GO, GO, for HEAVEN'S SAKE, GO NOW!....................did you go already?

I can not encourage you strongly enough to go to Steve Berg's blog Grow Mercy.

It is choca-block full of amazing insights into the meaning of Christ's sacrifice.

It will astound you, unnerve you, and turn you, and turn you around till you at last come
out right.



Or maybe not but, Hey, it might

So give Steve a visit today at

http://growmercy.org/


It will be time, and intellectual and spiritual energy well spent.


I guarantee it.
(If you want your time back, you can look me up in eternity for the refund. I'll be two blocks East of the Pearly Gates.)




If I need one last point to make the sale
Steve has a post called, pssst, come closer, its called
'The Bible's Sex Issue'
It's a dilly.

I'll see you over at Steve's place.

An Emergent Commentary

Here is a commentary on the book of Amos translated for 2006 I found on the Resonate internet chat space.
I heartily endorse its message.

Willzhead writes a targum from Amos..
Amos, For Our Times
Reading the book of Amos, specifically 5:18-27, inspired the followingpiece.

I wondered what God might say to the contemporary AmericanChurch. This is one suggestion:_____ God, Speaking To the American Church:

You spend too much time thinking about and wishing for the end of theworld. Why are you so anxious to bring about God's judgment? And what kinds of people have you become, thinking the world will end tomorrow?
In your arrogance and laziness you have forgotten why I placed you here.You have endless conferences and seminars on how to do church, but you have forgotten to be the church, a people who faithfully live as analternative community, pointing all people toward Me through lovingservice.
You have grown rich exploiting the poor. You bring a tiny pittance ofthat money back to Me and say, "God, you have been so good to us." But your money smells like crap in My nostrils. It sickens Me and I don't want it. Give it back to the poor from which it came.
You grow more food than you need by destroying the very soil I gave you to tend. You sit down to a sumptuous buffet and say, "Look how God hasblessed us." I have not blessed you. I have left you to your own destruction.
There will come a day when the womb of the earth will no longer produceand the poor will rise up and pledge never to sew a cheap garment again.You will grow hungry and your shopping malls will close. Then you wil lturn to Me and cry, "God, why have you rejected us?" And I will say, "I have not rejected you. I have been here all along, waiting for your return."
So turn your face toward Me now. Seek after Me. Live out My commands. Do you want to be people after My own heart? Then care for the poor, the needy, the marginalized, those for whom My heart has always beat loudly.
Cease your endless Bible studies, searching for the answer to righteous living. Commit yourselves to following what I already told you to do. Don't believe you are pursuing Me if you are not seeking to do justice. Care for the planet. You have become so worried about who might also advocate this course of action that you forgot it was one of My first commandments to you. Tend well what I have given you. Seek the welfare of your community. As people in exile, your future and the future of the place you live are one and the same.
So make yourworld more whole, that you might be more holy. And live in love. I had hoped you would get that message when My Son joined humanity and demonstrated sacrificial love in action. But you are so worried about His return that you forget why He came. Be a people shaped by the model of Jesus, not just the prospect of escaping theworld I have asked you to help heal.

Brown Pants (in honour of Talk Like a Pirate Day)

Once upon a time, long ago, there lived a sailor named Captain Bravo. He was a manly man's man, who showed no fear when facing his enemies.

One day, while sailing the Seven Seas, his lookout spotted a pirate ship, and the crew became frantic.Captain Bravo bellowed, "Bring me my red shirt!" The first mate quickly retrieved the captain's red shirt, and while wearing the brightly colored frock, the Captain led his crew into battle and defeated the pirates.

That evening, all the men sat around on the deck recounting the day's triumph. One of them asked the Captain, "Sir, why did you call for your red shirt before battle?"The captain replied, "If I am wounded in the attack, the shirt will not show my blood. Thus, you men will continue to fight, unafraid."All of the men sat in and marveled at the courage of such a manly man's man.

As dawn came the next morning, the lookout spotted not one, not two, but TEN pirate ships approaching. The crew stared in worshipful silence at the captain and waited for his usual orders.Captain Bravo gazed with steely eyes upon the vast armada arrayed against his ship, and without fear, turned and calmly shouted,

"Get me my brown pants!"

Eye of Faith

Speaking of the eye of faith. Some have called this Hubble telescope picture the 'Eye of God'.


There is a lot of excess colour, design and beauty in the universe. And beauty that is often inaccessible to the human eye.
Why is that?

Beauty may be a path that leads to a personal and artistic creator. We need to appreciate it wherever we find it. C.S. Lewis spoke in his autobiography, Surprised by Joy about the role aesthetics played in his conversion. Someday I may tell you about my testimony which might be called, 'Saved by a Duck'. (It has to do with fragrant spring air, abeautiful pond full of Gold Fish, a ray of golden sunlight, and a Mallard's head.)






LH

Apparently the friend I mentioned in an earlier post has decided

My friend has decided that belief is not possible. It is very sad to witness this development. To find unending fault with the church, theologians, preachers, evangelists, poorly worked out theologies, the bad consequences caused by domineering personalities making their interpretation of scripture more important than the human being who is asking us honest, hard questions is perfectly understandable. Heck I am the biggest fault finder I know ....... but for this person to lose sight of and faith in Jesus is indeed a great sorrow. One thing I can not conclude and will not let any casual reader of this post conclude is that this person has not reached their conclusion of unbelief in a way that was not fairminded, honest, intelligent and compassionate.
Unbelievers can be of the highest character(as this person is) and to question their motives and attack their reasoning without actually understanding their honest and exhaustive struggle to know the truth actually rebounds to the dishonour of our faith.

It seems that the question of why certain promises attributed to Jesus in the gospels have not been fulfilled, specifically the question of why there are no verified reports of restored missing limbs was the final stake in my friend's heart of faith.
If Jesus said; 'when two or three agree in prayer for anything it will be done for you', or; 'if you ask anything in my name and I will do it for you', then why so many unanswered prayers, why no restored missing limbs? The conclusion this person came to was that Jesus' words, as recorded in scripture, are not true, ergo Jesus is not the Son of God and the religion based on his teachings is false.

The questions honest unbelievers ask are haunting and difficult. Why suffering? Why so little difference between suffering as a consequence of bad behaviour and suffering that is random and undeserved? Why are not the words of Jesus in the Bible actually verified in the lives of devout and serious believer's? If those words are true and verified in believers' lives, then why haven't devout and serious believer's been asking and getting new limbs for amputees', or relief for infants who suffer from diseases and woundings, neglect and unspeakable abuses at the hands of twisted and evil adults, and twisted and evil genes? Why doesn't God intervene?

If all it takes is a good believing prayer, then why aren't Christians making those prayers?

If not for the person of Jesus
I have encountered in scripture,
in the life of my mother,
and in my own spirit
I would stand with my unbelieving friend
and declare my own state of apostasy.

Faith is not easy or self evident. I suggest we have patience for those who struggle to believe but can not. They are not all willfully blind as we sometimes say. Seeing the invisible is no mean feat and can only be accomplished when the gift of new eyes has been given and received.
If someone you know is a person of integrity and unbelief don't question their motives, just ask for your heart to be open to them and for their eyes to be opened to what you believe you have witnessed with eyes that see the invisible.

LH

Labour Day Special

This goes out to my friends who have honestly laboured to understand the Christian Faith.. Some have concluded that they can no longer believe, others are honestly questioning aspects of the Christianity but are holding on to Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith, and some are blissfully unaware that there are any legitimate questions . Most of the unaware are wonderful Christians who live their faith in a genuine way and treat people as precious to God and themselves.
But some others have a more disagreeable mindset. They may have fallen victim to manipulative teachers and now pass on the distortions and deceptions they have been taught. You may have heard them say something like this, 'God said it (meaning, the jots and tittles of Bible. If any of these jots or tittles contradict the spirit and teachings of Christ, well they can live with that and you'd better too), I believe it (meaning, a highschool dropout told them what it means and they said if Christians don't believe it like the dropout taught it then they're going to be kindling for the devil's fireplace), so that settles it (their personal salvation is on the line here. Don't bother them with facts or sound reasoning because they and God can beat up any dissenters and they firmly believe that reality bows before them and their interpretations of those difficult jots and tittles) .

I love those who do not understand but still believe and I sympathize with those whose commitment to integrity and reason tell them they can not accept the Christian story as they understand it at this time.
But I am deeply troubled by those who in willful and perhaps malevolent ignorance declare that their thoughts are God's thoughts and their ways are God's ways and anyone who questions that is a spawn of Hell deserving extreme everlasting unpleasantness.
If you are one of those 'my way or the Hiway' Christian teachers, I say unto you, Try a little honest labour. To those who honestly wrestle with the scriptures, their personal experiences, and the world as it is coming to be understood by rational enquiry, I say unto you, your labour is not in vain. To those who have not found reason to remain in the faith I invite you to continue to wrestle and to be open to a new information and experiences. Perhaps the evidence of religious experience may become available to you and make the balance between faith and doubt move towards a different conclusion than you hold today.

In honour of this Labour Day I give you some materials to labour upon.


Job 9:29If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?Job 9:28-30
1 Corinthians 15:58Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Isaiah 49:4Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.

Psalm 127:1-3
1Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
2It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
3Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
Isaiah 65:23
23They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.



Galatians 4:11I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:10 10But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
Philippians 2:16Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. 17Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.



May you someday hear the great WorkMan of creation say; "Well done my good and faithful labourer."

LH

To Those Who Wonder Why God Does Not Intervene in The Affairs of Men More Often

A U.S. Marine was attending a college course between missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The professor, an avowed atheist, shocked the class one day when he walked in, looked toward the ceiling, and said loudly, "God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you exactly 15 minutes." The lecture room fell silent and the professor began his lecture. Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, "Here I am God - stillwaiting." It got down to the last minute when the Marine stood up, walked toward the professor and threw his best punch, knocking him off the platform and out cold. The Marine went back to his seat and sat down. The professor came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked, "What is the matter with you? Why did you do that?"The Marine calmly replied, "God is busy today protecting America's soldiers who are protecting your right to behave like an idiot. So He sent me."

Apparently Marines are taught
1) Keep your priorities in order, and
2) Know when to act without hesitation

I often wish I had such characteristics, but since I don't, I'll continue to bumble and 'milquetoast' my way through life the best I can.

This Goes Out to A Friend Who Is Having a Hard Time Believing

Nine year old Joey was asked by his mother what he had learned at Sunday school."Well, Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When he got to the Red Sea, he had his engineers build a pontoon bridge and all the people walked across safely. Then he used his walkie-talkie to radio headquarters for reinforcements. They sent bombers to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved.""Now, Joey, is that really what your teacher taught you?" his mother asked."Well, no. But if I told it the way the teacher did, you'd never believe it!"

Preach it Brother Bono!

They may not be at the front of the line for U2 concert tickets, but a crowd of mostly evangelical pastors was wowed by the band's frontman and all around do-gooder, Bono. Just as he had won over former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, Bono earned the admiration of 350 Triangle pastors Friday during a teleconference beamed in to Hope Community Church in Raleigh, N.C.

The rock musician struck a chord, declaring that no one can enter God's kingdom if they do not serve the poor. "The main thrust of the Scriptures is to meet Christ in working with the poor," he said.

Bono was interviewed by megachurch pastor Bill Hybels in a Dublin hotel near the singer's home earlier this year. In the interview, he spoke of a trip he made to Ethiopia in 1985 that opened his eyes to hunger and poverty, and eventually to AIDS. It was a passionate talk by the rock-star-turned-humanitarian, who has championed causes such as poverty, AIDS and debt relief to struggling nations.

"Christ won't let you walk away because it's difficult, expensive and a moral hazard," Bono said, speaking of the AIDS epidemic.

Bono's activism on the world stage earned him the honor of Time magazine's Person of the Year last year. But the source of his activism lies with his faith. Bono quoted Scripture liberally such as the passage in the fourth chapter of Luke's Gospel where Jesus preached of freeing the oppressed and reaching out to the poor. Then he counseled church leaders to think strategically. "What's in the way of getting things done?" he asked pastors to consider, adding later, "The world is more malleable than you think. You can wrestle it from fools."


by Yonat ShimronMcClatchy Newspapers

Evangelical Essentials, a "quadrilateral of priorities"

As a sympathizer and quiet proponent of the Emergent Church I wonder if I fool myself and others by claiming to be an evangelical believer. Frankly, on my most difficult days I wonder if I am any kind of believer at all. I certainly can't claim to be a shining paragon of Christian virtue and spiritual formation. I have almost as many questions as I do answers and when my darkened mind contemplates the world and its accumulating suffering I am sometimes tempted to doubt the 'good news'. Perhaps some of you who are more ebullient in faith would be so kind as to pray for this weak, straying (?) hypocrite.

Recently I came across two lists of Evangelical Essentials and I was relieved to discover that I am essentially still an Evangelical. If agreeing to the essentials are sufficient grounds to maintain membership in the fraternity, than I am in and no court of high evangelical doctrine can take my membership away.

It appears that doubting is not a deal breaker after all, even if it is a heart breaker.

Of the two lists I prefer the first (older) version of the essentials because it places Activism (making the gospel concrete) higher in the list and because it describes an Evangelical's relationship to the Bible in, shall we say, more flexible terms (the inerrancy and or infallibility question is one I can get tripped up on if pressed too hard by the fundamentally inclined.).

Art work supplied by Daves Designs. Check out his blog.
It is listed in my links to the left of the page.


Why don't you take the faith challenge and see if you qualify as an Evangelical believer.

Four elements :
In seeking the essentials of belief, generally all roads today lead back to a historian at the University of Stirling in Scotland. In Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, David Bebbington framed four characteristics which he says are "the special marks" of Evangelical religion and which many others use as a basis for a common understanding.

• The "quadrilateral of priorities" is:

• Conversionism, a belief that lives need to be changed;
• Activism, the expression of the Gospel in deed;
• Biblicism, a particular regard for the Bible;
• Crucicentrism, an emphasis on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

In their introduction to Evangelicalism, editors Bebbington, Rawlyk and Mark Noll, McManis Professor of Christian Thought, Wheaton College, reworded the categories as:

• A stress on the New Birth;
• A reliance on the Bible as ultimate authority;
• A focus on Christ's redeeming work as the heart of essential Christianity;
• An energetic, individualistic approach to religious duties and social involvement

How do you rate on the Evangelical "quadrilateral of priorities"?

Are you all in, all out or a little of this and a little of that?

Tag. You're It!??!?

Someone tagged me in an earlier post.
I wasn't sure what that meant.
At first I thought,
'Oh no not another computer cookie thingy'.
Since then I have discovered that being tagged
is a cyberspace game of old fashioned tag
with an intellectual twist.
Being tagged means someone wants me
to participate in the Book Meme game.
This game consists of answering 10 questions
about books that we have read
and then tagging someone else to do the same.

It looks like fun so here I go.



1. One book that changed your life (other than the Bible).

Changed my life? Now hey, that's a pretty big claim for any book (other than sacred scripture) to make.

But perhaps I will say that one book provided a line that I have kept deep in my third belly and brought forth from time to time to chew over in my mental cud.

It came from J.D. Salinger's lesser novel, Franny and Zooey. The line is delivered at the end of the book and it proves to be the miracle cure for Franny's tormented mind. It goes something like this.

"Jesus is the fat lady sitting on her back stoop, shooing flies from her face as she swelters in the heat, dying of cancer."

That has been powerful food for thought over the years. It tasted real funny the first time I tried to swallow it but it becomes sweeter and more satisfying with each new chew.

2. One book you've read more than once.

The Eaton's Christmas Catalogue. It was this young boy's vision of toy heaven.



3. One book you would want on a desert island.

The Eaton's Christmas Catalogue. After Christmas it served as almost adequate toilet paper and was a good fire starting material.

4. One book that made you laugh.

I don't think I read or laugh enough. Perhaps I should start doing both tomorrow.

5. One book that made you cry.

The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde.
When God sent his angel to bring back the 2 most precious things in the city, the angel gathers up from the dust heap the broken lead heart of the Happy Prince and the body of the dead swallow who had loved him and served the suffering people of the city.

"You have rightly chosen," said God, "for in my garden of Paradise this little bird shall sing for evermore, and in my city of gold the Happy Prince shall praise me."

How I long for God to proclaim that over my broken lead heart.

6. One book that you wish had been written.


The best seller that made me rich.




7. One book you wish had never been written.


The Naked Ape. Desmond Morton. It makes this impossibleape blush under his fur just thinking about it.

8. One book you are currently reading.

Confessions. St. Augustine.

9. One book you have been meaning to read.

J.D. Salinger's greatest work. Catcher in the Rye. If Franny and Zooey can tell me so much about Jesus in one line I am expecting a real doozy in this one.

10. Five people I tag to do this meme:

Any volunteers?
How about
Steve of Grow Mercy
Professor Jeff McNair of Disabled Christianity
Professor Earl (aka James) Breech of Jesus and Interpretation
Antoinnette of L'Arche London
Walter and Brenda of Duncartin' Farms?


PS


I've got to add one more category



Two Books (other than sacred scriptures) that would change the world if everyone on earth would read them.

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

and

Man's Search For Meaning by Victor Frankel

The Great Carnac says the answers are.......

2 c 3 d 5 a 6 b 7 d 8 c 9 b 10 c 11 a 13 b 14 c 15 a 16 d 20 d







Ed Mcmahon: Ho HO HO Ho Ho ho ho ho ho ho .......oh?

Mel and the Gang

Please note, in case someone is tempted to think that I place Mel Gibson in the camp of the Charlatans, I do not. I would trade one Mel for almost all the evangelists on American television.

I have followed up my Mel series with a few jabs at Peter Popoff, Robert Tilton and Jim Whittington because unlike Mel, they never admit their faults, never confess their shortcomings, never tell the unvarnished truth and apparently never give a damn what widow, orphan, cripple, challenged and poor person they steal from.

Mel may be a loud mouthed obnoxious drunk, a maker of extremely violent entertainment, an ego maniac, a conflicted son of a holocaust denier and an Olde School Catholic but for all that I think he is a guy doing the best he can in the life he has and he is honestly confronting his demons (but sometimes losing).

Mel is a modern day version of the Apostle Peter. He's brash, intemperate, loveable and genuine.

If you must crucufy him, do it upside down please, I think he would prefer it that way.

Oh yeah I almost forgot, for humanitarian reasons please offer him a few sops of wine to ease the pain but make sure he is nailed down good and tight before you do. You know what trouble he gets into when he's been drinking.

LH

Share Some of Your Favourite Charlatan Sheenanigans

Peter 'Poop' off and Robber 'Telt' on certainly do push the envelop but I always got a special kick out of charming Jim Whittington's solution to his viewers' money woes.

Now don't miss a step. It's all important in God's economy, don't ya know?

Here we go.................

Prayerfully wrap a dime in a twenty dollar bill.

Send the wrapped dime to dear brother Jim.

Miracle working Jim anoints the dime with holy oil from holyland vineyards (in Scottsdale Arizona) .

Then big hearted Jim sends you back your dime (provided you include a self addressed stamped envelop.)



Poof magico, someone's money woes have been solved. Certain unbelievers think that perhaps it is dear Brother Jimmy's pecuniary problems that are being addressed?

Don't you just love dear Brother Whittington?

The shouting, sweating preacher also likes to wear more gold jewelry on his person than Mr. T. did in his Hollywood hayday*. Jimmy W. says that since he is going to walk streets of Gold in heaven he might as well get used to lots of it down here.

Don't you just love dear Brother Whittington?

I sincerely hope he gets to experience his eternal reward real soon.

But may hefirst do a Zacchaeus and repent and restore four fold before he gets what is really coming to him.

*Mr. T. has given up the gold chains because he has come to understand that in a world of poverty it is poor symbolism for Christians to live so ostentatiously. God Pity the Fool who questions Mr. T.'s motives on this. I for one applaud the big guy.

What a Pity 'Peter Poop off' And 'Robber Telt on' Weren't Around to Put a Stop to This

How sad that these great Christian Teachers weren't around to instruct the Apostles. Perhaps every Thomas, Matthew and Thadeus of them could have ended their days counting their denarii in marble mansions over looking the eternal city of Rome instead of on crosses, on bloodied, brain spattered rock piles, on executioner's blocks and flaying tables.
If only, if only ..........Sigh.





NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!! a thousand times NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If Peter P. and Bobby T. had been there something wonderful would have happened. The first time a Roman court told them 'disown Jesus or die'' they would have quietly recanted , sung the praises of the divine Emperor, gone back to selling used chariots and left the job of proclaiming the Lord's Life, Death and Resurrection to men and women of integrity.

If only, If only......Sigh, for real.

Possible New Mel Gibson Productions

After Mel's smashing success with The Passion of the Christ I expected to see a sequel. Perhaps The Passions of the Early Christians. Such a theme would give Mel all the scenes of cruel, but true to life suffering that he would need to create a movie in the line of Braveheart and The Passion........The Passions of Bravehearts?........ That picture could have been an effective antidote to the 'faith of magic' preached by some prosperous Television Evangelists who are exploiting people with claims of easy faith and plentiful miracles. If God makes everthing 'nicey-nice' then someone forgot to let the martyrs in on the secret faith formula that never fails.

If Mel took on this project perhaps he could find some modern prosperity preacher 'look-a-likes' to film in the coliseum of Rome as they are torn to pieces by wild animals, slaughtered by gladiators, used as torches to light Nero's dinner parties and tortured in sundry other nasty ways. Perhaps a Robert Tilton, and a Peter Popoff double could do a whining duet while they are crucified on either side of the Apostle Peter. Peter would be shown bravely insisting that he be crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to die in like manner as his Lord. The evangelist 'look-a-likes' would alternate between praying for miracles of deliverance for themselves, and calling down fire from heaven for their persecutors. Their histrionics would be interspersed with offers to bribe their way off the crosses with denairi they had collected from fearful Christians.
In flashback sequences, Old Tyme Robert T. and Ancient One Peter P. could be portrayed preaching to a crowd saying things like; 'Martyrdom is for ignorant chumps because we've got the power'. "Yeah I say unto you that your faithfulness in supplying my needs will guarantee you the protection of the 93rd Psalm, 'And though a thousand may fall at your left hand and ten thousand at your right, none of the nastiness will come nigh thy dwelling.' Its in the Bible people.' So prove your faith by making a large donation to the Popoff and Tilton ministries so we can personally pray to activate the magical powers of faith on your behalf. The scene concludes with a collection. 'Now brother Claudius please pass the offering barrel as we sing 'We're King's Kids Rolling in Kingdom Clover'."

The irony would be sweet. The movie even might get an AA rating because of the social significance of its message.

Mel, you could have given us Passion II /The Passion of The Bravehearts. But some devilish temptation steered you into a cul de sac. Sadly, the true story of the Passion of the Early Church will not soon be giving a counterpoint to some of the questionable practices and teachings of evangelists speaking in the name of religion over our soiled airways.

More's the Pity.


Does anyone else have another suggested script for Mel's next outing? Leave me a comment to get the creative juice flowing.

LH

What in the World Was Mel Thinking?

Mel might be some kind of a genius and at the same time he could be a bit of an everyman over-achiever. He probably has risen to a level of success that is not sustainable for any ordinary person.

After the struggle to birth The Passion and the subsequent success of his personal mystical mission, Mel appears to have succumbed to the temptation to fly too close to the sun.

Hubris is a nasty thing. [James 1:14 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
We are tempted by our own desires that drag us off and trap us.]

Mel's new movie, Apocalypto, was to be ready for a summer release but was postponed till Dec. and is probably going to get another rescheduling as Mel dries out and the studios ask themselves, once again........

What in the World Were We and Mel Thinking?

Apparently Disney gave Mel Gibson creative freedom to choose any story and tell it in anyway he liked. After all it worked marvelously with the Passion. Over confidence may have caused Disney and Mel to try to construct a Bridge (between faith and reality that was just ) Too Far. I mean really, what studio executive would green light such an arcane project with no obvious commercial draw unless he thought Mel could work a miracle?

I am waiting with baited breath to see if a redemption of this hairy infant monstrosity is possible(Of course I am refering to the new movie, not Mel, in case anyone is wondering who the hairy baby monstrosity is). I confess that I highly doubt Mel can do this miracle.

Even if the film turns out to be the second coming of WaterWorld I can hardly wait to discover what themes will be woven into the excruciating violence and the transcendentally beautiful natural scenery of the production.

Perhaps Mel will try to make parallels to our modern fascination with 'end times'. Perhaps Apocalypto will be a warning about not taking prophecy seriously enough or maybe he thinks we are over playing this type of thinking and theologizing.

Who knows, Mel might take an entirely different tac and have Al Gore read over the credits a lesson on how the Mayans degraded their environment and caused their own destruction. Or perhaps Michael Moore will tell us that a Mayan quest for an overreaching hegemony was a precursor to their fall, as it may be for America.

Perhaps Mel discovered that the Mayan Calendar declares 2012 is the End of the world as we know it. And perhaps, just perhaps he has decided to let us all evangelistically enjoy that wonderful old Larry Norman anthem 'I Wished We'd All Been Ready' as the credits roll over rivers of blood and the screen fades to black.

Mel's choice of story and how it will be told (in Ancient Mayan dialect) almost certainly will produce something that is too complex and inaccessible for Joe Six-pack or Patty Pew-warmer to enjoy. I wonder if Mel was coming to grips with this fact and was having a big 'Oh Oh' moment the day before he drank, mambo-ed, cursed and race libelled much of his credibility away.

Disney is certainly wondering what they got themselves into, as Mel ponders how he can salvage something out of it.

In the meantime many of us ordinary schmoes will take a naughty pleasure in seeing mayhem among the Hollywood elites. Probably one of our over reaching preachers will say

"GAAWWDD hath said in His Holy Book,

The road of right living bypasses evil; watch your step and save your life. 18 First pride, then the crash, the bigger the ego, the harder the fall. 19 It's better to live humbly among the poor than to live it up among the rich and famous. Proverbs 16:16-18 (The Message)

'Neehya Neehya N Neehya Neehya', now join me in singing 'I've Got a Mansion Up in Glory'. "

I personally hope Mel will humbly and sincerely work and trust his way out of this and that Christians who are tempted to condemn him would begin to pray for him and for the messages God is trying to get out to the sinner, saint, soused, sobered, sanctimonious, salacious, supercilious, and simple in each of us.

Judgment Day (small letters) comes to one and all, that's why the red letters of the good book teaches,

'judge not lest ye be judged.' Matthew 7:1

and the black letters wisely tell us to;

'Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.' 1 Peter 4:8 (New International Version)

I confess I have a few misdemeanors needing covering, perhaps you do too, so let's be careful before we go picking through the rock pile of media reports looking for something to throw at the parties involved.

Note to Mel...

What ever you were thinking I am sure it was and will be interesting when we are let in on the mental processes.

Good luck to you and may God Bless.

LH

Mel Gibson's APOCALYPTO (or Forgive me, Forgive me, Forgive me.....or not; pt. 2)

Well one thing we can safely say is that Mel is no saint, but since he never claimed otherwise it seems abit unfair to crucify him for his foibles. His comments about Jews were truly disturbing and will need unpacking and addressing by Mel. I hope and fully expect he will continue to express remorse for the outrageous things he said. We will see if forgiveness is possible from those who have made an industry out of being offended.

Apparently the unbearble weightiness of being Mel is not a light affliction. Mel fully deserves to be held accountable for his failings but at the same time he should be supported through his journey towards healthier days, especially if he continues to take a humble place in this fiasco.

If Mel ever claimed he didn't need a saviour, or that he had transcended his humanity by embacing a magical faith, then we Christians would have more issues to deal with in the Mel file, but he hasn't proclaimed perfected holiness (as far as I know) and so I wish him well and eagerly wait to see the next exciting chapter in the ongoing saga of

MEL
Journey towards

FORGIVENESS

http://www.passionrecut.com/#


or

APOCALYPTO
http://apocalypto.movies.go.com/

or

some 'MUDDLED IN-BETWEEN STATE'
that we all seem to end up in for most of our sojourn here below.



Perhaps some community service time with my son Joshua (the saviour of his people and destroyer of worlds) could give Mel the outlet to compassion and violence he seems to crave. You see Josh hits, bites , pulls hair and destroys when he isn't being the most delightful 20 year old toddler you will ever meet.

Josh is the little guy peeking thru the
crowd to see if someone is there for him.


Hey Mel perhaps you've got a part for Josh in Mad Max IV?

LH

Forgive Me, Forgive Me, Forgive Me..........Or Not

I know this is wrong on so many levels but being ADD means that impulsive actions and thoughts are sometimes almost beyond our control. (It wasn't in this case but I just couldn't resist even if it wasn't entirely irresistible.....if you know what I mean?)



Emergent............................... eh?















Allllllllllllllll Righty then!


BTW Thanks Errol for the nifty pic. And just think, if there is a purgatorial penalty for this outrage, you get to share it with me. (no good deed goes unpunished, the road to the hot place is paved with good intentions and all that....)

Emergent XYZ

Here is an Ape's finish to the emergent AtoZ proposed by Steve in the previous post.


I hope you enjoy it.


(BTW does anyone know where I can get a jpeg of Jim Carey Emerging from the rear end of a hippo in Ace Ventura When Nature Calls?
It would make a great image for this post. We emergents enjoy a good joke, especially if we thought of it first.)

X, Xylophones. We don't actually ban them, we just don't encourage their use.

Y, Yak's Milk. You got it, we'll drink it.

Z, (I know it is spelled with an X but let's give the creative flow some slack here)
Zenophile. If its different we'll probably like it.


ala

"Pied Beauty" 1877 By Gerard Manley Hopkins


Glory be to God for dappled things.
For skies of couple colour as a brinded cow
For rose moles all in stipple upon trout that swim
Fresh-firecoal chestnut falls; finches' wings'
Landscape plotted and pieced: fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how)
With swift, slow, sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers forth whose beauty is past change;
Praise Him

(BTW Pied Beauty was one of Earl (now James) Breech's favourite poems. He was a professor of Religious Studies at York University when I attended in the late 70's. I owe him more than I can say for he taught me to see Jesus as; 'The fat lady sweating in the heat, sitting on her front stoop, swatting flies and dying of cancer'. Someday I will tell you about a few of the other wonders his classes caused my eyes to see, but for now it is enough that you learn to enjoy 'Pied Beauty' wherever you find it and in your pleasure, Praise Him!)

A to Z of the emerging church

I picked this up from the e~mergent kiwi blog created by Steve Taylor an Emerging Chrsitian from New Zealand.

A to Z of emerging church
We seem reluctant to name the emerging church. Perhaps our naming yet lacks an alphabet. We need some A, B, C’s before we can spell the word. So in a spirit of Genesis 2, and in partiality;

A = artistic, and so the emerging values the creative, the visual, the non-rational as essential to communication and being.

B = blogging, and so the emerging tell stories and learns from the stories of others. We listen, we ask, we grow through the wires of the internet

C = culturally sensitive, atune to the rationalising tendencies of modernity, we speak of a new landscape, a new missionary terrain in which God wants to be enfleshed as the Body of ChristC= community loving, and so we thirst for deep, honest, emotional, vulnerable relationships with God and each other.

D=DJing, and so we are re:mixing God in a postmodern world, learning to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land

E=experiential, and so we create worship that engages the senses

F=fashionable and so we speak of our music and review our books, talk of our latest video mixers and web browsers and exchange notes on software and RSS feeds

G=global, (in a Western sort of way) and so we link from the US to the UK, we click from Canada to Kiwi, with a nod to Australian friends and partners

H=hyperlinked, and so we are inspired by a worship trick from here and an insight from there

I=intuitive, and so we don’t know where we’re going and we don’t like we we’ve been, but we’re sure it’s not logical and it definitely has no 5 year plan. But it is a journey and it will embrace mystery and contingency

J=journey. That word again. We are emerging, partial, tentative and that’s OK. God is here.

K= (I don’t know, this is written in a spirit of partiality)

L= (editor's note; there was no L, where the 'ell is L?) Oh well no L, Merry Christmas anyway.

M=middle-class. Sorry but we are. It’s a sociological reality. Can’t change it. Don’t beat yourself up over it. But don’t stay there will you. It is a journey. It’s time to partner with the poor.

M= mostly male. Sorry but we mostly are. It’s a sociological reality. So let’s not stay here. It is a journey. It’s time for genuine partnership.

N=new map. No-one before us has had to incarnate God in a video culture, or speak of faith in a world of post-……

O=open ended. We don’t even want to define ourselves. We’re not even sure we are a movement. Let’s keep things … open.

P=participatory. Gone is the pulpit and in is the discussion. Comments are essential to websites, to teaching and to preaching.

Q=questioning. Got lots of those. Faith is mixed with ambiguity and juxtaposed with inconsistency.

R= random – images, words, thoughts.

S=seeking. We still haven’t found what we’re looking for, although some of us seem to know what we’re reacting against.

T=textual. The Bible. A mission manifesto for our future.

T= tactile. Whole bodied, multi-sensory.

U=under-resourced. Mr Jones can’t even buy his kids birthday presents and he’s our guru. Enough said.

V=visual. Images. Please.

W = white and western. Sorry but we are. It’s a sociological reality. But let’s not stay here. It is a journey. It’s time for genuine partnership.


X, Y, Z = 3 blanks.
This is, after all, partial. A first attempt at an alphabet.

Hymn of Liberation

Oh, come all you people, from all nations
Rise up and sing joyfully
Let's listen to the new melody
That in Christ freedom comes.
It's time to break away from the slavery
That comes from men or ideas
It's time to say that only God
Is the Lord of the universe.

The truth will set you free
You will be truly free in Christ
Come everyone, oh come now
And let's celebrate with great joy our liberation

Those oppressed or exploited
And those spending days in pain
The lame, blind, captive and lonely
Know that soon a new day is coming
A day of justice, a day of truth
A day in which there will be peace on Earth
And death will be defeated by life
Slavery will finally be ended.



From the weekly prayer update from
Micah Challenge
Prayer and Reflection

Friday July 21, 2006

http://www.micahchallenge.ca/

This is a group of Christians seeking justice as one of the core components of active faith.
They take their purpose and call to action from

Micah 6:8

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?


It is my hope that you would hear echoes of this verse in my personal profile statement and in my life itself..................

It's Finally Starting to A+D+D up?

Absentminded, forgetful, careless.

Inattentive, unable to follow directions


Unable to follow directions, forgetful (did I just say that?)
Testy, irritable, impulsive, tendency to blurrtt tings out without tinking or pruf reeding.





It In my 50th year I finally know why I am so carnsarned different.It is official, the impossibleape has Attention Deficit Disorder (inattentive type, not hyperactive).I was ready to declare myself either a rare type of Autistic, perhaps an idiot savant (with the accent on idiot), or brain damaged from an accident that my brain damage did not allow me to remember...uhmm....er........what was i talking about again?Oh ya. It finally adds up. As the title of an excellent book on the subject states...'So I 'm Not Lazy, Crazy or Stupid' (much).
In case you were wondering if I am self diagnosing or selfdeluding I can state unequivocally that I am 'certifiable'. It was a horrendous journey to get the beast named but I have the official papers to prove it and am experiencing some good results with medicine. Dealing with the continuing aspects of the disorder will be a challenge but at least I see the path because I am better able to employ the executive functions of the brain which help us know what to do with the piles of papers, old magazines, clothes and just junk laying all over the place. Executive functions also help you put one foot in front of the other because you can see the steps needed to get somewhere. it also helps the brain sort out and prioritize things so you can see the forest for the trees and so not walk headlong into a cedar bush. One of the many problems of ADD is disorganization and unclear thinking, perhaps now I will be able to understand that clothes on the chair can be put on a hangar and placed in a closet.Wish me well as I try to tidy up my closet, my files, my room and my thinking.

LH

Experiencing Life at the Margins (Why we must learn to love the cross)

An African bishop tells North American Christians the most helpful gospel-thing they can do.Interview by Andy Crouch posted 07/14/2006 09:30 a.m.
• Related articles and links


Q.
As a longtime friend and partner of North American Christians, what have you noticed about us?

A.
One of the gravest threats to the North American church is the deception of power—the deception of being at the center. Those at the center tend to think, "The future belongs to us. We are the shapers of tomorrow. The process of gospel transmission, the process of mission—all of it is on our terms, because we are powerful, because we are established. We have a track record of success, after all."
Yet recently the Lord led me to an amazing passage, the encounter between Jesus and Nathaniel in John 1. Nathaniel has decided Jesus is a non-entity. Jesus comes from Nazareth, after all.
Nathaniel's skepticism comes from being in power, being at the center. Those at the center decide that anyone not with us is—not against us—[but] just irrelevant. "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" It doesn't warrant our time. But the Messiah is from Nazareth.
Surprise, Nathaniel!

Q.
What's the problem with being at the center?

A.
God very often is working most powerfully far from the center. Jesus is crucified outside Jerusalem—outside—with the very cynical sign over his head, "The King of the Jews." Surprise—he is the King of the Jews. "We had hoped … " say the disappointed disciples on the road to Emmaus, but he did not fulfill our criteria. In Acts, we read that the cross-cultural missionary thrust did not begin in Jerusalem. It began in Antioch, on the periphery, the margins. But Jerusalem is not ready for Antioch! In fact, even when they go to Antioch, it's just to check on what's happening.
I have come to the conclusion that the powerful, those at the center, must begin to realize that the future shape of things does not belong to them. The future shape of things is on the periphery. The future shape of things is not in Jerusalem, but outside. It is Nazareth. It is Antioch.
If you really want to understand the future of Christianity, go and see what is happening in Asia, Africa, Latin America. It's the periphery—but that's where the action is.

Q.
But many American churches are already deeply involved in missions overseas.

A.
Of course. Yet it's so difficult to get American Christians, even those who profess to love missions and their brothers and sisters on the periphery, to actually come and see what is happening where we are. This is especially true of those in the positions of greatest power in the church. I have asked a friend, a pastor of a large church that gives half of its money to missions, to come and spend time on the fringes. But he won't. He wants to spend his study leave in Oxford, in Australia. How can American pastors be leaders if they haven't seen what God is doing elsewhere? Every search process for a senior pastor should ask, "Do you have experience in marginal places, economically deprived places, places with HIV/AIDS? Have you gone to be among them?"

Q.

What could equip us to be more countercultural, living in a nation that is very much at the center of power?

A.

We need to begin to read the Bible differently. Americans have been preoccupied with the end of the Gospel of Matthew, the Great Commission: "Go and make." I call them go-and-make missionaries. These are the go-and-fix-it people. The go-and-make people are those who act like it's all in our power, and all we have to do is "finish the task." They love that passage! But when read from the center of power, that passage simply reinforces the illusion that it's about us, that we are in charge.
I would like to suggest a new favorite passage, the Great Invitation. It's what we find if we read from the beginning of the Gospels rather than the end. Jesus says, "Come, follow me. I will make you fishers of men." Not "Go and make," but "I will make you." It's all about Jesus. And do you know the last words of Jesus to Peter, in John 21? "Follow me." The last words of Simon Peter's encounter are the same as the first words.

Q.
Can we begin to read those passages that trouble us, that don't reinforce our cultural centeredness?

A.

Let's go back to Matthew 25 and read it in the church in America, over and over. Who are Jesus' brothers? The weak, the hungry, the immigrant workers, the economic outcasts. Let's read the passage of this woman who pours ointment over Jesus. Let's ask, who is mostly in the company of Jesus? Not bishops and pastors! The bishops and pastors are the ones who suggest he's a lunatic! Who enjoys his company? The ordinary folk, so ordinary that their characterization is simply this: "sinners." Can we begin to point to those passages?
Yet this ability to read different passages, to read the Bible differently, won't happen until people are displaced from their comfort zones. I thank the Lord for deep friendships he has given to me beyond my comfort zone, beyond my culture, beyond my language. Until that happens, we will all be tribal, all of us.......

Q. Many of us want those relationships beyond our own tribe, but how does that happen?
A.
It is very simple. Come and be with us, with no agenda other than to be with us. .......................................... Of course, there are leaders who come to Africa, who go to Asia, and they come away the same. In fact, they come away worse, with a greater sense of how they are going to change the whole world! But we lose our legitimacy as Christian leaders in an affluent country like [the U.S.] if we can't use that affluence in order to experience the situation of those on the margins. "God so loved the world"—how dare we say we identify with him in that love if we don't go there, if we don't choose the margins?

Q.
What part does racism play in all this?

A.

You never discover how racist you are until you have the opportunity to be a racist. The genocide in Rwanda was a very challenging experience for me. I came to Washington in 1995, and some friends were asking, "What do we do in Rwanda?" They were saying, "What do we do with these Hutus, who are such killers?" As if the Hutus were created killers! "Actually," I said, "I am Hutu." I share an ethnic identity with them, as does most of southwest Uganda.
And until I got to Rwanda, I didn't realize how sympathetic I had been to the Hutu cause. Then it hit me. And I began the journey of being freed from that—freed from that history of sympathy for a cause that was just Hutu. Until the opportunity is given to you to face your own racism, you'll function under its power, under its spell. The only way to lose it is to go.

Q.
What do Americans need to understand about the main challenge facing Africa?

A.

Africa's crisis is not poverty; it is not AIDS. Africa's crisis is confidence. What decades of colonialism and missionary enterprise eroded among us is confidence. So a "national leader" from the United States comes—he may have a good-sized congregation, but he knows nothing about Africa!—and we defer to him. We don't even tell him everything we are thinking, out of respect. We Africans must constantly repent of that sense of inferiority.

Whether in Africa or America, the Cross is not an easy place to be—it is the symbol of our faith, but we do not love the Cross. "Come down from the Cross" is the cry not just of the Jewish leaders; it's the cry even of us Christians. We want Christ to come down from the Cross. We don't like the Cross.

This is Faith (Believing Can Be The Hardest Thing To Do)

Faith for my deliverance is not faith in God.
Faith means, whether I am visibly delivered or not,
I will stick to my belief that God is love. -Oswald Chambers



In my journey many have wanted to preach and teach and exhort me to the ''deeeeeep thangs of GOD!"

I am always kefuffled by their obsession with the ''deeeeeep thangs of GOD!"

I am just trying to hang on to the idea that God is love, that He has some kind of power and He actually cares about me and the world. It seems to me that that by itself requires a deep, revelational, miraculous gift of faith.

Somehow the search for the deep things leaves me cold because the simple things are plenty hard and mysterious. Isn't it enough that we love others, care for the weak, honour the suffering and continue hoping against despair in a world full of contradictions to our faith?

Shortly after becoming a Christian I worked at a Christian retreat centre and the word of faith crowd that ran it never tired of the ''deeeeeep thangs of GOD!" They had taken it over from an even more committed word of faith bunch that had ran it as a commune. It had been shut down because the leaders had told some diabetics among them that taking their insulin was a sign of unbelief in the healings proclaimed over them. The result, 2 deaths and a police investigation. The new group didn't learn too much from that but at least they never killed anyone. They did, however, have some awfully convoluted ways of justifying their faith in magical chrisitanity. When a wagon load of Mennonite teenagers from another camp in the area were struck by a transport truck and several were killed, the word of faith crowd assumed that some of the young Mennonites must have had some awfully impure thoughts for that to happen, and beside they were hardly Chrsitians at all since they (not being like us) weren't being taught the ''deeeeeep thangs of GOD!" .

I think it is deep enough to love our neighbours as ourself, because it is the only way we can demonstrate that we actually love the God we claim to be so intimately involved with. And if you've ever tried to do it you know how hard it can be.

I still have some resentment towards those who proclaim they are into the deep things when their faith is all spiritual and invisible and does not include concrete and visible expressions of love. Having taken a false cue from Acts they think waiting on tables or helping the handicapped is beneath their apostolic faith. They will put you in a prayer line and factory direct a miracle (that hardly ever comes) but will they actually get dirty on the street or in the homes of people really suffering? For too many that is beneath the dignity of the ''deeeeeep thangs" crowd.


Loving others in real concrete ways is loving God and that is a deep as Jesus asks us to go.

It ain't easy but it is real and it is what is needed to help others believe, hope against despair, that maybe God does love us after all.

LH