through them as windows of reflection beyond their artful symbolism. When we allow them to become clouded we look to, and not through them. We only see what we have previously seen, expect to see and invariably will always see. Freshness and inspirations from ‘beyond’ are subtly replaced with images of achievement expectations, measurements of performance and judgmental projections into our struggle for achieving self-imposed behavioural standards. The clouded window becomes a mirror of reflection.


Our icons become idols, don’t need tearing down ... they need window-cleaning. Their very nature is to resonate with the Spirit’s voice in our reflective visualisation of God’s eternal nature in our temporal and communal life. Their voice is always ‘today inspiration’ for our pilgrimage in company with one who is, was and is to come.

When icons become our idols the problem is not them, it’s us. A fresh iconoclasm is not the remedy for misuse, and abuses of their proper use ... it's spring-cleaning time for our 'icon collection'..

The icons portrayed on the ‘walls of our worlds’ are broadly sourced. Eastern Christian communities, persons in the biblical narratives, passages in sacred text, the creation called ‘our planet’, saints in Christian and world history, or the ever-expanding engagement of ‘art’ in the breadth of its’ forms stock our galleries.

Postmodernism isn’t all bad

Thinking about how just a few years ago, really it’s probably about ten if I slow down and get a wee bit precise, that Christian folks seemed to be getting “steamed up” about postmodernism. The tacit impression was “this is new and dangerous”.

Well, it was new when it was new.

It was new as a broad and growing thought influence in the early 1950’s, a time before many of my readers were here ... so, it’s really a bit old. In fact, postmodernism, as a term was first used around the 1870s in various areas. John Watkins Chapman avowed "a postmodern style of painting" to get beyond French Impressionism.

The life-size Christian concern (insert the word ‘paranoia’ here) was; there will no longer be any absolute truth. The Bible is in trouble, we no longer value “meta-narrative”. They are telling us there’s no big unifying story ... saying it’s true if it works for you, and doesn’t harm others, it’s OK. Whatever “it” is?

In my ruminating on “it’s” influence, some thoughts crystallise ... postmodernism is getting old, nearly 140. The world of 1980-90’s self, is giving way to the importance of communities, networks and “FaceBooking”.

Chill.

Truth has not become the province of relativistic individualism. Truth flowing from the Spirit is being evidenced, experienced, engaged in communities. The absolute existence and morality of the present-God as a divine being is constantly “authenticating” the relevance of diverse practices of dissimilar Christian faith communities. We are observing the emergence of Christian postmodernism. Not Christianized, but Christian. Christian postmodernism’s meta-narrative is the inspiration and validation of Spirit-centred local story. It’s not just true for me; faith formed in Jesus is real amongst us.

By the way, here’s a bit of pre-modern, postmodern advice from Paul as he wrote not to isolated individuals seeking relevance, but Christians in diverse communities in Rome ... seeking a relevant authenticity . . .

Romans 12:1-2 ... So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Message Bible)

Being Accountable for Mutual Accountability

“John, you know we are to be accountable to each other” - I’ve been hearing about mutual-accountability throughout my adult life ... for me there have been times mutual-accountability has been an ongoing practice, other times a major point of resistance...

Thinking about “why the variance?” – it seems my experience would evidence greater consistency if I considered designs and models of others ... so recently have been ruminating on how some men and women in Scripture showed accountability to each other.

Here’s my thinking on and about how their accountabilities were designed and carried out . . .

The mutual accountability of David and Jonathan was designed through a real friendship with each other.
Their friendship rooted in the knowledge that each other’s relationship to the throne of Israel differed. Jonathon, Saul’s son as firstborn was heir apparent; David, called by God through Samuel, heir on the basis of the anointing to kingship. The kingly-anointing once given to Saul later removed by God was placed on David within Saul’s continuing reign. These friends accountability was carried out through open-communication, protecting, and desiring the best for each other. Their immediate was governed by commitment to a longer-term vision of each other’s responsibility within Israel.

Paul and the dynamic accountabilities of the “apostolic company” (as represented in the “we” passages of Acts) was designed around the mutuality of response to the Spirit.
Paul would share vision, revelation and plans; the apprehension of the Spirit’s voice in each instance by the “company” was the amalgam of Paul’s leadership, the Spirit voice and the community’s conviction. Their accountabilities were demonstrated through their supportive missional-involvement.

The accountability relationship of Esther and Mordecai was primarily designed around the capacity to understand or receive wise counsel.
The secondary feature of their daring mutual support emerged as they faced the “courage challenges” of pursing chosen courses of action based on their response to counsel.

Paul and Jerusalem Elders/Apostles, (including Barnabas) enjoyed a clear and relational understanding of the differing giftedness and callings of all the parties, which formed a converging centre of accountability.
Their accountabilities to each other included a broad range of methods and contexts; meetings, reporting, conferring in collegial counsel, written, and verbal interactions all formed part of how accountability functioned.

These Scriptural women and men in leadership evidenced a range of common factors, operational diversity in mutual accountability. They model capable functioning in a variety of contexts and methods through such values and attitudes as . . .

• Mutual understandings of God’s call,
• Diversity of giftedness,
• Genuine respect and committed friendships,
• Healthy accountabilities can rise above context,
• Collegiality in exploring vision, its’ interpretation and application;
• Joint recognition of the Spirit’s voice and Divine wisdom,
• The freedom to challenge,
• Accounting for one’s actions to others, and
• Receiving and giving correction without rejection.

"Now John, what are the values and attitudes to ensure your enjoying the blessings of ongoing mutual accountabilities?"