Unlikely's New Blog

In January and February of 2007 I started this blog you're reading called, Unlikely Conversation. The initial idea was that I'd start to put out thoughts out there about the Lectionary for the coming week on Mondays and any other subject of interest. I used my seminary nick-name, unlikely, as a starting point and pen name. I like the semi-anonymous part of blogging. In the Summer I started a second blog where I post sermons called Unlikely Sermons. It doesn't get much attention; but I wasn't after that. I wanted a place to start posting sermons so that they'd be available in later years if anybody cared. I also like the easy access to them if needed from the web and not just a hard-drive. I even started a photo blog with some original images called Unlikely Photos.

I've been blogging for 11 months now and I'm still planning to keep at it. Over time I included a few postings and thoughts about things beyond the Lectionary on Unlikely Conversation. One blogger, Bobjots, even has my Lectionary thoughts posted weekly as content in his blog right along side daily prayer from Taize and an order for daily prayer. I'm definitely honored, I'm not in that league; but its not right to keep putting other things up where some might be looking for scripture based content, I still want a space to put out my occasional thoughts beyond the Revised Common Lectionary. So it just seems logical that I should separate the thoughts about the Lectionary from the banter, babble, and blather that I might want to share on any and every other subject that's interesting.

So feel free to check out my new blog, Unlikely Banter. Please check out the others blogs if you like. There will still be a post at Unlikely Conversation every week (almost every time on Monday) after this post only with the Lectionary in mind.

Thanks,
John, a.k.a. Unlikely.

Jesus Walk with Us

Kanye West has released a fantastic rap stating the need for Jesus.
It's one of the most profound statements I've seen in some time about the need that we as a culture have to meet him.

no post today

Vacation


I'll be done with it Wednesday

no post today

unlikely

Bold Vision for the church required.

What's your vision of the church:

• A relevant body boldly proclaiming Christ to a world mired in sin.
• A refuge from the world where life in the risen one is celebrated even in the face of death.
• A people on a mission bringing Jesus vision and values with them into all places.

The body of Christ is made up of people; and people come together in the church in surprising and often unexpected ways. One of the boldest statements of vision that I have seen for the future church comes from Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church. Driscoll has offered a vision. I don't agree with him on all counts. I disagree with his view on women in leadership and with his overly harsh reading of statistics. I disagree with his interpretation of how many have portrayed Jesus as to weak. But I can admire his passion and his zeal. He is speaking boldly to a church that needs to focus on mission. See what you think for yourself.

I'd love to see a response to Pastor Driscoll. Is he offering a needed challenge to us in the church who need to see ourselves as fighters and not as soft and easy.

Something worth laughing about...

Just in case you need a little something to laugh about today I've come across two great items worth watching that will get your attention for certain.
First up: an old favorite: Homer takes on the Apocalypse crowd wonderfully getting to the question of God's absence in our lives.



Second is a great show from Canada. No US Network has had the courage to license it yet for domestic consumption. Little Mosque on the Prairie. It's a great image of Muslims in the modern world as real people.

Brother Benedict, you are always welcome.

Last week I posted a particularly strong response to the Pope Benedict's definition of churches.

The presiding Bishop of my particular denomination, the ELCA, Mark Hanson, wrote a far more measured and rational response to Pope Benedict's statement. But one thing I felt was lacking. A simple invitation to all our brothers and sisters to come to the table.

Today I'd like to take as stab at making this kind of invitation. I am not retracting what I said only trying to make the real the point that may have gotten lost in my blather clear.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, of all churches regardless of denomination, including our Brother Josef Ratzinger, now called Benedict. I would gladly join you at Christ's table along with millions of others on any Sunday. I would gladly join you as a fellow beggar unworthy of a scrap; yet ready to be healed because Christ's body and blood, given and shed for the sins of the whole world which present in the Eucharist of our churches, is sufficient.

Brother Benedict, and all brothers and sisters in Christ, I would gladly break the bread which is Christ's body with you any Sunday. I would gladly share the cup which is Christ's blood with you any Sunday. I would gladly receive you as a brother or sister in Christ regardless of your denomination or church membership. Please come with there is always room for one more at Christ's table.

Brother Benedict: What are you trying to say?

There's a sad thing about the state of the post-modern church: it's all the divisions. In recent days the Pope simply restated his view, and what he believes is his church's view, of these divisions. Sadly what our errant Brother in Christ, Benedict, restated is a view that many hope will just disappeared. The current pope, our Brother, reminds us, sadly, that the divisions haven't ended and that to him they still matter.

As a cradle Catholic serving today as a Lutheran pastor I must sadly agree with my Brother Benedict on one account. The church is broken. And it is, as evidenced by his writing, beyond the reach of human repairs. Let us not be naive about sin and its power to corrupt all institutions, including the church and its leaders, even the ones who think they've inherited the power to be above debate or error.

Brother Benedict isn't saying anything new. He is simply restating a limited view of the church that is not based beyond one verse in scripture, practical experience, or plain reason; but in a reified ecclesiastical structure. I say this not because I seek to separate myself from the rest of the body of Christ but because we can not be forced into uniformity in order to create unity. The true church, the Body of Christ, can not be created by humans. We can only be brought together by God working creatively as Father, redeeming sinners as son, and binding us together in the Spirit. Christ's blood is the source of our unity, Jesus alone is the way, the truth, and the life. Our confession of Jesus Christ alone as savior is enough to make us one.

Brother Benedict, and others like him, are seeking safety from the modern world in ecclesiastical and liturgical fundamentalism. They believe that defining truth in something other than Jesus, like a human made liturgy or a human made curia, can keep them pure in a world in which everything is up for debate. These forms fundamentalism are no different in effect than biblical fundamentalism: they seek a source of certainty in an uncertain world other than Christ; they seek to end debate with a trump card that God never gave them or any human being.

What my brother in Christ, Benedict, who has been redeemed by Christ's blood, has missed, sadly, is that Christ is present in both our churches. Christ is present in the Word of God proclaimed boldly and preached boldly. Christ is present when 2 or 3 gather in his name. Priests are not required for Jesus Christ to be present. Sometimes, errant Brother Benedict, they get in the way of spreading the Good News that the Kingdom of God has come near.

Brother Benedict betrays his own inability to discern the Body of Christ. Jesus is present in both our celebrations of the Eucharist as he always has been. Jesus is never present because of a priest's presence. Christ's presence in the Body and Blood that we receive as bread and wine is real and true because he promised to be present in the night of his betrayal. Benedict errs greatly in denying that real presence is based not in Jesus' promises but rather in a human made church.

Brother Benedict I urge you to recant for the sake of the Gospel. I urge you to take off your vestments and to come to Christ's table as I, AND MILLIONS OF OTHER CHRISTIANS DO EVERY SUNDAY, including most Roman Catholic's I know, as a beggar unworthy of a scrap; yet ready to be healed because Christ's body and blood, given and shed for the sins of the whole world, are sufficient. I would gladly break the bread which is Christ's body with you any Sunday. I would gladly share the cup which is Christ's blood with you any Sunday. I would gladly receive you as a brother. Please come there is always room for one more at Christ's table.

Independence Day 2007

231 years ago a great experiment began as one group of men sought to separate themselves from another group of men. Women and minorities weren't invited, yet, but something big was starting.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

231 years later the nation founded with such high ideals is still trying to reach to them. Today we are a nation at war on continents far from home. We Americans are accused by some in the world of oppressing others and celebrated by others in the world as liberators. Today we are a people divided in politics, religion, culture, age, ethnicity, and even language; but we are a people united by the reach for the highest ideals.

As a father of preschool girls I celebrate Independence Day. I tell them about the over throw of a bad king. I tell them that this nation needs no king or queen, no princes or princesses. They looked shocked. They can't imagine anything greater than being a princess; thank goodness that 231 years ago a group of men decided that citizen was the very best title in the world.

So today I declare my independence from princess culture. Today I turn my back on Disney and Mattel and all the multi-national conglomerates who want girls to love princesses but who have forgotten that their customers are future citizens not just consumers spending their parent's money. Today we remember that being a citizen is the highest rank in the land. Down with kings and queens and princes and princesses. Down with the image of aristocracy. Let us celebrate today, and every independence day, that all are created equal, that none has special place above that just by birth.

One Man's Opinion

In the search for courageous discussion that both challenge us to look at hard realities and invites further discussion I encourage people to listen and look at a fantastic presentation by Robert Newman called A Brief History of Oil. Newman's a comic but he's wrestling with some of the deepest questions that our culture and all of us as participants in the global economy need to face.

Economics, Newman proves, aren't voodoo science. His creative reading of military and economic history and the environmental effects of our consumer choices aren't mysteries; our actions have consequences. The tough part is that we might not want to listen until after we've run out of resources to deal with the after effects. Its sort of like a married couple with one partner who spends and spends and then wonders why their beloved can't rescue them anymore.

What happened in LA's MacCarthur Park May 1?

One thing about our age of information and disinformation is the chance that we have to review stories from many different perspectives only hours and days after they happen. One question that that needs to be answered after some serious debate is, what happened in MacArthur Park on May 1, 2007?

I live in a small town in the middle west. There are many peace officers who are members of my congregation who I know to be thoughtful and responsible in their actions and who reflect about what they've done trying to learn how to better work with the people they encounter in their work. Knowing the character of some peace officers I am honored to call neighbors I was disturbed as I watched from over 2000 miles away and I would appreciate an honest explanation for what happened. The video clearly shows police officers forcefully moving a crowd. I'd like to know why.

The people in the crowd each individually had a right to assemble and had lawfully obtained permits for their gathering. Something happened and power and force overran any personal rights or collective rights to assemble or to protest. See for yourself.

Fox 11 in LA


or watch this CNN national report


Or read the story in the LA Times about the police chief's request for an investigation.

No post today

Good Evening,

For the past 3 months I've posted something every Monday to get myself thinking about the text. Friday's have been my day off for 7.5 years as a pastor. But tonight I have no thoughts to share. I took my beloved to the Dr. today. She had one of those stupid accidents that is just to freak to try and explain and the antibiotics should help keep down the scarring. I think she's all right; but she's beat so I am on dad duty for a while.

pax
unlikely

p.s. I do plan to have something that will be posted in the morning.

Great perspectives

There's been some awful news this week from around the world and here in the US. Sometimes its good to remember that humor and joy still exist for many in the world and that God is still in the business of creating and recreating. The hard part is to get enough fresh perspective to see that something new might be happening.

Once in a while something pops up that reminds me how powerful getting a different perspective of things can be. The season after Easter is a great time to start looking at situations and people in a new way. To that end I want to encourage people to look at wonderful video by the Zimmers. I just saw a great music video by a band that pushes the envelope of perspective even harder than any I've seen in years by redfining classic rock.



Maybe its the humor or maybe its the joy in the people singing. Or maybe its the fact that I get a chance to see older people in a different light, with a little bit of edge that helps to see their humanity. Yeah I'm part of a generation who's seen the Matrix and grown up with all kinds of questions about truth and reality and maybe once in a while its time to just laugh.

Numbers, Denominations, Proof, and Faith

Two things caught my eyes scanning the news this Sunday afternoon.

First is the 2007 annual report of the National Council of Churches announcing how many members different denominations have on their respective rolls this year. The numbers make the papers; but they are old news for most people in the church. Denominations are rising and falling. So what's new about that. The same ones are in decline that have been in decline for the last 20 years. We are all too well aware of the pews that are empty and the one's that are full in our churches these days. The better question that we should encourage the media to ask is what moves people to embrace faith in Jesus or not. Membership in a congregation is only one small part of the equation. Sure demographers can measure the numbers on the roles or in the pews; but there is no human who can chart the work of the Holy Spirit that causes people to embrace Jesus.

Second is a story about the "forgotten tomb of Jesus" written by Pamela Miller in the Star Tribune this weekend. Miller quotes St. Olaf Professor James Hanson offering a great answer to the questions that are asked by the skeptics who look our faith and try to find the holes. Prof. Hanson, "... faith is never going to hold up to pure historical analysis. That's not what it's about." Hanson's right.

Faith hinges on the unknown otherwise it would be certainty and not faith. If you are looking for something solid and logical that has no hole you aren't looking for faith you are looking for something completely different. Faith is all about the holes in the story of Jesus and our trust, even though we haven't seen him in his presence and in his rising from the dead. The current crop of holes, ranging from the latest Tomb of Jesus that's been discovered to the DaVinci Code, challenge those who insist their faith has no holes, but for those of us who have doubts and yet still believe this is nothing new or even earth shaking .

God on the Brain

The mystery of faith and atheism has confounded us humans for generations.

In the New York Times Magazine is a look at the old question of why we believe in an article called Darwin’s God by ROBIN MARANTZ HENIG

Published: March 4, 2007. The Times' summary reads, "In the world of evolutionary biology, the question is not whether God exists but why we believe in him. Is belief a helpful adaptation or an evolutionary accident?"

In this story there's a great look at the psychology of belief and one man's quest not to believe.

As a person of faith I have come to understand that the universe and even my own person were made to help me seek God. But for the atheists who don't want to see God its a battle to force God out. Is it hubris or is just a case of Sisyphus at work all over again pushing against a force that is greater than he is.

Faith is real. The religious wars of the 21st century prove the price that people are willing to pay because of faith. But God isn't calling us to battle one another over belief. God is calling us into relationship. Some even argue that they've found evidence that we were made to believe. That proves just how difficult the atheists battle against God revealed in the world is. Still people exist who are confounded by the idea of a God who can't be eliminated by their own will to not believe.

My prayer is that God uses our need to touch the transcendent in order to let the revelation of God work in each of our lives in order that we might know the love of God that this world needs.

Faith is finally a gift, but like all God's gifts, they are given independent of our wills.

World Views

Two thoughts about the way I see the world.

First--
Over the past weekend I listened to a summary, on National Public Radio, of the House of Representatives debate on the non-binding resolution regarding the troop build up in Iraq. The part of the summary that I found most fascinating were the recurrent discussions in the debate about Vietnam. Vietnam Vets named their experiences and as I listened I heard them debating not the current war in Iraq, but the Vietnam War of 30+ years ago.
I was born in 1974 and have no personal memories of the war; but I have been surprised how often stories from Vietnam are cited by slightly older people around me as they try to make sense of the War in Iraq. There is no doubt in my mind that America's current world view has been shaped by the experiences of Vietnam: both those of the veterans who were men and women in Vietnam and the experiences of those who were home protesting (or not) against the war. The old views on Vietnam are still there beneath the surface of the current congress and the contemporary cultural debate about war in Iraq.

Second--
We as Christians have no unified stand on the war, or for that matter, anything else these days. Even the nature of Jesus and the goals of his ministry and our ministry in his name is up for discussion. Inviting our brothers and sisters in Christ into conversation is all the more important these days. We can in one sense try to see ourselves in neat rows of ideologies or we can see ourselves as part of a common church that needs to have many voices come forward to help make sense of the great issues of our days.
For those who are interested in trying to find their place in the labels. I found a link to nifty theological world view inventory at QuizFarm. Some might say these kinds of inventories are specious but I thought the questions to piqued my curiosity and have got me think http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=43870. Please remember that this is just for your own edification.

The Unlikely Conversationalist has a Neo orthodox world view according to this quiz. That means, "You reject the human-centredness and scepticism of liberal theology, but neither do you go to the other extreme and make the Bible the central issue for faith. You believe that Christ is God's most important revelation to humanity, and the Trinity is hugely important in your theology. The Bible is also important because it points us to the revelation of Christ. You are influenced by Karl Barth and P T Forsyth. Neo orthodox 96% Reformed Evangelical 79% Roman Catholic 68% Emergent/Postmodern 68% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 50% Charismatic/Pentecostal 46% Fundamentalist 25% Modern Liberal 18% Classical Liberal 14% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com