(eye candy)

This makes me smile

Living in a Transitory World of Death

Studying to teach my week 4 of 5 lesson on the Atoning Death of Jesus this weekend, I stumbled across a beautiful quote in “The Crucified God” by Jürgen Moltmann. My apologies if you’ll be there Sunday and you may have to hear me stumble through this quote outloud:

“…this one man [Jesus] has been raised before all others and with him the process of the raising of the dead has been set in motion, to the degree that this world of death and the coming world of life are no longer set over against  each other like two different periods of the world. Believers no longer live in this unredeemed world of death. In that one man the future of the new world of life has already gained power over this unredeemed world of death and has condemned it to become a world that passes away. Therefore, in faith in the risen Jesus, men already live in the midst of the transitory world of death from the powers of the new world of life that have dawned in him. There is already true life in the midst of false life, though only in communion with the one who had been crucified by that false life.” /Moltmann.171

My eyes have been opened so wide through this study. I assume that my studying to teach and teaching is supposed to be for the benefit of those participating in the class, but every time I sit down prayerfully with the Scriptures and a few books I find myself sitting dumbfounded, my mouth left slightly agape from the stunning nature of what I’m groping around at. 

Mostly the idea of “comm-union with Christ” sticks out. The idea of being incorporated into Christ is so overwhelmingly liberating. He is our head and we find life in him, and that should change everything for us. Everything. 

Something about the Atonement is intricately related to what it means to be both Christ’s body and a part of the Body of Christ. There’s so much there that’s rich and full of life, expressing a life in transition–growing and evolving, learning and trusting. 

Harnessing the power of the new life in the midst of the old. 

Sorry for the ramblings, but I’m pretty stoked about this stuff… and I just wanted you to see some of it in process.

Offended

Perhaps the most atrocious thing about the Israelites’ plight in the Old Testament is that they continued to hold their religious worship services and monthly/seasonal/yearly rituals as if everything was great. 

They were whoring themselves out for power, and they continue to paste on a smile and say “amen.”

They confessed the name of the Lord with their lips and denied Him the practical effects of their lives, and yet they continued to sing praise as if they were Joyful and Thankful.

Money was their idol, yet they continued to give their tithes and offerings in uniform fashion, relying on the pattern of worship to be sufficient. 

They mocked the name of God openly by their oppression of the poor, yet they boldly claimed God as their refuge, shield, protector and redeemer in battle.

There’s nothing wrong with being broken. There’s everything wrong with acting like it’s all good. 

There’s nothing ultimately detrimental about screwing up. There’s the loss of the soul when we act like it didn’t happen. 

There’s nothing wrong with having a bad day. There’s a lot wrong when we let ourselves go numb to the bad and receive it as normal.

There’s nothing wrong with being mad at God (He can take it). There’s everything wrong with being mad, or passive, or indifferent towards God and showing up, like clockwork, to sing happy praises and answer the question (“how are you?”) with the answer (“good”). 

I hope we are moving towards lives that reconcile the bad times with honesty. We can stand up in the face of failure, hurt, or hypocrisy and undress our motives, standing helpless and hopeless in our own pride and worth. Last week I heard a woman explaining to someone that she didn’t understand why her friends wouldn’t want to know Jesus. After all, she said, knowing God makes life so much better (in the typical, achievement-oriented way), easier, and happier.

Is that true?

If it is, I have to confess that it hasn’t always really meant those things for me. 

Because with how much I’ve failed in big ways and small ones, I feel that I’d be offending God if I acted like my life in Christ was always better, easier, and happier.

make money, make money, make money money

Since I graduated from college, I’ve only had two jobs. Both of them have been in church related ministry, and both have given me incredible freedom to work outside of my office. Naturally, I end up in white people’s favorite morning to midday spot — a coffee shop! 

I now have to confess my curiosity. While I completely understand why and how I have the freedom to sit in a coffee shop for hours at a time… what the heck are the couple hundred other people who come in and out of that coffee shop during my time there doing? How are so many people not in an office, or in a restaurant, or a school, or a store?

In a time of economic frailty, we’re surrounded by “workers” with increasingly flexible schedules and work locations. Are we on to something here? Is there an uprising? A new model?

Are we now confronted with the normalcy of the non-40 hour, 9-5 employee? Are we ready for that? Are you? Am I?

As I think through this, I have to admit that I wonder if we just have a younger generation of “adults” who are refusing to get “real jobs” and just leeching off of each other and possibly even their parents. But maybe it’s not true. So there are 2 options (and more to be sure):

1) We still have a culture and society that requires and desperately needs people to fill traditional, 9-5 roles and yet we can’t find people willing to do it. We have more and more adults who are spoiled and refused to submit to “the man” by sitting at a desk for a corporation. No one wants to work like their parents and grandparents, and this is possibly leading to the slow erosion of our culture and economy. 

2) The society and culture has evolved in such a way that non-traditional jobs are possible, promoted, and even necessary. The younger culture that doesn’t want a corporate career for 25 years in the same job is pushing back and altering the course of American history. It could be for better, it could be for worse. But we can’t just judge it negatively because it’s “different” than our collective American memory. 

Here’s the kicker: spending and consumption hasn’t gotten better, it’s getting worse. It’s as if a 27 year old wants the perks and benefits that their father and grandfather worked 20 years for (a 4 bedroom in the suburbs, nice new cars, a jet-ski and disposable income); except he wants it now.

All I know is that I know nothing. I don’t understand our economy, our government or our nation’s evolving and complex infrastructure. It took years and years to build, it’s not coming crashing down overnight (save for the economy I guess). But times they are a’changin. How are we going to adapt? How are we going to move forward with a Better World/Kingdom mentality? 

Things are confusing and overwhelming. That’s why if the only person I can change is me, then I better get started.

(Yes, yes.. I realize that only a privileged person in the first world could even write such garbage… )

I hate all your show

I hate all your show and pretense
The hypocrisy of your praise
The hypocrisy of your festivals
I hate all your show
Away with your noisy worship
Away with your noisy hymns
I stomp on my ears when you’re singing ‘em
I hate all your show

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show

Your eyes are closed when you’re praying
You sing right along with the band
You shine up your shoes for services
There’s blood on your hands
You turned your back on the homeless
And the ones that don’t fit in your plan
Quit playing religion games
There’s blood on your hands

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
I hate all your show

Let’s argue this out
If your sins are blood red
Let’s argue this out
You’ll be one of the clouds
Let’s argue this out
Quit fooling around
Give love to the ones who can’t love at all
Give hope to the ones who got no hope at all
Stand up for the ones who can’t stand at all, all
I hate all your show
I hate all your show
I hate all your show
I hate all your show

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
I hate all your show

JonForeman // Instead of a Show

¹¹ ”The multitude of your sacrifices— 
       what are they to me?” says the LORD. 
       “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, 
       of rams and the fat of fattened animals; 
       I have no pleasure 
       in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

 ¹² When you come to appear before me, 
       who has asked this of you, 
       this trampling of my courts?

 ¹³ Stop bringing meaningless offerings! 
       Your incense is detestable to me. 
       New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— 
       I cannot bear your evil assemblies.

 ¹⁴ Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts 
       my soul hates. 
       They have become a burden to me; 
       I am weary of bearing them.

 ¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer, 
       I will hide my eyes from you; 
       even if you offer many prayers, 
       I will not listen. 
       Your hands are full of blood;

 ¹⁶ wash and make yourselves clean. 
       Take your evil deeds 
       out of my sight! 
       Stop doing wrong,

 ¹⁷ learn to do right! 
       Seek justice, 
       encourage the oppressed. 
       Defend the cause of the fatherless, 
       plead the case of the widow.

Isaiah // 1.11-17

stat line

Saturday morning, a couple of friends and I ran the 10K at the Cowtown in Fort Worth, TX.

The above picture is a snapshot of my race summary. My Nike+ said that I ran 45:16, but I’m happy with 45:41. It was a cool experience. The multiple races at the Cowtown end up totaling around 15,000 runners, so the energy in downtown was absurd and exciting. Keith Peeler joined us and decided to Twit the entire experience. It was quite humorous to get my phone in the car after the race and see a string of Twitter messages from Keith, including pictures! What a great idea!

I’ve been meaning to write about my running journey over the past few months, but haven’t found time to. It’s become a valuable part of my day/week and losing 40lbs has been an encouragement in pretty much all areas of life. I would post before and after pictures, but then I’d be jumping in the deep end of the narcissism pool…. because running and losing weight wasn’t about looking better or impressing people, but something deep down inside of me knew that eating a bunch of junk 24/7 and sitting on my rear watching TV wasn’t good for my soul. 

And I’m not pretentious enough to write dumb stuff like “we were meant to run” or “running puts us in touch with God,” because that’s not really true at all. I guess running could be a “spiritual” activity for some, but it’s not for everyone. Don’t do it because it’s trendy, or because someone else is doing it, or even just to lose weight. There are lots of ways to lose weight. Run because you want to, because you enjoy it, and because you’ll think about it until you do.

God is the Pilot

I’m not a fan of clichés. 

They often spoil our stories and thoughts, trivializing them and heaping upon them all of the baggage associate with clichés. They can make a great point seem rather trite, as we all struggle to break the barrier between “been there, heard that” and “wow, what an amazing thought!’.

So I hope this isn’t as cliché as I feel it is.

If it’s true that Faith at its core is just Trust, then perhaps thinking about God as a pilot is helpful. 

Because when I repeatedly get on planes to fly across the country, I place a requisite amount of trust in the pilot’s hands. I don’t tend to struggle with trusting a pilot, because if I did I’d fly much less. And though I joke about being scared of flying in the midst of all the bad news recently, I really know that I’m safe on a plane (generically speaking).

But here’s the thing: if God is like a pilot, and he’ll take us somewhere if we just put our trust in Him and get on the plane, then why do we have so many people (in our churches) that seem to struggle with living by Faith. 

Maybe… they don’t like where the plane is headed. 

this is why I’m a failure

The following is a picture I took in the hallway of our seminary building. Every day, someone gets paid to change these signs. It’s a part of their job responsibility to make sure that the classroom assignments are posted clearly, not just on this one sign but on several boards near entryways around the facility. Observe:

It’s Wednesday. We started classes a week ago. We’ve been in this same classroom since Monday (we changed classes halfway through), and we knew that we’d be here everyday. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind in our class that we would be in Room 260 for the duration.

I say: Then why is the sign still up?

And that is the perfect metaphor for why I suck at ministry.

Now, I don’t really want to think I suck at ministry, but I’m saying that there are some things I don’t do as well as others. Caring about the professional nature of things like signs is something I regularly neglect. 

Not sure why, I guess it’s just not the way I’m wired. I would have, 100% without question, have stopped putting that sign up after day 1. 

But someone gets paid to put that sign up. And someone, or multiple someones, cares deeply that the signs are all hung correctly and in a timely manner. 

And part of me really, really wants to say “who cares about the sign?” But the sign may be important. Communication is important because it can facilitate belonging. It can help people connect much more seamlessly than if there was no sign. 

I want to confess that I’m trying. I want to be better at remembering the details, at doing all things well (big & small). Truth be told, the more I thought about that sign the more it reminded me about what I’m passionate about vs. what I’m not passionate about.

I’m passionate about learning and about people and about growth, but not always about details. But details are important, and someone has to take care of them. The beautiful thing is that the team I work with is structured to help us lead from our strengths and help each other cover our weaknesses. This is why I love my job, my team, and ministry. 

Thank you, friends, for helping a failure succeed.

Portland in a nutshell

new. friends. life. laughing. wine. encouraging. mac&cheese. indulgence. dessert. conversation. sharing. growing. culture. old.

What Hurts the Most

I don’t usually like stealing stuff and just throwing it on the blog, but this was too good to pass up. I’ve laughed my head off several times just thinking about this video. 

Unbelievable. Watch it again.