tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14742000494740972522024-03-13T08:46:37.658-05:00Jesus and LifeThe writings of a mid-20s man trying to live out the teachings of Jesus as a husband, Youth Director and follower of Christ in the midst of an ever changing, challenging, and chaotic world.Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-38283187794392464572010-04-26T07:29:00.005-05:002010-04-27T10:22:50.502-05:00Brian McLaren @ LaSalle Street ChurchTeetselberry, eat your heart out.<br /><br />Brian McLaren came and spoke at LaSalle Street Church last weekend. We had an all-day conference with him on Saturday (10-4) at which he talked mostly from his new book, A New Kind of Christianity. McLaren has received A LOT of flack about this new book, even more than his previous ones, and has really peeved off a number of evangelicals. The book is structured around 10 questions about Christian faith and praxis. He spoke to us mainly about the narrative of the Scriptures, the authority of the Bible, how Jesus and other religions interact and a bit on how we move forward as a community.<br /><br />On the Bible, McLaren's main points were that we read the Bible through a Greeco-Roman lens, specifically a 6 line narrative, influenced VERY heavily by the debate between Plato and Aristotle that was at the philosophical heart of Greeco-Roman culture, where the story goes like such: Perfect Unchanging Garden, Fall, Condemnation into Change/sin, Salvation to Unchanging Heaven or Eternal Conscious Torment in Hell. At first read, this seems fine. However, McLaren suggests that we are reading this structure onto the Bible, that it really isn't there in the text (Imagine that! We bring baggage and bias to the text! Anthropology wins again!). He suggests a much different narrative, one that has the Exodus story as the main narrative, the Genesis story as a prequel and Isaiah and the Prophets as a call to a coming Kingdom of God or peaceable kingdom.<br /><br />Really, what McLaren is offering us in how to read the Bible isn't anything new. At least for Catholics. For Protestant, especially Caucasian American Evangelicals, it is something a bit new. (Yes, a few have heard of this type of stuff before, but as a whole church, we are unaware). What McLaren is suggesting is that we read the Bible as the liberation theologians do, as Rabbis do, as progressive Catholics and mainline protestants do. God created a good world. It was a world filled with possibility, change and evolving creatures. After sin entered the world, God saved his people in the Exodus, where he definitively sides with the oppressed, downtrodden, etc. The prophets give us a hope for the future, one in which we can imagine a new world of peace, wholeness, shalom.<br /><br />Another bit of wisdom McLaren offered was that we stop reading the Bible like a constitution and start reading it like a cultural library. Initially when I read this in his book, I didn't like this. Now, however, I love it. Constitutions are meant to be sited and used to defend agreed upon statements. Libraries are meant to be used to see the diversity of views and become a part of the conversation that is continuing. When we read the Bible like a constitution (something that wasn't around in 'Bible times') we pull out verses and paragraphs to defend and back-up certain claims, like slavery is right, men are better than women, and a host of other things. McLaren suggests that the Bible isn't meant to be used this way, and shouldn't be. We should see, read and use the Bible as a cultural library. One that has great power to instruct and was inspired by God, yet isn't 'perfect' as a constitution is, but as a library is. We should instead use the stories of Scripture to continue the conversation between humans and God and live our lives from that relationship.<br /><br />McLaren also spoke of other religions and their place in the kingdom of God. I won't write much on this, since I was busy making coffee during this point and will probably expand on this in a later post, but will put out a few things I loved. One thing he said that he isn't so much interested in Buddhists and Muslims and Atheists becoming Christians, per se, but all people, including Christians, becoming fervent lovers of Jesus. Following Jesus doesn't necessitate following a certain religion. Not to say that a Buddhist that loves Jesus wouldn't change some of their practices and/or beliefs, but then again, Christians that pursue the life of Jesus would probably change a lot of their practices and beliefs too!<br /><br />Overall, I think A New Kind of Christianity and the one-day conference with McLaren awoke in me my desire to explore these topics more. And that I'm super progressive. Even if I am a Calvinist. :)<br /><br />Peace,Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-39796506509860602342010-04-25T22:53:00.003-05:002010-04-25T22:57:44.739-05:00Brian McLaren, Hurt Locker & AvatarIt's been a while. I shall be returning this week.<br /><br />Brian McLaren came to LaSalle Street Church last weekend. He spoke on his new book, A New Kind of Christianity, on Saturday from 10-4 with us. Then preached at our services on Sunday. It was great and Brian was wonderful.<br /><br />LaSalle has a movie night once a month called Cornerstone Cinema. We watch a movie and have a discussion. It's a super diverse crowd and I made my first one on Friday. Hurt Locker is amazing!<br /><br />Tonight I saw Avatar. Yes, for the first time. Again, AMAZING! Sorry First Tribes Peoples of our soil. Mark Driscoll, I'm saddened that you thought that movie was satanic.<br /><br />Yes, that is what is to come. More in depth on each.Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-76454646121615037172010-02-06T18:48:00.002-06:002010-02-06T18:59:50.231-06:00Anthropology and HistoryI picked up <span style="font-style: italic;">India: A History</span> the other day, a book I read while in India to learn a bit about my surroundings. It's a SUPER long and detailed book, about how we know things about India's ancient history from Vedic myths and engravings of rulers on coins. It reminded me about how much I loved Human Origins, an anthropology class about how humans came to be from apes (yes, that is supposed to be inflammatory). I got super excited back then about how humans developed, where the Garden of Eden was, what the "Image of God" was, how humans moved throughout the world, etc. <br /><br />I then picked up my Basics of Physical Anthropology book and my Africa: A Biography. I've always thought it would be great to learn, not just from the intricacies of history, but the broad strokes and larger stories. How does it all relate to theology? What do we, as 21st century people have to learn from the story of <span style="font-style: italic;">australopithicus</span>, the Bantu migration, the rise and fall of the Maya and many other stories?<br /><br />So, here are some REALLY basic cool insights and possible things to look into. Thoughts?<br />-Pangaea, the idea that there was a super continent, then it split apart fits into the idea that when God created oceans it was to split apart the land masses.<br />-Some 'scholars' have decided that the earth is 6000 years old. Others have decided it is 6 billion years old. Usually the former think that evolution is in the face of God and the later think evolution is truth and God doesn't exist. In reading the beginning of Africa: A Biography it explains the evolution of life, dinosaurs and such before people. The way it went from vegetation to water animals to dinosaurs to mammals works with Genesis. This isn't 'new' to me, but hit me in a new way. Maybe God is that cool...<br />-Dinosaurs were REALLY big and dominant and the first mammals, who would 'win' the evolution game, were really small - teeth about 1mm in length. Maybe large cultures that try and dominate don't work?<br /><br />There are very basic thoughts without much sophistication. Hopefully more will come. If you're on Facebook, please go to jesusandlife.blogspot.com to comment!<br /><br />Peace,Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-67773352899138271792010-01-13T22:57:00.002-06:002010-01-13T23:00:54.655-06:00Haiti, Pat Robertson and God<p>The following is from the Huffington Post:<br /></p><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">Televangelist Pat Robertson said Wednesday that earthquake-ravaged Haiti has been "cursed" by a "pact to the devil."</p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it," he said on Christian Broadcasting Network's "The 700 Club." "They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you'll get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it's a deal."</p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">Robertson said that "ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other" and he contrasted Haiti with its neighbor, the Dominican Republic.</p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: center;">"That island of Hispaniola is one island. It is cut down the middle; on the one side is Haiti on the other is the Dominican Republic," he said. "Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etc. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have and we need to pray for them a great turning to god and out of this tragedy I'm optimistic something good may come. But right now we are helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable."</p><p><br /></p><p>It PAINS my heart to know that someone with as big a following and with as much influence as Pat Robertson has would say this. I'm really not interested in whether or not this actually happened. The truth is that Haiti has been in terrible conditions for a while and a natural disaster just devastated them more. Whether or not they made a pact with the devil means nothing for whether or not people should be assisting them. <br /></p><p>Pat, please stop.</p><p>Peace,<br /></p>Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-36342786567272620912009-12-16T16:00:00.002-06:002009-12-16T16:11:12.366-06:00American Enterprise Institute, Hastert Center and Breaking BreadThis morning I attended a breakfast and lecture on the 39th floor of the Lyric Opera house at the Tower Club. It was an event hosted by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Hastert Center at Wheaton College on the topic of free enterprise and capitalism. The three lectures/topis were 'The Fight for Free Enterprise', 'Capitalism:Fix the Machine or Change the Behavior?' and 'My Brother's Keeper: Why Capitalism is Good for the Poor'. We ate a grand breakfast of scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes, the best bacon I've ever had, fresh fruit and pasteries, with coffee, juice and soda. The presenters spoke for a couple of hours and fielded some comments and questions. It was a room of about 75 people, with two people of color.<br /><br />In a couple of hours I will open up the doors of Cornerstone Center to welcome in about 100 guests for Breaking Bread, a hospitality ministry/soup kitchen of LaSalle Street Church. Keith and the volutneers will be preparing a meal of spaghetti, garlic bread, corn and dessert to go along with our coffee, juice and water. Guests will come in from the cold to sit and talk, participate in a Bible study, listen to some music on my iPod, enjoy a meal and have the option of picking up some free clothes and canned goods. Our 100 guests will be predominately men and women of color.<br /><br />I write this because these two meals I'm a part of today, that are bookending my day, seem like unreconcilable and uterly paradoxical events. I really, honestly, don't know what to think about it. Part of me wants to yell at AEI and Wheaton. Part of me wants to yell at our guests and LSC. I have no idea what I would say to any of them or why I would say it, other than the fact that this paradox of meals is frustrating. <br /><br />More thoughts will come later, but this is the context that they will come out of...<br /><br />Peace,Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-43506218148014185492009-12-13T16:28:00.002-06:002009-12-13T16:35:47.346-06:00Trying to get back to writingIt's been awhile since I've written anything. I've written e-mails and a few letters to youth and parents, but nothing else. No journal entries (not like I've ever done a lot of that), no blogs, no papers. I want to get back to that...<br /><br />Recently my iBook had an accident. I went to plug it in and hit the top right corner of the screen with the plug. Barely. Yet, enough to ruin about 1/5 of the screen. I was thinking about replacing it with the new MacBook or an iMac, but decided instead to spend $125 on a 18" monitor, wireless keyboard and nice VGA cord, which I really didn't even need. I now have a 'desktop' iBook. It's a bit of a pain, but a much bigger screen and saved a thousand dollars. Not often that I get to say that.<br /><br />I am continuing with my training for the triathlon. In fact, I'm working on starting another blog for my training, since that seems to be the cool thing to do in the triathlon world. I haven't done much in the last two weeks, since working out a couple times in MN during Thanksgiving. I got a TERRIBLE sinus nastiness that lasted until about 4 days ago. I should be good to hit the pool, treadmill, gym, bike, and DEFINITELY steam room this next week.<br /><br />One thing that I really want to get back to writing is theological stuffs. I really enjoy thinking through and writing about different theological ideas and issues, hearing feedback and comments from others and then keeping the conversation going. We're going to try and work on that as well.<br /><br />Well, that's all for now. We'll see if they keep coming...<br /><br />Peace,Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-47703966308798346812009-11-16T18:14:00.002-06:002009-11-16T18:34:30.165-06:00I'm Back, with Benedict!I've been completely away from the blogosphere for a while. I'm sorry to all y'all who's blogs I've been reading. I'm getting back on the train...<br /><br />I'm in a group at church with some other young couples called Faith for Life. We read the Rule of St. Benedict and a book called Benedict's Toolbox and are going to be creating our own Rule of Life. I read these two books before and blogged a bit about them. The group is awesome and I have recently decided to try and follow Benedict's Hours schedule again.<br /><br />Awhile back I read through the Psalms once a week at the Daily Hours (Vigils, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline) for a couple weeks and then made my own schedule to follow, as to not repeat as many Psalms throughout the week as Benedict does. In the past week I went back through the Rule and also wrote in all the other readings, hymns and such that Benedict has his monks do throughout the day. Needless to say, it's pretty crazy.<br /><br />I started following it, mostly, yesterday. Sunday Vigils is the most intense. Vigils is supposed to be at 2-3am, but I'm doing it when I get up, before I eat breakfast. On Sundays Vigils is extra long, with the normal 12 psalms and then another 8 readings, 4 New Testament readings, and a Gospel reading. For Benedict, not all readings have to be from the Scriptures, although, that's what I'm doing. Until one of my uber rich friends buys me the Loeb Classical Library, I'm sticking to the Bible.<br /><br />Well, that's all for now. I'll probably revamp some of my other thoughts on stuff like Jesus and his love for the Democratic party soon...<br /><br />Peace,Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-4170089320096866962009-10-05T21:30:00.002-05:002009-10-05T21:43:58.955-05:00The B-I-B-L-EYup, that's the book for me!<br /><br />I wanted to revisit the topic that I teased awhile ago about the importance and/or position of the Bible in our lives as Christians as we seek to follow Jesus. While I am far from being a fundamentalist and on some days not even really evangelical by strict definition, I do think that reading and engaging with the Bible is one of the most important things for a follow of Jesus to do. I think this looks different for everyone, but should be a hallmark of what it looks like practically to be a Christian.<br /><br />To me, no matter how literally you take the Bible or what your view of its perfection is, the Bible is the most important and full way to get to know who God is, how God acts in the world, who we as humans are and how we are to interact with God and each other. I say 'most important' because I think that there are many other things beyond the Bible that do these things as well. I just the that the Bible is the primary and most important one. Again, for some people the Bible will take a stronger or weaker role in comparison to other mediums of learning about God and ourselves, such as nature, experience, science, reason, etc. Yet I still think that for everyone the Bible should be the primary and most important one.<br /><br />Having said this, I don't read the Scriptures like I would like to. (I almost said should, but even with the view of how important the Bible is I don't think the <span style="font-style: italic;">should</span> should be used. When we do it out of guilt or obligation, it loses a lot of value.) I won't go as far as to say that everyone should read the Bible every day, but for me, to whom the Bible speak to more than other mediums, I think that I need to in order to be fully connecting with and learning from God. I have tried many approaches, some have worked more than others, and am currently exploring a good and sustainable one. (B90X should be done by all at some point. Check out a great blog about it). I think that some combination of the Benedictine practices, hours of prayer, Anglican prayer book and my own creativity will win in the end.<br /><br />I bring this up, because I wonder what other people's views on this are. In our discussions on things like the role of government, what churches should be engaged in, how we should live as Christians, etc., I think one of the questions is where do we find resources to help us address these questions? My answer would be that it is primarily the Bible, but definitely not only the Bible. The other resources, like experience, science, reason, research, etc., should fall in line with the Bible's narrative story. (I say narrative story because I think proof texting is dumb. If you're going to use the Bible to back you up, you better be able to show how the SCOPE of the story does). <br /><br />So, I want to hear what people think...<br /><br />peace,Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-85034351139787784652009-09-29T22:36:00.002-05:002009-09-29T22:41:47.475-05:00TriathlonYes, you read that correctly. Triathlon. I decided today that I want to do one. Searched online and found a cool website for beginners and saw that there is an Olympic triathlon in Normal, IL on July 17th, 2010. That's 1.5km of swimming (.93mi), 40km of biking (24.8mi) and 10K (6.2mi) of running. That's seems doable to me. In July of next year. Biggest Loser is my inspiration.<br /><br />Who is with me???<br /><br />peace,Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-58859806508495748192009-09-29T09:53:00.002-05:002009-09-29T09:59:05.661-05:00Quick PostThis last week has been crazy. I had terrible headaches for about 6 days, along with just generally not feeling all that great. Emily and I hosted 4 people over the period of 6 days, saw great friends from out of town and in town and attended the Lauterez wedding. <br /><br />Since moving to Chicago I haven't had a need to go to the doctor. I went to the Minute Clinic when I had strep, got tested and got some antibiotics. Now I need to find a family practice doctor and actually go in and find out what is wrong with me. Kind of weird, since I haven't visited a doctor more than about 3 times in the last 10 years. Have an appointment tomorrow.<br /><br />I've really enjoyed some of the recent conversations about the Church. It's really got me thinking about what it looks like for me, not just other people, to engage in my local community, church and world in general. One thing I would like to throw out there and then write on further later today or tomorrow is the role of the Bible in our living out of our faith. Conversations, experiments and opinions on their own are kind of useless. Also, throwing around Bible verses to say "Help the poor", "Don't help the poor", or anything crazy like that is pretty useless as well. What I am eager to see is how can a community, local, web-based and global engage with the WHOLE of Scripture to inform how we live. Especially knowing that many of us read the Bible differently? Thoughts before I share mine?<br /><br />peace,Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-41138614675366912542009-09-22T08:25:00.002-05:002009-09-22T09:01:40.897-05:00The Role of the Local ChurchSome great comments, ideas, insights and rebuttals! As someone mentioned recently, I believe in person, but maybe somewhere on the interweb, it's fun having a rebirth of the Xanga crew plus new blood. Hurah for the interweb!<br /><br />Megan, your call for more Christians to be involved in the foster care world is amazing. It's amazing not just because small children are part of the voiceless 'poor and oppressed' that cannot speak for themselves, but also because your call comes out of a lived conviction. For those of you who don't know, I'm adopted. I was adopted at birth and lived with foster parents for the first 10 weeks of my life. I often thank God for their care for me and I know my parents and I are ever grateful for them. However, my adoption circumstances weren't the average. Foster care is important also for the children who are taken from their parents or given up by their parents after birth. I believe that one area that Christians need to really think a lot about is how we can be involved in the WHOLE of beginning and end of life care. Not just, "Abortion and euthanasia are bad", but a presence with people of support and love like the Bensons have been for their foster kids.<br /><br />I found the ideas attending a local church interesting, mostly because that wasn't what I was thinking directly. I do agree that it would be great for more people to attend and become a part of churches closer to them, not driving past 25 churches to attend the 'right' one for them. However, I think it is more important that individual Christians be involved in their own neighborhood personally and that churches be involved in their local neighborhoods as a 'parish'. If you happen to attend a church outside your neighborhood, for whatever reason, then we know that people are still being cared for. This way, too, I can help network my church that I attend and my local church that I see working in my neighborhood together to learn from one another on how best to serve in certain ways.<br /><br />Check out <a href="http://consideringloss.blogspot.com/2009/09/enough-of-this-individualism-business.html">Melissa's blog</a>. Not only do I want you to check it out so her Analytics tells her that people got to her site via jesusandlife, but also because she has a great post about churches networking together and working with one another to meet needs. Interesting thoughts that need to be discussed.<br /><br />Really, when it comes down to it, I want to see Christians and churches in America be more active in their communities. Period. Let's just start there, since it really isn't being done all that much. Preaching on Sunday is great, but let's also start helping people around us.<br /><br />peace,Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-55265122183595091432009-09-18T09:04:00.003-05:002009-09-18T09:31:25.436-05:00RecapitulationAs promised, I'm going to revisit some of my recent topics, respond to/include comments and add some additional ideas and thoughts to the mix. Feedback and comments are always great, even when you don't agree with me. In fact, those are the comments that keep me thinking.<br /><br /><br />The Church and the Poor<br />What I believe needs to happen within churches in America is a renewed vision of what it means to serve, and be served by, the poor. I wrote earlier that I think the local church, not parachurch organizations, should be the focal point. What I meant by this was not that parachurch organizations should cease to exist, but that they shouldn't be the primary way in which individual Christians give money to in order to 'be involved'. Organizations like World Relief, World Vision, Samaritans Purse and others do great work and are filling a void in the Church, but I don't believe that they should be the primary avenue for Christians to be involved with. The local church, which understands, or should, local needs the best should be where individual Christians give their money and serve through. Ariah mentioned wanting to see more people doing personal, local ministry, like sharing food and clothing with those in need in their neighborhood. YES! This, I believe, is the place to start. Instead of using a corporation model of top-down parachurch, local church and individual, we should be starting with the individual, building to the local church and then on to parachurch organizations.<br /><br />This is what I think it should look like:<br />Christians should know their neighbors and neighborhoods. We should be in touch with the people and needs around us and help meet them daily. Let's revitalize the hospitality that was known of the early church and invite people into our homes for drink, food and a good time. Local churches, then, should do the same, meeting the bigger needs through slightly larger means. Soup kitchens/meals, counseling, referrals to professional programs/agencies that might be able to help, etc. Monies from Christians should be funneled here, to the local church. Parachurch organizations should then exist to help connect local churches to one another, not to do the work themselves. When a church in Way-far-awaysville cannot meet their local needs themselves they can network to another church in Not-even-closeville to get the extra assistance they need. This way people from the church in Not-even-closeville can travel to Way-far-awaysville and assist them directly, not just funnel money through the parachurch organization. This parachurch organization can then help not only network, but train people all over through what has been learned in other places. The parachurch organization should be a support, not a direct line of service. Direct lines of service should come from individuals, not corporations.<br /><br />This would take a HUGE change in the way we do things and make us question and work through a lot of cultural norms and values, but I think it is closer to where Jesus would have us.<br /><br /><br />Liberation Theology<br />Speaking of where Jesus would have us, I believe it is primarily with the poor. Why? Because the Bible talks about caring for the poor and oppressed more than any other topic. God's actions throughout the Bible and words to his people are primarily about loving God and caring for one another, particularly those who are poor an oppressed. Some would say that liberation theology would tend towards the violent overthrow of democracy in favor of authoritarianism. I would say that while this has happened in history, what concerns me more is the Church's tendency to use violence to convert the 'infidel masses' and subdue territory in the name of God. Violence has followed the Church everywhere, many times stemming from her. However, liberation theology doesn't call for the violent overthrow of governments, it calls for solidarity with and service to the poor. (Yes, some liberation theologians are going to call for violent overtakes, but some theologians in ANY circle are going to call for ridiculous extreme things). Liberation theology says that God is specially concerned with the poor, in a similar way that Jesus said he came for the sick, not the healthy. People surrounded by poverty are more open to assistance than the rich man in a mansion with a Ferrari and everything he wants. Sure, God calls that man as well and is with him, but God is with those who are downtrodden here on earth in a special way.<br /><br />Looking forward to the comments. Facebook, here is the blog<a href="http://www.jesusandlife.blogspot.com"> link</a>.<br /><br />peace,<br /><br /><!--EndFragment-->Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-60272066280117041652009-09-17T17:12:00.005-05:002009-09-17T17:24:33.662-05:00A Quick Life UpdateThis has mainly been a place of putting out my thoughts lately. It shall continue, but I wanted to put a general life update out there as well.<br /><br />I've been biking a lot for about a month. I bought a bike off a friend who was moving, fixed it up a bit and have been biking to and from work pretty much every day. It is a 4.5 mile direct rout and an 8 mile route when I take the long way on the Lakeshore path. Usually I opt for the longer way. Yesterday I started what I think will be a Wednesday ritual: the 16.5 mile bike to work. I went south a ways, then over to the Lakeshore path and up to work. I also just bought a headlight, odometer/speedometer, and panniers (the bags that go over your tires). The panniers will take some getting used to, but I found them on Amazon for cheap. Woot!<br /><br />Arrested Development is a hilarious show. I've been watching them over again starting with season 1, episode 1 on Hulu. Thank you Hulu for your wonder and glory.<br /><br />My wife and I had our first anniversary a month and a day ago. It was a great first year and we look forward to MANY MANY more. For our anniversary dinner we went to a nice Italian place. The food was wonderful, the waiter was funny, and he gave us a card for a buy one get one free entree next time we go. Oh yes, we'll be back.<br /><br />That's all for now. I will return to respond to comments made about my thoughts on the church, the poor and liberation theology, make some remarks on health care and also touch back on the professional sports dilly in the next few posts. (To Facebook readers: it would be awesome if you would go to my blog and copy/paste your comments there as well. It will be fun for conversation. I know it's an extra step, but I would love it. jesusandlife.blogspot.com) (To Google people, please hit the 'follow' button on the right side of my blog and become a 'follower' so I know you read my blog. I'm curious!)<br /><br />Peace,Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-12654293442775296142009-09-16T07:27:00.003-05:002009-09-16T07:32:42.346-05:00Professional SportsThis will hopefully be a quick post. I'll return to the idea of ministry to the poor either later tonight or tomorrow. Continue the comments and conversation!<br /><br />I do NOT like professional sports. Athletes are WAY overpaid, ticket and food prices make it very difficult for families to go to games and the athletes that are supposedly role models (except Charles Barkley) are NOT very good role models. <br /><br />Pro sports, especially after the advent of Fantasy Sports, take over people's lives in a way that is incredibly unhealthy. This is true of college sports too. I grew up in Columbus, Ohio, where everything in the fall, including church, has to be scheduled around OSU football. March Madness truly turns people mad. Men in particular lose the ability to interact in a normal and meaningful way beyond sports during the high times of sport seasons. It's ridiculous.<br /><br />I just watched Jon Stewart's interview with <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/246955/mon-september-14-2009-lebron-james">LeBron James</a>. WoW. I still have the above opinions, but boy was it great to hear from such an amazingly well-spoken and thoughtful person. For real. He mentioned the 'big man upstairs' and had some good things to say. Thank you, LeBron, for being a real human. I would let my kids look up to you. (Yeah, he plays for Cleveland!)<br /><br />peace,Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-29541187755897274862009-09-14T07:06:00.003-05:002009-09-14T07:30:04.213-05:00Some IdeasOne of the comments to my last post was from a guy named <a href="http://emberok.blogspot.com/">Joel</a>. He has a great <a href="http://emberok.blogspot.com/">blog</a> about cardboard couches, you should check it out. I'm going to make this post directly off of one of the sections of his comments, cause he kind of asked me to:<br /><br />"I know that your church has ministries for the poor. I know from you're recent post that you just went to San Francisco to see how others are ministering to the poor and needy. Do you think this is the right action? Is your church doing enough? In an ideal world what would you add, or change, or get rid of, or call your congregation/youth to do?"<br /><br />Since I'm kind of an idealist, I'll work backwards and start with what I would add, change or get rid of in the Church in an ideal world with regards to ministry to the poor. First of all, I will make clear, that I am becoming more and more of a liberation theology disciple. Put really simply, liberation theology says that God has a special concern and presence with the poorest of the poor and one of the most significant events in history is God's action in liberating his people in the exodus. Because of this, I would ADD a lot of things to what the Church (capital 'c' is the universal Church, lowercase 'c' is the local body, individual church) is doing in her ministry. Caring for the poor, hungry, homeless and in need is central to the call of Christ. It isn't a way to get people to show up and share the Gospel with them, it <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> a part of the Gospel. Churches that do not have involvement in helping to clothe, feed and shelter people around them who do not have these necessities need to get involved.<br /><br />That said, this doesn't mean that each individual church should have their own meal service, clothing room and housing program. Maybe there is a church near your church that is already doing this and your church could join the cause. (Heaven forbid that two churches that might have differing views on communion work together in anything.)<br /><br />One thing I would change would be to see the local church become the focal point in ministering to people. I like parachurch organizations. A lot of them, like World Vision, do GREAT work. However, if Christians all gave 5% of their income to the local church they attended, the church organized alongside other churches solid ministries locally, and attendees volunteered at these ministries an unbelievable amount of stuff could be done. Five percent of your income is piddly money, especially for most American Christians.<br /><br />On what my church, <a href="http://lasallestreetchurch.org/">LaSalle Street Church</a>, is doing, and what we saw in San Francisco at <a href="http://www.glide.org">Glide Memorial Church</a>, I think we're moving in the right direction. Breaking Bread serves a weekly meal which has at it a nurse practitioner, health worker, free clothing room and a Bible study. We try and extend hospitality to people for a few hours a week. Currently, we are looking at what our future will look like. I am working a lot to coordinate with some other ministries, shelters and agencies in Chicago to see how we can support each other and work together. This is hard work, especially since this isn't natural for people. Why work together when I can start something new and not have to work with people? It's easier to start something new and I would rather do that some days. However, this isn't the best use of resources and isn't the way to do things best and learn from one another.<br /><br />If you're reading this on FB, please do comment on FB, but also head to my blog (jesusandlife.blogspot.com) and comment there as well. Would love to see a conversation going on what other churches are doing and what people are thinking...<br /><br />Peace,Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-49805553271495064802009-09-10T18:05:00.003-05:002009-09-10T18:28:42.091-05:00The Institution and the CallSometime when I was in about 6th grade I started hearing about groups from our church that went to Honduras. Some when to build stuff, some when to do education stuff, some went for medical stuff. I wanted to go. In 8th grade my dad got a really odd bonus. I don't remember the details, but it was something like a third of half of his projected year-end bonus. It was just enough for he and I to go to Honduras. We went back the next year. I've been messed up ever since.<br /><br />That was the first time I encountered and starting thinking about poverty. It started out simple. There are poor people; there are rich people; if the rich helped the poor, they wouldn't be poor. Then I read <span style="font-style: italic;">Compassion </span>by Henri Nouwen and two other guys. It messed me up more. I now started thinking a bit more complex. There are poor and suffering people; Jesus was compassionate and suffered with; I want to go where there are suffering people and be with them.<br /><br />I went to Belize for two summers in high school, went back to Honduras once in college, spent 3 weeks in Kenya and then lived in Inida 'studying' the poor and health care for 6 months. During this whole time I've always been SUPER frustrated that there are rich people, especially rich Christians in America, that really don't do much to help poor people (homeless dudes in Chicago or single HIV+ mothers in Tanzania). Sure, some give. Fewer give more. Even fewer give a lot. That's great, but it isn't much, for the big picture.<br /><br />Synagogues during the time of Jesus told people they needed to follow the law. God gave it, you should follow it. Yet, in doing this they condemned women to death by stoning for adultery (men, let's be honest, it was probably the guy that got her to sleep with him and she was probably reluctant at first), walked on the other side of the street from the injured and repeatedly killed people that God sent to teach others that we should love one another. Jesus came along and basically told all the synagogue rulers, priests, teachers of the law and anyone high up in the Jewish religion that they were wrong. Give the poor some food, the thirsty some drink. No seriously, that's what I want to you do. Yes, Jesus message was more than this, but this was definitely a CENTRAL theme.<br /><br />Fast forward a couple thousand years. The Church yells at people outside abortion clinics, forces men and women who want a meal to sit through a sermon before eating, neglect those without access to clean water, health care and a whole other list of things. My guess is that Jesus is pretty pissed. For real.<br /><br />I'm not saying that we (Christians) should be 'for' the health care reform (although I am). I just think that Jesus is pretty disappointed at what his hands and feet are up to. I was reminded while hanging out with Father River in SF that God calls us to some pretty basic stuff. Matthew 25 makes it clear, we should be about acts of mercy. When someone is in need, MEET IT. The fact that we (the Church in America) have great Sunday school programs, great sermon series, and everything a good institution like a corporation has and don't take care of the hungry, naked, mentally unstable, etc. around us is pathetic.<br /><br />We have forsaken the call of Jesus for the more comfortable institution of our churches.<br /><br />Peace,<br /><br />Check this out, it makes Jesus smile: <a href="http://tryingtofollow.com/2009/09/09/a-birthday-banquet/">Birthday Wish</a>Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-13485213408958846292009-09-01T07:30:00.003-05:002009-09-01T08:02:16.023-05:00San FranciscoFirst of all, I HATE spelling San Francisco. How many c's are there? Where does the 's' go? Is it one word or two? That is why, from here on out, I will type 'SF'...<br /><br />About a week and a half ago I took a trip out to SF with the rest of <a href="http://lasallestreetchurch.org/pages/serving/breakingbread.php">Breaking Bread's</a> leadership. We visited <a href="http://www.glide.org/">Glide Memorial Church</a> and <a href="http://www.franciscanworkers.org/">Father River Sims</a>. The purpose of our trip was capacity building, to see how we could do the work we do better. More simply and directly put, we went to learn. We received a PHENOMENAL grant from our church and were very excited to go.<br /><br />Glide was the main purpose of our trip. Both a church and a foundation, Glide provides an array of services to the poor, homeless and those in need in the Tenderloin district of SF. They serve 2-3 THOUSAND people a day in their meals program. Yes, you did read that number correctly. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served daily. Glide can also make shelter reservations through a city service to help their clients get into a shelter, offer a drop in/crisis center, a women's center, a nurse practitioner model health clinic and a few other services. Overall, it was fairly overwhelming to take in in just a couple short days.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__fagh1XD7j8/Sp0bH8rgPbI/AAAAAAAAAPc/4_5ZzdwB8Js/s1600-h/Glide+Peps.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__fagh1XD7j8/Sp0bH8rgPbI/AAAAAAAAAPc/4_5ZzdwB8Js/s200/Glide+Peps.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376483353511869874" border="0" /></a><br />Alongside the foundation and the social services, Glide is a United Methodist Church. Started with an unapologetic rootedness in liberation theology, they ministered mostly to crack addicts and their services on Sundays were fairly integrated with their clients. One of our main objectives of our trip was to understand how we as LaSalle can better do this. Today, however, Glide is more of a radically inclusive church, openly welcoming people of different races, colors, backgrounds, views, sexual orientations, etc. Their current focus is to be welcoming to the GLBT community. The Celebration, the name for their Sunday morning service, was incredible. It was the first time I have had seats reserved with a piece of paper and announced as official guests in church (pretty awesome!). I have never heard a choir and band (about 75 choir members and 8 band member) sound so amazing.<br /><br />The other part of of trip was spent with Father River Sims. River spends his time ministering to people in the neighborhood where he lives, Polk street, and the Tenderloin, Haight and other districts. He has a ministry of presence and harm prevention among the young adult street population who are mostly drug users and sex workers. Basically, what River does is walk the streets, talk to people, be available for them to talk to and hands out socks, snacks, needles and condoms. He also cooks a meal for about 120 people twice a week. Watching the faces of everyone as they saw 'Reverend' approaching was incredible. They were so happy to see a face that cared, who didn't judge and who saw them as human. In talking to River he explained that what he does is lives in the moment, practices acts of mercy as Jesus calls us to in Matthew 25 and listens. He can't save anyone, only God does that work. Refreshing to hear.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__fagh1XD7j8/Sp0awwyAoWI/AAAAAAAAAPU/9hpaSwGOlmY/s1600-h/River.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__fagh1XD7j8/Sp0awwyAoWI/AAAAAAAAAPU/9hpaSwGOlmY/s200/River.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376482955180941666" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It's obvious that we have a lot to work through after this trip. Our ministry of Breaking Bread is a weekly meal with a clothing room, nurse and health care worker. There is some live entertainment and we try and extend hospitality to our family. Glide is MUCH bigger and more social service oriented. Father Sims is on the streets, interacting with less people on a more personal level. We have a lot to learn from both as we move forward.<br /><br />peace,Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-90772878470562342302009-08-29T21:44:00.002-05:002009-08-29T21:47:14.365-05:00Lots to ComeLast weekend was spent in SanFran with Breaking Bread. We hung out with Glide and served 750 breakfast plates and 1000 lunch plates. Celebration was amazing. Best and tightest band and choir I have ever heard. Glide, Marsalis called, he wants his swing back.<div><br /></div><div>We also hung out with Father River, who has an AMAZING street ministry. Ministry of presence and harm prevention. I was blessed more by hanging out with Father River than I have in a long time. More to come.</div><div><br /></div><div>This weekend Emily and I are in MN. State Fair, friends, cute kids. Love it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Peace,</div>Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-34810503882391293182009-08-21T08:06:00.002-05:002009-08-21T08:20:34.347-05:00Health CarePretty much all we hear about currently in the Health Care Debate. Is Obama reforming or destroying? Will Grandma be insured, cured or shot in the head? How do we pay for people to have health care that can't pay for it themselves? And the questions and ludicrous statements go on...<div><br /></div><div>Part of me thinks that we should just pass the health care bill and see what happens. Let's be honest for a bit, no one, right or left, wants to kill people. Democrats and Republicans both think their ideas to change the system are good. The Democrats are in control of the house and senate and presidency. The Republicans were in control for the majority of 8 years. Whether or not that was good or bad, the Dems are in control now. Let's just give their ideas a go.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another part of me wants to get in on the debate. We shouldn't have anyone who doesn't have heath care. People who have jobs, especially near full and full-time jobs should have coverage that comes both from their pocket and their employers. Insurance companies are greatly evil and need to actually be about health care, not about making money. People who don't have health care should be able to get it from the government. People who make TONS and TONS o money, over a million a year, should be taxed higher to help cover it. It's only fair. Or maybe it isn't, but life isn't fair. You have a Mercedes, the poor lady only has minimal government sponsored health care that you helped pay for. Get over it.</div><div><br /></div><div>The biggest part of me, though, is just plain sad and disappointed and our Christian leaders in America. I think one thing that most people who want to talk this out can agree on is that people on both the right and the left, and even in the middle, are making a lot of straw man arguments and straight making things up to get people to be against what they are against, instead of honestly debating the points they are for. Where are our Christian leaders speaking up from a Christian perspective on this? Why aren't there LARGE groups of Christian thinkers working together to help make this issue CLEAR for people? I'm not saying I want every pastor to pick a side and indorse it from the pulpit. No. I'm saying that pastors, doctors, lawyers, students, etc. should be working to get the facts out to people and help in the leadership to reform our health care system. Maybe that means not paying for the poor dude's health care. Fine. Just honestly and respectfully show me and the rest of America that in a logical and Christ-like way. Jesus was super smart. He would not say anything, bend down and draw pictures in the sand, and then say "Go ahead. Stone her...if you haven't sinned". He was wise. Instead, we go around like the Pharisees and the teachers of the law yelling at people and trying to trap them with ridiculous stories like, "Hey, if I get married and she dies and that happens, like, 8 times, then, like, who will I be married to in heaven?" </div><div><br /></div><div>For the love of God, literally, where our leaders at?</div><div><br /></div><div>peace, </div>Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-40042100402366217062009-08-20T17:57:00.002-05:002009-08-20T18:05:01.699-05:00Power Tools and BikingPower Tools<div>After using some power tools for a week in New Orleans I am OBSESSED! I have always had a fascination with power tools, but never really used them. For the short time I was living and working in Los Angeles and got to use a drill frequently, I hated it. However, now I am back to loving them. </div><div><br /></div><div>On one of the work projects to Honduras that I was on there were about 10 DeWalt drills. As a 9th grader I decided that DeWalt was the BEST tool out there. Period. It looked sweet to have about 20-30 batteries that were all yellow and black charging every night. (It's kind of like Jack Daniels. Jack and Coke was my first drink I had when I was 21, it's still my favorite).</div><div><br /></div><div>I now visit the DeWalt site and drool at least twice a day. I have a drill and a circular saw picked out. I also want everything else too. My new project is convincing Emily to give me a project to do that necessitates power tools. I've decided I need to make a dresser for myself.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Biking</div><div>If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you probably realize that I have been biking lately. My buddy moved to the east coast and I bought his bike. I've tuned it up a bit and it rides great. The surprise to biking everyday is I eat A LOT more now. I also feel a lot better with the consistent workout. I'm also a lot more patient, since it is quicker and more relaxing to bike than to take CTA to work.</div><div><br /></div><div>After biking for a couple weeks, I'm tempted to figure out who I need to write to in order to get roads that have bike lanes paved so that a bike can ride in the bike lanes. There are a few places on Halsted and Blue Island that are downright sinkholes and ditches. I can understand the roads not being perfect, and the 95% of roads without bike lanes not being as good. But the bike lane roads? Really, Chicago? Come on, Daley, help me out.</div><div><br /></div><div>peace,</div>Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-57725422382215075462009-08-19T22:40:00.002-05:002009-08-19T22:52:06.801-05:00Breaking BreadFor those of you who don't know, I am the Operations Coordinator at Breaking Bread, LaSalle Street Church's Wednesday evening hospitality ministry for the poor, homeless and hungry. We provide a hot meal as a soup kitchen of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, have a nurse, someone from the Night Ministry that does rapid HIV and hepatitis tests, a free clothing room, and live entertainment. We refer to those who come for our program as guests, not homeless, poor or anything else, and everyone that is involved from volunteers through guests as family.<div><br /></div><div>This weekend four of us that are the Breaking Bread staff are heading out to San Francisco to check out Glide ministries at Glide Memorial Church. They have a HUGE ministry to the poor in their neighborhood, serve three meals a day and focus mainly on crack addicts. It should prove to be a great, challenging and eye opening time.</div><div><br /></div><div>As I look around Chicago, it saddens me that more isn't done in more respectful ways to help those out around us who need a little extra something. Many churches do little or nothing, while other organizations help people out as a cover for shoving Jesus down their throats in disrespectful ways. After a good night at Breaking Bread, knowing that we don't do everything perfect, I wish that there were more people who got to share in our family time together.</div><div><br /></div><div>Not too profound tonight, but want to keep posting.</div><div><br /></div><div>peace,</div>Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-3981422626601423872009-08-13T09:31:00.003-05:002009-08-13T09:38:40.112-05:00New OrleansYeah, I know, it's been a while. My bad. Want to get back to writing, we'll see if it happens.<div><br /></div><div>This summer has been super busy. Went to Peru for two weeks, preached my first sermon and went to New Orleans with the Senior High at our church. Overall, it's been a great summer, even if I haven't had time to breathe at all.</div><div><br /></div><div>New Orleans is still pretty depressing. I hadn't been down ever before, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I can't believe that New Orleans has recovered from Katrina. Yes, it was a MAJOR deal, the whole city flooded and there are lots of other issues that have and still do complicate recovery and rebuilding. All that said, it's REALLY pathetic that more hasn't been done.</div><div><br /></div><div>I don't claim to know all the ins and outs of should we rebuild something that is just going to keep flooding, racial problems and make-ups of the area, and the best way to rebuild. Brad Pitt wants to put up super green, modern looking, state of the art houses in the Lower 9th to rebuild. Habitat puts up simple, cookie-cutter like houses that are very affordable. The city dozes and then leaves empty lots. It's complicated, yes. What I do know, though, is that as a whole, the country hasn't done NEARLY enough to help New Orleans figure out what to do and help assist in whatever the 'solution' is. It's 5 years later and money has been wasted, stolen and just not spent. The nation doesn't stand by and watch, we walk away and ignore a whole city. Kind of like we ignore the fact that we massacred the Africans we brought over as slaves and the Native Peoples that we committed genocide on. </div><div><br /></div><div>I digress...</div><div><br /></div><div>Peace,</div>Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-56867286153222984522009-05-27T22:19:00.002-05:002009-05-27T22:30:05.708-05:00Wine, Jesus and the OT<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Daily Tidbit</span><div>Today at Spirit Feeding, the Bible study at the beginning of Breaking Bread, we read and discussed Jesus' miracle of turning water into wine. I've heard a lot about this passage, but never what we talked about tonight. One of our Moody Bible students led us this evening and wrote up our discussion pages. Instead of going the normal route, we read some OT passages about wine and it's significance in Messianic age prophecies. Basically, God told the people of Israel that in the future he would come back and restore them. What would restoration look like? You will have your own fields, grain and wine will abound. So...along comes Jesus. He's at a wedding. There's no more wine. He makes wine appear. A guy that can make wine appear must be the...yeah, MESSIAH!</div><div><br /></div><div>It was also cool talking about the other aspects of the wine in the story. The wine showed up in ceremonial washing bins. It was cleansing wine. Wonder if the Messiah's blood was cleansing?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">In Other News</span></div><div>I'm finally over my strep. If you're thinking about getting strep anytime, don't. It's really horrible. Another one of our staff members at church won free burritos at Chipotle. Seriously, I'm the only one that hasn't won them. It's my day off, but I'm going in for lunch, since it's a free burrito. Carnitas, black beans, sour cream, cheese, mild and corn salsa. The only appropriate choice. </div><div><br /></div><div>peace,</div>Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-27265503980010705872009-05-26T19:50:00.002-05:002009-05-26T20:02:53.759-05:00Daily TidbitThe tidbit today is from Luke 6:20-26. Jesus is teaching his disciples the Lukan version of the Sermon on the Mount. This one is much harder to hear. Verses 20-23 is the shortened version of the Beatitudes. They are great to hear, although you don't necessarily want to be what they describe. Poor, hungry, weeping, and persecuted. You think, "I'm glad God takes care of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">those</span> people," hoping you aren't one of them. Then he gets to the Woes:<div><br /></div><div>"Woe are you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.</div><div>Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.</div><div>Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.</div><div>Woe to you when all men speak will of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets."</div><div><br /></div><div>Wow, now all of a sudden I would rather be persecuted and hungry.</div>Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474200049474097252.post-51672335295528695682009-05-26T08:26:00.002-05:002009-05-26T08:37:19.705-05:00Church of the AscensionIf you read my blogs then you know I have been going to Church of the Ascension a couple times a week for a while for Morning Prayer and Low Mass. Simply put, I love it. I was thinking about this a bit this morning as I was heading to work, right across the street, from mass, of why I have enjoyed this so much. The three big reasons that came to me were these: <div><br /></div><div>First, I was invited to come. As I was reflecting on this, I realized that I've never been invited to church before. Sure, to come to some special event like a friend preaching, baptism or something of the like, but never, "Hey, should should come to my church and check it out." Now, this makes sense, since people who know me know I go to church. They aren't going to say, "Hey, I know you go to church already, but you should come to my church on Sunday". However, since Morning Prayer and Low Mass are each day, Scott was able to actually just straight up invite me. Good work, and thank you, Scott.</div><div><br /></div><div>Second, I enjoy fellowship with other brothers and sisters that are a part of a tradition that is different from mine. Going to church my whole life I never crossed myself, had a patron saint, followed along in a book of common prayer or sang a liturgy (see below). It is awesome to learn about and share in these things with fellow Christians. Brings a whole new meaning and depth of insight to unity in the Church.</div><div><br /></div><div>Third, it's nice to not have to do anything. Now that I work at a church I have stuff to do on Sundays. I can't just sit back and enjoy a service without thinking, "What do I have to be in charge of next?" Don't get me wrong, I love working and worshipping at LaSalle. However, I also love worshipping at Ascension.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Last Thursday I went to Ascension's Ascension Day service. (Yes, the double Ascension part is pretty funny). It was GREAT! The whole service was sung in chant and there was an amazing organist and beautiful choir. The procession in with the crucifix, candles, banner, incense and fully robed priests was amazing. All in all, a wonderful experience. Not only am I not used to saying the Nicene Creed, I'm really not used to singing it in chant. </div><div><br /></div><div>If there is a high Episcopal church near you, check it out.</div><div><br /></div><div>peace,</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Devinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07308254661917485431noreply@blogger.com5