I haven't posted for a while. Maybe it's the carpet/paint/rearrange the house project. Maybe it is the flood of fascinating reading. Maybe it's outlining two historical novels that "call" to be written in full. Whatever, I'm posting today, with a simple review of a contemporary theme.
Just an informal "review", but I do like Phyllis Tickle's book The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why. As the designer and original Religion editor for Publisher's Weekly, she writes gorgeous prose, well-thought and beautifully expressed. Even better, she "gets" it. She understands some of the basic movements going forward.
Her book identifies the four "siblings" of Christianity in America, shows how they are becoming a smaller part of the total scenario of believers and seekers, and how the resulting Christian population relates to, but is different from previous ages.
Stereotyping the approaches as Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist, and Pentecostal, she points to the four bases of authority as practiced by these. There are variants, of course, but these can mark off the four quarters, and other denominations can find kinship in one of the blocks.
Her contention is that about once every 500 years, plus or minus, there is a sea-change. Reformation/Counter-Reformation (+/- 1500), Enlightenment (1000), Dark Ages (500), New Testament Century, Exile (500 BCE), Moses to David (1000 BCE), are markers for major changes among people "of the Book".
What happens when there is a sea-change? Some retreat and become defensive, becoming excellent at all of the denial strategies we recognize in everyone (except in ourselves, of course). Some become as energized as kids at a cup-cake party, eager to embrace and discover. All institutions, which are constantly shifting anyway, shift more rapidly in the environment. Things change!
When we become sensitive to the difference that God is stirring up, we become appreciators of some of the short, pointed sayings that are suddenly relevant. A friend on Facebook posted this one today:
"When faith no longer frees people to ask hard questions, it becomes inhuman and dangerous". - Daniel L. Migliore
Free-to-ask is such a fundamental part of being alive!! And such a fundamental part of Jesus' teaching. This is a superb age to ask the right questions, and pray for the courage to follow along wherever courageous asking takes us. (Someone else to read: Brian D. McLaren - he's easy to find.)
Blessings for the journey!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
The Strangest Moment of All
I was licensed to preach in September of 1957, just before my 17th birthday. That's a long time ago! And the strangest thing ever? In the whole time? A conversation, about half-way through the journey:
A man I didn't know had died, and we were preparing for his funeral. The wonderful woman who was leading the Worship Committee asked me: "Shall we use white or purple paraments on the altar today?" No one had ever asked that.
So, I asked her: "What is the difference? What do the colors mean?"
Her reply: "Well, the former pastor said we were to use white for a saved person, purple for one not saved."
Puzzled: "How did you know?" She: "The pastor knew, and he told me."
We agreed in that moment to use white (since no one knows) from that point forward, and the simple expression of relief in her face has stayed with me! For me, it was one strange moment; for her, the end of a strange recurrence that had shaped the previous several years!
No one knows! Point one in funeral preparation! Question: how do you preach the Gospel when the remembered one is saved? It's the same Gospel when one is NOT, and no matter how much one may prepare by learning the Gospel, there is no way to know inside another's faith. The Gospel is about God and His grace and love. No one of us knows inside any other one's deep heart, whether there was a life-long trust in Jesus, or a newly discovered trust in Jesus worked by the Holy Spirit in the latter moments.
No one knows. And I am totally sure that I do not know. God, however, is not confused! He loves us all, whether we trust Him or not, and he is eternally hopeful. That, after all, is the meaning of GRACE, and the foundation of FAITH. I'm sure I won't be saved or lost based on the results of a survey among my friends, but only by the loving opinion of my Heavenly Father. And THAT is consolation enough for any of us.
Conclusion? Take heart! You are loved!
A man I didn't know had died, and we were preparing for his funeral. The wonderful woman who was leading the Worship Committee asked me: "Shall we use white or purple paraments on the altar today?" No one had ever asked that.
So, I asked her: "What is the difference? What do the colors mean?"
Her reply: "Well, the former pastor said we were to use white for a saved person, purple for one not saved."
Puzzled: "How did you know?" She: "The pastor knew, and he told me."
We agreed in that moment to use white (since no one knows) from that point forward, and the simple expression of relief in her face has stayed with me! For me, it was one strange moment; for her, the end of a strange recurrence that had shaped the previous several years!
No one knows! Point one in funeral preparation! Question: how do you preach the Gospel when the remembered one is saved? It's the same Gospel when one is NOT, and no matter how much one may prepare by learning the Gospel, there is no way to know inside another's faith. The Gospel is about God and His grace and love. No one of us knows inside any other one's deep heart, whether there was a life-long trust in Jesus, or a newly discovered trust in Jesus worked by the Holy Spirit in the latter moments.
No one knows. And I am totally sure that I do not know. God, however, is not confused! He loves us all, whether we trust Him or not, and he is eternally hopeful. That, after all, is the meaning of GRACE, and the foundation of FAITH. I'm sure I won't be saved or lost based on the results of a survey among my friends, but only by the loving opinion of my Heavenly Father. And THAT is consolation enough for any of us.
Conclusion? Take heart! You are loved!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Very Expensive Left-Overs
Two of the most expensive sort of documents are left-over in my closet. The cost was high (you could calculate the contemporary cost, if you wanted), but their time has past. They're on a table today, as I think what to do with them.
The oldest is a Diploma from the University of Texas, old-style parchment, with signatures and attachments, from the Medical School in 1896. There's even a graduation picture to go with it, on the front steps of "Old Red", men in black robes each holding (in the fashion of the day) a white lily.
The second is a 1926 Rice Institute diploma, very much a study in elegance, simple black on white, no flourishes, an embossed college seal at the top, with the signature of only President Lovett at the bottom. Today it looks totally fresh, as if printed yesterday.
The cost of getting one of those today is staggering. The value of either of these particular ones today is negligible. Almost reminds one of the general understanding of Jesus: let today's "whatever" be sufficient for the day.
Which brings to mind, while holding these two documents: What things do I acquire, or have I acquired, which have completed their usefulness. Whatever their cost, their day has passed. The Bible is full of wisdom on this. Put not your trust in princes and chariots (needs a little translation for today, but basic!). Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, but treasures in heaven. Where you treasure is, there is your heart also (and vice-versa).
So, what is the treasure to pursue? No specific answers follow, of course, for this needs to be translated into each individual's life process. But the process itself, for every disciple, has to include the value structures that Jesus taught. Love God. Love your neighbor. Make those the FUNCTIONAL priorities as life flows.
The diplomas? Oh, they opened doors, built me a heritage, shaped my vision of life. They have a high value for me (no market value, but highly personal). There are others to go with them, including my own, which have also followed the same path. They are now trophies to lay down................. ah, but powerful in the impact of tools for real life, and for following Jesus.
Blessings.
The oldest is a Diploma from the University of Texas, old-style parchment, with signatures and attachments, from the Medical School in 1896. There's even a graduation picture to go with it, on the front steps of "Old Red", men in black robes each holding (in the fashion of the day) a white lily.
The second is a 1926 Rice Institute diploma, very much a study in elegance, simple black on white, no flourishes, an embossed college seal at the top, with the signature of only President Lovett at the bottom. Today it looks totally fresh, as if printed yesterday.
The cost of getting one of those today is staggering. The value of either of these particular ones today is negligible. Almost reminds one of the general understanding of Jesus: let today's "whatever" be sufficient for the day.
Which brings to mind, while holding these two documents: What things do I acquire, or have I acquired, which have completed their usefulness. Whatever their cost, their day has passed. The Bible is full of wisdom on this. Put not your trust in princes and chariots (needs a little translation for today, but basic!). Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, but treasures in heaven. Where you treasure is, there is your heart also (and vice-versa).
So, what is the treasure to pursue? No specific answers follow, of course, for this needs to be translated into each individual's life process. But the process itself, for every disciple, has to include the value structures that Jesus taught. Love God. Love your neighbor. Make those the FUNCTIONAL priorities as life flows.
The diplomas? Oh, they opened doors, built me a heritage, shaped my vision of life. They have a high value for me (no market value, but highly personal). There are others to go with them, including my own, which have also followed the same path. They are now trophies to lay down................. ah, but powerful in the impact of tools for real life, and for following Jesus.
Blessings.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
A Found Prayer and High Stakes
Communion Sunday, working the pages looking for a hymn number, and opening a little "off" the number, I noticed a prayer I had never seen before, at No. 564, from the Chinese church.
For the Unity of Christ's Body
Help each of us, gracious God, to live in such magnanimity and restraint,
that the Head of the church may never have cause to say to any one of us,
"This is My Body, broken by you." Amen.
Well, if you put it THAT way, and say THAT to God in prayer, life suddenly gets very serious, or in the old phrase, fraught with possibilities.
It reminds of Bishop Paul Martin's story of the nervousness of his first appointment to a small church. At the end of the "shake hands and welcome the preacher" time, a man stepped to him, and spoke softly:
"Preacher, I have a gift! I can spot a man's weakness right off." The Bishop said he tried not to show any anxiety at that point (not an easy thing). The man continued: "And that's just where I get under him in prayer and lift him up, hold him up as best as God and I can do it." The Bishop said it was almost impossible to express, even toward the end of his ministry, just how powerful that moment actually was.
One statement with the power to strengthen a lifetime, that's the power God gives our conversations. To lift or break, that's how significant every gathering, every encounter can be.
A prayer from an unknown Chinese Christian, a promise from an un-named man in a tiny church, a word from you or me that God uses in a strong moment. These are the things that hold out huge possibilities and value for us. Thank God.
Blessings.
For the Unity of Christ's Body
Help each of us, gracious God, to live in such magnanimity and restraint,
that the Head of the church may never have cause to say to any one of us,
"This is My Body, broken by you." Amen.
Well, if you put it THAT way, and say THAT to God in prayer, life suddenly gets very serious, or in the old phrase, fraught with possibilities.
It reminds of Bishop Paul Martin's story of the nervousness of his first appointment to a small church. At the end of the "shake hands and welcome the preacher" time, a man stepped to him, and spoke softly:
"Preacher, I have a gift! I can spot a man's weakness right off." The Bishop said he tried not to show any anxiety at that point (not an easy thing). The man continued: "And that's just where I get under him in prayer and lift him up, hold him up as best as God and I can do it." The Bishop said it was almost impossible to express, even toward the end of his ministry, just how powerful that moment actually was.
One statement with the power to strengthen a lifetime, that's the power God gives our conversations. To lift or break, that's how significant every gathering, every encounter can be.
A prayer from an unknown Chinese Christian, a promise from an un-named man in a tiny church, a word from you or me that God uses in a strong moment. These are the things that hold out huge possibilities and value for us. Thank God.
Blessings.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Dilbert and the Old Shipbuilder
Today, February 3, Dilbert offers "wisdom"! The first two frames of the cartoon show a planning session: 1) If we build our software with no bugs, we can make a 10% return on investment. 2) But if we do a poor job, we can make a 40% return by selling upgrades and service.
Frame 3: But don't worry, we only have the budget for a poor job.
In drawings and "the funny papers" it's called a cartoon. But......
We used to call it "creeping mediocrity" - - - (not sure what the name is now, but I do notice the same business plan in place. Do you?) I remember the first time I totally recognized it. I was driving the 8th car out of one car-maker's "stable" of names. Same problems: tan upholstery that faded to pink (never chose that color again!), transmission problems, AC control problems, power window problems, usually beginning around 40,000 miles.
They were the same folks who invented "planned obsolescence", then claimed to drop that plan, while continuing it, just the same. As one wit said, "The quality control department is the first consumer."
The socially-correct thing, of course, is "don't say unkind things", and most of us don't. And most manufacturers do "get it", or disappear. We may deny it in conversation, but we never can quite forget our last experience of that fundamental dishonesty when we are making the next purchase.
But when things are on my shift, on my desk, on my calendar, do I hold MYSELF accountable?
The serious side of Dilbert is reflected in the old ship-builder's workshop wall painting: "No Sham Survives The Sea". No bad wood, no sloppy joints, no mediocrity will survive the impact of the ocean's reality in the form of a cresting wave. Still true: no sham survives the sea. (Copy and paste, at least mentally.)
The words aren't in the Bible, not in the Book of Proverbs, not in the Sermon on the Mount, but the spirit of those five words is written all through.
Honest work, honest living, honest productivity comes from and nourishes accountability and authenticity. It's a cycle. Abundant life both comes from and leads us into accountability and authenticity, right inside the definitions from Jesus. Every time. And when the world around us specializes in creeping mediocrity, we have to be consciously aware of the personal honesty Jesus requires of disciples. Nothing less is really life for us.
Frame 3: But don't worry, we only have the budget for a poor job.
In drawings and "the funny papers" it's called a cartoon. But......
We used to call it "creeping mediocrity" - - - (not sure what the name is now, but I do notice the same business plan in place. Do you?) I remember the first time I totally recognized it. I was driving the 8th car out of one car-maker's "stable" of names. Same problems: tan upholstery that faded to pink (never chose that color again!), transmission problems, AC control problems, power window problems, usually beginning around 40,000 miles.
They were the same folks who invented "planned obsolescence", then claimed to drop that plan, while continuing it, just the same. As one wit said, "The quality control department is the first consumer."
The socially-correct thing, of course, is "don't say unkind things", and most of us don't. And most manufacturers do "get it", or disappear. We may deny it in conversation, but we never can quite forget our last experience of that fundamental dishonesty when we are making the next purchase.
But when things are on my shift, on my desk, on my calendar, do I hold MYSELF accountable?
The serious side of Dilbert is reflected in the old ship-builder's workshop wall painting: "No Sham Survives The Sea". No bad wood, no sloppy joints, no mediocrity will survive the impact of the ocean's reality in the form of a cresting wave. Still true: no sham survives the sea. (Copy and paste, at least mentally.)
The words aren't in the Bible, not in the Book of Proverbs, not in the Sermon on the Mount, but the spirit of those five words is written all through.
Honest work, honest living, honest productivity comes from and nourishes accountability and authenticity. It's a cycle. Abundant life both comes from and leads us into accountability and authenticity, right inside the definitions from Jesus. Every time. And when the world around us specializes in creeping mediocrity, we have to be consciously aware of the personal honesty Jesus requires of disciples. Nothing less is really life for us.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Hoot's Best Rope and a Deer
Yep, I posted this once, early Fall, but .......
One of the more colorful folks to spend time in East Texas was Hoot Gibson, not the familiar cowboy star of some years ago, but a Gibson who liked the name, and claimed it. I knew Hoot when he was "retired", it seemed, loved horses, and could look like the ghost of Hank Williams. He had "southern gray magnificent" hair, sometimes wore a white suit, with a long white silk sash around his neck, driving an enormous long white Lincoln. An altogether like-able guy, he had made his living as a stunt man in Western movies. So, most of his stories concerned "horseback" in one way or another.
One story he loved to tell was about the day he decided to rope a deer. (I thought it was a tremendous feat to get close enough to do that, but he said that wasn't the dramatic part.) He roped a buck, who ran to the end of the rope, spun around, and came back at him full speed. The buck leaped over the horse, right over the saddle. Hoot said he looked down and saw that the deer's hoof had sliced a huge gash right across the saddle horn. And was headed to the end of the rope in the other direction. At full speed.
Knowing the deer would be right back, just like the last time, Hoot made a choice. The rope wasn't THAT valuable! With a quick move of his knife, the rope was cut and the deer ran free. Most importantly, the deer ran free AWAY.
Sometimes we need to make that quick response. The "rope" that binds us to an adventure gone wrong is not THAT valuable. We need to know how to cut loose. Every self-destructive sin once presented itself as an adventure or a pretty "good-idea-at-the-time! Choices are the stuff of life, Jesus said. Still true.
It's not just the cutting loose that matters, it is absolutely the willingness to evaluate and consider doing just that. Being unwilling to evaluate is probably our most repeated, most expensive mistake.
May God grant us the considerable spiritual strength to do just that!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
The Best Baritone I Ever Knew
Hugh was the best. I wrote once about his dying, which moved me deeply. This is about his singing! He was the acknowledged lead baritone soloist for the Houston Tidelanders, a massive barbershop group (75 of them sang at his funeral). A masterful figure on stage, an engaging singer in small groups, Hugh understood that singing was about telling a story with music and rhyme. He could draw a listener in, and move a crowd.
I liked his "Little Drummer Boy" at Christmas every year. He had a seasonal thing for each part of the year. "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" could stop the show (and the service, for that matter!).
One Sunday, Hugh sang. Our sound-board manager was not the best, but he tried hard, most folks loved him, and he needed a place to serve, even though he was not a musician at all. So, there he was in the balcony. Hugh began to sing. Verse one, fine. First chorus, settling in for a fine experience. Verse two started, then abruptly changed. Microphone dead, Hugh just projected more and carried the song, without the benefit of electronics.
After service, I asked the sound-board manager what happened, what had failed. "Oh, nothing failed, Hugh was just way too loud so I cut him off." The tone deaf sound-board manager was replaced by the second service that morning.
Sometimes we decide the priceless voice of God is a little strong for our ears, a little demanding for our life-style, so we just hit the button and turn off the sound. Doesn't work. It's like the exchange of wits, written on a wall somewhere, in two short parts:
"God is dead" - Nietzsche was the "wit's" inscription.
"Nietzsche is dead" - God was the believer's answer.
Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing.
Freedom to listen is a wonderful thing.
Deciding NOT to listen does not strip the Word of its authority or power.
Turning off the microphone that day didn't stop the song, didn't cancel Hugh's status, it just earned the sound-board technician more free-time when he was replaced.
I want to listen. I want to grow. And that requires much more silence than assertion, much more prayer than preaching. After all, He IS the Word.
Blessings
I liked his "Little Drummer Boy" at Christmas every year. He had a seasonal thing for each part of the year. "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" could stop the show (and the service, for that matter!).
One Sunday, Hugh sang. Our sound-board manager was not the best, but he tried hard, most folks loved him, and he needed a place to serve, even though he was not a musician at all. So, there he was in the balcony. Hugh began to sing. Verse one, fine. First chorus, settling in for a fine experience. Verse two started, then abruptly changed. Microphone dead, Hugh just projected more and carried the song, without the benefit of electronics.
After service, I asked the sound-board manager what happened, what had failed. "Oh, nothing failed, Hugh was just way too loud so I cut him off." The tone deaf sound-board manager was replaced by the second service that morning.
Sometimes we decide the priceless voice of God is a little strong for our ears, a little demanding for our life-style, so we just hit the button and turn off the sound. Doesn't work. It's like the exchange of wits, written on a wall somewhere, in two short parts:
"God is dead" - Nietzsche was the "wit's" inscription.
"Nietzsche is dead" - God was the believer's answer.
Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing.
Freedom to listen is a wonderful thing.
Deciding NOT to listen does not strip the Word of its authority or power.
Turning off the microphone that day didn't stop the song, didn't cancel Hugh's status, it just earned the sound-board technician more free-time when he was replaced.
I want to listen. I want to grow. And that requires much more silence than assertion, much more prayer than preaching. After all, He IS the Word.
Blessings
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