ladies and gentlemen, welcome Peter Kevinson to the world of blogging. we had a wonderful time last eve. discussing the Kingdom of God in relation to jubilee. It went much like this:: what have I been given (the kingdom) what must I give away (the kingdom)...
8.15.2003
I'm finding it much harder to remain "holy" as I dive deeper into my culture. Is holiness as a doctrine practical in my world? It seemed much more practical while I would study this doctrine in my soft cushy leather chair. There in my "study" I found it rather easy to formulate hard sayings about a life of holiness to deliver with passion to the Body of Christ. This story helps me::
A brilliant young Jewish scholar had approached a wizened rabbi to ask: "They say I am the holiest of all men. Do you think this is true?"
At first the rabbi refused to answer. But after being badgered by the tenacious scholar, he responded, "You are the most pious man of our age. You study night and day, retired from the world, surrounded by the rows of your books, the holy ark, the faces of devout scholars. You have reached high holiness. How have you reached it? Go down in the marketplace with the rest of the Jews. Endure their work, their strains, their distractions. Mingle in the world, hear the skepticism and irreligion they hear, take the blows they take. Let us see then if you remain the holiest of all men."
I may never return to full time church work - but if I do for some reason (God), I pray that these years in the marketplace develop within me a deep integrity and balanced piety
A brilliant young Jewish scholar had approached a wizened rabbi to ask: "They say I am the holiest of all men. Do you think this is true?"
At first the rabbi refused to answer. But after being badgered by the tenacious scholar, he responded, "You are the most pious man of our age. You study night and day, retired from the world, surrounded by the rows of your books, the holy ark, the faces of devout scholars. You have reached high holiness. How have you reached it? Go down in the marketplace with the rest of the Jews. Endure their work, their strains, their distractions. Mingle in the world, hear the skepticism and irreligion they hear, take the blows they take. Let us see then if you remain the holiest of all men."
I may never return to full time church work - but if I do for some reason (God), I pray that these years in the marketplace develop within me a deep integrity and balanced piety
i read this today in from an essay called Let the Church Be the Church by John Howard Yoder:
"New Testament moral thought begins by facing the fact that we live in a world that most of the time does not listen to all that christians have to say and some of the time will listen to nothing. Recognition of this minority posture calls not for social cynicism or for withdrawal but for a profound intellectual reorientation. Going far beyond the mere statistical awareness that not as many people will show up on sunday morning as used to, this reorientation will move on to the recognition that probably many of those who do attend are not yet committed to orienting their lives around a profound conviction that Jesus Christ is Lord."
"New Testament moral thought begins by facing the fact that we live in a world that most of the time does not listen to all that christians have to say and some of the time will listen to nothing. Recognition of this minority posture calls not for social cynicism or for withdrawal but for a profound intellectual reorientation. Going far beyond the mere statistical awareness that not as many people will show up on sunday morning as used to, this reorientation will move on to the recognition that probably many of those who do attend are not yet committed to orienting their lives around a profound conviction that Jesus Christ is Lord."
8.14.2003
I can think of many ways that Mark, Jennifer, and Micah could have spent their last moments together... They could have done what is proper and ordinary to the natural world and withdrew from the world around them. They could have put up the "do not disturb" sign. They could have, but they didn't... they remained true to their mission to the very end of this battle. They share a burden that is a burden of our family... organic incarnational missiology. That is our mission...for life. In John 21:18 Christ tells Peter "I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go."
In honor of Jennifer and her heart for this mission, Mark has made the following announcement: "In lieu of flowers, a special fund has been established for urban mission in Jennifers name. Please send your gifts to BIC Great Lakes Conference PO Box 69 West Milton, OH 45383. The moneys given will be used to equip young leaders to start urban missional communities."
In honor of Jennifer and her heart for this mission, Mark has made the following announcement: "In lieu of flowers, a special fund has been established for urban mission in Jennifers name. Please send your gifts to BIC Great Lakes Conference PO Box 69 West Milton, OH 45383. The moneys given will be used to equip young leaders to start urban missional communities."
Back from the Worship Service for Jennifer. Wow. What an incredible woman of God! As the service began and loved ones began to tell of the depth of Jennifer, I began to feel the Holy Spirit working in my heart re: my own selfishness. Just this morning, I found myself getting short with my healthy, living, loving, wonderful, selfless wife and all while I was getting ready to attend the memorial of one most hospitable. She made space - it was her calling with Mark. I must make space. Free space not only in our home for friends, but also in my heart for those closest to me.
+++Fogive me Lord for the times when my own wants, desires, and comfort rule me and take Your place in my heart. You are my free space... You are my freedom. You are freedom from self and when I experience you in this way it is the sweetest rest I know.+++
+++Fogive me Lord for the times when my own wants, desires, and comfort rule me and take Your place in my heart. You are my free space... You are my freedom. You are freedom from self and when I experience you in this way it is the sweetest rest I know.+++
These past couple of days, I have been dealing with the news of Jennifer Palmer's death... what it means for both Mark and Micah. I am going this morning to the worship service in her memory. Kevin Rains said it best "There's something just not right about a young woman in her twenties with an infant son and a husband not being there with them. This world is fucked up. We really do need a Savior... not a celestial repair man that can make a few quick fixes on an OK planet.... No! We need a Savior, a Rescuer, a Hero that can put all things right again. Without One of those we're lost."
8.11.2003
self-improvement?
I had a good conversation with a friend at work today about self improvement (his words). I knew I wanted to say something really intelligent about how self-improvement sucks, but I ended up just talking around in circles about how true self improvement has nothing to do with self at all... It in turn focuses on those around us... it is about love for others ... self improvement is love of self. Listening to him talk about his quest for self-better-ment made me sad because I know where he is at - I've been there. A continual self analization of performance on the quest for quality living... it's all crap! We must all escape the humanistic self-help bull that takes us deeper into a morbid introspection of the soul. True freedom comes from the release of what Christ calls "love of neighbor." Or as Oswald Chambers says in My Upmost for His Highest "the ministry of the exterior"
too bad I didn't think about it then but I could have used the excellent advice of tyler durden from Fight Club:: "self improvement is masturbation - maybe self destruction is the answer"
it's late and i need sleep
I had a good conversation with a friend at work today about self improvement (his words). I knew I wanted to say something really intelligent about how self-improvement sucks, but I ended up just talking around in circles about how true self improvement has nothing to do with self at all... It in turn focuses on those around us... it is about love for others ... self improvement is love of self. Listening to him talk about his quest for self-better-ment made me sad because I know where he is at - I've been there. A continual self analization of performance on the quest for quality living... it's all crap! We must all escape the humanistic self-help bull that takes us deeper into a morbid introspection of the soul. True freedom comes from the release of what Christ calls "love of neighbor." Or as Oswald Chambers says in My Upmost for His Highest "the ministry of the exterior"
too bad I didn't think about it then but I could have used the excellent advice of tyler durden from Fight Club:: "self improvement is masturbation - maybe self destruction is the answer"
it's late and i need sleep
Get with the De-program (2001-10-18) already... wow, i love this story. these guys rock... I sat in classes with brad who is pictured in the article. find out what God is doing in Cincy with his church.
if i published a cd that told the story of my day it might look like this...
1. just 10 more minutes (i slept in too late)
2. running errands running me (bank/postal/gas)
3. starpoop
4. wally's wacky world a.k.a. insanity
5. domestic disturbance (communication breakdown with Kerri)
6. stood up (no call from friends re: the concert)
7. ear candy (beautiful dialogue over tea with my new friend Trevis)
1. just 10 more minutes (i slept in too late)
2. running errands running me (bank/postal/gas)
3. starpoop
4. wally's wacky world a.k.a. insanity
5. domestic disturbance (communication breakdown with Kerri)
6. stood up (no call from friends re: the concert)
7. ear candy (beautiful dialogue over tea with my new friend Trevis)
8.08.2003
St. Dominic
(1170-1221)
If he hadn’t taken a trip with his bishop, Dominic would probably have remained within the structure of contemplative life; after the trip, he spent the rest of his life being a contemplative in active apostolic work.
Born in old Castile, Spain, he was trained for the priesthood by a priest-uncle, studied the arts and theology, and became a canon of the cathedral at Osma, where there was an attempt to revive the apostolic common life of the Acts of the Apostles.
On a journey through France with his bishop, he came face to face with the then virulent Albigensian heresy at Languedoc. The Albigensians (Cathari, “the pure”) held to two principles—one good, one evil—in the world. All matter is evil—hence they denied the Incarnation and sacraments. On the same principle they abstained from procreation and took a minimum of food and drink. The inner circle led what must he called a heroic life of purity and asceticism not shared by ordinary followers.
Dominic sensed the need for the Church to combat this heresy, and was commissioned to be part of the preaching crusade against it. He saw immediately why the preaching was not succeeding: the ordinary people admired and followed the ascetical heroes of the Albigenses. Understandably, they were not impressed by the Catholic preachers who traveled with horse and retinues, stayed at the best inns and had servants. Dominic therefore, with three Cistercians, began itinerant preaching according to the gospel ideal. He continued this work for 10 years, being successful with the ordinary people but not with the leaders.
His fellow preachers gradually became a community, and in 1215 he founded a religious house at Toulouse, the beginning of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans).
His ideal, and that of his Order, was to link organically a life with God, study and prayer in all forms, with a ministry of salvation to people by the word of God. His ideal: contemplata tradere: “to pass on the fruits of contemplation” or “to speak only of God or with God. “
Comment:
The Dominican ideal, like that of all religious communities, is for the imitation, not merely the admiration, of the rest of the Church. The effective combining of contemplation and activity is the vocation of truck driver Smith as well as theologian Aquinas. Acquired contemplation is the tranquil abiding in the presence of God, and is an integral part of any full human life. It must be the wellspring of all Christian activity.
(1170-1221)
If he hadn’t taken a trip with his bishop, Dominic would probably have remained within the structure of contemplative life; after the trip, he spent the rest of his life being a contemplative in active apostolic work.
Born in old Castile, Spain, he was trained for the priesthood by a priest-uncle, studied the arts and theology, and became a canon of the cathedral at Osma, where there was an attempt to revive the apostolic common life of the Acts of the Apostles.
On a journey through France with his bishop, he came face to face with the then virulent Albigensian heresy at Languedoc. The Albigensians (Cathari, “the pure”) held to two principles—one good, one evil—in the world. All matter is evil—hence they denied the Incarnation and sacraments. On the same principle they abstained from procreation and took a minimum of food and drink. The inner circle led what must he called a heroic life of purity and asceticism not shared by ordinary followers.
Dominic sensed the need for the Church to combat this heresy, and was commissioned to be part of the preaching crusade against it. He saw immediately why the preaching was not succeeding: the ordinary people admired and followed the ascetical heroes of the Albigenses. Understandably, they were not impressed by the Catholic preachers who traveled with horse and retinues, stayed at the best inns and had servants. Dominic therefore, with three Cistercians, began itinerant preaching according to the gospel ideal. He continued this work for 10 years, being successful with the ordinary people but not with the leaders.
His fellow preachers gradually became a community, and in 1215 he founded a religious house at Toulouse, the beginning of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans).
His ideal, and that of his Order, was to link organically a life with God, study and prayer in all forms, with a ministry of salvation to people by the word of God. His ideal: contemplata tradere: “to pass on the fruits of contemplation” or “to speak only of God or with God. “
Comment:
The Dominican ideal, like that of all religious communities, is for the imitation, not merely the admiration, of the rest of the Church. The effective combining of contemplation and activity is the vocation of truck driver Smith as well as theologian Aquinas. Acquired contemplation is the tranquil abiding in the presence of God, and is an integral part of any full human life. It must be the wellspring of all Christian activity.
The Sopranos - Family Values
brought home a the 2nd season of the Sopranos from the library and since then I've watched almost 10 episodes in 3 days. I'm hooked so for-ge-da-bou-dit ...
very powerful episode (#22) about a near death experience of a Soprano family member... here is the prayer of the family "queen"
Gentle and merciful Lord Jesus, I want to speak now to you with an open heart and honest heart. Tonight I ask you to take my sins and the sins of my family in to your merciful heart. We have chosen this life in full awareness in the consequences of our sins. I know that Christopher's life is in your hands and his fate is your will. I ask you humbly to spare him and if it is your will to spare him, I ask that you deliver him from blindness and grant him vision, and through this vision may he see your love, and gain the strength to carry on in service to your mercy.
In the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
brought home a the 2nd season of the Sopranos from the library and since then I've watched almost 10 episodes in 3 days. I'm hooked so for-ge-da-bou-dit ...
very powerful episode (#22) about a near death experience of a Soprano family member... here is the prayer of the family "queen"
Gentle and merciful Lord Jesus, I want to speak now to you with an open heart and honest heart. Tonight I ask you to take my sins and the sins of my family in to your merciful heart. We have chosen this life in full awareness in the consequences of our sins. I know that Christopher's life is in your hands and his fate is your will. I ask you humbly to spare him and if it is your will to spare him, I ask that you deliver him from blindness and grant him vision, and through this vision may he see your love, and gain the strength to carry on in service to your mercy.
In the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
8.05.2003
too oft I loose sight of my Belovedness:
Nouwen depicts....
"...I am not so sure anymore that I have a safe home, and I observe other people who seem to be better off than I. I wonder how I can get to where they are. I try hard to please, to achieve success, to be recognized. When I fail, I feel jealous or resentful of these others. When I succeed, I worry that others will be jealous or resentful of me. I become suspicious or defensive and increasingly afraid that I won't get what I so much desire or will lose what I already have. Caught in this tangle of needs and wants, I no longer know my own motivations. I feel victimized by my surroundings and distrustful of what others are doing or saying. Always on my guard, I loose my inner freedom and start dividing the world into those who are for me and those who are against me. I wonder if anyone really cares. I start looking for validations of my distrust. And wherever I go, I see them, and I say: "No one can be trusted." And then I wonder whether anyone ever really loved me. The world around me becomes dark. My heart grows heavy. My body is filled with sorrows. My life soses meaning. I have become a lost soul."
I usually snap out of this downward spiral before depression sets in or at least some "diagnosable" form of depression. But Nouwen is pinpointing the path of those who loose sight of their belovedness in Christ here in the story of the prodigal son. "The further I run from the place where God dwells, the less I am able to hear the voice that calls me beloved."
++Lord if you are not my LIFE, then I am lost... be my LIFE++
Nouwen depicts....
"...I am not so sure anymore that I have a safe home, and I observe other people who seem to be better off than I. I wonder how I can get to where they are. I try hard to please, to achieve success, to be recognized. When I fail, I feel jealous or resentful of these others. When I succeed, I worry that others will be jealous or resentful of me. I become suspicious or defensive and increasingly afraid that I won't get what I so much desire or will lose what I already have. Caught in this tangle of needs and wants, I no longer know my own motivations. I feel victimized by my surroundings and distrustful of what others are doing or saying. Always on my guard, I loose my inner freedom and start dividing the world into those who are for me and those who are against me. I wonder if anyone really cares. I start looking for validations of my distrust. And wherever I go, I see them, and I say: "No one can be trusted." And then I wonder whether anyone ever really loved me. The world around me becomes dark. My heart grows heavy. My body is filled with sorrows. My life soses meaning. I have become a lost soul."
I usually snap out of this downward spiral before depression sets in or at least some "diagnosable" form of depression. But Nouwen is pinpointing the path of those who loose sight of their belovedness in Christ here in the story of the prodigal son. "The further I run from the place where God dwells, the less I am able to hear the voice that calls me beloved."
++Lord if you are not my LIFE, then I am lost... be my LIFE++
8.03.2003
blogging in BG
here at grounds for thought . this place is facinating... it is good to be in a real coffee shop. It has changed since I was last here... much more used book space which is always good. Good times with old friends in Bowling Green. Just hung out with the old "band" at Jed's. the sermon went o.k. I found myself not overly concerned with the reception of what I had to say, but more so with the proclaiming of it... I must have sounded like the wild hair prof. who is so ingrained in his material, that he almost looses sight that there are people "out there".... It was liberating... Christ said "he who has ears, let him hear." on to see joel and hear about his euro tour...
here at grounds for thought . this place is facinating... it is good to be in a real coffee shop. It has changed since I was last here... much more used book space which is always good. Good times with old friends in Bowling Green. Just hung out with the old "band" at Jed's. the sermon went o.k. I found myself not overly concerned with the reception of what I had to say, but more so with the proclaiming of it... I must have sounded like the wild hair prof. who is so ingrained in his material, that he almost looses sight that there are people "out there".... It was liberating... Christ said "he who has ears, let him hear." on to see joel and hear about his euro tour...
8.02.2003
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