Good article

I have just read a good article written by the wonderful historian, Dr. Bill Leonard.  He was the first church history professor I had at Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY.  He ignited a love for history in me.  In the article, he uses a historical look to see how we have "used" the scripture over the years.  It can be very difficult to read this kind of article and think, "Have I done that?"  Check it out:

                Opinion: The Bible Tells Me. So?
                  by Bill Leonard, Thursday, March 15, 2012
 I have had a number of questions recently about the bible, especially the Old Testament and how we can understand some of the things that do not seem to add up to God being like Jesus.  God seems so violent, Jesus brings peace.  God seems so distant, Jesus walks and talks with us (in the garden of course).  God seems to play favorites, Jesus invites anyone and everyone to come follow him. 

I have heard of two instances just this week where people feel that reading their bible has actually shaken their faith in God.  I would say that it is not God or the Bible that is ultimately shaking our faith, but how people have historically applied God's word in such abusive ways.  Then, even if we do not think we are doing it, we read the scripture through that understanding or that lens and it is very hard to actually see God being that way.  Especially if we see Jesus as the ultimate revelation of God.  Can you see Jesus ordering his disciples to kill every man, woman, child, and animal in a city just because they were not the chosen ones?  No!  When the disciples James and John wanted to rain down judgement on a Samaritan town just for not showing hospitality, Jesus rebuked them.

I have recently been reading Cecil Sherman's autobiography, By My Own Reckoning.  In it, he tells his life story, which is very linked to the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention.  The fundamentalists said they were defending the inerrancy of the bible.  The SBC formed a peace committee and put Cecil on it with fundamentalists like Adrian Rogers.  Here is a quote from page 189 of the book:

    Once when discussing the Bible in a morning session (of the Peace Committee), Adrian Rogers said, "I take the Bible literally.  I know there are places in the Bible that use figurative language such as 'the land flowed with milk and hone', but I always try to take the Bible literally."  That afternoon I was in the company of Adrian Rogers and Jerry Vines.  I referenced Adrian's statement about taking the Bible literally, and asked, "What do you do with those places in the New Testament that affirm slavery, like 1 Peter, Ephesians, and Colossians?"  He hesitated a moment then said, "Well, I believe slavery is a much maligned institution; if we had slavery today, we would not have this welfare mess."  I had never heard anyone speak a good word for slavery; I went upstairs and wrote it down.  Rogers was saying he believed slaves should be obedient to their masters just as he believed wives should be obedient to their husbands.  Such was the biblical literalism of the people who controlled the Peace Committee.  No other issue was half as important as the inerrancy of the Bible. (italics added)

 It hurts me a great deal to realize that so many people over the course of history have tried to defend the faith and the Bible, but have caused so much pain and hurt in the name of a God that calls us all to him for true salvation, in this life and beyond.  It must be a grave sin to build such stumbling blocks.  It makes me shiver with the thought that I might be doing that at times too.

God be with you in the Journey!
Kevin

Junk Religion?

Well, here I am listening to fighter jets practice touch and go landings at Fentress airfield, about three miles away. It is about 4:00 PM and I am in my office. These things can get loud! I have been trying to dig out from under the mountain of administrative details that surround this position and see God fresh and new for the day. It gets hard sometimes, but He shows up when I let Him. In the devotion from Richard Rohr today, he asks, "Is your religion helping you transform your pain?" He goes on to say, "If it does not, it is junk religion." Rohr challenges me to transform my pain, not just transmit it onto everyone else, especially those closest to me. This doesn't mean we bury deep inside and just wait for it to explode, it means we actually allow God to transform it into something of use in His Kingdom. If all we are suppose to do is learn facts and grow buildings and budgets, then we really don't know how to transform pain, do we?

God be with you on the Journey!
Kevin

Relating To God

Many things have spurred me on to think about how we relate to God this past week. We had a great baccalaureate Sunday night (May 10,2009) where many students from different denominations were able to participate and three teachers spoke. I was just amazed at how God wove it together and how I saw so many different aspects of how we relate to God. I spent a while talking to Travis Monday morning about how so many folks see relating to God as either relationship based or truth (rules) based. We both opted for a “both and” rather than an “either or” idea. Without relationship, we have nothing, but truth is part of the relationship. Then, as always, I read Robert Francis’ Signals on Monday too. Robert was able to travel to George Fox Seminary in Newburg, Oregon to talk about An American Theology of the Land. Again I am challenged by how to relate to God as Robert said, “Many good words were shared concerning the crisis situation in which we have placed ourselves and the desperate need to turn and walk in a good way with both Land and Creator.”
So what is the “good way” for us to relate to God (Creator)? Often times our denominationally specific methods just produce pride and selfishness that makes us too institution focused and not enough God focused. Richard Rohr says, “The Bible moves us from sacred place (why the temple had to go) or sacred action (why the Law had to be relativized) or mental belief systems (why Jesus has no prerequisites in this regard) to time itself as sacred time.”
So, maybe we don’t focus as much on our relating to God in the future (the glorious eternity of heaven) or the past (my sin is so great) and focus more on relating to God right now, right here, right how I am. That means we have to accept His great love and forgiveness and move on into the meat of our relationship. To wallow in our sin or just live for heaven keeps us from being with Him NOW. That is what we were created for. More on this later. Let me know what you think.
God be with you on your journey!
Kevin

Relationships

When I started wrestling with my call into ministry over 20 years ago, I had many ideas about what ministry in church was going to look like. Most of them were way wrong. One of the biggest differences was what relationships would look like inside the Christian world. You see, even through my days in seminary, I continued to see the outline for church world relationships to be Acts 2:41-47:
41Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (NIV via www.biblegateway.com)

There is some great stuff here. As Rick Warren puts it, the five purposes of the church are right here: Worship, fellowship, ministry, discipleship and evangelism. For me, I kept focusing on phrases like, "breaking bread" and "believers were together" and "had everything in common" and "gave to everyone" and "meet together" and "glad and sincere hearts". This seemed awesome!!!
Now that I have been in ministry for almost 20 years, I still see this as God's goal for His followers, but I have realized something else. This version of the church only lasted a few verses or chapters at best in Acts. By Chapter 5 there are problems with lying (Ananias and Sapphira) and more problems come as more and more people become followers of Jesus Christ. Eventually, most of what the apostles (especially Paul) are dealing with in their writings are problems with relationships within the body of believers.
So, I would like to take a few weeks and discuss the nature of relationships. What do you think? I will be interested to know. How should Jesus' followers relate to one another? How should we relate to those that would say they don't follow Jesus? How do we relate to family? How do we relate to authority? How do we relate to government? How do we relate to scripture? HOW DO WE RELATE TO GOD?

God be with You on your journey!
Kevin