why i am emerging

at least i think i am. i have been watching, listening and reading some things about the emerging/emergent movement lately. it gets a lot criticism from the conservative christian right. some of it may be warranted. i can't decide. but this is why i am emerging, at least to some extent. if the kingdom of heaven is true, and is advancing in our lives right now, then some things need to change. brian mcclaren says "everything must change" in his new book. we need to begin to see personal morality is a small portion of the kingdom message. it is not the sole point of the gospel story, but seems it is all we(church folk) will talk about. and don't even get me going about systemic sins or problems.

we don't even think about christ and the nature of his kingdom when talking "globally" or addressing global problems. government, violence and fighting fire with fire is what we always resort to. but if i read jesus right (and i probably don't), i am pretty sure he came to live a radically different way, that threatened the very assumptions of the empire, just by what he said and who he hung with. a lot of "conservative religion" continues to operate with the same assumptions as the world, just with religious skin on it. this is why i am emerging. not interested in a "better way of doing church." interested in the movement that is the kingdom of heaven.

brett favre

the great qb for the packers is finally calling it quits. when i heard the news i immediately thought of a friend of mine in nashville. i emailed him and told him how sorry i was to get this news, and hope he was doing ok. below was his response:

Yeah, if I had more than 5 personal hours I would have left the second I found out. Haven’t cried yet, but maybe watching a highlight or two tonight might do the trick. I have thought about this day for a LONG time and I knew I would never be ready for it. However, short of a Super Bowl he couldn’t have gone out much better than he did. I was very lucky to have seen him play multiple times. And I saw him break the passing yard record too in St. Louis last year…

he was a pretty big fan, if you couldn't tell.

evidence of god

evidence of god is everywhere. he makes himself known in a million different ways, and yet so often we(i) don't see him. but let me tell you a simple way god evidences himself, and why i believe in the god of the bible - one word - love.

when i met my wife, and began to experience love - true love - for another person, it was amazing. i never thought i was capable of loving someone so much. i actually did and do love her more than myself. then we have our first child. holy crap - what an overwhelmingly AMAZING experience that was. love in a whole new dimension! but amazingly my love for my wife only grew stronger. here i was loving another person more than the deepest ocean, and my love for emily was continuing to grow even deeper than that deepest ocean. then bring on baby j! love me some baby j! and again more than any words i could ever type. and yet, my love for emily and kylie continues to grow beyond my wildest imagination. and now we have the wonderful news of a third child. it never gets old and i am learning my capacity to love will never stop. even now i can't properly explain it. what is this thing we call love?

now - the god of the bible describes himself as love. wow! he is all these things that i have experienced, but he is perfect! i have only experienced love in my fallen imperfect state and yet god....god is true love in every sense of the word.

so when i look at my beautful wife and kids - i see god. i see a creator which allows us to experience himself in our relationships on this earth. simply amazing.

jesus for president??

For the complete blog post click here.

Would love to have been at this debate between greg boyd, chuck colson and shane claiborne. if you haven't read irresistable revolution, you should do so. very challenging book. below is a quick tidbit from greg boyd's blog as he reflects on the debate and some key disagreements between him and chuck colson on the christian's duty towards government.

also mentioned in the blog is shane's new book that will be coming out entitled "jesus for president." can't wait to pick that up!


* Finally, I have to say that the best lines of the debate went to Shane. Three times the crowd applauded after he spoke (Chuck and I got zero). The most insightful, I thought, was when he responded to Colson's citation of Bonhoeffer's attempt to assassinate Hitler as an example of how Christians need to participate in politics and sometimes resort to violence. Shane told a story (of course) of a film he watched that interviewed Hitler's chief secretary. She said that it was "miraculous" how Hitler escaped unharmed when the bomb Bonhoeffer's group planted exploded. This reinforced Hitler's sense of divine mission at a time when it was wavering and encouraged him to carry out his genocidal programs more enthusiastically. Shane said that as much as he respects Bonhoeffer, "the cross lost when that bomb went off." Wow.

evander hanauer and spring training

what does kylie and evander holifield have in common? answer........both are missing a piece of their ear. one was bitten off by iron mike, and the other was lopped off during a fall from the couch - ear meet sharp edge of end table.

so was the scene about 6:15pm thursday evening. not long after i got home from work i was rushing kylie to the er to see if she needed stiches for her ear. it turns out they just sliced off the remaining piece that was hanging, and slapped some magic ointment (neosporan) on it, and said she would grow it back in no time. kylie was really a trooper through the whole thing - i was very proud of her.

spring training has begun and the boys of summer are preparing for the grueling 162 game 2008 season. the reds have a shot to win it all (haha, i can dream, right?).
we are looking stronger in our 5 man rotation, and will continue to score runs this year, which means we should be decent. plus we have a proven manager in dusty baker....sounds to me like a recipe for a pennant run. i love april and may b/c the reds are usually still in the race at this point. it is the dog days of summer that seem to get me down. who knows - 2008 may be the magical year.

posting comments as blog entries - love it

another one from my friend (oh how i miss our discussions). i am not much for the phone and i take it he isn't either. which is probably a good thing b/c we both have families that need us. anyway - here are some more thoughts from him - i appreciated them so thought others might as well:

"What you call Christianity is not really a religion at all, it is an array of institutions, 501c3 organizations, that collect non-taxable contributions to ensure their own longevity, which doles out "benevolence" for the primary purpose of positive public relations and membership growth."

"However, I'm not a Christian in that sense -- not a member of the social club that calls itself the church."

"Instead, I'm a member of a radically fundamental religious order of believers in Christ who care not for tax deductions, who deplore memberships, who collectively function as a conspiracy of love and sacrifice, though every individual is autonomous, and accountable only to God himself."

Here's the thing Adam, we religious in the only true sense of the word. It is not that Christ didn't come to establish a religion...it's just that the monster that calls itself religion in our culture today isn't it.

You think?

election - thoughts

pulled up a comment left from a friend of mine a week or so ago, and wanted to post again:

"The New Testament words 'chosen, choose, and election' are the same. The Old Testament word is simply 'chosen.' From [Eph 1:4] many think God chooses some to be saved and some to be lost. Again, I point out -- predestination and election (choosing) have nothing to do with the lost, but are for the saved."

"The following Scriptures tell us what the choosing, or election, of God is about: 'For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, THAT THE PURPOSE OF GOD ACCORDING TO ELECTION MIGHT STAND, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, THE ELDER SHALL SERVE THE YOUNGER. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated' Rom. 9:9-13.

At once we see that election or choosing has to do with service-- THE ELDER SHALL SERVE THE YOUNGER. It does not say, 'The younger shall be saved, and the elder shall be lost.' No, but, 'the elder shall SERVE the younder.' Thus election has to do with service. 'Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated' wasn't said of these two men before they were born, but hundreds of years after they died. God hated the descendants of Esau because of their unbelief, and loved the descendants of Jacob because of their faith."

"In John 15, the Lord Jesus said--He had chosed (elected) them disciples. For salvation? No, for service. Even Judas was chosen! For damnation? No, but like Pharaoh, who has a fit vessel unto wrath--after being given many chances to believe, he refused, and thus was used for God's purpose.

"The prophet Isaiah says that Israel is God's chosen people (Isaiah 41:8). Does this mean that all Jews are saved? No. It simply means that God has chosen Israel for a service..."

"Back to Ephesians 1:4--what has God elected or chosen for us, or what has He elected, or chosen us for? Not salvation, but He has chosen us before the foundation of the world (He knew we would believe on His Son) for service--"that we should be hold and without blame before him in love."

From Dr. Mark G. Cambron