EMERGENT DAY TWO REFLECTION

Day two focused on change and shalom--where we are headed rather than just where we are. The morning general session had Phyllis Tickle, Jack Cavuto, and Robert Webber discussing faith from the mainline, catholic, and evangelical perspectives. I'll definitely have more to say about this later, but the hot topic was Father God and whether Mother was a necessary correction for our culture. I'll show my colors right off and say that since the scripture never uses that metaphor, I won't use it either. On the other hand, the passionate response of both the mainline and catholic voices tells me that maybe we need to look back at the OT and NT and see with new eyes what God means when he calls himself Father I'm not at all sure we understand. The other needed correction is to rediscover the OT metaphors. I may be wrong, but I don't think the OT calls God Father. So the question is, what metaphors does the OT use and what did--and do--they mean.

Though my original cohort was a bust, last night I joined the Spencer Burke cohort. It was a challenging discussion over a good steak dinner. More on that later too--after all, there are probably people hovering around me waiting to get on the computer.

All in all, it has been challenging. My mind, my soul, has been stirred up.

Later.

EMERGENT DAY ONE REFLECTION

Well, day one focused on mercy-love-justice. Lot's to process, but the gist is that we--meaning the evangelical church type to which I belong--has too long relegated justice issues to the liberal church, thus neglecting the Word of God. After hearing Jim Wallis last night I think we need another look at the book of Micah, the whole OT and the whole NT. We got some 'splainin' to do.

Last night I went to hear Jack Caputo talk about deconstructing the church. Basic gist is that deconstruction is not destruction. The stuff he gave us is too vast to summarize here, so more on this later. But I will probably be buying his book--assuming I can understand it.

Other than that, Something Like Silas--the band--is good. Loud, but good. I like loud, but it was a bit weird to FEEL the bass drum in my pantlegs. All in all, though, their music moved my soul toward God and that's what it's all about, eh?

Later.

EMERGENT

I'm off to Emergent tomorrow. Hopefully I'll blog from there--if the price isn't too high and everyone else isn't online. If not, back Sunday...

WELL PUT ANSWER

Once in awhile I read the*homeless*guy. Very often he has good things to say and puts things in perspective. Yesterday he posted an excellent answer to an apparently too often asked question:

"There is more I should be putting on this blog, and eventually I'll get to it. For now, I'll answer the one big question that comes up time and again.

For the question, 'What's it like to be homeless?' my answer is,

'IT SUCKS!'

You have no idea how good it feels to say that."

Like he says, there's more to be said--but what more can you say to that question. That question is kinda like the question reporters ask survivors as they're standing in front of the charred remains of their house: "How do you feel?" Sometimes--most times--that's not the proper question. I'm not sure what is. Maybe there is no question. Maybe there's just a helping hand and a tear.

What is Christ doing in the world?

During the days of Lent--at least as often as my leaky brain remembered--I have been doing Journey to the Cross: A Daily Online Devotional Guide. Today's journey made a profound statement about mission. It said that the first question we should ask is, “What is Christ doing in the world?” After looking deeply into Christ's ministry in the world, We begin to discover God’s call in our lives when we reflect on what God wants to do in the world and when we dare to ask ourselves: “How do I fit in?”

Here I am in lay ministry, preparing for professional ministry, and I don't remember ever asking these questions intentionally. I guess it's time to start looking around my world and see what Christ is doing.