Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing.

MANIFESTO: THE MAD FARMER LIBERATION FRONT
by Wendell Berry

Love the quick profit, the annual raise, vacation with pay.
Want more of everything made.
Be afraid to know you neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery any more.
Your mind will be punched in a card and shut away in a little drawer.

When they want you to buy something they will call you.
When they want you to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something that won’t compute.
Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.

Denounce the government and embrace the flag.
Hope to live in that free republic for which it stands.
Give you approval to all you cannot understand.
Praise ignorance,
for what man has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium.
Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.

Say that the leaves are harvested when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus that will build under the trees every thousand years.

Listen to carrion–put your ear close,
and hear the faint chattering of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world.
Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable.
Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap for power, please women more than men.

Ask yourself: Will this satisfy a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head in her lap.
Swear allegiance to what is nighest your thoughts.

As soon as the generals and politicos can predict the motions of your mind, lose it.
Leave it as a sign to mark the false trail, the way you didn’t go.

Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

Prayer of the Frog

Prayer of the Frog
by Walter Hollenweger

Sometimes, I feel like a frog,
Happy in the waterpond—until I run out of air and creep on land.
Happy in the fresh air, until my skins hurts in the glaring sun and I plunge back into the water.
O God,
Why did you make me an in-between creature, neither fish nor fowl?
Why am I not a flamingo, or an eagle or a mighty roaring lion?
Just a frog?
You did not ask me whether I wanted to be a frog,
Nor whether I wanted to be at all,
Nor did my parents ask me.
So, I am, what I am, an in-between being.

When I am with the feminists they call me “macho”
because I want to pray “Our Father.”

When I am with the pacifists they call me a war-monger
because I do not believe that the abolishment of the Swiss Army serves world peace.

When I am with the military they call me a pacifist
because I find it a scandal how we treat the conscientious objectors.

When I am with the Christians, they say I am not a Christian
because I find many of their convictions superfluous.

When I am with the Non-Christians the say I am a Christian
because I believe in Jesus Christ.

When I am with the progressives they say I am conservative
because I do not know how to re-organize world trade justly.

When I am with the rich people they say I am a leftist
because I expect them to share their riches.

When I am with the Catholics they say that I am a Protestant
because I do not believe in the infallibility of the pope.

When I am with the Protestants they say I am a Catholic
because I like the Catholic liturgy.

When I am with the Ecumenists they say that I am a Pentecostal
because I would like to see more of the Spirit in the ecumenical movement.

When I am with the Pentecostals they say I am an ecumenist
because I am convinced that they need the ecumenical movement.

When I am with the critical exegetes they call me “pious”
because God sometimes speaks to me in Scripture.

When I with the uncritical Bible readers they say that I do not believe in the Bible
because I do not accept their facile interpretations.

O God, you alone know what I am.
Help me to believe that this is enough.
You made me an in-between being so that I can be an evangelist.

But God it is a tough job.
Sometimes I am confused and terrified.

Strengthen my faith so that I am
A cheerful in-between creature, a happy frog.

From Pentecostalism: Origins and Developments Worldwide (1997)

Oral Roberts: A Complex Legacy

I was in my office last Tuesday, when I heard the news that Oral Roberts had passed away. I saw it on Twitter first, a tweet from a nationally-known leader and author. I quickly goggled it and found it to be true when I read the official press release on the Tulsa World website. I knew this day was coming. Oral Roberts had been retired from his service as president of ORU when I attended seminary there from 1996-1999. I felt the loss as did the rest of the ORU community and the many people who had been impacted by the life of Oral Roberts.

I located “The Forth Man“, the one lone Oral Roberts sermon in my iTunes and began to listen and reflect on the man, his ministry, his message, and his impact on my life.

While listening to Oral preach, I saw (again on Twitter) that Al Mohler was going to discuss the life of Oral Roberts on his radio show. As I pulled up the live feed for the radio show, I saw their call in number. So I called. I told the guy on the other end of the line that I am a pastor, an ORU graduate, and I have done some research in the area of Pentecostal/charismatic history and theology and I had some things to share with Dr. Mohler if he was interested. The guy put me on hold and then quickly came back to say that Dr. Mohler wanted to talk with me on the air. Talking about Oral Roberts and his influence with Dr. Mohler was a highlight of the day.

I ended up putting my two minute conversation with Dr. Mohler on YouTube as a tribute.I had much more to say, but time was limited.

Al Mohler said to his radio audience that Oral Roberts had a complex legacy. I cannot disagree. As ORU President Mark Rutland said at Oral Roberts’ Memorial service, Oral was not a perfect man, but he was a giant. As I have reflected on this giant of the faith, here is what I will remember about his complex legacy:

1. The Pentecostal/charismatic tradition

As I look back at my own spiritual journey, Oral Roberts has been one of the Pentecostal/charismatic voices that has influenced me. Oral Roberts’ own life dipped into the three waves of the Pentecostal/charismatic movement: (1) the classical Pentecostal movement, (2) the denominational charismatic renewal, (3) the non-denominational charismatic renewal. He has been an influential figure in each of these “waves” of charismatic renewal. He is a historical giant in the history of Pentecostalism and my faith has been enriched because of him.

2. Great faith/passion

The Bible encourages us to imitate the faith of our leaders (Hebrews 11:7). Oral Roberts made mistakes during his life. There are things that he did and said that I do not agree with. I am not trying to imitate his way of doing ministry. I am not trying to imitate his style, his way of teaching, his philosophy of ministry, or his spiritual journey. I am, by God’s grace, trying to imitate the faith of Oral Roberts. One of the things that made Oral Roberts such a dominate figure in my mind is that he was unique. Before he started his healing ministry under the “big tent,” Oral felt directed by the Lord to read through the Gospels and Acts on his knees and God would show Oral how to heal the people the way Jesus did. Oral put his trust in God and became a forerunner in the area of healing evangelism. His passion for Jesus and his passion to carry on the ministry of Jesus captured the imagination of hundreds of thousands.

3. Christ-centered

Oral Roberts loved Jesus Christ of Nazareth (as he was known to call him). His entire life was given to Jesus and Oral saw himself as a true disciple of Christ. He sought to love and minister to people like Jesus did. Oral Roberts never intended on building some great “Roberts” empire as his critics claimed. He lived to worship Jesus, preach Jesus, and serve as an instrument for Jesus to heal others.

4. Obedience

In his memorial service, his daughter Roberta shared just a few things she learned from her dad; one of those things was obedience to God. Regardless of how he would be perceived, Oral Roberts obeyed what he believed to be the voice of God. Oral deeply believed God called him to take God’s healing power to his generation. He obeyed and spent more than a decade traveling preaching the gospel and praying for the sick under the “big tent.” Oral deeply believe God called him to build God a university on “God’s authority and on the Holy Spirit.” Oral obeyed and Oral Roberts University has graduated over 20,000 students who have been sent out into “every person’s world.” Oral recklessly obeyed when he believed God directed him, no matter the cost.

5. Healing ministry

The name “Oral Roberts” is synonymous, in my mind, with “the healing ministry.” He was quintessential Pentecostal in his approach to the healing ministry. He believe that the healing ministry that Jesus began nearly 2,000 years ago continued through the life of the Church today. God used Oral Roberts to communicate this message to those outside of Pentecostalism in a way that was clear, compelling, and biblical. One of the things I picked up from Oral Roberts is that God does desire to heal people and it doesn’t matter if his healing comes through miracle or medicine. My own theology of healing is slightly different than Oral’s, but I share with him these basic truths: God is our source of healing and our God is a healing God.

6. The Holy Spirit in the Now

Through the 1970s, God used Oral Roberts to give clarity to the ministry of the Holy Spirit throughout the Church in its many denominational forms. He did these through conferences called “The Holy Spirit in the Now.” In doing so, Oral helped many confessing Trinitarian Christians to become experiential Trinitarians. All Christians confess a belief in God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but so many had only experienced the Father and the Son. One of Oral’s memorable phrases was “When you receive the Holy Spirit, you are receiving more of Jesus.” How true!

7. ORU

Oral Roberts University, the liberal arts Christian university that bears his name, will be one of the lasting legacies of Oral’s ministry. ORU has had its ups and downs, but I believe the greatest days for the university are still ahead. I am so thankful that I spent my first seminary experience there. It literally changed the course of my life. Oral’s vision was for “whole-person education” emphasizing strong academic education, physical education, and spiritual/moral education.

8. Prosperity

Perhaps Oral Roberts’ most well-known statement is “Something good is going to happy to you!” Oral Roberts believed that the goodness of God was not reserved only for “rewards in heaven,” but that God’s goodness could be (and should be) experience in this life. For Oral Roberts, God’s blessings included financial prosperity. This became the most controversial part of Oral’s message and one of the reasons that Oral Roberts’ legacy is so complex. This message of prosperity has caused Bible teacher and author John MacArthur to say at Oral’s passing: “Oral Roberts’ influence is not something Bible-believing Christians should celebrate.” I find MacAruthur’s statement despicable and a complete misunderstanding of Oral Roberts, his life and ministry. I have more to say below.

9.”Seed Faith”

Tied to his message of prosperity was his message of “seed faith” which contained three points 1) Believe God is your source, 2) Plant a seed of faith, 3) Expect a miracle. Because this very simple and biblical message has been tied to fund raising and financial prosperity, let me make a few comments about Oral Roberts and the issue of prosperity. Oral Roberts raised money with the purest of motivations. I find John MacArthur’s comment: “(Seed faith) was a simple, quasi-spiritual get-rich-quick scheme that appealed mainly to poor, disadvantaged, and desperate people. It generated untold millions for Roberts’ empire” to be offensive, maligning, disrespectful, and unhelpful. I agree that the teaching of “seed faith” has been used by unscrupulous men to do unthinkable evil in the name of Jesus, but this was never Oral’s intent. I do believe Oral took a biblical truth and over-extended its purpose. We need to rethink the message of prosperity and “seed faith” in the light of sound biblical/historical study. However we do not need to smear Oral’s reputation in the process.

10. Expecting miracles

The third component to the message of “seed faith” was to “expect a miracle.” This was the title of Oral Roberts’ 1995 biography. When Al Mohler asked me to sum up Oral Robert’s life, I talked about Oral’s reminder that God is Father, Son, AND HOLY SPIRIT and that Oral Roberts gave us the hope to expect God’s power to break into our daily lives. And I am thankful he did.

Oral Roberts University was founded on the words Oral Roberts believed God spoke to him, words that I believe did indeed come from the Lord. I am thankful to be one of “his” students, carrying on a small part of his legacy. Here are the words: “Build Me a University. Build it on My authority, and on the Holy Spirit. Raise up your students to hear My voice, to go where My light is dim, where My voice is heard small, and My healing power is not known, even to the uttermost bounds of the earth. Their work will exceed yours, and in this I am well pleased.”

Oral Roberts Died Today

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Dr. Oral Roberts, a legendary evangelist who rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most influential Christian leaders of the 20th century, died today in Newport Beach, Calif., due to complications from pneumonia. His son, Richard, and daughter, Roberta, were at his side. The founder of Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association and Oral Roberts University was 91.

There will be a private family internment. Arrangements for a public memorial service in Tulsa are pending and will be announced soon.

“Oral Roberts was the greatest man of God I’ve ever known,” Richard Roberts said. “A modern-day apostle of the healing ministry, an author, educator, evangelist, prophet, and innovator, he was the only man of his generation to build a worldwide ministry, an accredited university, and a medical school.

“Beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, he was not only my earthly father; he was my spiritual father and mentor. The last member of his generation in the Roberts family, he had a passion to bring healing to the sick.

“His name is synonymous with miracles. He came along when many in Christendom did not believe in the power of God and His goodness. Oral Roberts was known for sayings such as ‘God Is a Good God,’ ‘Expect a Miracle,’ ‘Release Your Faith,’ and ‘Plant Your Seed for a Harvest.’

“The Bible teaches that when a Christian dies, he or she is instantly transferred into the presence of God. The past few months, my father has talked about going home to be with the Lord on a daily basis. He has run his race and finished his course. Now he is in heaven, and we as Christians have the Bible promise that someday we will be reunited. My heart is sad, but my faith in God is soaring.”

Granville Oral Roberts was born into poverty in Bebee, Okla., on Jan. 24, 1918. He began stuttering as a young child and then, as a teenager, contracted a potentially deadly case of tuberculosis. Bedfast at 17, he was carried to a revival meeting by his older brother, where a healing evangelist was praying for the sick.

On the way, he clearly heard God speak to him, saying, “Son, I am going to heal you, and you are to take My healing power to your generation. You are to build Me a university based on My authority and on the Holy Spirit.”

Roberts was miraculously healed of tuberculosis and stuttering at the revival meeting. His healing ministry was born several years later. “If a former stuttering, tuberculosis-ridden young Indian boy in an obscure county in Oklahoma can see the invisible and do the impossible—and still do it—so can you!” Roberts once said.

Roberts was a legendary and beloved figure in a segment of Christianity that emphasizes healing, speaking in tongues, and other gifts of the Holy Spirit, as described in the New Testament.

Dr. Jack Hayford, president of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, said of Roberts, “If God had not, in His sovereign will, raised up the ministry of Oral Roberts, the entire charismatic movement might not have occurred. Oral shook the landscape with the inescapable reality and practicality of Jesus’ whole ministry. His teaching and concepts were foundational to the renewal that swept through the whole church. He taught concepts that spread throughout the world and simplified and focused a spiritual lifestyle that is embraced by huge sectors of today’s church.”

After his healing at age 17, Roberts spent a dozen years pastoring churches in Oklahoma and Georgia, and preaching at revivals around the country, while also studying at Oklahoma Baptist University and Phillips (Okla.) University.

Then, in 1947, he founded Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association (OREA) and began conducting crusades across America and around the world, attracting crowds of thousands—many who were sick and dying, and in search of healing. Through the years, he conducted more than 300 crusades on six continents. OREA officials estimate that he personally laid hands in prayer on more than 2 million people. The ministry continues under the leadership of Roberts’ son, Richard, who has ministered in the U.S. and around the world for almost 30 years.

In 1954, Oral Roberts revolutionized evangelism by bringing television cameras into services, providing what he liked to call a “front-row seat to miracles” for millions of viewers. Years later, he began a television program, “Oral Roberts Presents.” More than 50 years later, the ministry’s daily program, “The Place for Miracles,” continues to minister to millions on over 100 television stations, multiple cable and satellite networks, and can be seen around the world via the Internet.

In 1958, Roberts founded the Abundant Life Prayer Group to address the around-the-clock needs of those suffering and requesting prayer. More than 50 years later, prayer partners continue to receive calls from around the world seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Over the years, they have received more than 23 million phone calls for prayer, along with astounding reports of miracles in answer to prayer.

Roberts answered God’s call to build an institute of higher learning in 1963, founding Oral Roberts University on 500 acres in Tulsa, Okla. Longtime friend Billy Graham officially dedicated ORU four years later. In the 1970s graduate schools, including Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, Law, Education, and Theology, were added. Roberts served as school president until 1993, when he became chancellor.

In 1981, Roberts founded the City of Faith Medical and Research Center, merging the healing power of medicine and prayer. The facility closed after eight years, leaving a lasting impact on the understanding by many medical professionals of the importance of treating the whole person—body, mind and spirit.

Roberts wrote more than 130 books, including such classics as “If You Need Healing, Do These Things,” and “The Fourth Man.” His book “The Miracle of Seed Faith” has more than 8 million copies in circulation. This book’s key principles—God is your Source, sow your seed out of your need, and expect a miracle harvest—formed a fundamental part of Roberts’ ministry and legacy.

“After I’m gone, others will have to judge how well I’ve obeyed God’s command not to be an echo but to be a voice like Jesus,” Roberts said. “As far as my own conviction is concerned, I’ve tried to be that voice with every fiber of my being, regardless of the cost.”

Roberts was preceded in death by his wife, Evelyn, a daughter and son-in-law, Rebecca Ann and Marshall Nash; a son, Ronald David Roberts; a grandchild, Richard Oral Roberts; his mother and father; two sisters, Velma Roberts and Jewel Faust; and two brothers, Elmer and Vaden Roberts.

He is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Richard and Lindsay Roberts; a daughter and son-in-law, Roberta and Ronald Potts, all of Tulsa; as well as 12 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Oral Roberts Ministry Healing Missions Fund, as part of the ongoing goal of Oral Roberts Ministries to take the saving, healing, delivering message of the Gospel into all the world until Jesus returns. Gifts can be sent in care of  Oral Roberts Ministries, P.O. 2187, Tulsa, Okla. 74102, www.OralRoberts.com.

Ten Things Great Church Leaders Possess

1. A heart renewed and empowered by the Spirit

Ministry flows out of who we are. God may choose to use a seriously flawed leader for a specific amount of time, but without a strong character foundation, the weight of ministry will crush that leader. Great leaders need to be renewed by the Leader within the leader, the Holy Spirit. This renewal includes emotional health and a balance between work and family.

2. A mind focused on the vision and values of the local church

Great leaders are able to work with the end in mind. They understand the unique purpose and identity of their church and are able to serve today with tomorrow in mind. Great leaders have the minds wrapped around the real vision and values of the church, not just the ones written down.

3. An eye for potential leaders who need mentoring

The number one job of ministry leaders is to raise up more leaders. Growth in a local church requires newness, new ministries, new venues, new strategies, and new methodology. Newness requires leadership. Jesus modeled this for us. He did not just conduct a ministry of preaching, teaching, healing, and community building; he worked to mentor leaders through whom he could accomplish his world-wide ministry.

4. An ear to listen to others on the team, to those whom the leader is in submission to, and to those the leader serves

Leaders who talk more and listen less run the risk of falling into the trap of ego-centric self-sufficiency. They also isolate themselves from those they are trying to serve. Leaders are communicators and the clearest communicators tend to become leaders. No doubt about it. But leaders need to be reminded that communication is about sending and receiving, speaking and listening.

5. A hand that can guide the process of implementation

Great ideas can inspire and motivate, but moving people towards the church’s vision and calling requires a plan that can be executed and implemented into the life of the local church. Great leaders do not do all the implementing; they guide the process. They see it through towards full implementation and they evaluate it periodically.

6. A love for God and people

Oh yeah, and by the way, great church leaders should have a real love for God and his people. Maybe this one should be higher up on the list? It is easy for leaders to love the spotlight and to love the thrill of success, all of which will choke the life of God out of soul of a church. Love for God and his people can be the one and only motivation for the service of leadership in the church. Any other motive leads to idolatry.

7. A humble desire to continue to learn and grow

Leaders who think they know it all need to come to this not-so-subtle revelation: They don’t! Great leaders recognized that the more they know about God and life in the church, the more they find that they don’t know. Great leaders learn from those around them include those from other Christian traditions…even “liberals.”

8. A self-awareness of one’s strengths and the willingness to delegate one’s weaknesses

Without become neurotic or self-obsessed, great leaders conduct regular (prayerful) personal inventories of their strengths and weaknesses. They continually review their heart, mind, conscience, motivations, attitudes, and actions. Great leaders understand their unique calling and pour their energies into that uniqueness while delegating their weaknesses to others more qualified.

9. A commitment to do less and empower others to do more within a team

A great leader emerges from a great team. A dynamic solo leader is rare and can too easily lead people into the cult of personality. Can somebody say “cult leader”? Great leaders work to empower, encourage, and equip the leaders around them by focusing more on the needs of the team rather than their individual needs.

10. A systematic approach to leadership accountability to ensure tasks are completed

Great leaders know their own fallibility and create specific systems of accountability to keep the team on task.

 

One day, by God’s grace, I really want to be a great leader.

What would you add to this list?

Why Can’t Walter Brueggemann Leave Me Alone?

Why is it that Walter Brueggemann cannot leave me alone?

Why can’t he leave me to my quiet corner of the world going about my business is the same ordinary way I have always done it?

Probably because the professor of the Old Testament prophets is himself a prophet.

Brueggemann is an author, scholar, speaker, and retired professor of Old Testament Theology. He spends most of his time now writing and speaking. He challenges me, frustrates me, confuses me, and at times helps me. He has helped me rethink the purpose and meaning of Old Testament prophecy and the role of the OT prophecies. For this I am thankful for Brueggemann’s voice. If you read (or listen) to Brueggemann, do so with a discerning eye (or ear), I cannot say that I always agree with him. Most of the time, I find myself wrestling with him.

Recently he has been challenging me to think (rethink) about preaching as re-imagination. I have started a new series on Sunday morning called “Imagine,” which is an exploration of the imagery in the book of Isaiah (specifically chapters 1-9). Brueggeman has helped me see Isaiah wasn’t just forecasting the future; he was stirring the imagination of Israel in order to produce hope. Isaiah was working on God’s behalf to form and reform Israel to look like the alternative community of worship & justice that God had intended. Isaiah’s medium was poetry. This has been such a helpful paradigm shift for me to see Old Testament prophecy has poetry. In this regard, prophets are more like songwriters (and poets) than preachers, although their poetry/prophecies were often verbally proclaimed. And so Brueggemann  is challenging me to think about my own preaching/teaching in terms of reimagination.

I read this recently from his book Cadences of Home: Preaching among Exiles. This is the outline from Chapter 3: Preaching as Reimagination

1)      Ours is a changed preaching situation, because the old modes of church absolutes are no longer trusted.

2)      Along with the failure of old modes of articulation, we now face the inadequacy of historical-critical understanding of the biblical text as it has been conventionally practiced.

3)      A great new reality for preaching is pluralism in the interpreting community of the local congregation.

4)      Pluralism as the perspective and orientation of the community that hears and interprets is matched by an emerging awareness of the polyvalence of the biblical text.

5)      Reality is scripted, that is, shaped and authorized by a text.

6)      The dominant scripting of reality in our culture is rooted in the Enlightenment enterprise best associated with Rene Descartes, John Lock, Thomas Hobbes, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, which has issued in a notion of autonomous individualism, ending in what Philip Rieff calls “The Triumph of the Therapeutic.”

7)      This scripting tradition of the Enlightenment exercises an incredible and pervasive hegemony among us.

8)      We now know (or think we know) that human transformation (the way people change) does not happen through didacticism or through excessive certitude, but through the playful entertainment of another scripting of reality that may subvert the old given text and its interpretation and lead to the embrace of an alternative text and its redescription of reality.

9)      The biblical text, in all its odd disjunctions, is an offer of an alternative script, and preaching this text is to explore how the world is, if it is imagined through this alternative script.

10)   The proposal of this alternative script is not through large, comprehensive, universal claims, but through concrete, specific, local texts that in small ways provide alternative imagination.

11)    The work of preaching is an act of imagination, that is, an offer of an image through which perception, experience, and finally faith can be reorganized in alternative ways.

12)   Because old modes of certitude are no longer trusted, the preaching of these texts is not an offer of metaphysics but the enactment of a drama in which the congregation is audience but may at any point become participant.

13)   The dramatic rendering of imagination has as its quintessential mode narrative, the telling of a story, and the subsequent living of that story.

14)   The invitation of preaching (not unlike therapy) is to abandon the script in which one has had confidence and to enter a different script that imaginatively tells one’s life differently.

15)   The offer of an alternative script (to which we testify and bear witness as true) invites the listener out of his or her assumed context into many alternative contexts where different scripts may have a ring of authenticity and credibility.

16)   Finally, I believe that the great pastoral fact among us that troubles everyone, liberal or conservative, is that the old givens of white, male, Western, colonial advantage no longer hold.

Chapter 3: “Preaching as Reimagination” from Cadences of Home: Preaching among Exiles (1997)

Oh Brueggemann, why can’t you just leave me alone! I mutter this under my breath, because I know I need to hear what he is saying. He is right that our preaching situation is changed (#1). Authoritative, know-it-all, overly confident approaches to preaching are not trusted in our culture. Evangelicals (and indeed Christianity at large) no longer has a privileged place in society. The times, they are a-changin’. No doubt about it. So we need to rethink our modes of articulation (#2). I certainly do. I think all good craftsman work to hone their craft.

Where I disagree with Brueggemann is in his accommodation of pluralism (#5). It is true that individual communities of faith in different cultures can find different ways to apply the Scripture in the life of the community, but application is far different than interpretation. Our application may be different; our interpretation must be in harmony with historic orthodoxy. We need to know what the biblical text meant, before we try to determine what it means. We cannot jettoson all historical-critical approaches to Scripture. There is meaning there. If we try to jump aboard the “deconstruction expressway,” we will end up destroying the text and losing the gospel, which is our alternative script.

Brueggemann is right that our culture has been “scripted” by the enlightenment (#6). For all the good the enlightenment has brought us, one of the downsides is that it can leave us cold, dry, and numb. Preaching as reimagination, offers people an alternative script (#11), one that is filled with the hope of God. So maybe, I am happy that Brueggmann continues to pester me. It is what I need to continue to grow.

I am not done with Brueggeman. These are just my thoughts today. I am sure he will continue to bug me in the future.

Why We are Not Going to Church Tomorrow

For the first time in our church’s history we are canceling all of our normal Sunday morning activities. We are turning off the lights. We are locking the doors. Cornerstone Church at Upper River Rd. and Southland Dr. will be a ghost town from 10:30 to 12:30 tomorrow morning. We are not going to church tomorrow; we are going to practice being the church. We are going to forget about ourselves for a while and go out and see what others need.

Tomorrow we are partnering with the Fuller Center for Housing by working on two Fuller Center projects here in Americus from 9-12. We are putting our faith in action to serve two families who have home repair needs. One home belongs to a single mom with three kids and we will be painting the outside of the house. The second home is owned by an older couple. They are both on disability. We will be hanging vinyl siding.

So why cancel the normal worship service to work on somebody’s house?

As a church, we are recovering from hypocrisy. We have admitted that we have been much better at hearing the word of Jesus than being doers of the word his words. Jesus made it clear that loving our neighbors means helping those in need. Both of these families have needs that we can meet in a real tangible way. We can do more than pat them on the back and say “God bless you, good luck!” We are happy that the Fuller Center is helping us get connecting with people in our town who have real needs. Serving them is a way of bringing forth fruits of repentance.

Yeah, but why not work on a Saturday and go to church on Sunday?

We could and I hope that this Sunday morning work day will turn into future Saturdays where we can serve our neighbors. Working on Sunday is a way of communicating the message: loving our neighbor is important. It will serve as a living sermon that we preach together with hammers and paintbrushes.

Isn’t Sunday a day of rest? Aren’t you breaking God’s law by working on the Sabbath day?

The Sabbath was made for man; man was not made for the Sabbath, at least that is what Jesus said. Once Jesus was healing a man on the Jewish Sabbath day (Saturday) and some of the religious establishment called him out, called Jesus a sinner, because he didn’t follow the religious rules of the day. Jesus made is simple: is it right to do good on the Sabbath or not? They got the message. The greatest command is to love God and love people; to serve God and serve people, even if it goes against cultural standards. I have reminded our church to take some Sabbath rest on Saturday and to take some time with their families.

What about the Scripture? Is there no proclamation of God’s word if you are canceling your activities?

We are working from 9-12 and then gather in the backyard of one of the homes for a time of celebration. We will celebrate with song, giving (receiving an offering), and Scripture reading. Our work complements our trust (and belief) in and proclamation of the Scripture. These go together. The Protestant Church has made a error in bifurcating doctrinal soundness from social justice. We have labeled one “conservative” and one “liberal” and too often theological “conservatives” have neglected social justice and theological “liberals” have neglected historic, orthodox doctrine. We need to drop the labels. If we insist on using them, then we should be conservative in doctrine and liberal in love.

Have you lost your mind? Are you the only church doing this?

We have joined the National Faith in Action guys and hundreds (thousands?) of other churches who are doing similar things. National Faith in Action Sunday was October 11. We are about two weeks late, but we have received a lot of guidance from the FIA guys.

So tomorrow we are not going to church; we are going to practice being the church, planting seeds of the kingdom of God on Hampton Street in Americus.

You may say that I am a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the CHURCH will be as one

A Refocused Hope

I have been reading and listening to N.T. Wright for a few years now. During the 40 days of lent earlier this year, I read through his massive work on the resurrection: The Resurrection of the Son of God. I have also read Simply Christian and listened to a few lectures on the resurrection here and here. I was familiar with Wright’s position on Christian hope, but Surprised by Hope was the book that I so wanted to read so I could capture Wright’s complete vision of our future. I began reading it a little more than a month ago to prepare for a message I was preaching on death and the afterlife. I thought that I would skim through the book to help with the sermon, but once I started, I could not stop until I finished and I wasn’t disappointed. Surprised by Hope concluded a two-year process of reshaping my vision of the future, particularly related to heaven and bodily resurrection. I cannot think of a book that has more impacted me than this one.

I have been a Christian for nearly 20 years and a pastor for 10. During my years in the church prior to full-time ministry, I cannot recall a message being preached on bodily resurrection. I can remember numerous messages on heaven, and of course, the rapture of the church, but none on the resurrection of the dead. Over the last few years, I had been teaching on bodily resurrection in the context of divine healing. How is it that God can make a covenant of healing with his people and yet choose, at times, not to immediately answer prayers for healing? Answer: bodily resurrection. All of God’s promises to heal the sick will be fulfilled at the return of Christ when the dead in Christ shall be raised and given a new physical body. Nevertheless, I had a far too limited few of the resurrection. I still saw the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as the means by which we could go to heaven when we die. Heaven was my hope. The resurrection of the dead was an awkward aside to the majesty of eternal life in heaven. Wright has helped me rethink that concept in the light of clear biblical teaching. He has given me a refocused hope.

My wife has one of those expensive digital cameras with multiple lenses. With her camera you can focus on an object that is near to you and make the background fuzzy. You can also refocus the camera to make objects in the foreground blurry and objects in the background clear. Surprised by Hope has helped to refocus my hope beyond heaven and onto our ultimate destination, eternal life on a new earth, in a new resurrected body. Wright explains: “Instead of talking vaguely about heaven and then trying to fit the language of resurrection into that, we should talk with biblical precision about the resurrection and reorganize our language about heaven around that. What is more, as I shall show in the final part of this book, when we do this we discover and excellent foundation, not, as some suppose, for an escapist or quietist piety (that belongs more with the traditional and misleading language about heaven), but for lively and creative Christian work within the present world.” (148)

Does this mean that we do not go to heaven when we die, if we die in faith? Certainly not. Wright is not taking heaven away from us. It is not that we don’t “go to heaven” when we die. Rather, “going to heaven when we die” is not the point. It is not the message of Jesus or the Apostles. The New Testament says very little about going to heaven when you die, but we evangelicals have made it the great goal of the Christian experience. One of the largest evangelical denominations in the United States even notes in their statement of faith concerning “Last Things” that “The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.” They correctly included the resurrection of the body, but where is the recreation of the new heavens and the new earth? Is this the goal to enjoy God forever in heaven or on the earth?

This refocused hope changes everything for me.

If our future hope is new creation (a resurrected body and the recreation of the earth) then what we do in the body matters. What we do with the earth matters. It is not that Jesus is returning to whisk away the Christians and destroy the earth with fire, so that we can live with him forever in a non-physical heaven. God’s creation is good and our human bodies are good and so we should be good stewards of the earth and our physical bodies. When we bury our dead, and I do agree with Wright that we should carry on the tradition of burying our dead and not cremating them, we should bury them in the hope of the resurrection. We should proclaim that death (and disease) has been defeated by the resurrection of Jesus and one day, we too will stand victorious over death…at the resurrection. We should enjoy the goodness of God’s creation and experience his invisible attributes stamped on his good creation. We should work to keep our air, streams, and land clear of pollution. All of those things matter, if indeed our hope is resurrection and new creation.

N.T. Wright has written with clarity and persuasion and Surprised by Hope has become a catalyst in refocusing my hope based on teachings of Scripture.

Dylan Thomas Vreeland

We welcomed our new addition just over a week ago. Dylan was born at 12:01 pm, Saturday, September 12. He was 8 lbs. 8 oz. at birth and was 21 inches long. We are thrilled to report that he is healthy and happy (well he is happy when his belly if full and his bottom is dry). We thank God for blessing us with a healthy baby boy.

A number of people have asked about his name, so here is the story.

Last summer Jenni and her mom were visiting Jenni’s sister in London. While touring Westminster Abbey, Jenni went by the Poets’ Corner and saw the memorial to the Welch poet, Dylan Thomas. (Here is a picture of the memorial.) She thought to herself, “Hmm, that would make a good name for a boy, if I have another baby boy.” We had always talked about the name Thomas, if we were to have another boy, but we didn’t like it as a first name, because we did not want to confuse it with Thomas the Train.

When we found out Jenni was pregnant, we began talking about boy names and girl names. “Dylan Thomas” was at the top of our list for boy names. Jenni knew I would like the name. It is not only the name of a well-known poet, but the rumor is that the name “Dylan Thomas” led Robert Zimmerman to change his name to Bob Dylan, although the blessed brother Bob isn’t so clear on where he came up with “Dylan.”

She was right. I loved the name.

And so from the moment we learned we were having another son, his name has been Dylan.

Here is some poetry from Dylan Thomas, the poet:

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night
by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Here is some poetry from the other Dylan. This is a prayer/blessing for my Dylan:

Forever Young
by Bob Dylan

May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

Incarnation: Holding on to Our Tradition

An appreciation of tradition puts us on the road towards humility.

Pride listens to the council of self-reliance. You don’t need to know how we got here.
Just do your thing. Like a 17 year-old rock n’ roller, who wants to start a garage band, but knows nothing of Hendrix, the Beatles, Clapton, Dylan, the Stones, Queen, Zeppelin, Chuck Berry, BB King, and the like.

We do what we do today because of tradition. We are standing on the shoulders of giants. We are only able to break out and do something unique (and new?) because of the tradition we are standing on. To reject tradition, to ignore it and give it the proverbial stiff arm is to walk the road of pride which always leads to destruction.

Our faith as 21^st century followers of Jesus, is built on a tradition.

A nearly 2,000 year tradition built upon creeds, councils, prayers, sermons, wars, sacrifice, bloodshed, tears, celebration, and worship. We cannot lose what those in this historical church have given us. John the apostle writes in his second letter: “Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward” (2 John 8).

While John may have been talking about many things, there is no doubt that he was talking about the Gospel and specifically the incarnation.

The incarnation is the fact that Jesus, who was the eternal Son of God, became a man. In becoming a man, he did not cease in being God. He was, and is, fully God and fully human.

We do not have to work as hard today to communicate the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was a real human being. Ancient historians have documented his brief life. The Jewish historian Josephus calls him a sophos aner, a wise man. We spend much more time communicating the truth that Jesus of Nazareth is God’s own son and the Savior of the world.

Nevertheless, we cannot lose this great doctrine of the incarnation. If we do, we lose the very heart of the Christian story. Here are ten reasons why the incarnation is so important.

1. Creation
Incarnation reminds us that God’s creation is good. Even though all of creation has been twisted by sin, the goodness of God has not been eradicated. We can still see God’s divine attributes in creation. We can still encounter God in nature, because the mountains, and trees, and flowers, and roaring oceans speak to us of God’s grandeur and holiness.

2. The Body
Incarnation reminds us that our physical bodies are good. We are a body as much as we are a spirit. There was a teaching that was popular in evangelical circles not too long ago that made the case that we are a spirit ( a spiritual being), that has a soul (whatever that means), who lives in a body. This is much closer to Greek philosophy (Platonism) than biblical Christianity. Our physical bodies are a part of who we are. We are not real human beings without our human bodies. We do have an immaterial component to our human nature, but to be a “spirit” without a body is to be exposed and naked.

3. Salvation
God’s salvation includes the salvation body. God’s desire is to save both our material selves and immaterial selves, both our spirits and our bodies. We do not “get saved;” we are being saved, rescued, and transformed. We currently in a process of spiritual transformation and when Jesus returns, we will experience physical transformation as our bodies our resurrected. Bodily resurrection at the end is foreshadowed now as God continues to heal people physically through his Church.

4. The Kingdom of God
God’s kingdom is physical. To say God’s kingdom is spiritual is to relegate it to mysticism or folk religion. For some time I would say that God’s kingdom was a spiritual kingdom, which confused the early disciples who were expected a political kingdom. However, what I meant by “spiritual kingdom,” is that the kingdom of God is not a militant kingdom. Jesus has waged war on a world gone wrong with the weapons of love and forgiveness and not guns and bombs. At the incarnation, God’s kingdom has broken into human history and it continues to expand as a physical kingdom through the Church.

5. Morality
What you do in your body is important. What you do physically affects you spiritually. There were people in the Apostle John’s churches who had left the orthodox faith, because they said they had not sinned (I John 1:10). They reasoned that since Jesus did not have a real body, then we could do anything we wanted to in our bodies without consequences. John argues against such theological nonsense. Jesus came in a real human body in order to transform all creation because of man’s sin (committed in physical bodies).

6. Redemption
God regained in the body what was lost in the body. Sin is physical and obedience is physical. Adam disobeyed, but Jesus obeyed. As Gregory of Nazianzus, the fourth century church father, put it: the unassumed is the unredeemed. That is, if Jesus Christ did not assume a real human body with a real human mind/spirit/will, then nothing of humanity can be redeemed.

7. Revelation
God chose to reveal himself in the incarnation. The word that the Bible uses for reveal or revelation means to “pull back the curtain. In the incarnation we see God in real life. Not God not a mystical religion, but God in human terms. He chose to reveal himself in a way so that we could begin to understand his character and nature.

8. Demonstration
Not only do we see who God is, we also see how we ought to be as human beings. Jesus is our example of a human living out his humanity to its fullest. When we question how we should live and how we should treat one another, we look at Jesus. He is the answer.

9. Righteousness
God is faithful to his promises to Israel. The OT promises salvation through a king, born of a virgin, born of the house of David, born in Bethlehem, born to put the government on his shoulders. God did not revoke those promises and disregard his covenant with Israel. He fulfilled his promises and remained in the “right” (thus the word “righteousness”) by send his son born of a woman born under the Levitical law.

10. Truth
God’s story from creation to consummation, from Genesis to Revelation is a story of God’s battle for truth. All idolatry is an attack on God’s truth. Idolatry is taking a good thing and making it a God thing. Taking something temporary and making it ultimate. God’s truth, which wages war against idolatry, is communicated through human relationships. This is not truth not as abstract philosophy, but truth as a person.

So yeah, I would say that the incarnation is pretty important. Let’s not lose it after the historic Church worked so hard to preserve it.