cut-rate theological provocation

over the next couple of weeks there are a number of low-cost theological conversations/presentations/provocations that are taking place. if figuring out how (not) to speak of God is your thing, here are some opportunities to explore.

gordon college's faith seeking understanding welcomes international ethicist andrew bacevich on tuesday, march 23rd and culture making andy crouch on friday, march 26th. these events are free to the public and complimentary coffee will be served to all attenders cloaked in north face.

on tuesday, april 6th ben folds will be unscrolling his bible belt talmud at the house of blues boston. this event would be almost cut-rate if it wasn't for the nefarious ticket master. baby permitting, i'll be there!

on wednesday, april 7th, peter rollins & co are starting an insurrection in kendall square. pete can is a helluva nice guy who can really cook your noodle, or corned beef if that's what you prefer. suggested cover for this event is $10, but real Christians will donate $20.

on thursday, april 8th, john franke is bearing manifold witness at gordon-conwell. he'll be speaking in dr. vidu's emergent church class, which takes place from 1:15-4:15 in the academic center. i'm not sure which classroom is his, so just look for the one that says - uh, i can't say that here - on it.

if you have additional details about these events or know of other cut-rate theological happenings, feel free to drop a comment.

overheard

when joseph finds out that his future bride is pregnant, he is in quite the predicament. what should he do?

"he has some friends just fresh from the synagogue who say, 'just do what the bible says. you can't go wrong with what the bible says.' what about that for an answer? i've heard that all my life. 'just do what the bible says.' well, i will tell you what it says. from deuteronomy 22: 'she is to be taken out and stoned to death in front of the people.' that is what the bible says.

i get sick and tired of people always thumping the bible as though you can just open it up and turn to a passage that clears everything up. you can quote the bible before killing a person to justify the killing. 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' the bible says. do you know what the bible says? 'if a man finds something displeasing in his wife, let him give her a divorce and send her out of the house.' it's in the book. do you know what the bible says? 'let the women keep their heads covered and their mouths shut.' do you want me to find it for you? it's in there. i run into so many people who carry around a forty-three-pound bible and say, 'just do what the book says.'

joseph is a good man, and he rises to a point that is absolutely remarkable for his day and time. he loves the bible and he knows his bible and bless his heart for it. but he reads his bible through a certain kind of lens, the lens of the character and nature of a God who is loving and kind. therefore, he says, 'i will not harm her, abuse her, expose her, shame her, ridicule her, or demean her value, her dignity or her worth. i will protect her.' where does it say that joseph? in your bible? i'll tell you where it says that. it says that in the very nature and character of God.

i am absolutely amazed that joseph is the first person in the new testament who learned how to read his bible. like joseph, we are to read it through the spectacles of grace and the goodness and the love of God." -fred craddock, cherry log sermons, pg. 5

conclusive proof that i am a communist

musing...

"i'm a smudge of excrement on a tissue surging out to sea with a million tons of raw sewage." - miles raymond

a couple of days ago my coworker openly wondered why i could like the hangover when it's not half the movie that sideways is. i immediately retorted that the two movies aren't even in the same genre, much less in the same league. moreover, while i found the hangover mildly amusing there was at least one comedy in 2009 - i love you man - that i preferred.

i'm getting off track.

anyway, as soon as she mentioned sideways i started thinking about miles' derivative despair. i think that the thing i find uncomfortably funny about that scene is how true miles' sentiment is. many of my minutes, hours and days - and infinitely more of my words - are little more than surging excrement. i don't even want to think about how much sewage i've spewed into this world and i fear that at the end of my days i will deliver far more shit than benefit.

however, after reflecting on the verbal sewage that i spew, my mind turned towards prayer. it seems to me that prayer, in this instance especially silent prayer to God for others, is one of the most powerful ways that i can intercede for, find solidarity with and truly love others.

so there you go. an increase in prayer is a decrease in excrement. reflections like this lead me to believe that my paperback of personal devotions might just sell after all.

musing...

at soybean bible there was a preacher who constantly wept while proclaiming the word. i listened to him on a number of occasions and usually walked away frustrated by the way his unkempt emotions obscured his ideas.

times have changed.

now, when i read the poetry of isaiah or hear the penitential psalm on the publican's lips my eyes are often filled with tears. in the study the beauty of God's grace overwhelms me in the most unexpected moments and emotions obscure my mind like the clouds that cloaked sinai.

but when i step out of the study for a cup of coffee or lunch with a friend i cannot seem to bring the beauty with me. often i am saddled with sarcasm and cynicism instead.

in these moments i am so jealous of the old man at soybean and i long for the Spirit to spin me into pitcher that can pour out the grace that sustains me upon this journey.

---

“Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay the closest attention. They are not only telling you something about the secret of who you are, but more often than not God is speaking to you through them of the mystery of where you have come from and is summoning you to where, if your soul is to be saved, you should go to next.” –Uncle Freddy

what is emergent?




that's a good, oft asked question that is being pondered at pastor phil's square no more blog. here's my answer. i'd encourage you to listen to the other answers and offer yours.

overheard

nicholas kristof challenges liberals to set aside "their snobbishness towards faith-based organizations" like world vision and follow evangelicals' lead in sacrificially serving the world.

a truly fascinating article that identifies one of the reasons i'm proud to be an evangelical.

on emergent

on this week's studio 360 kurt anderson explored tino sehgal's provocative new exhibition at the guggenheim in new york.

as visitors enter the exhibition at the bottom of the frank lloyd wright rotunda a young child asks them a simple question, "what is progress?" the viewers either enter the conversation or they don't and they continue up the ramp. further up the ramp the viewers have the opportunity to dialog about the topic with a teenager, an adult and a senior citizen.

as anderson described the exhibition, i couldn't help but think that sehgal's work reminds me of the emergent conversation at its best. although we often meet in spaces far less inspiring than the guggenheim - uno's in porter square anyone? - we too walk together, explore the significant questions of existence with people who were once strangers and, yes, sometimes find ourselves walking in circles.

over the last couple of days i've told anyone who's interested that i think - to rip-off a current book title - emergent is an orientation. after listening to studio 360 i'm starting to think that emergent can be an exhibition as well.

GIMP!



this is one of my favorite ablevision pieces ever! don't miss this opportunity to expand your understanding of gimp beyond the boundaries of pulp fiction and be truly inspired.

little p loves this piece as well. he keeps saying "more dancing, daddy."

overheard

wise lent suggestions for the "evangelicals discovering liturgy crowd."

ht: mother beth

an invitation to communion

maybe it's just lent, but lately i have felt the urge to pray with people and privately much more often.

the last fourteen years of my life - i can't believe it has been that long since i dedicated my life to following Christ - have been characterized by acquisition, application and proclamation of propositions. although i spent some time in the prayer closet at soybean and occasionally led lunchtime prayer at s.h.i.t., most of the time i was buried in the library discovering propositions or sitting down with others to smash our propositions against each other and see what was left standing.

i don't regret (most of) the time i invested in that process, since these propositions have helped give shape and a semblance of direction to my faith. however, it seems to me that a life primarily dedicated to the promulgation of propositions is unlikely to increase communion between individuals, within communities and between adherents of different faiths.

for this reason, i am trying to invest more of my life in prayer and the spiritual practices. on a practical level, i have found that prayer is one of the primary ways i can serve my extended family. years of experience have taught me that sharing unrequited propositions with loved ones is often a road to conflict and separation. however, there is something about the practice of prayer that binds people - even proponents of adversarial propositions and life practices - together.

so many of my mentors - st. francis, henri nouwen, jean vanier and neal windham* - were brilliant men who are known more for their embodiment than their proclamation of the faith. i long to follow in their footsteps.

* jeez, i need to add a woman to add to that list!

check it out...

a church in the stone-campbell tradition for sheep like me. i'm encouraged by the work of pub church and will definitely visit at some point in the near future.




i'd also like to note that the dugout is the new gathering place for the boston emergent cohort. for more info about the cohort, join the facebook group or email kconroy42@gmail.com.

musing...

if pastors' conferences were solely committed to repentance and prayer i might occasionally attend.

reader/response

i dedicated the majority of the weekend to dave eggers' zeitoun, a third-person journalistic narrative that that is eggers' most heartbreaking work of staggering genius yet.

abdulrahman zeitoun - a syrian immigrant, successful contractor, dedicated husband & father of four - remained in new orleans during katrina in order to care for his business and protect the family home. in the days that follows he uses a second hand canoe and his dwindling resources to rescue the stranded, care for the abandoned and intentionally embody the mercy of God.

when the government that is unable to serve citizens in distress proves perfectly capable of indiscriminate condemnation, zeitoun endures a storm he never saw coming. .

this is a remarkable story of the experiences that bind us together and the fear that tears us apart. highly, highly recommended.

musing...

on friday afternoon i was chatting online with a friend who is planting a church in san fran. after catching up on the vitals i started into my standard lament about the exaltation of pragmatism in the megachurch and noted - for the thousandth time...my friends suffer me far too graciously - that open source disciples are often unwelcome in these apple inspired systems.

then i realized that the change i desire in the church is insubstantial compared to the change that is required in my heart.

thank God for lent and forbearing friends.

if you drop it, it doesn’t break

i had a meeting earlier this week with an old friend who is a job developer. when we started making plans for a future meeting, i asked his leave to go pick up my laptop so that i could update my schedule. in response to my request he picked up his plain black daytimer – as i’ve seen him do before a class of job seekers many times before – dropped it on the table and said: ‘why don’t you get you one of these? if you drop it, it doesn’t break.’

over the past few years I’ve explored the rich devotional practices of diverse christian traditions. i’ve loved the lectio, prayed the way of a pilgrim, learned the spirituality of cleaning toilets at l’arche and have worked to make many of these practices my own.

however, recently i’ve found myself returning to the practices that were prescribed in my youth – namely, ‘read your bible, pray every day and you’ll grow, grow, grow!’ i haven’t returned to these practices to assuage personal guilt,* but because that spiritual ground has been composted, tilled and nurtured by my forbears and, in a very real sense, this devotional practice feels like home.

on several occasions recently, i’ve heard that jonny baker – an alt.worship leader in Britain – talks about his path as that of a ‘loyal radical.’ i haven’t read baker at length on that topic, but that path sounds a lot like my own.

* at least I hope not!

overheard

“…for these reasons I named my truck Ghost Dancing, a heavy-handed symbol alluding to the ceremonies of the 1890s in which the Plains Indians, wearing cloth shirts they believed rendered them indestructible, danced for the return of the warriors, bison, and the fervor of the old life that would sweep away the new. Ghost dances, desperate resurrection rituals, were the dying rattles of a people whose last defense was delusion – about all that remained to them in their futility.”

–William Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways

There are Sundays when my worship is compelled by confidence in Scripture, Christian tradition and the Godhead’s presence. However, there are plenty of other Sundays when standing to sing, reciting the creed and ingesting Jesus feels more like a desperate resurrection ritual than anything else. My prayer is that, whether I shuffle forward in desperation or step smartly with confidence, I will continue to dance*.

* in a completely metaphorical sense, mind you.

hmph

took me over four hours to piece myself together. must be a metaphor, story or sermon illustration in there somewhere.

musing...

i've been in a bit of a funk lately. kellie has been out of town, bi-vocational ministry is working out about as beautifully as the crack in my ass and although work hasn't devolved into a joshua ferris novel, i've had better months.

when i picked preston up from a friend's house late last night she told me that preston had not eaten well at lunch. i quickly quipped: "i doubt he'll starve" and she parried, "at least not in this country."

at least not in this country.

although her comment did not break my malaise, i have been thinking about it ever since. relative safety, abundant resources, true friends, solid family, meaningful work, divine reconciliation, a relatively drama-free community. since God has supplied more than i need for mission, i best not spend too many more days moping.

celebrate safely