More Reading

Here’s a lot of what I’ve been reading the past 90 days or so. I’m not a literary critic (and don’t want to be) so I don’t really go into detail but I did include a comment or two about each one. With Head and Heart (autobiography of Howard Thurman) by Howard Thurman What can you say about a black man growing up in the South in the early twentieth century… with all the disadvantages that he had… and still becoming such an amazing minister, philosopher and educator? His life touched people of all races, cultures and faiths. I’m so glad I stumbled upon this man and his writings. The Growing Edge by Howard Thurman A collection of sermons preached by Thurman. A couple of my favorite quotes from these messages… “To get at God at the core of His greatest one must first get into the core of himself at his least, for no one can know God who has not first known himself. “ “It is a wonderful thing that inherent in the life process are limitations, so that though new things start growing and old things also stop growing.” Sex God by Rob Bell Chapter six of Sex God entitled ‘To Die For’ is an extremely important chapter for any engaged or married couple. OK, it’s important for anyone who is considering relationships. So that’s pretty much everyone. Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky I blogged about this previously a little. Search for keyword “Karamazov” or “influence” if you want. A Search for What is Real & A Search for What Makes Sense by Brian Mclaren Previously this was one book… a very big book I would guess. Probably a good idea that they are now split up. I think Brian McLaren is a very important Christian author to be aware of. These books are written not to tell people what to believe but are more like guides in learning how to believe. Where as “The Case for Faith” by Lee Strobel would be a modern approach to figuring out what to believe. These books (and a lot of what McLaren writes) would be more of a post-modern approach. Plan B, Further Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott Oh, boy, don’t read Ann Lamott if you are republican, never curse, don’t like san francisco, and in general don’t want to be stirred up a little. Various short stories by Mark Twain, Leo Tolstoy and Ernest Hemmingway The Bible by God It’s good.

Children

In ancient shadows and twilights
Where childhood has stayed
The world’s great sorrows were born
And its heroes were made
In the lost boyhood of Judas
Christ was betrayed
George Russell

I’ve spent this last weekend hanging out a lot with my six year old, Evan. Johnna took Quincy (to a soccer tourney) and Shay (to visit friends in SoCal) so it was just Evan and I. I asked him what he wanted to do all weekend… he thought for a minute and then said, “Wrestle.” So we did. Lot’s of wrestling. We also ate at Sweet Tomatoes (his favorite restaurant), played video games, shot hoops, played catch, went swimming, squeezed in a couple of breathing treatments (for him, not me although I could have used them with the amount of stuff we were doing), went to Jillian’s (playing video games where he hit the jackpot on one and won 1,000 tickets. Then he raises his arm, as if he just scored a touchdown, with his mouth wide open and just stands there for a minute or so), went to church and read lots of books.

Evan is quite a bit different than our other two children. For one thing he doesn’t choose to talk as much. Every day following school I’ll ask him what he liked about the day and he responds essentially the same way each time, “Lunch and recess.” My other two will give me the rundown of the entire day including who, what, when and where but Evan is much more economical with his words. At night time he doesn’t really like to talk either. He likes to go straight to sleep. Where as his brother can lay there for two hours before falling asleep Evan can literally fall asleep in 5 minutes. Every night he lies down and says, “Love you, good night and see you in the morning.” That’s pretty much it. And then he’s out. Of course maybe he gets his short responses from me. I wasn’t really paying enough attention to him the other day and every question he asked apparently I was just responding with a short, “yep”. After a while he says, “If you say ‘yep’ again I’m probably going to have to hurt you.”

It is so interesting to watch your own children. They are so much alike and yet so different. I wander (or is it I wonder… whatever…) if God watches all of us like that sometimes and is just fascinated with our likeness and our diversity. So, next time you come across someone who you like, don’t like, can’t tolerate, like to be around, smiles, doesn’t smile, talks a lot, doesn’t talk at all, etc… remember that what you look at is not just some ordinary human being… He or she is actually a very complex, fascinating, extraordinary creation and is God’s child here on earth.

J

Many Ways

I made a point recently to mention that Jesus is the savior of the WHOLE world. He’s not just the savior for the Christians but for everyone. Let me unpack that a little…

It appears at times that some have co-opted Jesus making him and his ideas ‘work’ only if they are processed through a conservative, 21st century, evangelical filter. That is incredibly misleading. Take for example John 14:6 where Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

First of all, those are powerful words. And yes I do believe them. I believe that Jesus is the only way to the Father but… there are many ways to Jesus. It’s dangerous to think that others can only come to know Him in the exact way I do. Why is that dangerous? Because then I began to think I have a corner on the truth and then I force others to go through that path and I push it and push it and after a while it just becomes another arrogant religion. God is so much bigger than me or my religion. (I don’t think that means that it doesn’t matter what religion you choose. It does matter. We should be careful. Some religions can be a deterrent and actually block someone’s progress to getting to know Jesus… But can’t that be said of the religion of Christianity as well?)

Secondly, we should be careful not to use John 14:6 in a way Jesus himself didn’t use it. Some use that verse in such a manner that instead of informing people of Jesus being the way, it comes off sounding as if He is in the way – as if there are people trying to come to God and truth, peace and life, but Jesus is blocking their path keeping them out. In the NT stories we find just the opposite. We see Jesus bringing in the ones the religious system was trying to keep out...

· Gentiles
· Children
· Women
· The unclean
· The sick
· The poor
· All of them (all of us) are welcome in!

In fact, ironically, the only ones who were really kept out of what Jesus was talking about were the arrogant ones… the very thing we are in danger of becoming of we present the truth of John 14:6 too narrowly.

Be inclusive,
J

Good Questions

My friend, Lori, sent me a blog with some great questions/statements on it which got me thinking about the importance of questions and phrases… how good ones can help me discern quickly if I’m going in the right ‘direction’ or not… here is a sampling of some of my more recent favorite ones… Sometimes the difference between where you are and where God wants you to be is the pain you are unwilling to endure to get there. What pain have you been avoiding? Craig Groeschel It’s not so much “What is God’s will for my life?” but rather, “What is God’s will? Now how can I accomplish it?” By age 40, everyone deserves the face they have. Oscar Wilde Faith is watching the guy with a wheel barrow walk on the tight rope over The Niagara Falls and believing he can make it. Trust is believing he can do it… with you in the wheel barrow. Everyone wants to change humanity. Nobody wants to change himself. Leo Tolstoy If two people never argue… is one of them not needed? You’re proud of what you’ve given… but does it hide what you withhold? To really follow Jesus, you have to learn to be comfortable in a perpetual state of discomfort. Craig Groeschel And speaking of questions… Be prepared to meet the one who knows how to ask questions. T.S. Elliot