Easter has passed and it has been one of the most spiritual Easters that I have had. There is so much going on in my life that I do not know where to look, whatever way I look it is something new and more confusing!
So, here is some things that I have found on the Bible in my Bible said by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "In our meditiation we ponder the chosen text on the strength of the promise that it has something utterly personal to say to us for this day and for our Christian life" found in "life Together."
or
"Just as you do not analyse the words of someone you love, but accept them as they are said to you, accept the Word of Scripture and ponder it in your heart." found in "The Way of Freedom"
I do not care who you are, that's intense.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
The mist that entails life here . . .
Easter is coming, and I have been on a journey of preparation for the celebration. I have fasting for the lenten season and it has been a life changing experience. Along with this I have been reflecting on my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ the King.
This reflecting has made me realize how much the world still has its grip upon me. Its as if the world has me in a choke hold and I break out of it only to trip over and become choked again. The world and society today has such strong, subtle, almost invisible ways to keep the church silent and powerless to the powers that be (read Ephesians 6). Take for example the way that my mind is being trained to imagine; its essentially theological. Yet to the majority of every normal person, theology, hence religion, is nothing but a matter of opinion. Or to use the words of the title, its a mist; this kind of glowing, scarry looking mist that eerily moves about the land. When I step out of my front door, I always expect to hear some sort of horror movie play in my background, artistically speaking, "oh no, here comes the god fog again. Don't run up the stairs!"
This is to say that my way of thinking has been reformed by the powers that be to being an opinion. Nothing more than opinion. If I want to submit to the Lord Christ Jesus, its ok because that is a freedom that america gives me, but I should not commit anyone else to because its only my opinion. At least this is what I am told through all sorts of different avenues. I have come to realize that this is what the world tells me and that I probably listen more closely than I should.
When I look at my life, I know that I have taken great steps of sacrifice to be where I am at. Now, what I am told is that its ok because whatever makes me happy, or to each his own, or something of that nature. Yet, I see this as something completely different. I see this kind of like how some see the soldiers being sent off to war. At the departure, the spectatures have this sense of respect at the sacrifice they are making. Those of us at home have that sense of respect when we remember those veterans and soldiers who are currently there or have been there for that great sacrifice they have made. What is the sacrifice for? Well, the freedom of this nation is the most common phrase.
What about all those in training for the pastorate and all those who pastor churches? What about all the Christians? Are we really living by opinion? I do not think so. We are making the people safe, we are bringing a freedom that no military can. Now, I have to admit that the church has been failing at this but that is why we need more Christians to hear their callings! I mean, think about this. Is there a greater cause than bringing people into the church which is the body of Christ, under the Lordship of Jesus the Christ, King of the Cosmos? I do not think so. Without Christ and his body, everyone else is left to be slaves to the powers that be. No way around this fact. In a Henri Nouwen book I am reading, this is spoken through the desert fathers and mothers who seen society as a ship wreck. The fathers and mothers swam for their lives and only when they reached the dry ground could they pull others from drowning. Without the church being the church, people are left to be eaten up by the powers that be. We think we are free but there are subtle powers at work here! Whether they be powers of addiction, powers of greed (consumerism) and hate, or even powers of contract (say our constitutional understanding of who we are: individuals - me vs. you - thank goodness for rights! which subject our essence of being communal to a contract which creates an image of humanity that is essentially individual!).
I am just saying I think this is pretty important stuff. I do not think that King Jesus is a matter of merely opinion. Thats all I am saying.
This reflecting has made me realize how much the world still has its grip upon me. Its as if the world has me in a choke hold and I break out of it only to trip over and become choked again. The world and society today has such strong, subtle, almost invisible ways to keep the church silent and powerless to the powers that be (read Ephesians 6). Take for example the way that my mind is being trained to imagine; its essentially theological. Yet to the majority of every normal person, theology, hence religion, is nothing but a matter of opinion. Or to use the words of the title, its a mist; this kind of glowing, scarry looking mist that eerily moves about the land. When I step out of my front door, I always expect to hear some sort of horror movie play in my background, artistically speaking, "oh no, here comes the god fog again. Don't run up the stairs!"
This is to say that my way of thinking has been reformed by the powers that be to being an opinion. Nothing more than opinion. If I want to submit to the Lord Christ Jesus, its ok because that is a freedom that america gives me, but I should not commit anyone else to because its only my opinion. At least this is what I am told through all sorts of different avenues. I have come to realize that this is what the world tells me and that I probably listen more closely than I should.
When I look at my life, I know that I have taken great steps of sacrifice to be where I am at. Now, what I am told is that its ok because whatever makes me happy, or to each his own, or something of that nature. Yet, I see this as something completely different. I see this kind of like how some see the soldiers being sent off to war. At the departure, the spectatures have this sense of respect at the sacrifice they are making. Those of us at home have that sense of respect when we remember those veterans and soldiers who are currently there or have been there for that great sacrifice they have made. What is the sacrifice for? Well, the freedom of this nation is the most common phrase.
What about all those in training for the pastorate and all those who pastor churches? What about all the Christians? Are we really living by opinion? I do not think so. We are making the people safe, we are bringing a freedom that no military can. Now, I have to admit that the church has been failing at this but that is why we need more Christians to hear their callings! I mean, think about this. Is there a greater cause than bringing people into the church which is the body of Christ, under the Lordship of Jesus the Christ, King of the Cosmos? I do not think so. Without Christ and his body, everyone else is left to be slaves to the powers that be. No way around this fact. In a Henri Nouwen book I am reading, this is spoken through the desert fathers and mothers who seen society as a ship wreck. The fathers and mothers swam for their lives and only when they reached the dry ground could they pull others from drowning. Without the church being the church, people are left to be eaten up by the powers that be. We think we are free but there are subtle powers at work here! Whether they be powers of addiction, powers of greed (consumerism) and hate, or even powers of contract (say our constitutional understanding of who we are: individuals - me vs. you - thank goodness for rights! which subject our essence of being communal to a contract which creates an image of humanity that is essentially individual!).
I am just saying I think this is pretty important stuff. I do not think that King Jesus is a matter of merely opinion. Thats all I am saying.
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