Post #127 Poets, Prophets & Preachers: Day 3, Session 2

Day 3, Session 2
Peter Rollins
"For those with ears to hear: Parables and the lost art of provocation"

A system or an ideology is not what you see, it is the lens through which you see everything.

The question is not "Is Christianity true?" The question is "What does it mean when Christianity claims to be true?"

The importance of "name..."
Exodus 3 "What is your name? Who should I say has sent me?"

God cannot be truly known, not because there is a lack, but because there is so much.

Words are not sufficient when the infinite comes into contact with the finite.

When God reveals his name to Moses he actually says, "My name is Presence."

Revelation has 3 features:
comprehension - understand that we do not understand
bedazzlement - God shakes everything up
transformation - the presence of God changes us

When God reveals himself, we cannot remain the same.
- Jacob wrestles with God and God gives him a new name, a new identity
- Paul encounters Jesus on the road to Damascus and he is transformed so deeply that he embraces what he once fought against.

Everyone talks about how God will make our lives better. When I allowed God into my life, he wrecked everything. Nothing has been the same.

Post #120 Where Has Mike Been?

Well, it has been a long time since my last post. In fact, I did not even do a post for the season finale of LOST. What can I say? I am a slacker. To be honest there has been a ton going on and I feel justified in putting my blogging experiment on the back-burner. Let me clue you in on some of the happenings in my life:

First, Michelle and I have started the process of adoption. We meet with our social worker this weekend. It is a long and sometimes difficult journey, but we are confident that it will definitely be worth it.

In addition to that, we have put down roots with a church home. We have been “homeless” for more than two years. For most of the time, we have been wrestling with what we need and what we can offer in a church community. We found a great place and have started to connect with several people there. In fact that leads me to my third “happening.”

I have been asked to take on the responsibility of organizing and leading the small groups ministry for our church congregation. This is a very important step for me, as this is my first “legitimate” ministry position since finishing my degree. It is a great opportunity and I can’t wait to share some of my thoughts and ideas regarding small groups, discipleship, and Bible study.

So there we have it. This is what I have been busy with for the past month and a half to two months. I sincerely apologize to both of my loyal readers for letting them down regarding the 365 posts in one year. I am going to miss that mark. However, now that I have admitted my negligence, I hope I will be more diligent in posting in the future.

Don't threaten to move, just do it!

Republicans and Christianists who do not think they can help unite our nation under our new President, should stop threatening to move, and just do it!

At this moment, we have a choice. We can admit that the direction of the country has not been consistent with the needs of the majority of the county. We can admit that our economy, education, housing market, job security, and positive worldwide political influence have all suffered under the Bush administration.

We can decide to be angry, scared, bitter, crass, immature, or unhelpful.

OR

We can choose to get behind our new leader. We can choose to unite and heal, to do what is good and right for our nation and for the world. We can drop arrogance and ignorance. We can choose to give each other the chance for a better future. We can choose to give our children and their children the opportunity to grow up in a nation that says, "We can achieve great things."

So, if you honestly believe that you cannot help unite our nation under President Obama, please, do the rest of us a favor. Stop making idle threats of moving to Mexico, Canada, or Australia, and just move. We want your help, but if you won't give it, then please don't be an obstacle.

New Books for the New Year

I am such a book nerd. I got excited when Michelle gave me a couple of new books for Christmas. Although I don't often share my political ideologies here on the blog, both of the books she gave me have political undertones. The first is a satirical look at politics by Stephen Colbert.

I Am America (And So Can You) is an irreverent look at the political world. From hot topic issues to mundane topics, Colbert juggles comedy and commentary like no one else. This is a must read for fans of his show, The Colbert Report.

The other book is Bill Clinton's new project, "Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World".


Whether you like him or loathe him, you have to agree that the world is poised for change. Bill Clinton rallies readers to search their hearts and to give back time, resources, and innovative solutions for many crises facing the world today.
This is a great read for anyone searching for a way to impact the world and their community.

There are a lot of other great books on my shelf. I will post some more later.

Virginia Tech and other thoughts

I realize that a lot of people are weighing in on the tragedy that happened at Virginia Tech this week. There are few things that can help us to understand such horrific events. The one thing I have noticed about the "news" channels is that they refer to it as a "tragedy," a "massacre," and a "horror." But I haven't seen anyone call it what it is...terrorism. We like to identify fundamentalist suicide bombers as terrorists, but people within our own country (whether natural born citizens or visa issued aliens) are rarely called terrorists. Remember Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols (the Oklahoma city bombing), or Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (the Columbine High School shootings)? These were domestic terrorists. Terrorism, with all the news spin, has been relegated to foreign religious zealots, but terrorists exist in our own back yard.

One of the things that people often ask when such tragedy takes place is "why?". we turn to psychiatrists, sociologists, and other professionals to explain the root causes. But realistically all they can do is describe the situation from their scientific perspective. The answer to "Why?" is not an easy one to grapple with, but I can reason from a biblical perspective that all evil in this world is a result of "The Fall."

God never intended for pain, disease, suffering, death, oppression, starvation, exploitation, war, slavery, bigotry, hatred to exist. They exist because humanity is free to make choices. If we were not free to choose to rebel, then we would also not be free to choose to love. It is a catch-22. My heart aches that such evil exists, but I am thankful that I might choose to love instead of being forced to. when I think about the subject of pain (which all of this eventually falls under) I realize that God is hurting too. He realizes that his Creation is fallen and he has been in the process of putting it back together for a very long time.

What can I do?

Well, for one, since I am free to make choices, I can choose to not contribute to cycles of pain. I can choose to support causes to alleviate suffering and oppression. I can choose to make responsible financial decisions. I can choose to make responsible moral decisions. I can choose to not cause pain to anyone.

I know it seems simple, but the old saying "if you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem" does have some credibility. I want to be part of the solution. Maybe if we all wanted that, then we would not have to endure such horrific things.

Maybe I am an idealist, but I believe that people can choose good over evil. I hope that is the case.