i have moved

i am in the process of moving to wordpress. please visit my new site at adamhanauer.wordpress.com.

see you there!

griffey is gone

and i am sad.

two "paths" of thought

the following quote is from simply christian by nt wright, in describing what christianity is NOT about - brother george had it on his website:

Christianity is not about a new moral teaching as though we were morally clueless and in need of some fresh or clearer guidelines. … Christianity isn’t about Jesus offering a wonderful moral example, as though our principal need was to see what a life of utter love and devotion to God and to other people would look like, so that we could try to copy it. … Nor is Christianity about Jesus offering, demonstrating, or even accomplishing a new route by which people can “go to heaven when they die.” … Finally, Christianity isn’t about giving the world fresh teaching about God himself though clearly, if the Christian claim is true, we do indeed learn a great deal about who God is by looking at Jesus.

what is christianity about according to nt wright?

Christianity is all about the belief that the living God, in fulfillment of his promises and as the climax of the story of Israel, has accomplished all this … the finding, the saving, the giving of new life in Jesus. He has done it. With Jesus, God’s rescue operation has been put into effect once and for all. A great door has swung open in the cosmos which can never again be shut. It’s the door to the prison where we’ve been kept chained up. We are offered freedom: freedom to experience God’s rescue for ourselves, to go through the open door and explore the new world to which we now have access. In particular, we are all invited, summoned, actually, to discover, through following Jesus, that this new world is indeed a place of justice, spirituality, relationship, and beauty, and that we are not only to enjoy it as such but to work at bringing it to birth on earth as in heaven.

many christians understand christianity to be the first description of what nt wright claims christianity is NOT. but as i read through and studied luke 7:36-50 over this past week, i see what wright is talking about. the story of a prostitute who seeks out christ at a religious party to anoint his feet with her tears. a woman who encountered god in the flesh - and experienced first hand the radiant, magnificent love of god for herself and because of that encounter subjected herself to more judgement and condemnation just to express her love and adoration to the "god-man" who gave her, her very life back. the gospel is full of this type of "good news." the types of stories we read over and over, and totally miss the depth and scandal to be uncovered. reading the gospels has lead me to agree with nt wright, and begin to encounter this god, on his rescue mission, in my daily life. and every now and then, he allows me to even be used by him..........

words matter

heard this quote today.
"when we change the words we use, we change the people we are."

some know that i am not a big fan of how we use the word church. not because I don't like the word, but because how we refer to it, impacts how we think of it, and ultimately how we act. so, ask yourself the below questions and see of my responses are accurate.

how do we talk about salvation?
- transactional, one time event and getting to heaven.
how does the bible talk about salvation?
- ongoing, process, "walking in the light" and rescued.

how do we talk about church?
- place, institutional and what we do.
how does the bible talk about church?
-body of Christ, missional and community of called out people.

how do we talk about the kingdom of god?
- heaven after we die and sometimes the church.
how does the bible talk about the kingdom of god?
- it is at hand, we seek it, reign of god, the kingdom of god is like, revolution of hope where the lame walk, the blind receive sight, and the oppressed are set free!

words matter a great deal.

current book list

below is the current list of books I am working through:
-dissident discipleship
-the gospel according to Jesus
-god of the possible (open theism)
-surprised by hope

i am most excited about the first, third and fourth. i am reading the gospel according to jesus to engage a buddy in discussion.

tonight was the kickoff for vbs. kylie and j are sure to have a great time over the next several days. treasure hunt is the theme - hoping no major damage is done in the teaching on the kingdom. we tend to talk of the kingdom as if it is only something we are waiting for in the future. seeking first god's kingdom is not about seeking after heaven, but seeking after the amazing rule of god in our midst, and learning to be sensitive to what god is doing in the world.

side note: got tickets to brian regan for 9/6 in louisville. should be an awesome show!

i like to laugh

i couldn't resist sharing this one as well - listen to the english accent and tell me it is not one of the funniest things you have seen.

need a laugh?

sometimes life is filled with little silly moments like this dad was having with his kid. you need to watch all 1 and 1/2 minutes of this - you will crack up! i am sorry if you end up peeing yourself.

bath time

Kylie made me a pic today. She was so excited to show me when I got home. It made me cry.

kylie and j update

they have really done a good job sleeping in the same room together. jackson has been getting up some during the night, but when we walk him back to his room, he goes back to sleep. they both get up at the crack of dawn, so we are beginning to keep j up a little later in hopes he will sleep passed 6am.

we are hoping to get the bunk beds in the next couple of weeks. i think that will help kylie - so when j gets up he won't walk right passed her. i don't know, we shall see. this weekend has been pretty lazy so far, just like i like them, and not much planned for the remainder.

hope to blog about something more meaningful in the future, but until then......

house church

read a good article on house churches from a missionary in sudan. i met with him about a month or so ago over coffee. he recently sent me the below regarding house churches. much, ok all, of this rings true with me. this form of the church gathering is what i would like to seek out in the future.

For the past 3 years our family as has been meeting in house churches. Why? It is not because house churches are more common in Sudan than America. Quite the opposite! I would like to share our reasons with the hope of persuading you to consider New Testament-style church. My purpose for writing this article is not disunity, but that we as a unified body of Christ might recover some New Testament principles that I believe will strengthen us and contribute to the fulfillment of the Great Commission. First, a little church history.

All the churches planted by the apostles in the New Testament met in homes. Church buildings did not become popular until the 4th century when the Roman emperor Constantine converted pagan temples into Christian churches. The Protestant Reformation of the 15th century saw multitudes return to biblical doctrine but Roman Catholic church practice remained to a large degree. There has always been a remnant of believers throughout the ages who have sought to obey biblical principles for the weekly gathering of the church to one degree or another.

When we trace modern church planting movements in China, India, Cambodia, etc. we find similarities to the churches planted by the apostles. We find house churches, participatory church meetings, abundant evangelism, lay leadership that springs from within, rapid reproduction of churches, and mature believers. Currently there are more house churches in the world than there are churches that meet in buildings. When we see rapid advancement of the gospel, we find house churches. This is my main reason for advocating house churches...... to fulfill the Great Commission to "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them" and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commanded as written in Matthew 28.

The strongest biblical basis for intimate church is found in 1 Corinthians 14. Nowhere else in the Bible do we have 14 consecutive verses “commanding” (vs.37) us what to do when we gather for church. Verse 26 says, "What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation.” It is a fact of church history that the churches planted by the apostles were gatherings where mutual edification, interaction, and spontaneity were the norm. It was far from being a spectator sport. The goal of the gathering was simply to “let all things be done for edification” (vs.26). It operated more like a family and less like a staged performance. Believers came to church not only asking "What can I get out of this?" but also asking "What can I give to build up the brothers and sisters here?" Someone once said, “If you tell me to do something, I probably won't. If you show me how, I might. If you involve me, I will.” When all the believers present begin to have ownership of the weekly church meeting, they mature spiritually.

Imagine going to a park to play some pickup basketball. You see one guy on the court shooting around while he has told everyone else to sit and watch him. That doesn’t fly anywhere. We, especially us men, want to play. We want a piece of the action. Don't make us come to church, sit, and listen to one man talk. An impression without an expression can lead to depression. We will grow in spiritual maturity when we are given opportunity to express what God is teaching us. Then we will be more of the husbands, dads, and friends we should be. The most practical place to obey the Lord’s commandment (vs.37) of interactive, open church gatherings is in homes. When the gathering becomes too big and time does not permit all to participate, another house church can be planted to reach and teach more people in a new neighborhood. In China, a believer is considered to be maturing in Christ if he has a church that meets in his home.

Other reasons why we gather in homes:
*You reveal your true identity at home. Gathering in homes fosters transparency and intimacy. (Romans 12:9)

*We are obeying biblical commands to follow apostolic tradition as well as apostolic teaching. (2 Thess. 2:15 NASV)

*The Lord's Supper can be eaten as a full meal as the early church did. They looked to the cross with the Eucharist and looked to the future wedding feast of the Lamb with the fellowship meal. (1 Cor.11:20-22)

*There are more opportunities for believers to practice their spiritual gifts. (Romans 12:6-8)

*Authority resides in the church corporately and decisions by consensus of all the believers present are possible. (Matthew 18:17)

*Meeting in homes positions the church closer to lost family members and neighbors. (Acts 1:8)

*Currently 38% of American evangelicals listen to a sermon via podcasting each week. (Barna 5/26/08) With this phenomenon occurring, why not let the weekly gathering of the saints return to the New Testament-style meeting? (Ephesians 4:11-13)

*Multiple lay elders need not concern themselves with buildings and salaries, but are able to focus their attention on their relationships within the church.

*The Holy Spirit is more free to move as He spontaniously impresses something upon someone's heart during the meeting, or as He leads someone to prepare a teaching days before the meeting. (1 Cor.14:30-31)

*There is greater potential for relationships that are more community based, seeing each other more than just once a week. (Acts 2:46)

*Formality can be minimized while reverence for God can remain high.

*Intimacy fosters accountability. (James 5:16)

*Believers would be less likely to invite a non-believer to a church program and more inclined to personally speak with them about salvation. (Acts 5:13-14)

*Believers become loyal to God’s kingdom and each other, not programs and buildings.

*Each time we see the word “preach” in the Bible it always refers to something taking place outside the church….. evangelism. In a house church we teach one another and preaching is returned to it’s proper place.

*The unfortune event of church discipline can be applied with greater effectiveness. (Matt. 18:17-20)

*Evangelists and church planters can be supported with voluntary gifts rather than the unbiblical practice of salaried positions within the church. (Matt.10:8)

*Tithes/offerings are given to the needy instead of buildings and salaries. (James 1:27)

*Before the 1950s churches in America were not 501c3 incorporations. It is much easier for a house church to be a free church rather than the unbiblical practice of falling under the government’s jurisdiction. (Matt.22:21)

*Prayer requests can be heard and prayed for individually. (Acts 1:14)


A few objections answered:

“Our church has Sunday school classes and small groups that meet in homes. Isn't that enough?”

It is definitely a step in the right direction. I’ll be the last guy to say that the traditional church model with it’s building, pastor, and denomination is “bad”. The Lord saved and discipled me in the traditional church, and He will continue to use this model to expand His kingdom. It’s not a matter of “good” or “bad”. It’s a matter of “good, better, or best”. A traditional church with home groups is better than a traditional church without them. I’m persuaded that a voluntary network of autonomous house churches is best.

During the small group, is there freedom for a believer to share a teaching, song, or testimony as the Lord leads? Do you eat the Lord's Supper as a full meal like the churches planted by the apostles? With our time, talents, and treasures do we demonstrate that we value buildings and programs more than the simplicity of the 1 Corinthians 14 church meeting? Do we feel we have simply inve$ted too much into our traditional church buildings to walk away from them? Are we more focused on how many people are coming to our church than how many believers are coming to maturity in the kingdom? There are few paid ministers who will encourage small groups to become house churches, for obvious rea$ons. It just wouldn’t make cents.

”Does it really matter how we gather as long as we are loving Jesus?”

Jesus says that those who love Him will obey His commands. Do we really think that Christ would leave us without instructions about something as precious to Him as His church? A legalist exalts a rule above the principle behind that rule. Without becoming legalistic, how can we best apply all biblical principles in our church gatherings?

”Wouldn't house church foster heresy?”

Actually, the participation of all believers in the house church minimizes heresy. Heresy was maximized when church buildings became the norm and silenced the pew sitter. When all believers have the freedom to speak within the church gathering, teachings can be questioned and other passages of scripture can be presented. Is it possible that denominations began when pew sitters were silenced and unable to share their interpretation of scripture in regard to a certain doctrine? Can we not joyfully gather with believers who disagree with our interpretations in regard to doctrines not related to salvation? As important as many secondary doctrinal issues are, is there one greater than the unity of believers? Can we trust the Holy Spirit to give life to house churches that honor Him and to give death to those churches that do not? It is much easier for a church to die when it’s members have not inve$ted in it’s building.

”What about the guy that just keeps talking?!”

A more mature believer, possibly an elder, needs to speak with him privately. The elder must learn how to use his relational influence, not the power of his position, to persuade.
Could 1 Cor. 14:30 have been written with this in mind? Could it be understood that if you’ve lost eye contact with most folks that it’s time for you to wrap it up? In the traditional church where the pew sitter is silenced, his character flaws are rarely discovered, but his non-Christian co-workers know them well.

”What do we do with the children?”

Children can be taught to sit quietly. Younger children can sit on the floor and play quietly, or if needed, play in a room beside the gathering room. Flexibility is the key. We want our children to see us interacting with other believing adults in spiritual conversation and prayer. Children should learn the Bible primarily through their parents, not the weekly gathering. House church is a gathering of families.


I speak daily with Muslims who have never questioned their Islamic traditions because they have never experienced an alternative. Even when a Muslim is persuaded by the truth of the gospel, fear of man often influences his decisions. Many of us here in the west have never questioned our church traditions because we have never experienced anything different. If you are persuaded that some biblical principles are missing from your current church experience, will you obey whatever God tells you to do? Are you more comfortable following the church traditions of a 4th century Roman emperor than the church traditions of the apostles?

Personally, our family’s experience with house church has been far from perfect. Maybe years from now I will not keep the same convictions about church that I have now. Above all is Jesus Christ….. His glory, His kingdom, His praise. Lord, help me to never to focus on the bride above her Groom.

a sticking out thing

so i am using the restroom today, with j and kylie in there of course (they pretty much follow me everywhere). below is my conversation with my oldest daughter.

kylie - "daddy, why do you have a sticking out thing?"
me - "because that is what boys use to go pee pee."
kylie - "j has a little sticking out thing."
me - "yep."

no qualifications

this is fantastic!

hobby of mine

i liked to watch the reds, and it appears it is infecting my kids. she is beginning to recite the many local commercials that air during a reds game. just before the game she said, "dad, we like watching the reds, don't we?"

she might not be a reds fan, quite the way i am, but that is ok. i am having fun sharing my hobby with her, and i hope she remembers these times.

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i am almost through "everything must change." it has been very informative on a lot of different fronts. i am looking forward to reading "dissident discipleship" next.

looking forward to a short work week. we plan on moving baby j into kylie's room this weekend. should be interesting. praying j makes a smooth transition into kylie's room. something tells me, he is not going to be the problem!

firefox

just downloaded firefox. if you aren't using this web browser, why not? it is noticeably faster than internet explorer and has some cool features.

check it out - it is free to download.

wednesday class

tonight's class was one of those where we only had 4 guys, and from the beginning you got the sense there wasn't going to be much structure. it was nice to sit and talk about some of jesus' teachings and how each of us wrestle with them in our own lives.

we started off talking about the good samaritan and ended with the parable of the "older brother" or prodigal son. i was again reminded of the layers upon layers of truth packed into these stories and the amazing way jesus "trusts" us to "chew on 'em" to get at that truth. we will often times fail, and make them say things they don't, but he was willing to take the chance. and as the story of the older brother reminded us tonight, he is also willing to "give us our inheritance" even though it would destroy us, and then welcome us back without shame or guilt.

this story is more about god than it is about either of the brothers. he bore the shame of the sons behavior, and the shame of "running to his son" after he came back. this is the god we serve. this is the god who treats us infinitely better than we ever deserve to be treated, and this is the god who calls us to be like him!

letter from kylie

kylie was doodling on a piece of paper today, and then she brought it to me. she climbed up in my lap and said "daddy, can i read to you what i wrote?" below is what she claims it said:

i love my mommy and daddy very much. i won't plan to hurt my mommy and daddy, and i will come to them when they call me. they are so thankful to me, and i love them. that is why i jump in the pool with them, and they love others on vacation. i will be really sweet and behave. i will do it! i love my mommy and daddy they are very great to see me."

even though the sentences are not well constructed and it doesn't make sense in parts, i accepted it for what it was - an expression of her love for us.

at the end of it i told her how much it meant to me, and the expression on her face was priceless. she was so excited to have made me happy with her words.

"let the little children come to me"
"unless you become like a child you cannot enter the kingdom of god"

lots of good blogging going on

there has been lots of good blogging going on the past couple of weeks. not my own, mind you, but those i have been reading. i have read excellent blogs ranging from politics, to gas prices, to book reviews, to defenses of open theism. i don't know how many who read this blog, actually have fully engaged the blogosphere, but there is much to take in. it seems the internet has become a "hot bed" for new theological ideas and discussions. it makes me wonder even more, if these thoughts were ever expressed in any form, prior to this outlet. oh well, i for one enjoy reading different perspectives and insights into our daily lives as followers of jesus. it keeps me "thinking" and "searching" for "the way" in my daily life. christ and his teachings are just as relevant today as they have ever been. if you don't believe that, then there is a serious problem. loving enemies, praying for those that persecute us, sharing our possessions and storing up treasures in heaven couldn't be more counter cultural than they are in our western culture. i didn't even mention - greed, lust, slander and debauchery......

so as we process the endless ways to spend our money, time and the decisions we face every day, may the holy spirit guide our thoughts, minds and attitudes.

it's been a while

it has been a little while since i wrote anything. we were in cincinnati this past weekend, and then i flew to milwaukee for a meeting monday. got back in town last night, so i was pretty exhausted.

we had a great time in cincinnati. got to see two reds games. they lost both, but both were special in their own ways. saturday - jason and his little boy hunter, and i went to the game. it was very excited and we left pretty pumped. they lost in the bottom of the tenth, but i got to share some good times with my brother and nephew. sunday, jason, josh, dad and myself went to the game on father's day. again it ended in a disappointing reds loss, but how often does a guy get to go to a game with his dad and brothers? i would guess, not very often at my age. it was a blessed time watching a "not so blessed" team.

starting reading "everything must change" by brian mclaren last night. his premise for the book is the teachings of christ "do" actually have something to say about our world's deepest crises, or issues. in large part, he asserts, western christianity has only preached "jesus as a personal savior" and not the god who is reconciling the world, and advancing his kingdom now.

i have come to believe there is a big difference in believing in god's kingdom opening up and moving in our very midst; rather than a god who "takes care of the sin problem" and then leaves us with no alternative for our existence on this earth. we believe in a god who has opened up heaven to us, and set us free to live transformed inspired lives.

i am convinced there is going to be people in heaven, we never thought would be, and people in hell we surely didn't expect!

what say ye?

interesting video. does it say anything about "western christianity?" click here to watch.

what was jesus known for when he lived among us? we have ripped him out of the 1st century jewish context and planted him directly into ours. so now jesus means to us, what we want him to mean to us. we can more easily "follow jesus" and look exactly like the surrounding world - except we can judge and condemn them for not "following jesus." that, i am afraid, is how our culture views "christianity."

doesn't make sense to me.

where do we go from here?

met with our good friends george and ann earlier today. they were in town celebrating their 46th wedding anniversary. we had a very enjoyable time, and i miss them both greatly.

both of our families have experienced a sort of "exodus" (from chURch) in the past several years. and after a couple of hours of conversation it all seemed to boil down to the question: "where do we go from here?" the short answer to this question is "i have no idea." but i wanted to offer up a couple of trail markers to look for along the way:

1. become more and more reliant on the holy spirit's work in our lives. i do not possess within me, the ability to discern god's will. i have TRIED and TRIED. so it is time to give up! prayer: "god reveal your will for my life and show me the things necessary to perfectly incarnate those things in my life, and then give me the power to carry them out."

2. become satisfied with the journey and stop living for the destination. there is some good theology in the phrase motocyclist use frequently "it is all about the journey, not the destination." god has begun a good work in us, that are trusting him for our salvation, and he WILL bring it to completion. he has led us this far, it would be foolish to not trust him with our future. this is where i find myself at the moment. i am filled with doubt and questions. not so much about the truth as revealed in jesus, but my part in that - my part in the story of god's work in human history.

so those are my trail markers. those are the two thoughts i can look at to tell if i am on the trail, or if i have wondered off the map. there are many more, but these seem to be significant to me at the moment - where i am on the "jesus road."

thanks george and ann for your friendship, and willingness to allow me and my family to be a part of your lives.

good monday

family is all feeling good, after a tough week battling a stomach bug. it was nice to come home to a healthy wife and kids. it had been a while.

i am re-reading "simply christian" by n.t. wright. i am finding it fascinating the second time around. i think it was one of those books i rushed through in my first reading. i am taking time to slow down to not only read it, but contemplate the words/ideas as well. he has an amazing way of communicating the story of israel as told in the bible, and the climax of that story, which is jesus christ and his kingdom come! he ties the story well with the "echoes of a voice" he describes in the first 4 chapters which include - justice, spirituality, beauty and relationship.

what about those reds? i will not say much here, because the last time i did, they went on a 5 game skid. but if you don't know what they are doing, you can click the link on the right to get some details.

god bless you in the upcoming week. my our lives be soaked in the reality our relationship with christ. may it permeate our every thought, action and feeling.

if you haven't seen this you need to

saw this on espn this morning.

truth like the 53 bus

i am not good at philosophy. really, i am not, and i have proof. it was one the only c's i received in my college career. my brain easily gets tangled in a complex web of thoughts, ideas and feelings. i often find myself paralyzed after only a few short minutes of contemplating anything remotely complex. the ironic part of this is, i love it! it is frustrating not doubt, but i can't stop! so this brings me to my "thoughts for the day."

truth has many dimensions. like n.t. wrights writes: "the sort of thing we could and should mean by "truth" will vary according to what we're talking about. if i want to go into town, it matters whether the person who has told me to take the number 53 bus is speaking the truth or not."

but not all truth is like that - we know this. yet in many of my discussions we want to take this "53 bus" approach - "is the number 53 bus going to town or not?"

think of the questions we ask as we search of truth. recently i was asked these below 3 questions:

1. Can angels fall now/today?
2. Will we have free will/be able to sin in the new creation?
3.(a new one but along same lines) Does God have a free will? Can he tell a lie?

we think all truth is reducable to the "53 bus" approach.

but what about our experiences with love and beauty? how do i get to the truth of how i met my wife (god led me by the way) and the love we share and continue to share? how do i begin to articulate or talk about the different dimensions of love and grace i experience with my kids?

"does bus 53 go to town?" just isn't very helpful here. the amazing thing about how jesus taught was he was always pointing folks to these "deeper truths." this was his whole approach to teaching. "what must i do to inherit eternal life?" someone asked him. remember his response? "the kingdom of god is like...." and then you have all the parables. we aren't to "mine" the parables for more facts about god. we are to "enter" into the story being told and allow it to change us. we are to "unpack" all the many and "mini" truths to be found and cherished.

tons more could be said, but i can feel my brain beginning to slow with all the twists and turns.

i will leave you with another quote from wright to help understand how we can begin "knowing" the "deeper kinds of truths" - "it's a kind of knowing in which the subject and the object are intertwined, so that you could never say that i was either purely subjective or purely objective."

that kind of truth has to drive the "bible scientists" nuts!!

my friend

 i am not into worshipping "sports heroes," so don't take this blog as such. but i wanted to introduce everyone to my new friend. his name is jay bruce and he is a 21 year old outfielder, recently called up from louisville, that plays for the cincinnati reds. he made is major league debut by going 3-3, with 2 walks (that means he reached base 5 consecutive abats), with 2 rbi's. now this was very exciting for me, b/c he was the #1 rated prospect in all of major league baseball. my new friend has an amazing future ahead of him (god willing - and i mean that, b/c we all know anything can happen).

the reds, although they stunk it up tonight, seem to be "righting" themselves a little bit. they have a tough june ahead of them, but all indications are they will be up for the challenge. lets hear a "hearty" GO REDS!!

the shack, starting small

so i finished the shack a couple of days ago. all in all a good read, and i would recommend it. a lot of the imagery he uses reminded me of the ted decker series black, red and white. i think he did a good a job as any, attempting to articulate the relationship between the father, son and spirit. one part in particular sticks out in my mind - god the spirit takes the main character to a garden and begins tending it. this garden turned out to be his "heart," which is woven together from his own choices and god's eternal purposes. pretty fascinating stuff, to say the least!

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emily and the kids returned home safely friday night! mom and dad were here, to help get some things done around the house. we installed a new sink and faucet. emily loved it, and it makes it much easier to "do dishes" now!

today we started a small little garden in our back yard. i played in the dirt for about an hour to get a little piece of our land ready for some tomato and cucumber plants. hopefully, this summer, we will be eating some of our juicy vegies grown in our own backyard. if all goes well, we will expand our little experiment a couple of more feet. who knows, in a couple of years we may be planting some corn back there. won't our neighbors just love us then!?

the shack

so i have bought into the hype, and went out this afternoon and purchased the shack. since the family is out of town, i will probably finish it in the next couple of days. i will let you know what i think after that.

watched "into the wild" last night. it is based off the book (true story) about a young man, who after graduating from college, gives is $24K savings to charity, and burns the rest of his money to set out as a nomad. he is basically rebelling against the consumeristic/capitilistic culture. it ends tragically with his death in the alaskan wild, but it is a good story.

got to spend a little time at the bashford manor rehabilitation facility. it was nice to see where a good friend works and has an amazing opportunity to bring joy to people suffering. hope to get to spend some more time down there in the future. these people are viewed as "broken," but we know how broken we all are - and the worth god has placed on each of them.

reds have swept the homestand, and winners of 6 straight. hopefully, this will be the beginning of their surge to nl central division champs!

i am off to make some dinner. emily left me all kinds of good stuff, that just needs a little baking. wish me luck!

everything is spiritual

i listened to all these - very fascinating! i would recommend them. i included this one for obvious reasons.

we're baaaack!!

had a fantastic time at norris lake with my brothers and their families. it was a great time of relaxation, sharing and having fun together. some highlights of the trip were:

1. kylie hitting speeds upwards of 30 mph on the tube. you should have seen her. she was all by herself screaming "faster, faster." it was a proud moment for me.

2. kylie learning to go completely underwater. i wasn't there for this one, but jason assures me she did it a dozen times in the hot tub. wish i could have been there.

3. taking the girls out on the boat by themselves. this was one of the most relaxing parts of the trip. emily, maurie and mandy allowed me to drive them around the lake and look at all the lakehouses and beautiful scenary.

4. eating every meal together as a family. we all gathered around the big dining room table and ate fantastic meals together. it was mostly loud and chaotic, but i wouldn't have wanted it any other way. we have a great family.

5. playing the wii in the evenings (and most of our down time in the cabin). it was fun playing the wii with hunter, jason and josh. we all had a good time with guitar hero and wii sports.

6. getting to visit my mom and dad on mother's day. we ended our trip in cincinnati, and got to spend the evening, and this morning, with mom and dad. it was a perfect end to our trip and we thoroughly enjoyed the short time with mom and dad.

we arrived home safely around 1:30pm. i listened to some shane claiborne on the way home, and was reminded about the peculiar people we are called to be, but often times don't live up to that calling. more than anything, the jesus i have come to know, is one that has opened up the possibility to experiencing "true life" in the here and now. a life that is marked by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. a life that is spent pursuing simplicity and peace. a life that is empowered by the same spirit that rose jesus from the dead, and works to make us into the very image of jesus. one that transforms my family, church and vocation into the "kingdom now." this is the jesus we seek to incarnate. this is the jesus that, when followed, will bring persecution and hardship. this is the jesus, i want my kids and the people i meet to be introduced to.

may god, as revealed in jesus, so capture our imagination that we lose our lives, in order to find true life.

pure and faultless religion

i know a lot of "religious" people. in some ways i am proud to be one of them, but in others i am not. james tells us that "religion that god our father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

i think if we do a good job of heeding the first part of that verse, we won't have much trouble with the second part. learning to see and care for, people on the margins of our society, tends to work against the "pollution of our world."

jeremiah 7 proclaims that god did not give us commands about sacrifices and burnt offerings, but rather he gave us the command to obey god. god is telling us through the prophet, he wants nothing to due with our "religious acts" if we are not embodying the way of our king. jesus echoes these words in matthew 25 with his parable of the sheep and the goats.

i once heard a preacher say, "get the people right, get the scriptures right. get the people wrong, get the scriptures wrong." so often we claim to know what the scriptures say, with little change in our lives. we may "believe" all the right things, but we have missed the truth behind the scriptures. the scriptures scream for justice and reconciliation, while our institutions scream to "just believe right."

james goes on in chapter 2, to remind us "we can't fake what we believe." he says, "faith without works, is dead." he claims we should show others what we believe, by the life we live. what if we all took this approach to witnessing for the gospel? what if we learned to "shut up" and let our lives do the talking? i am betting, not much would be said. we would witness to the fact, we live in much the same way as the rest of the world. we trust in our money, jobs and status in much the same way as the pagans we judged worthy of hell do - while proclaiming the good news of jesus!

may our lives proclaim the good news of jesus. may our lives bear witness to a god, who came down to rescue us from our sin, and mark out the "better way."

everything shapes us

i just got finished making myself a nice bowl of icecream. as i was putting the icecream in the bowl a weird sensation came over me, and i asked myself what time is it?

why did i ask that? well because i remember growing up, and after dinner, we would play for a little while and promptly at 8pm, eat our icecream. never before, but i also don't remember delaying this event much either. and so, some 20 years later, i still feel weird about eating icecream in my house if it isn't around 8pm.

so that got me thinking a little more of my "growing up" years. another memory is dad coming home from work in his suit, and disappearing into his bedroom. when he emerged a few minutes later, he had transformed from a "professional businessman" into - how do i put it??- a 13 year olds worst nightmare, if you happened to have friends over. he would confidently greet everyone in his green sleeveless t-shirt, sweatpants, hiked up ever so slightly to reveal his dress socks and house shoes.

now where do i find myself. i rarely change out of my dress shoes, and i am certain my kids will be having fits when they are old enough to notice my attire.

fun times for sure!! what else has shaped me? well, quite simply......everything!!
god has a lot of work to do!

10 ways i have changed

was turned on to this blog by my good friend george. i spent some time tonight reading his posts and came across this one. i can relate to all 10 (except for maybe the bible is simpler. i would need more clarification to agree with him totally on that one), so i decided to share:

Ten Ways I’ve Changed

1. My circle of essential beliefs is smaller than before.

2. My loyalty to Jesus as presented in the Gospels is greater than before.

3. The Church is larger, more inclusive and less local than before.

4. The Bible is simpler than before.

5. My theology is more efficient. (That is, it more quickly moves to Jesus and the Gospel, avoiding more detours, side roads and cul de sacs.)

6. The Kingdom of God is more present and fundamental than before.

7. My vocation is more satisfying than before.

8. My spirituality is more “Jesus-shaped” than before.

9. My orthodoxy is far more generous than before.

10. The Gospel is more vital to every aspect of my life than before.

call it emerging, emergent, repainting, reevisioning or whatever else you want, but this is the journey i have been on for sometime now. just glad i still believe in grace!!! i am certain i will need it.

jam packed sunday

had a jammed pack sunday today! we got off to an early start and assembled with the crossroads church in floyd, in. it was a good experience. got to finally meet one of my electronic friends, who i have only been in dialogue with via email. he was much like i expected. after service, i pulled another adam and put my bible and day calendar on top of the car while putting kylie in her seat. and as expected forgot it was up there, until we were long gone. jody and i ran back to see if i could recover it, but to no avail. that is probably the 4th or 5th time i have done that! it was frustrating to say the least. had lunch with jody and his wife missy, and their two kids. it was a very pleasant afternoon, and my family enjoyed our time together.

emily, then went straight to a baby shower and was there the rest of the afternoon. when she got home we had to prepare for our small group. our verse this week was i peter 4:10:

"each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering god's grace in it's various forms."

couple things about this verse. one, we all, by god's grace, have been gifted. and these gifts are to be used to serve other people. two, god's grace can take on various shapes in our lives and the lives of the one's we are serving. it is quite amazing to think we can steward god's grace to others. again, it is not anything i can brag about, because it is only by the grace of god that i have the gift in the first place!! once again, it is humbling to truly understand this passage of scripture.

this is derby week, so there are all kinds of festivities planned in louisville. we hope to get to spend some good times with friends, toward the end of this week, and family over the weekend.

reds update - we took 2 out of 3 in san fran. we scored 20 runs in the last two games. hopefully some indication our offense is coming out of it's long slumber. we hit the road for 3 in st. louis (critical games), and 3 in atlanta. it would be nice to take 4 of 6, and head back home with some momentum built up. we are still 4 games under .500.

blogging for it's own sake

felt like blogging, just to blog. beautiful weather here in louisville, the last couple of days. had many opportunities to spend some time outside. family came downtown this afternoon and we spent the good portion of an hour playing at waterfront park. it is a great park for kids and they really seemed to enjoy it. if we could do that everyday, it would be like heaven on earth for me. great break to the day, and always good to see my wife and kids. puts things right back in perspective for me.

in-laws are in town tonight visiting some family. they stopped by for a short visit, and then met some of their family for dinner. they plan on spending the night with us tonight and going back to st. louis tomorrow sometime.

emily, the kids and myself plan on visiting crossroads church this weekend. got to be good friends with a guy from work and this is where he attends. although he holds to reformed theology, i try not to hold that against him, he has a real passion for jesus, or maybe better said TRUTH. i am looking forward to assembling with them this weekend.

pray everyone has a blessed rest of the week! the weather is supposed to be more of the same - sunshine and warm! use this as an opportunity to get out from in front of the tv and take a walk. you won't regret it!!

updates

last night we had some friends over and we rocked out on guitar hero iii for a couple of hours. lots of fun, and i am feeling more like a rockstar everyday.

kylie and jackson are both well. jackson continues to talk more and more everyday and he is getting all kinds of teeth. his upper gums have bumps all over them, where the teeth are about to break through. it shouldn't be much longer and he will have a head full. it is about time!!

kylie is currently sitting behind me reading a book. she is the sweetest, but continues to test her boundaries with her mom and i. emily and i pray for patience but consistency with our discipline with her. we feel it is important she gets the same message from her parents. we also believe it is important to "keep your head" even when she seems to be pushing every button. kids need to respect authority and learn to listen and obey their parents b/c they are their parents. this may sound like a naive thought from a man with no kids, but i have two (with one on the way) and i still hold to this. i know she will NEVER do it perfectly, so there is lots of forgiveness involved. sounds like another relationship i am involved in.....
to pull this off with any regularity we need the holy spirit to intervene. and i am not kidding. we want our kids to know jesus is guiding us, even in our frustration and sometimes anger. pray for that!!

today we may take in a louisville cardinal baseball game, depends on the weather. may you have blessed weekend and feel the presence of god today!

times are tough

what will/did you do with your tax refund? times are tight with the rising cost of fuel and food, so we need to be extra judicious with our funds.
found these things to do as particular innovative and meaningful as a cincinnati fan (oh yeah, and kinda funny):
-Fill'er up with premium and brag about it loudly while standing at the pump.
-Go to the Cincinnati Flower Show this weekend and buy every petunia in a pot.
-Order one of those tasty-looking Baconator sandwiches from Wendy's. Ask for extra bacon.
-Start a fund to buy out that whiny Chad Johnson's contract with the Bengals.
-Overpay the mortgage by $5 and include a note: "Keep the change, chump."
-Invest heavily in Johnny Cueto bobbleheads.
-Pay the water bill and tell Grandma it's OK to take a shower the next time she sleeps over.
-Get Kings Island passes without dressing up like SpongeBob.
-A water-proof iPod for the pool? Gotta have it.
-Finally, the family can eat a real meal on Wednesday night - no more left-over goetta casserole.

jumpin kylie

 when the reds went down 9-1 this afternoon, we decided to take a trip to the mall. once kylie spotted the "jumping circle of death" she just had to take a turn. here you see emily giving her a little "extra" to make sure she got her money's worth. i can attest to the fact she did, and loved every minute of it.

had a good small group tonight. emily talked about isaiah 53:5. amazing prophecy of the suffering jesus would endure and the peace that would result. she did a great job!

thunder

 thunder over louisville was last night. we watched from the comfort of our home. someday we want to venture to downtown and "take it all in." last night just wasn't in the cards. it was cold and windy.

now begins the 3 weeks of celebrating before the derby. it was a very odd thing to experience when we first moved here, but i am beginning to enjoy it!! nothing like the build up for a 90 second race 3 weeks away!!

recovering a vision, takin' back the house

i was asked to give some thoughts on revival in the wednesday night men's bible class. there is a group of men, talking about, studying and praying about revival; in their lives and in the life of our church.

so the past couple of days i have been pondering revival and thinking about instances in my life when revival has happened (or so i thought). my conversion was at age 14 - i made the decision to follow jesus. my journey began, and in my early
20's i experienced a revival of sorts. at the heart of that revival, was capturing a vision for the kingdom of god. i began to understand the mission of jesus in a whole new way. all of the sudden it wasn't just about "getting to heaven," but it was about engaging daily in spiritual warfare. it became about trusting jesus as the lord of my life - and being set free to experience true life.

in large part, christians have lost sight of the vision of the kingdom. we have made it about church, rules, doctrine or sometimes we have just made it about our "american dreams." i have learned that i can't impart a vision for the kingdom on anyone. i can teach about it, talk about it and blog about it - but christ alone gives the vision.

so today, i listened to a greg boyd sermon entitled "taking back the house." and in this sermon he hits on this vision. he asserts that western christianity has explained the reason jesus came to earth and died was soley to engage in a legal transaction in which we are forgiven. it is all about the transaction.

i have written some about this in earlier posts, so i won't re-hash here, but i agree with him! it is not just about a mysterious transaction. the real reason jesus came, live and died was to "take back the house." the world is in bondage to the "principalies and powers." it is run by satan. but through the perfect life, death and resurrection of jesus he has taken back the house and wants to "divide the plunder." he wants us, in our everyday lives, to wage war against sin - and take it back for god!! however, we don't fight like the world fights. it is not "eye for an eye, and tooth for a tooth." instead he has shown us the only true way to over power evil - with good. with sacrificial living and dying for people.

now i believe recapturing this vision alone, will bring revival in our individual hearts and the church. this is why jesus came. we are freed from sin and it's bondage and ushered into a reality like no other - the reality of the kingdom of god!

amen!!

bloggin' from my basement

just moved the computer from our kitchen to the basement. not sure if am going to like bloggin' from the basement yet, but i am happy i was able to pull it off. had a little difficulty moving the cable hook-up. had to do a little "adam engineering." so far so good, it seems.

watched the reds last night. they lost to the pirates 1-0. another great outing by volquez, although it was cut short due to a rain delay. we need to get on a roll with 5 more games against national league central teams. if we come out ahead on this road trip, it could set the pace for a good season.

well, back to work. got some cleaning up to do in the kitchen, where the computer once was. it will be nice having some extra space - we don't have much in this house, and it is about to get more crowded!

have a good weekend, and watch the reds beat the pirates tonight!!

trip to walmart

kylie and i ventured to walmart. i don't make it to the superstore very often and for good reason - too many choices. but i had decided to get a little push mower to take care of the lawn this year, so i had a reason. kylie and i settled on the yardman. i just finished putting her all together and gave her a quick trip around the yard. she purrs like a kitten!

we made a trip past the wii games. i saw about 5 i wanted, but didn't give in to the temptation - this time! still enjoying the games i have. we did buy kylie "horton hears a who." she spotted it as we were viewing the games. that little girl pays attention to everything. she said, "daddy, can i sleep with it - dream with it tonight?" not sure if we are going to let her, but it was pretty cute nonetheless.

we had another beautiful day today. loving spring!! pear trees are blooming in our neighborhood, and i am enjoying them. they are only like this for a couple of weeks. windows open and a cool breeze blows through the house. thank you god!

sunday morning

kylie and i were reading her favorite bible stories out of "daddy's bible" this morning. it as a nice time, and she was being very sweet and asking hard questions (which she has always done.)

after this nice time of reading together, i went to finish getting ready for assembly. when emily goes in the living room to check on kylie she is staring at the tv, and it wasn't a wholesome show - it was "the bride of chucky." ooops. nothing like a little bible, and the bride of chucky to get us in the right mindset for assembly.

what is the bride of chucky doing on tv sunday morning anyway? who do i need to call to complain about that?

on being the church

grabbed this quote from alan hirsch, who ripped it off of Antoine de Saint Extupery. it helps me understand the difference of "doing" church and "being" church.

"If you want to build a ship, don't summon people to buy wood, prepare tools, distribute jobs, and organize the work—rather, teach people the yearning for the wide, boundless ocean."

it is tough to begin grampling with new and creative ways of being church. i find it starts with my life, my family's life, before it can ever bleed over into my "church" activity. my questions is "how can i (and my family) recover a vision for church? i have moved past the "how can i fix church?" so, do i and my family follow god's calling to be sent people? do we attempt to indoctrinate people, or call and invite them to "wide, boundless ocean" that is the gospel, a reconciled relationship with the living god?

the following was hirsch's response to the question - "how you think adopting a distinctly missional-incarnation approach will find a faith community emerging from mission, rather than mission emerging from a particular expression of church?"

Quite simply because when you adopt an missional-incarnational approach to engaging our world, then you are forced to a go-to-them, hang-out-with-them approach to mission before you ever get to ask the question, “What is church for this people group?” The problem is that we usually frontload our idea of church into the missional equation. And while the reality of the Church as God’s community is a vital, non-negotiable, part of the Christian faith, the forms that the church must take are almost entirely to be guided by the cultural context of the church. If this were not the case, the Paul’s argument in Galatians is flawed and we all should be adopting Jewish forms of church, including circumcision! Ouch! The church follows mission and not the other way around.

change

no doubt our world is changing at a break-neck pace. how are we, the church, to be faithful in this ever-changing environment? it has to be about relationships, it has to be about the kingdom now. more information, more institution is not the answer.

watch this!

good evening

good evening tonight. we had some friends over and grilled some burgers and hotdogs then talked and played some wii. it was a good time. jackson hasn't had a fever the last couple of days, but continues to put his hands in his mouth. emily and i are convinced he is attempting to cut "the rest" of his teeth. he is drooling like it's nobody's business, and not eating a whole lot. poor guy.

looking forward to a beautiful weekend. hope to spend some time outside with the kids, and maybe mow the lawn for the first time this year.

thinking about teaching a wednesday night class, starting in the summer entitled "jesus: the revolutionary." would use some clips from the documentary i watched on the discovery channel, along with some thoughts from yoder.

the debate continues over whether god has predetermined our every move, or free will is a possibility. some tend to think if god has not predetermined everything then he is a "lesser god." i am not of this opinion, but it makes for some good conversation. we have scheduled coffee twice a month to continue to challenge one another on our views. i am looking forward to it.

one question

brennan manning (author of "ragamuffin gospel") is "utterly convinced" that on judgement day, christ is going to ask one question.

listen to this clip. meditate on the question, and encounter god.

0 - 1

the reds are 0 - 1. it was fun watching the game, and i am glad the season has started, but i guess we aren't going wire to wire this year.

played volleyball for most the night last night. we ended up taking 3rd place. all in all it was a fun time.

jackson is a little under the weather. can't decide if he is sick, or just getting a bunch of teeth. he had a fever most of yesterday and today, and didn't sleep much last night. emily and i are pretty tired today. hopefully he/we will get some sleep tonight.

may god bless our week, and open our eyes to his will on this earth.

the movement to which we are called

rob bell does a little skit (can't see it, all in black), of what paul might have been thinking while writing the book of philippians in jail. pretty incredible.

from george's website

i would encourage you to check out george's website (link on right), but here is a copy and paste from his post today, out of the book "myth of certainty" which i received on my doorstep this morning.

The goal of faith is not to create a set of immutable, rationalized, precisely defined and defendable beliefs to preserve forever. It is to recover a relationship with God. He offers us a person and a relationship; we want rules and a format. He offers us security through risk; we want safety through certainty. He offers us unity and community; we want unanimity and institutions. And it does no good to point fingers because none of us desires too much light. All of us want God to behave Himself in our lives, to touch this area but leave that one alone, to empower us here but let us run things ourselves over there.Faith in God, then, is not a belief system to defend but a life to live out (though systematic thinking about our beliefs can help us decide how to live). Mistaking this active life of faith for an institutionally backed and culturally bound belief system is similar to reducing the Mona Lisa to paint-by-numbers. Anyone can see that the paint-by-numbers picture has a relationship to the original, but how foolish to think they are the same thing. This is not at all an argument against the church, whose role I take to be crucial. Rather, it is an argument for the personal, risky, never-completed nature of our relationship to God. My desire is for an open-eyed commitment to the life of faith, and the responsibilities it entails, that includes a sensitivity to the great tensions under which faith must live in the modern world.
As a belief system, the Christian religion is subject to the many ills of all belief systems; as an encounter with God, it transforms individual lives and human history. God does not give us primarily a belief system; he gives us Himself, most clearly in the person of Jesus Christ, so that truth and meaning can be ours through a commitment to that love with which He first loved us. The risk is great, but the reward is infinite.

rob bell

rob bell being asked if the church he pastors is "emergent." think his response is interesting.

adventures in kylie

kylie is in her "get-out-of-bed-as-many-times-as-possible" stage. she has been in this stage before. it is not a good place for her to be.

tonight emily put her to bed, and she got up shortly there after, complaining that she hurt her nose. i, like any good dad would do, gently explained to her that was no reason to get out of bed, and if she got out again she was in BIG TROUBLE.

that lasted about 5 minutes and emily and i hear the bathroom door open. this is typically her last ditch effort to get out of bed, because who is going to whoop their child for having to go "pee-pee" right?

emily, helps her use the restroom, and i hear her say to our beautiful little girl, "if you get out of bed again you are getting a spankin'." now these spankin's are usually executed by me - which i just love (yeah right!).

so, about 5 minutes after that i hear kylie yelling "mommy, mommy, mommy" and you get the picture. so i tell emily that kylie is asking for her, and emily heads back to the room. now picture this - as emily is opening up the door she hears kylie, who is screaming at this point, yell "mommy, i found a booooooo-gaaaa" laying flat on her back, arm in the air and index finger raised to the sky. hilarious!

so tonight, or possibly tomorrow when you are reading this, just picture our little punkin', two knuckles deep in her nostril, striking gold!

i guess i know why her nose hurt the first time she got out of bed. must have been a "crusty" one!

opening day

 opening day is almost upon us, at least for the cincinnati reds. they open their season this monday with the arizona diamondbacks. i am not sure they have even finalized their roster - not sure if this is a good thing or bad thing. with the addition of a couple young arms in the starting rotation, they should have a shot to compete this year. don't think they will have any trouble scoring runs.

the picture was taken last year. kylie and i traveled to the nati and took in a game. she did well, we ended up losing the game in the 8th, which was pretty typical last year. but 2008 is a new year, and we have 162 games to play, so anything could happen!

go reds!!

religiosity revealed

just so everyone knows, i had written a blog post in which i vented a lot of frustration i had after a class i sat in tonight, but it was deleted. what good would that do me? religion killed jesus and it almost took my life tonight (i mean literally, my heart almost stopped beating).

so where does that leave me? well, frustrated to be sure, but hopefully farther along in my path and quest to see jesus even in those that get under my skin.

i thank god for emily - she is my sounding board and bears the brunt of this frustration. see lovely listens and agrees with me, probably just to make me feel better. but nothing has changed. god is still revealed himself in jesus and i am still attempting to faithfully follow his example. i am trying not to find justification for "going off" in these situations because jesus confronted "religious" people. like i said earlier "i am from here to eternity from getting it right."

hopefully i am better from having sat in the class.

why did it have to be this way?

question that has been banging around in my head for sometime. if we needed the blood of god to satisfy the justice of god (which i believe we did/do), why didn't god just lay him on an alter and sacrifice him quickly? why did jesus teach, and make profoundly political statements against the current powers? why did he have to suffer, and be nailed to a roman cross? why the public shame and humiliation that was the crucifixion?

i believe because he was exposing the world and its ways for what they are and were. he was putting on display the falleness of our world, and thus giving us an alternative to the "way the world works." the feeding of the thousands, clearing of the temple and jesus' prayer in the garden were all temptations to take his rightful place of power and bring about the "justice of god." but it wasn't to come this way. it is so mind blowing to me. jesus could have called 12 legions of angels, he could have started the holy war of holy wars, but he didn't. he willingly, and voluntarily laid down his life.

now this, if you agree with me, has HUGE implications for how we live out our existence on this earth. if we are taking seriously the call of scripture and our lord to "walk as jesus did," and "take up our crosses" it is going to impact our social ethics, or how we deal with folks. right? so for me the cross, is not just the instrument of death i call upon so i can get to heaven, though it is most certainly that. the cross is a political alternative to the politics of the day (and i am not talking about a new way to do government). it is a radical call to lay down my life, so that through christ i may pick it up someday. it is a different way of seeing and engaging the world.

to say the gospel is not a social gospel or has no social implications, in my mind, is to communicate an incomplete gospel. in matthew, we often quote the story of the sheep and the goats to warn others of the impending judgement, and i believe miss what is bringing about the impending judgement. it is not our lack of knowledge of scripture, adherence to religious ritual or what we abstain from. did you hear that? it is none of those, yet all of these things seem to be of upmost importance to church folks. instead it is our treatment of "the least of these." i can know everything right, confess it right and follow the rituals, and jesus could say "i never knew you." why? how? because we didn't take care of people. because we didn't understand that in fact, jesus was a revolutionary. in fact jesus was coming to upset the establishments of this world and usher in a new age!! and we chose to ignore it. we ignored our cross, and acted like the christian life wasn't a call to die, but rather a call to religious activity.

god IS remaking the world. it is true, he didn't "make everything right" when he was here, but i believe he will one day and is calling us to live like it is that day! even now, in the midst of all the ugliness of our planet. it won't be easy. we are still in a fallen world, and most people will not embrace our ethics and way of life. but through the spirit of christ, we are promised victory - through death.

and this is why, among other reasons, i am wandering in the desert. trusting christ for my salvation and my next action. i am from here to eternity from "getting it right." but i can't and won't go back to the alternative of accepting things for the way they are, and performing my religious duties. i have caught the vision of a kingdom far superior to anything i could have ever imagined. it is beautiful, and it looks like christ.

electronic dialogue

as you may have known, if you read this blog with any regularity, i have been engaged in a mostly electronic dialogue with a couple brothers of differing opinions. today was the issue of violence. now i have my own convictions on this subject - but again i would argue that the difference in opinions is our reading of the gospels. it gets at my last post, and what i was trying to communicate. anyway, here is a comment that strikes straight to the heart of why we disagree:

Context, Adam. Jesus is talking about how you relate to others in individual matters. Jody and aren’t arguing that Christians should be able to randomly kill anyone who offends us. The passage has nothing to do with governmental matters. You’re isogeting.

this was just after i sited christ's words in the sermon on the mount. he said i was taking it out of context - in fact, so he informed, jesus' words here have nothing to do with "governmental matters."

huh? really? i informed him, we have nothing more to discuss on this issue then!

ethic to live by

“One of the greatest problems of the Western church, ever since the Reformation at least, is that it hasn’t really known what the gospels were there for. Imagining that the point of Christianity was to enable people to go to heaven, most Western Christians supposed that the mechanism by which this happened was the one they found in the writings of Paul . . . and that the four gospels were simply there to give backup information about Jesus, his teaching, his moral example, and his atoning death. This long tradition screened out the possibility that when Jesus spoke of God’s kingdom, he was talking not about a heaven for which he was preparing his followers but about something that was happening in and on this earth, through his work, then through his death and resurrection, and then through the Spirit-led work to which they would be called.” - N. T. Wright

stole this quote off of mike cope's blog, but it seems to go well as i begin to plow through "the politics of jesus" again, by john howard yoder. i actually believe there is a "hidden message" that the modern church has a hard time seeing. i have been listening to some reformers (staunch defenders of the truth) here of late, and they seem to think it is silly that anyone could read the scriptures and get new insights. they even went so far to say this was an arrogant assertion. how dare we read the bible for a "fresh" word from god? this is astonishing to me! what i hear them say is, "we got it all figured out years ago - all you have to do is believe it."

well i would disagree and stand with yoder. there is a social/politic element of christ and his ministry that goes largely unnoticed in our modern churches.

"whoever claims to live in him, must walk as jesus did."

this verse continues to mean so much to me. how did jesus walk? did he just hang around for 33 years, so he could die? what was he doing? was he just teaching us how to be a good moral person? how do we begin to form a social ethic from the life of christ? i have a sneaking suspicion it might take a lifetime of walking with jesus to unpack these questions.

jesus wept?

in john 11, john tells the story of a close friend of jesus dying, and then subsequently being raised from the dead by jesus. jesus' response (his emotion) is what i find interesting in this story. because when he first gets word that lazarus is fallen ill, he is not at all worried about what the final outcome is going to be. everyone else is concerned, but jesus seems to know something everyone else doesn't -he will raise him up!

now, why then when jesus enters the city and sees mary and all the jews gathered around her, was he "moved in the spirit?" why does he cry? he knows what is about to happen. a more appropriate response might have been, "hey, watch this!" but jesus cries. the bible even goes on to say he was "deeply moved" again as he approached the tomb. if you read this story closely and really begin to enter into it, you can get caught up in the emotion of it all. you may even reflect back to a moment in your life when tragedy struck, when your emotions were hitting an all time high and you couldn't even bear to open your eyes because the pain was so great. when words didn't help, when your faith even seemed to waiver. when you might have been asking "where is god?"

why did jesus cry? interesting question. we can only speculate, but my opinion is jesus was broken hearted. knowing how life "should" be and how it actually plays out is heartbreaking. there is immense beauty all around, and yet there is darkness and ugliness to the same extreme. there is joy in this life and there is horrible and awful sadness. and jesus understands this. i am glad we have this story recorded in the bible. jesus cries, jesus wept. here is the son of god - who walked straight out of heaven - into our mess. he actually entered into our story, physically - and experienced the pain of it all. the truth of the incarnation has far reaching implications on our view of god. it is about saving us from our sins, but that is not the whole story. when life is tragic - jesus weeps. when life is too hard and unbearable to even take another step - jesus weeps. when the child is born blind - jesus weeps. when life is filled with pain and suffering - jesus weeps. when bombs are falling from the sky - jesus weeps.

jesus wept. god in the flesh, the one we worship and adore, the holy one of god, is "god with us." he is the suffering servant of the world. now take up your cross and follow him, knowing that he is walking alongside us!

truth lived out

the pursuit of truth is important. what we believe, and give intellectual assent to is incredibly important. how that truth (about god, jesus, bible, etc) translates into flesh and blood, our everyday interactions is of paramount importance. and here lies my struggle in conversations i have been having lately. we can agree on truth and disagree on how that truth impacts my life. does that even make sense? a good analogy is the jew's expectation of a messiah. they knew the scriptures - they erected law after law to be obedient to those laws (the truth), and yet when it was walking around in front of them they didn't have the eyes to see it. they couldn't see the truth, embodied in the person of jesus. when the "word" became flesh, he was unrecognizable to those who were "experts in the law." now we have to ask, could this happen today?

that scares the ______ out of me. it really does, because i can know, or claim to know every piece of truth god ever revealed in his word and still miss what jesus is doing and will continuing to do on this earth, and for the rest of eternity. we can know truth and abuse it we apply it - when we live it out! we can repeat the tragedy that happened when christ walked the earth 2000 years ago. which is the religious elite of the day, instead of embracing god in the flesh rejected him because of his announcement to repent and live under the new order (the kingdom of heaven), and his condemnation of the jewish systems of the day. knowing truth and "knowing" truth are two different things. i can know every fact about god, faith, steps to salvation and church organization, and miss the "truth" that is found in jesus. why do we read our bibles? why do we contemplate meditate and then render interpretations about scripture?

how you answer those questions in large part determines how it will translate into your daily life. seeking truth involves a relationship - not with the bible, but with a resurrected lord! so we study the bible and allow it to seep deep into our souls. we trust jesus to do the work of salvation and transformation. we trust the holy spirit to provide guidance, wisdom and insight. we stand for truth and acknowledge it wherever it is found, but we (by god's empowering grace) live it out daily!

new books!

got home from work today and there was a present awaiting me. i love to see the amazon box - it makes my heart skip a beat (that may be a little extreme, but i really like it).

i ordered "letters from a skeptic" by greg boyd and "the forgotten ways" by alan hirsch. looking forward to both of them. i think i am going to start with "letters from a skeptic."

here is the what is on the back cover:

"dear greg:
i find you idea of dialoguing about the subject of christianity very interesting, and i'd be happy to do it. i've got enough time on my hands....you invited me to raise whatever objections come to mind, so i'll jump right in. here's one i've wondered about a lot: how could an all-powerful and all-loving god allow the church to do so much harm to humanity for so long? isn't this supposed to be his true church, his representation on earth?....to my mind, this is quite enough to prove that the church does not possess any true philosophy....well, you wanted an objection; you've got one. i look forward to your response....

love always,
dad"

wow - i think this should be interesting. i am of the opinion we don't wrestle with the tough questions enough. it is much easier just to push them out of our mind and pretend everything fits nice and neat into our categories. i respect those that have really wrestled with the tough stuff. this seems like a good question/issue to start with. the church has done all kinds of deplorable things in the name of god, in the name of christ, in the name of religion. even today, sometimes the church is the biggest barrier to faith in christ. that is tough to hear, but true nonetheless. i look forward to where this book might take me.

what a quiet time

 kylie never wants to take nap. she claims she is a "big girl" now, so she doesn't need to. most days she is correct. but today this is what happened at quiet time. i guess she decided to snuggle up to "big white bear" (original name - i know). emily went back b/c kylie was being so quiet, which is so unlike her - and witnessed kylie fast asleep on the floor. so she decided to grab the camera and capture the moment.

had coffee with george in the morning and shared lunch with him in the afternoon. it was great seeing him and catching up. miss him and his wisdom greatly.

hope he doesn't mind

my brother showed this to me the other day. he was home all day with his little daughter and she was having a rough time - so he decided to cheer her up. this was what happened.

the most important thing

i was reminded again today of the profound quote:

"the most important thing about us, is what we think of, when we think of god."

as i continue to engage different people in conversations about faith, jesus and religion this seems to be at the heart of all disagreement. the other day, i saw a christian wearing a shirt with these disturbing words:

"don't make me come down there - god"

what does this person think of when they think of god? then i was reminded by someone that, god did come down. and when he came down, he came seeking and saving the lost. he came as a servant of all. he came to suffer and die for his creation, and to begin to set the world right.

i hope i misinterpreted the shirt. god is angry - no doubt with the mess we have made of things. god is going to put a stop to it, i believe this. but while it is still called today, let us work with the same mindset of christ.

good ending to tough week

had a busy tough week at work. couple of confrontational situations caused a little added stress, but i survived, and hopefully was faithful to jesus throughout the process. had a wonderful dinner with emily this evening. we splurged a little and ate at a "fancy" restaurant - big salads, big steaks, a little wine and a delicious dessert. all in all it was a fantastic night and great way to end the week of work!

if you are interested at all in my last post, greg boyd is talking about pretty much the same thing on his blog - check out the link on the left. wrestling with ot tough passages and contrasting them with god revealed in jesus. i am certain he will provide much deeper insights that i ever could, and i look forward to following his thoughts on the subject.

looking forward to spending some time with my family. didn't get to spend a lot of quality time with them this week, so i will be soaking it up over the next couple of days!

our verse for this week is from jesus' sermon on the mount:

"in the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise you father in heaven."

may our daily interactions, our comings and goings, reflect the light of the one we follow.

through the prism of jesus' life

i think most christians would agree the nature/character of god is most fully viewed through the life and death of jesus. he is our sole hope for salvation and the one to whom we seek to imitate our lives. we need look no further on how to develop our ethic than christ. god taking on flesh, living a perfect life, sacrificing, suffering and spending time with outcasts is our model for life and mission. our churches would do well to seek this model for which to establish a community.

having said that, how do we handle the tough ot passages and stories found throughout the ot that seem to almost contradict what christ came to bring? let me give you an example:

ii kings 2:23-25
"from there elisha went up to bethel. as he was walking along the road, some youths come out of the town and jeered at him. "go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "go on up, you baldhead!" he turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the lord. then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. and he went on to mount carmel and from there returned to samaria."

now this story has become near and dear to my heart. i am but a few years away from actually walking in elisha's shoes. i can hear the insults now. so, taking this story at face value it would seem perfectly appropriate for me - after having been mocked for my baldness - on my way to walmart, to call down curses on "youths" and demand god take their lives through a violent bear attack. when i first read this story it was kinda funny, but actually it is quite tragic and sad. young kids lost their lives this day b/c they were "making fun" of someone's baldhead. i should have been mauled at least 100 times by now!

so what am i to do with this? i have no hardcore answers - only more questions.

how does this mesh with the cross? how does this mesh with "turning the other cheek, loving our enemies and not returning evil for evil?"

god is god and i am not. but i believe god has shown us his perfect nature in christ and calls me to "be perfect as he is perfect." i can use the ot to learn more about our story and how god has acted throughout human history - but we(i) should be extremely careful not to draw wrong conclusions based on ot texts. i believe we cannot fully understand the nt without the ot - that alone makes the ot incredibly important! i am not advocating throwing it out, but i have heard people "misuse" ot scriptures to drive home a point, that simply can't be validated in the nt or life of jesus.

our ethic should model our god who incarnated himself in jesus christ!

she has done it!

well we have been waiting for the time, and she has finally done it. kylie has cut her own hair. and to tell you the truth, it doesn't look half bad. she is not allowed to play with scissors alone (good parenting - we know!) but she snuck the little rascals went back to her room, and performed a little snip-snip. so now little kylie britches has some bangs, and i am not sure i could have done a better job.

let it snow

nothing like 12 inches in march! we have had a weekend filled with playing in the snow. actually - not a bad way to spend a saturday and sunday. kylie and jackson both had a blast getting in their snow clothes. kylie is pretty good at making snow angels. the hardest time was when it was time to go in. they never wanted to stop. it was nice to spend some quality time with them outside.

i however am not a fan of shoveling the driveway, but it had to be done. snow should be gone by tuesday, as the temps are going to be in the upper 50s. i am all for that; nothing worse than snow hanging around for weeks on end.

our family is busy every night this week. i have learned not to wish my days/weeks away, so i am looking forward to it!

may god bless us with opportunities to serve.

daddy, do you know what i learned in bible study

i am on the computer tonight watching some youtube videos, reading some blogs and answering emails and kylie climbs up in my lap and says:

"daddy, do you wanna hear what i learned in bible study?"

i immediately stop what i am doing and look at her (smiling ear to ear) and say:

"of course honey, what did you learn in bible study?"

she looks at me and says, with the most innocent eyes you could ever imagine:

"i learned about lazarus and the toon. i learned he was wrapped in bandages. i have him in the car, do you want to see?"

how do we capture these moments? how can i capture the joy in my heart?
god - thank you for the blessings. thank you for my kids.

Neither Male nor Female

good friend of mine sent this to me today. i thought it articulated a faithful biblical view of women. it is a statement of the direction a certain coc is taking. i happen to agree 100%. it is worth the read, and thought......


Men and women have both played vital roles in the life and ministry of the Stamford Church of Christ since its founding in 1966. Now after years of study, prayer, and reflection, it is the teaching position of the Stamford Church of Christ that in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female (Gal. 3:28). We understand this to mean that distinctions of roles, privileges, rights, and status on the basis of birth (that is, on the basis of race, gender, and class) are ended in Christ. We base this conclusion on a careful and exhaustive study of Scripture.

Paul when he writes the texts that have traditionally been central to our understanding of gender roles in the church—1 Corinthians 11:1-16; 1 Corinthians 14:33-35; and 1 Timothy 2:9-15—is writing under the shadow of Rome. He is giving practical and spiritual leadership to a small persecuted minority with no realistic, loving way to affect the cultural patterns enforced by an all-powerful Roman aristocracy. He himself is in and out of prison. Other church leaders-pillars like James, the Lord’s brother, and Peter-are being killed. The Roman establishment is suspicious of this new Christian faith. Christian notions of freedom and equality are undermining traditional Roman values.

Paul consequently is urging followers of Christ to live in such a way as to eliminate any barriers to the hearing and acceptance of the gospel. Classical thought followed in the footsteps of Aristotle. It viewed women as imperfect versions of men. And it argued that authority and subordination are inevitable and always necessary and, moreover, the physically stronger party is always superior. As a result society was intensely patriarchal and (from our standpoint) sexist. The typical Roman father was a paterfamilias; he had life-and-death authority over his wife, children, extended family, and household slaves. Paul then is calling his readers to live as disciples of Christ within the leadership patterns of his day. He is guiding Christians in the setting in which they live; he is not making their setting valid and mandatory for all time.

When Paul asks Christian women in Corinth to remain silent and submissive in church (1 Corinthians 14:33-35), he is asking them to conform to the standards of decency of that time and place. He is echoing all the finest Roman moralists; in that time a respectable woman did not speak in public. A woman speaking in public was immodestly exposing herself. Paul is writing exactly what was needed to keep the church respectable then and there. He is asking Christian women in Corinth to accommodate to contemporary standards of decency. They may pray or prophesy in their gatherings (1 Corinthians 11:5), but they must quit disrupting worship by asking questions out loud, the kinds of questions only the uneducated would ask. The immediate context is women asking questions. The broader context is Paul’s concern with the impressions church gatherings leave on outsiders (1 Corinthians 14:23). His overriding concern—and this is very typical of him—is that Christians not do what is disgraceful in their own cultures (1 Corinthians 9:19-23; Romans 12:17-18; Titus 2:3-10).

Paul’s instructions to Timothy at Ephesus (1 Timothy 2:9-15) arise out of the same concerns. But they also take into account a specific heresy plaguing the Ephesian church, one involving myths and endless genealogies (1 Timothy 1:3-7) and one in which women are heavily involved and by which they have been deceived (1 Timothy 4:7; 5:13-15; 2 Timothy 3:6-7). This heresy appears to be an early form of Jewish gnosticism (gnosis was the Greek word for knowledge, and gnostics were those spiritual elitists-“know-it-alls”-who claimed to have special knowledge). The religious climate in Ephesus focused on Artemis as the Mother Goddess and encouraged notions of female primacy and superiority. This was the region that gave birth to the legends of the female-warrior Amazons; over the next several centuries this feminizing tendency would also give rise in this same region to the cult of the Virgin Mary.

In response, Paul insists that women in the church at Ephesus are not to teach or have authority over men. The word translated “have authority over” in 1 Timothy 2:12 is used only here in the New Testament; a more common word for authority is used on all other occasions. But Paul needs a stronger word here. So the likely meaning is “to domineer.” Paul’s primary concern may be that uneducated women should not teach in domineering ways (often when two Greek verbs are joined as “teach” and “domineer” are here, the second qualifies the first). In any case Paul is denying that the feminine created the masculine which was a common notion in that time and place. He reminds his readers that Adam was formed first and that, far from the woman possessing special knowledge, it was she who was deceived. Paul then is not anchoring female subordination in creation; instead he is insisting that the creation story offers no room for female primacy or superiority.

Our understanding of the first-century Ephesian and Corinthian contexts continues to deepen and mature, but the pattern now is quite clear. Consequently it is our conclusion that those passages that restrict women’s participation in public worship (1 Corinthians 14:33-35; 1 Timothy 2:9-15) address specific circumstances in the particular cultural context of their original first-century audiences. We take care to distinguish between what the New Testament says about the new life in Christ and the degree of implementation possible in the first-century church. Just as we would no longer use the teaching “Slaves, obey your earthly masters” (Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:22-4:1; Titus 2:9-10) to defend slavery, we will no longer use 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 or 1 Timothy 2:9-15 to silence women’s voices in our assemblies together.

We believe that God has poured out his Spirit on all people, both men and women (Acts 2:17-21), and we call for an end to restricting the use of God-given gifts on the basis of gender. In doing this, we are confident that we are being fully and finally obedient to Jesus’ teachings on justice, mercy, peacemaking, mutual submission, freedom, “the last shall be first,” and self-sacrificial love. God’s way, expressed in Jesus’ life, teaching, death, and resurrection, is to empower others-to give power away so that everyone is freed to explore and develop their God-given giftedness. Restrictions on the basis of hierarchy, power, and status (e.g. Genesis 3:16) are at best an accommodation to a fallen world. In Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. We are all one.

This subject of women’s roles in our gatherings is under discussion and study in many Churches of Christ today, and some have made changes on the basis of their study. Our task is to examine the Scriptures, understand their particular historical context, and then apply them to our own unique historical context in such a way that we fulfill-in our time and place-the original intent of the inspired authors. We do not believe that other Christians need to pattern themselves after us, but neither do we want to be the ones who exclude people from using their gifts when God does not. And we are deeply concerned for the lost (Matthew 9:9-13), those who today do not know their way in life but who turn to the church to find God, and find themselves to be more ethical and humane than the church. We have learned from Paul that it is our spiritual responsibility to make the teachings about God our Savior attractive (Titus 2:1-10)-yes, attractive, he says-so as to win as many as possible to Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life (1 Corinthians 9:19-23). All this is essential to keeping our focus and the focus of honest seekers on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The light that must always be kept shining is this gospel that has the power to save, heal, transform, and rescue our lives.