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Incarnation

December 25th, 2009 No comments

Christmas is about incarnation.

In the history of creation, there is not a more significant event than when YHWH is incarnated among his people in the form of a helpless baby in the manger.  Love comes near.  Presence is the linchpin to redemption.  The restoration of humanity comes when God takes his place in the nitty-grittyness of daily life.

God is found not in the temple, or in the mighty cosmos, but in the sweaty stinky filth of a manger.  A perfect blend of sacred and secular.  It is through the ordinary and the forgotten that salvation finally comes.  The path is ignoble and not paved in gold.  Those first reached are not the holy, but the mundane.

This is the mode of operation YHWH chooses to use.  The incarnation points to the God we serve.  It calls us to a way of living and loving in its simple form.  Even now God uses a fallen people to be his agents of redemption.  The mission of the church is reflected in this: incarnation.  God is found in and among his people as they are found among the poor and marginalized.  Presence.

Evil in conquered and hope is restored through the weakness of a infant born to teenage peasants in a world of oppression.

Incarnation.

Sins of the Church

December 22nd, 2009 4 comments

A few days ago I asked, “Are the sins of the church more grievous for those who believe in God or those who do not?”  Now I want to take the time to unpack that a bit more.

Regardless of who you are or where you come from, it is not hard to find things to criticize the church for: There is the clergy sexual abuse cases and financial scandals.  You have the stories of people like Jimmy Swaggart and Ted Haggard.  There is corruption and abuse of power at every level.  Countless Christian churches and organizations are known more for their hate and bigotry than their love.  We have pastors who wear Rolexes while people starve.  And all of this happens in the name of God.

So who should find this more appalling?  Is this type of behavior more troublesome for Christians or for those who do not beleive?

On one hand, those who have experienced the radical love and grace of Jesus should find these acts particularly disturbing because they tarnish the face of Christianity.  If you have found your life woven into the tapestry of the Christian story then stains on the fabric reflect and affect you.  Only those who fully grasp the message can realize just how contradictory these corporate sins are.

Yet on the other hand, if you reject the story of God and Christianity, the inconsistencies are even more glaring.  There are been countless acts of violence and hate committed in the name of God.  How much worse are those acts if God does not even exist.  It is one thing to bomb an abortion clinic if you are doing it because you think you are purifying society in God’s name.  But, if there is no God then these actions are completely lacking justification.

It is one thing for pastors to live extravagant lives built upon people’s tithes (literally money given to God) if they think it is justified by scripture.  But, if God does not exist then these people are diverting people’s charity without furthering any noble cause.

I don’t have the answer to these questions, but I can say this.  As I have allowed myself to wrestle with the notion that there may not be an all powerful God who is active in creation, I find my displeasure with the church exponentially increasing.  If God does not exist then humanity has spent an inordinate amount of time and resources on petty and self-seeking things when those same resources could have been leveraged to bettering all of creation.

Just think if we had built hospitals and schools instead of sanctuaries and steeples.  What if we had sent people to heal the sick instead of convert the heathens?    Imagine a world where instead of paying pastors we paid to provide clean drinking water and basic health care to all people.

Only those inside the church can understand the true message of the church and realize the depth of grace, love and forgiveness this institution is called to.  But at the same time, we need to hear the voice of those on the outside as they lament what could have been.

Mikayla on the Move

December 21st, 2009 No comments

Beth and I have known for a while that we need to have the house “baby-proofed.”  We are also chronic procrastinators which of course means we wait until things are immediate needs and not just distant threats.  Well Mikayla is on the move now and we have had to follow through.  Just take a look:

We can no longer sit her in the middle of the room and expect her to be there when we get back.  Not only can she crawl across the house in a matter of seconds, she has always been inquisitive and her new mobility has only served to heighten this.  Now we keep small items off the floor, our electrical cords are (usually) put away and we have a baby gate we can put up when we need it.

Of course the epitome of baby-proofing gear is the outlet plug.  We bought several packs and dutifully installed them throughout the house.  As you can see below, that sure did us a lot of good:

From install to defeat it is less than 10 seconds.  If you take it down to the frame-by-frame analysis you will find Mikayla has an impressive removal time of less than 2 seconds.  Unbelievable!

However you look at it, I can’t help but think this reveals some traits my daughter has picked up from me.  She is curious about how things work; she likes to live dangerously; and unfortunately she knows what she isn’t supposed to do yet she still wants to do it.

Hopefully she will pick up some of my good habits as well!

Categories: Family Tags: , , , ,

Pain of War told with Sand

December 10th, 2009 No comments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOhf3OvRXKg

[Video Link]

In the above video, Kseniya Simonova, a Ukrainian artist who just won Ukraine’s version of “America’s Got Talent” uses a giant light box, dramatic music, imagination and “sand painting” skills to interpret Germany’s invasion and occupation of Ukraine during WWII.

You would think that a medium such as sand would not lend itself to being graphic, but the pain of war is clearly conveyed through her finger strokes.

Take the time to watch the whole video.  At first you will be captivated by her skill, but very quickly you will drawn in by the story of the invasion and the subsequent pain and tragedy.

Categories: Thoughts Tags: , , , ,

The Masturbating Church

December 7th, 2009 8 comments

Masturbation is the epitome of selfishness and represents the degradation and perversion of something selfless and beautiful.  Unfortunately the church (especially in America) can, and often does, display this same behavior.

However you look at it, masturbation is completely self-pleasing.  There is no consideration of others; all actions are based on selfish desires that are fulfilled in the easiest way possible.  It is often based in fantasies that are degrading and show fictive dominance.  It replaces relationships with internal transactions.  What is most troubling is that masturbation is based on something that is sacred and special: the sexual relationship between two people who love each other.  Sex provides intimate depth to relationships and has the potential to be an amazing example of self-less mutual pleasure.  Masturbation short-circuits all of this.

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I have been in too many situations where local churches also short-circuit a beautiful design and replace it with something self-seeking.  The church is called to be the bride of Christ, the very hands and feet of an incarnate God.  The church is God’s agent of reconciliation in this hurting world.  The church is called to see a a better world and to partner with God to bring that about.  The church should be an outpost of hope by being a collection of broken people who find hope and direction in the promise of something more.  Yet all of this can get traded for a structure that is self-pleasing, lacks consideration for others, seeks easy fulfillment for selfish desires, can be degrading and dominant, and replaces relationships with internal transactions.  The existence of many churches is nothing more than a source of masturbatory fulfillment for its members.

This critique is most evident when one explores the finances of most churches.  Members “tithe” and “give their money to God” yet if you follow the paper trail, most of that money comes back to the members.  It is like a pay-as-you-can country club.    Consider this:

  • In the United States roughly 1/3 of all tax-deductible donations went to houses of worship.
  • That amounts to over 103 BILLION dollars ($130,000,000,000.00)
  • Of that, “85 percent of all church activity and funds are directed toward the internal operations of the congregation”
  • That means “Christians” spend over 87 BILLION dollars, money that was supposedly “given to God,” to benefit themselves.

According to a recent Christianity Today article:

The money given by the people in the pews, it turns out, is largely spent on the people in the pews. Only about 3 percent of money donated to churches and ministries went to aiding or ministering to non-Christians.

Talk about self-pleasuring!

It is troubling enough to see how selfish church budgets actually are. But, what is most devastating and deceptive is the fact that we do this in the name of God and think we are fulfilling his will.  We take the image of being faithful and stroke our own desires and needs with it.  We convince ourselves we are being self-sacrificing, but at the end of the day we are only meeting our own needs (not only within the church, but our need to feel we have contributed).

Lifeway Research presents similar findings.
Lifeway Research presents similar findings.

It goes beyond just money.  Think about volunteer work within the church.  In your congregation what percent of opportunities to serve are simply tasks that are necessary to perpetuate the current structure.  Are these things actually furthering the Kingdom of God, or are they simply making sure we can enjoy the worship services and opportunities we have come to expect.

This self-seeking understanding of church and Christianity is deeply ingrained in how we think:

  • We choose churches where the worship matches our preferences and the pastors are entertaining.
  • We expect churches to provide programs that meet our needs.
  • Welcome gifts are the norm – we are literally spending money on people so that they are more likely to join our selfish structure.  Tell me this, if someone comes in church with real hurt and needs redemption, is a coffee cup going to heal them?
  • We market our churches (intentionally and unintentionally) so that we can appeal to the aesthetic needs of people and not the spiritual needs of people.
  • Our sermons tend to focus on feel-good motivation and “practical application” and often avoids the difficult reality of who we are and we are called to be.  There is no expectation of real sacrifice.
  • Very few churches reflect the diverse tapestry of the communities they serve.  How often do prostitutes and CEOs find themselves in the same Sunday School class?

We expect churches to meet our needs.  And by participating we not only personally reap the benefits, but we feel like we are fulfilling our spiritual obligations.  Instead of spiritual masturbating in private, we flaunt it in public, which makes it all the more disgusting.

Church Staff and Porn

If we are going to explore the nature of the church, we have to be willing to examine how church staffs operate.  The typical church budget pays out 50% for staff salaries.  A full half of our giving goes to pay professional spiritual people.  If churches themselves are examples of auto-erotic hedonism, then I believe the way we view church staff is not much different than the way individuals use pornography.

  • Porn employs professionals to “do the dirty work” so actual relationships are not needed.
  • Porn stimulates you so feel like you are in the experience when actually you have no real connection to what is going on.
  • Porn is on demand you can call on it when you need to.  They work to fulfill your needs.
  • Porn stars fake it so you get a better show.

Having worked at a church for several years, I know first hand that these are true of how staff are utilized as well.

  • Parishioners feel like they are connected to “God’s Work” because they pay the salaries of people to actually do the things.  There is little need connect with actual people.  We expect the pastor to visit the sick, study the word, pray with the dying, help the needy.  As long as someone is doing those things we feel fulfilled.
  • We expect church staff to not only do our spiritual dirty work, but also to meet our needs.  As long as our kids have good programming, the sermon is not boring and worship is engaging, we are happy.  We are more likely to criticize a pastor for not providing us with what we expect than we are to criticize the work they do beyond the walls of the church.
  • Church staff members know they have to make things look good.  “Spiritual” words are sown into conversations to make things appear to be more important than they are.  We call mundane upkeep “ministry” so that people don’t realize we are still just reinforcing a selfish structure.

Don’t get me wrong, I know a good number of pastors and staff members who are embodying and expanding the incarnational love of Christ.  We can’t blame staff for the problems of the church — we are all in this together.  That being said, we must all acknowledge that paying pastors 6 figures while ignoring the plight of the poor and marginalize can be described as nothing short of sin.

Conclusion

In a world where 30,000 children die every day of preventable diseases, malnutrition and unclean water, and where the poorest 40 percent of the world’s population accounts for only 5 percent of global income, it is unacceptable for the church to sit around pleasuring itself.  We can no longer be content with a view of Christianity that encourages selfishness while feeding the illusion of spiritual depth and community impact.  If the result of our involvement in church is that we feel better about ourselves, but do not understand how we can participate in the larger redemptive work of a loving God, then we are done nothing more than masturbated our needs and egos in the name of Christ.

Self

November 29th, 2009 1 comment

“Self” is a prism of directionless ambiguity, yet it drives us.

We view the world through it, yet fail to understand how that same world shapes it.

“Self” is developed by the same personal and societal forces it is called to interpret.

We cannot perceive the world until we perceive our selves.

The Inner Beauty of a 6 Month Old

November 19th, 2009 1 comment

I think I have the most beautiful daughter in the world.  Just check out this picture from Halloween:

2009-October and November 177

Every chance I get, I tell her she is beautiful.  Beth and I constantly ask ourselves, “Honestly, could she get any cuter?”  I feel like we were playing Russian Roulette with my looks being in the gene pool, and luckily she turned out pretty good looking (if in 10 years she has a uni-brow and a beard, you know who to blame).

But I will be honest with you, sometimes I worry about her being so beautiful.  Will she grow up and be vain?  Will she have difficulty understanding inner beauty because she always possessed outer beauty?  If (when) her outer beauty fades, will she allow it to bother her?

I ask these questions but at the end of the day I don’t really worry about them.  That’s because Mikayla has an amazing personality for a baby. She is content and inquisitive.  She would rather smile than cry.  She enjoys company and can play alone.

In fact, instead of worrying about her, I have found she has many things she can teach me.

  • The joy of discovery – I am going to take credit for her constant fascination with everything around her.  I am pretty sure she gets spirit of inquiry from me.  However, whereas I usually approach things with a great deal of skepticism, Mikayla also approaches new things with joy and wonder.  She is excited about every new thing…. even when it turns out she does not like it (like with avocados).  Sometimes my own questioning brings about negativity.  I wish I were more like Mikayla and could find joy in every question and discovery.
  • Approach everything with a smile – Mikayla’s first response to a situation is to smile.  It doesn’t matter if it is her mother reaching for her, or someone she has never met.  She is always happy to see you.  This is even true of things that might threaten her.  Our dog sometimes get skitish when Mikayla is on the floor.  Sometimes Shiloh will bark at her.  Still though, she smiles and laughs and loves.  If only I were so accepting.
  • Explore your possibilities, but be content where you are – Mikayla is usually very happy where ever she is, whether it in her crib, on the floor, in someone’s arms, or in her car seat.  At the same time though, she is always looking around and exploring every nook and cranny.  However, she does not allow that inquiry to make her discontent.  She wants to know what’s on the other side of the crib, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t enjoy it there.  Mikayla uses the discovery process to better understand her current situation – not simply to try and replace it.  I wish I could have such an attitude.
  • Let people know when you are hurting and how they can help – Beth and I have learned Mikayla’s various cries.  She lets us know when she is hungry or tired or has gas or when she just wants to be held.  She is able to tell us how we can help her.   Looking at myself, that is something I need to do better.  Even when I know I am hurting, it is rare for me to let people into my world so they can know how they can help me.
    There is plenty we can learn from babies.  Unfortunately instead of letting them teach us, we all to often try to make them see things our way.  I hope in the years to come I can be a loving and effective teacher for my beautiful daughter, but more importantly, I hope I can always be her student and let her constantly teach me.

Mikayla @ 6 Months

November 18th, 2009 2 comments

Every new parent comments on how quick their baby grows up.  It is true.  In 6 months Mikayla has doubled in size and transformed from being a fully dependant infant who couldn’t even keep her head up, to being an inquisitive, alert baby who now eats solid foods and always seems to be in a good mood.

Along the way we have taken a few pictures of her with a stuffed giraffe so we could better appreciate her transformation. (Beth has some earlier shots here.)  Here is where we have come from and where we are:

Mikayla 096 2009-11-18 6 month 005

 

In addition to the giraffe pictures, we have our good friend Dallas Gillaim take some 6-month shots of Mikayla up on the hill at WKU.  If you will remember, he also took Mikayla’s newborn pictures.

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The Trap

November 12th, 2009 No comments
Title Screen from The Trap

Title Screen from "The Trap"

Go ahead… carve out 3 hours from your day.  You are going to want to watch this.  The following is a three part documentary produced by Adam Curtis and originally aired on the BBC.  It follows the philosophical underpinnings that have guided the way we understand the world for the past century and how that has affected everything from foreign policy to personal health to our notion of productivity.  The whole series hinges on how we understand the concepts of freedom and liberty.  This is quite timely given the political climate of the day and the obvious disconnect between various wings of society.  I have embedded a YouTube playlist for each episode so you can watch it through.  I have also included notes on each episode… but trust me, you want to watch the whole thing.

Episode 1 – Fuck You Buddy

I am sorry if the title offends you (if it makes things better… I was introduced to this documentary through a seminary class that required we watch it).  The title comes from an experiment developed by John Nash (the lead character in A Beautiful Mind) which supposed that the world operated best when people were selfish.  This segment details how game theory and other mathematical formulas convinced the world that the best way to view humanity was through a lens of suspicion where all people were obviously in it for themselves and every decision was motivated by self-interest and preservation.  This was the dominate mindset in the Cold War Era.  When we approach the whole world through a lens of distrust, it is amazing (and unfortunate) how we view society.

[Watch on YouTube]

Episode 2 – The Lonely Robot

In this episode Curtis continues to explore our desire for society and people to be predictable.  Perhaps it is a desire to understand, or perhaps it is a desire to control.  He looks at the development of the mental health field and our own understanding of what it means to be “normal.”  From here he explores the consequences of a world where everyone strives for an ideal that is, at best, arbitrary.  Curtis follows how this emphasis on standards spiraled out of control in a vain attempt to maximize productivity in all sectors… even if the measurements were pure conjecture.  These ideas (however flawed) were monumental in ushering in a new understanding of the free market.

[Watch on YouTube]

Episode 3 – We will Force you to be Free

After exploring the way we view ourselves and human nature, Curtis begins in earnest to explore our ideas of freedom.  Specifically he examines the concepts of Negative Liberty and Positive Liberty as made popular by Isaiah Berlin.  Negative Liberty is a freedom from coercion while Positive Liberty is the freedom to achieve one’s true potential.  The prior has been deemed the “safest” because the later has historically required force and oppression to bring about.  However,  following the path of negative liberty to its logical conclusions, as governments have done in the West for the past 50 years, results in a society without meaning populated only by selfish automatons.  The answer then must be a peaceful pursuance of Positive Liberty.

[Watch on YouTube]

Adam Curtis has always been known for producing provocative documentaries.  I am sure he overstates some items in this program and under reports others.  However, this program forces the viewer to examine the way in which they view the world and requires them to acknowledge how their understanding of society affects their interactions with it.

Easy Hot Cocoa from Scratch

November 9th, 2009 No comments

My wife is usually the one who makes posts about recipes, but tonight I cooked up something of my own that was worth posting.   We were wanting some hot chocolate and lamenting the fact that all we had was raw cocoa powder and most recipes we found online were fairly complex.  So we improvised and things turned out really well.  Here is what we came up with.

Ingredients:

  • 3 1/2 cups milk
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Pinch of salt

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients into a  1 quart Nalgene bottle (obviously wide-mouth is the way to go) righten the lid and shake.  After all ingredients are mixed, unscrew the lid but leave it in place.  Microwave for 3-4 minutes until hot.  Serve in mugs with marshmallows. Enjoy.

Of course the Nalgene just makes things easier.  You could always mix the ingredients in a container of your choosing and serve it however you want.