It is far to easy to get sucked into politics! There is something to the pull of possible institutional change to protect the lives of the unborn, promote social justice, stand up for marriage and taking care of the “least of these”. But our hope is not in government or governance.
When I read the papers today there are several back page articles about the religious right and how church people voted. One gets the idea that influencing government is the main focus of religious voters—and I hear no Christians correcting the line of thinking.
Jesus is our focus. Jesus is what is most important. Jesus is our hope. Jesus is our joy. Jesus is our main priority, the key thought on our minds, that main point of our conversation, the receiver of our devotion. Jesus is the direction of our energy because only Jesus can truly influence people—not government.
Why is this such a novel concept? Why is the religious right know by being anti-gay marriage and pro-life and not known by JESUS?!?
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Monday, July 10, 2006
Aim At Christ
I stole this right off Gary Friesen’s blog…but thought it had some good thoughts.
Friesen Fortnightly
Sunday July 9 2006
Paul's Bullseye
Dear Family & Friends,
It is always a privilege to speak at Imago Dei Community and today was no exception. We are going through Romans and my portion was 13:8-14. The Big Idea: We owe a debt of love right now to be the hands of feet of Jesus in Portland. Paul says to owe nobody nothin, but to love your neighbor. Such love fulfills all the commands toward our neighbor (8-10). It is urgent. For Paul says the night of this present age is well-spent and the day of Christ's coming gets nearer every day. So now is the time to wake up, and put on the armor of light. This eye on eternity will prepare us for today. (11-12). Finally, he urges us to act like the future day has broken into the present and put away drunkenness and sexual immorality. This process can best be described as putting on the Lord Jesus Christ (13-14). We get things backwards. Aim at Law and get guilt. Aim at today and it will pass away. Aim at purity and fall short. Paul gets the order right. Aim at Love and get the Law thrown in. Aim at Eternity and get the present thrown in. Aim at Christ and get purity thrown in.
Garry
Friesen Fortnightly
Sunday July 9 2006
Paul's Bullseye
Dear Family & Friends,
It is always a privilege to speak at Imago Dei Community and today was no exception. We are going through Romans and my portion was 13:8-14. The Big Idea: We owe a debt of love right now to be the hands of feet of Jesus in Portland. Paul says to owe nobody nothin, but to love your neighbor. Such love fulfills all the commands toward our neighbor (8-10). It is urgent. For Paul says the night of this present age is well-spent and the day of Christ's coming gets nearer every day. So now is the time to wake up, and put on the armor of light. This eye on eternity will prepare us for today. (11-12). Finally, he urges us to act like the future day has broken into the present and put away drunkenness and sexual immorality. This process can best be described as putting on the Lord Jesus Christ (13-14). We get things backwards. Aim at Law and get guilt. Aim at today and it will pass away. Aim at purity and fall short. Paul gets the order right. Aim at Love and get the Law thrown in. Aim at Eternity and get the present thrown in. Aim at Christ and get purity thrown in.
Garry
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Grace and Holiness
I know it has been a while…sorry. I have been thinking about this since Easter.
The following is from the Meet the Press that aired on Easter Sunday. It was a panel discussion on various topics that ranged from religious progressivism to why the political “right” seems to have a monopoly on religious perspective.
The panel was quite ecumenical and brilliant, save the dope from a “mega” church. It was sad to see the “evangelical” focus on feel-good-ism and not Jesus. But what else do we expect from American Protestant consumerism that assumes away Jesus to get butts in the pew!
Mr. Russert asked Father Neuhaus if all people were welcome in the Catholic Church and his answer was beautiful—it was filled with Jesus. The following is an excerpt of his answer. At times it does not flow well (in a written forum because it was an oral discussion) but I hope you can get the since of his argument, especially the points I emphasis. It serves as a brilliant synthesis of grace and holiness:
REV. FATHER NEUHAUS: “Here comes everybody”; otherwise known as a holy mother church, and a very promiscuous mother indeed, who reaches out to everybody. And as our Lord said, you know, “He came not to be served, but to serve.” And the church is the embodiment of Christ, the body of Christ. Now at that same time, we are sinners who are forgiven sinners and called to be saints. And so there is a universal call to holiness and entering in to the church is not simply to be entertained and spiritually uplifted and to find little, you know, spiritual tricks that make you feel good. It is a call to follow Jesus, and that is a most demanding and challenging call. As he said to the disciples, “Take up your cross and follow me. In this people will know that you love me, that you obey my commandments. There is not greater love than this, than to lay down your life.”
The struggling with that, what does it mean to respond to the universal call to holiness? What does it mean to walk the way of the cross? And there, thank God, there are a great diversity of ways. You call them apostolates, careisms, whatever, and they don’t fit any left, right, liberal, conservative kind of template at all. I mean, what was Mother Theresa? A conservative, a liberal? It just doesn’t make any sense to, to talk in those terms. You’re talking about people who have been, in the words of the great John Paul the Great, who history will surely call John Paul the Great, and he said, you know, to all these in the World Youth Days—I was talking to an old man once in Poland who had known John Paul when he was still—before he was still a priest, and I said, “What is it that is this electrically charged relationship between John Paul and these hundreds of thousands and millions of young people that gather on these World Youth Days?” And he says, “Oh, it’s very simple.” He says, “Lolek”—that was his nickname—“Lolek has just been saying the same thing for all these years. He just finds a thousand different ways to say it.” And so I said, “Well what is that?” And he says, “Well, what he is saying to these young people is settle for nothing less than moral and spiritual greatness. That’s what God created you for, and don’t cheat yourself.”
And I think that’s right. And that’s the invitation of the Catholic Church. Here comes everybody. Wide open, great diversity, disagreements, arguments at times, but all joined by the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ and responding to the universal call to holiness.
The following is from the Meet the Press that aired on Easter Sunday. It was a panel discussion on various topics that ranged from religious progressivism to why the political “right” seems to have a monopoly on religious perspective.
The panel was quite ecumenical and brilliant, save the dope from a “mega” church. It was sad to see the “evangelical” focus on feel-good-ism and not Jesus. But what else do we expect from American Protestant consumerism that assumes away Jesus to get butts in the pew!
Mr. Russert asked Father Neuhaus if all people were welcome in the Catholic Church and his answer was beautiful—it was filled with Jesus. The following is an excerpt of his answer. At times it does not flow well (in a written forum because it was an oral discussion) but I hope you can get the since of his argument, especially the points I emphasis. It serves as a brilliant synthesis of grace and holiness:
REV. FATHER NEUHAUS: “Here comes everybody”; otherwise known as a holy mother church, and a very promiscuous mother indeed, who reaches out to everybody. And as our Lord said, you know, “He came not to be served, but to serve.” And the church is the embodiment of Christ, the body of Christ. Now at that same time, we are sinners who are forgiven sinners and called to be saints. And so there is a universal call to holiness and entering in to the church is not simply to be entertained and spiritually uplifted and to find little, you know, spiritual tricks that make you feel good. It is a call to follow Jesus, and that is a most demanding and challenging call. As he said to the disciples, “Take up your cross and follow me. In this people will know that you love me, that you obey my commandments. There is not greater love than this, than to lay down your life.”
The struggling with that, what does it mean to respond to the universal call to holiness? What does it mean to walk the way of the cross? And there, thank God, there are a great diversity of ways. You call them apostolates, careisms, whatever, and they don’t fit any left, right, liberal, conservative kind of template at all. I mean, what was Mother Theresa? A conservative, a liberal? It just doesn’t make any sense to, to talk in those terms. You’re talking about people who have been, in the words of the great John Paul the Great, who history will surely call John Paul the Great, and he said, you know, to all these in the World Youth Days—I was talking to an old man once in Poland who had known John Paul when he was still—before he was still a priest, and I said, “What is it that is this electrically charged relationship between John Paul and these hundreds of thousands and millions of young people that gather on these World Youth Days?” And he says, “Oh, it’s very simple.” He says, “Lolek”—that was his nickname—“Lolek has just been saying the same thing for all these years. He just finds a thousand different ways to say it.” And so I said, “Well what is that?” And he says, “Well, what he is saying to these young people is settle for nothing less than moral and spiritual greatness. That’s what God created you for, and don’t cheat yourself.”
And I think that’s right. And that’s the invitation of the Catholic Church. Here comes everybody. Wide open, great diversity, disagreements, arguments at times, but all joined by the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ and responding to the universal call to holiness.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
A Prayer for the Tired (from Isaiah 40)*
May your circumstances smooth out (vs. 3-5)
May you experience His holding you close (vs. 11)
May you look up at Him and see that He cares (vs. 26,27)
I pray not that you would soar above the situation, not that you would run through it but that would be able to “walk and not be faint” (vs. 28-31)
(* click on the title for a link to the passage—Isaiah 40)
May you experience His holding you close (vs. 11)
May you look up at Him and see that He cares (vs. 26,27)
I pray not that you would soar above the situation, not that you would run through it but that would be able to “walk and not be faint” (vs. 28-31)
(* click on the title for a link to the passage—Isaiah 40)
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Ash Wednesday
Tomorrow, March 1, is Ash Wednesday, a day of repentance and reflection. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, the forty-days before Easter. In counting the days of Lent, Sunday’s are skipped. Accordingly, Lent ends on the Saturday before Easter, April 15.
Traditionally, Lent started as a time of dedication for those wishing to get baptized on Easter. These new disciples would focus on Christ’s teachings and doctrines of the church. Because these disciples would become members of the church, at baptism, the whole congregation took the season of Lent to affirm their praxis.
As a season for penitence, self-denial, study and preparation for Easter, I think Lent can be a great opportunity to focus on Jesus in a way that the normal ebb and flow of our lives do not normally allow. In this light you might want to “give up” or fast from something during Lent.
Lent can serve as a wonderful interruption to the rhythm of life. You might want to use the links provided (see the tool bar "Daily Office Links" on the right of the page) to worship through the Scriptures and prayers on a daily basis—maybe at the same time every day. Even if you come to this discussion late, please feel free to pray through joining in on the experience!
God Bless—Peace,
Dustin
Traditionally, Lent started as a time of dedication for those wishing to get baptized on Easter. These new disciples would focus on Christ’s teachings and doctrines of the church. Because these disciples would become members of the church, at baptism, the whole congregation took the season of Lent to affirm their praxis.
As a season for penitence, self-denial, study and preparation for Easter, I think Lent can be a great opportunity to focus on Jesus in a way that the normal ebb and flow of our lives do not normally allow. In this light you might want to “give up” or fast from something during Lent.
Lent can serve as a wonderful interruption to the rhythm of life. You might want to use the links provided (see the tool bar "Daily Office Links" on the right of the page) to worship through the Scriptures and prayers on a daily basis—maybe at the same time every day. Even if you come to this discussion late, please feel free to pray through joining in on the experience!
God Bless—Peace,
Dustin
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Ash Wednesday is March 1—the start of Lent on the Church calendar
Hello friends,
Lent is coming so I am going to post a modified version of the daily office on the blog. (I say modified in the attempt to no offend any high church friends who might stop by our discussion and because the form and material will change). In case you forgot or do not know the daily office is part of the liturgy, which is how most Christians (in the world and in history) have expressed worship of/to Jesus.
If you want the material will be available for your prayer or devotional time or just to simulate thought and discussion. In fact it would be great if we had a dialogue about what we like or did not like in the structure or verses or prayers. Feel free to be as “creative” as you want with this material…for example in preparation light a candle as a symbol of your prayer, or create something artistic as a result of the time with Jesus or let us know of how you are being creative and inspired.
Blessings,
Dustin
Lent is coming so I am going to post a modified version of the daily office on the blog. (I say modified in the attempt to no offend any high church friends who might stop by our discussion and because the form and material will change). In case you forgot or do not know the daily office is part of the liturgy, which is how most Christians (in the world and in history) have expressed worship of/to Jesus.
If you want the material will be available for your prayer or devotional time or just to simulate thought and discussion. In fact it would be great if we had a dialogue about what we like or did not like in the structure or verses or prayers. Feel free to be as “creative” as you want with this material…for example in preparation light a candle as a symbol of your prayer, or create something artistic as a result of the time with Jesus or let us know of how you are being creative and inspired.
Blessings,
Dustin
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Reminder to Myself
Jesus/Grace
Emergent/Missional
These are the foundation for our dialogue here…I just wanted to remind myself.
Regarding grace…
I have been thinking through the frailty of our souls. The context of this thought process is the Hebrew (and Greek for that matter) understanding of our Souls. Soul is our life source/breath as opposed to Spirit, which is that which related to God. In this Biblical paradigm only humans have Spirit; however, other animals have soul. No worries at our not being unique only humans received their non-material being from the very breath of God. Look it up Bible scholars if you take issue.
Our soul then is our humanness or human lifeness. (Oh well let me make up words.) Granted soul and Spirit are so intertwined we cannot divide them (see Hebrews I think). Still because Hebrew and Greek have two distinct words for each so I think it is a valuable observation.
So I have been thinking through the frailty of our souls especially as represented in the Psalms. For example in Psalm 103 our soul’s praising of YHWH is steeped in His grace for us even though we are sinful (vs. 3) and sick (vs. 3) and previously dwellers of the pit (vs. 4) i.e., frail. His response to us is no less then a paradox (from our human perspective—because we are frail in our understanding too). To our status in the pit He crowns us with love and compassion. What an unworthy coronation. He also satisfies our desires and renews our youth as the eagle’s.
It is a no brainer but WOW what grace, WOW what a reason for my inmost being to Praise the Lord! Again it is a simple thought that we all know but our all powerful and sovereign and Jesus loves me, a fail human with sin and sickness and…
Emergent/Missional
These are the foundation for our dialogue here…I just wanted to remind myself.
Regarding grace…
I have been thinking through the frailty of our souls. The context of this thought process is the Hebrew (and Greek for that matter) understanding of our Souls. Soul is our life source/breath as opposed to Spirit, which is that which related to God. In this Biblical paradigm only humans have Spirit; however, other animals have soul. No worries at our not being unique only humans received their non-material being from the very breath of God. Look it up Bible scholars if you take issue.
Our soul then is our humanness or human lifeness. (Oh well let me make up words.) Granted soul and Spirit are so intertwined we cannot divide them (see Hebrews I think). Still because Hebrew and Greek have two distinct words for each so I think it is a valuable observation.
So I have been thinking through the frailty of our souls especially as represented in the Psalms. For example in Psalm 103 our soul’s praising of YHWH is steeped in His grace for us even though we are sinful (vs. 3) and sick (vs. 3) and previously dwellers of the pit (vs. 4) i.e., frail. His response to us is no less then a paradox (from our human perspective—because we are frail in our understanding too). To our status in the pit He crowns us with love and compassion. What an unworthy coronation. He also satisfies our desires and renews our youth as the eagle’s.
It is a no brainer but WOW what grace, WOW what a reason for my inmost being to Praise the Lord! Again it is a simple thought that we all know but our all powerful and sovereign and Jesus loves me, a fail human with sin and sickness and…
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Significance
Hello fellow bloggers!
I'm a bit rusty at this, having not posted for awhile, so please forgive me.
I was in discussion with my mentor the other day, and we were discussing something I thought I'd bring to the table here. I recently completed my studies at seminary, and am going through SO many transitions in life right now it just isn't even funny. I asked her to be praying for me as I am feeling slightly as though I have lost some of my significance with my graduating - I'm still nannying, which has HUGE significance, and teaching music lessons, but that is all. I'm not working with youth groups any more, not in the realm of "ministry" at all, for the first time in YEARS. I don't feel insignificant, but feel a loss.
She challenged me that I need to find my significance not in my occupation or what I do, but rather in Christ. Actually, she said that I needed to stop trying to find my significance in things I do and find my significance, definition, and image in the person of Jesus Christ. So here's the thought for blogger discussion - what in the world does that mean and what does it look like? I've heard the whole "identity in Christ" thing, and studied it quite a bit, but significance struck a deeper chord in me than that ever has. Identity is one thing - to me, it's my name, my social security number, things of that nature. But significance - the thing which is bigger than me, longer lasting than me, and which in some odd way justifies my space on this planet and use of it's air. Maybe my definitions are off, maybe I just don't get it yet. Any ideas?
Blessings, Courtney
ps. I appreciate your prayers as I continue to walk the road of health struggles. I have entered the third month of treatment, which means only a little over three months until the surgery. Although we had some bumps in the road at first, we finally found a balance of medications which seem to be working, although we won't really know for sure until they get in me and see. I'm still experiencing some pain, but nothing close to what I was dealing with before we started treatment. Please continue to pray for me these next few months as I deal with the side effects of the medications and focus on strengthening my body and my immune system for surgery in April. Also please continue to pray for me as I struggle with frustration/anger/lack of understanding and faith with the Lord. And if you hear the song "Held" on the radio, think of me. :) Thanks!!
I'm a bit rusty at this, having not posted for awhile, so please forgive me.
I was in discussion with my mentor the other day, and we were discussing something I thought I'd bring to the table here. I recently completed my studies at seminary, and am going through SO many transitions in life right now it just isn't even funny. I asked her to be praying for me as I am feeling slightly as though I have lost some of my significance with my graduating - I'm still nannying, which has HUGE significance, and teaching music lessons, but that is all. I'm not working with youth groups any more, not in the realm of "ministry" at all, for the first time in YEARS. I don't feel insignificant, but feel a loss.
She challenged me that I need to find my significance not in my occupation or what I do, but rather in Christ. Actually, she said that I needed to stop trying to find my significance in things I do and find my significance, definition, and image in the person of Jesus Christ. So here's the thought for blogger discussion - what in the world does that mean and what does it look like? I've heard the whole "identity in Christ" thing, and studied it quite a bit, but significance struck a deeper chord in me than that ever has. Identity is one thing - to me, it's my name, my social security number, things of that nature. But significance - the thing which is bigger than me, longer lasting than me, and which in some odd way justifies my space on this planet and use of it's air. Maybe my definitions are off, maybe I just don't get it yet. Any ideas?
Blessings, Courtney
ps. I appreciate your prayers as I continue to walk the road of health struggles. I have entered the third month of treatment, which means only a little over three months until the surgery. Although we had some bumps in the road at first, we finally found a balance of medications which seem to be working, although we won't really know for sure until they get in me and see. I'm still experiencing some pain, but nothing close to what I was dealing with before we started treatment. Please continue to pray for me these next few months as I deal with the side effects of the medications and focus on strengthening my body and my immune system for surgery in April. Also please continue to pray for me as I struggle with frustration/anger/lack of understanding and faith with the Lord. And if you hear the song "Held" on the radio, think of me. :) Thanks!!
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