...and that's why we have auditions.

Seriously, you need to watch the whole thing. It is more painful than funny (although I started to laugh toward the end) but at the same time I have to point out that people always ask why worship teams audition. Darryl shows us why.

Gimme My Props!!!

I was talking with Monkey briefly about the idea of citing sources in talks. It's kind of a dilemma, because if these words are truly for God should they even be cited? I have heard quite a few talks where I know that they were given by somebody else. For Example, I heard a talk down at Mars Hill Seattle and came to bellingham and heard it at another church - almost word for word at points. And it makes me wonder (sure does) if we should be citing our sources. Should the church be giving the places where they recieve their talks from? If it is truly for the kingdom, should the author care when they find out that they were not cited? The same goes for worship music. We pay copyright fees and acknowledge writers, but if the song was written for God's glory, do they really need acknowledgment?

I understand the thought that we needs to get paid. I totally agree with this thought. Artists need to get paid for their art; this is why we have copyrights in the first place. I guess what I am trying to say is that if we are willing to acknowledge musical artists, shouldn't we acknowledge the spoken arts as well? Shouldn't the person using somebody else's words acknowledge the source it came from. My humanity wants it props - why should the other guy be termed a genius and I am not even seen - but my spirituality says, "to God be the Glory". It just sucks that my humanity is bigger than my spirituality sometimes.

I'm a Catholic!

At least for the next three weeks I am. I am in a class in the catholic school at TWU. It is a class on Christian Moral Theology, and I love it. I found out what Utilitarianism is, and that some of my friends fall under this umbrella (I laughed anyways). I enjoy the class because we discuss social justice in both the Evangelical and Catholic perspective. We have two profs: one is an Anglican Priest who converted to Catholicism and the other is a Political Science/Sociology Teacher who is an Anabaptist. Awesome. I must say though, it is wierd to have the Pope and other Popes continually staring at you for three hours.

A Psalm of Sorts

Everything you have heard is backwards!
Turn all that you know around!
For our God is a God of mercy for all
He is a lover of the diseased
His Kingdom is filled with people you would not expect to see
His people are ugly in our enlightened eyes
The lame dance in his streets,
While the pious look on in disgust
The undesirable sit at His right hand,
And the religious cannot understand this settlement of sinners through grace
Financial offerings mean nothing to Him
Social status makes no matter
For His justice is for the poor
His favor is for the needy
God over all of our “gods”
Nothing compares to Him.

WOW!

It seems that we have a lot of opinions on just war. I would have posted it on the Hot Tub, but I forgot the password. I have to make another hot tub. Here are a couple of interesting sides that I found on Just War:

When I think of a soldier fulfilling his office by punishing the wicked, killing teh wicked, and creating so much misery, it seems an un-christian work completely contrary to Christian Love. But when I think of how it protects the good and keeps and perserves wife and child, house and farm, property, and honor and peace, then I see how precious and godly this work is; and I observe that it amputates a leg or a hand, so that the whole body may not perish. For if the sword were not on guard to preserve peace, everything in the world would be ruined because of lack of peace. Therefore, such a war is only a brief lack of peace that prevents an everlasting and immeasureable lack of peace, a small misfortunce that prevents a great misfortune.
-Martin Luther

and on the other side:

The scriptures teach that there are two opposing princes and two opposing kingdoms: the one is teh Prince of peace; the other the prince of strife. Each of these princes has his paricular kingdom and as the prince is so is also the kingdom. The Prince of peace is Christ Jesus; His kingdom is the kindom of peace, which is His church; His messengers are the messengers of peace; His Word is the word of Peace; His children are the seed of peace; and His inheritance and reward are the inheritance and reward of peace. In short, with this King, and His Kingdom and reign, it is notheing but peace. Everything that is seen, heard, and done is peace.
-Menno Simons

I have to admit, Luther's thoughts begin to make sense to my humanity, but my spirituality is moved by Menno Simons. I feel that we are called as christians to be protectors of peace, but through violence is - like kurt said - like deep fried health food; it doesn't make sense. When Jesus was seized, Peter drew his sword and cut off an ear but Jesus stopped him and healed the soldier's ear. It was almost a reconciliation to keep peace.

what are your thoughts?

Peace

I was talking with a friend of mine this past weekend about peace and how it fits into our Christian faith. I brought up the usual "Turn the other cheek" arguement, but he began asking if peace could come from peace, or do we need to physically fight for it? It was an interesting discussion to say the least, but I was wondering what you guys think about peace.

1. Can it (peace) be achieved without violence?

2. Biblically and theoretically, what is your position?

3. Right now, what is your position on this topic? Are we so sheltered from the rest of the world that it is so easy for us in the west to do nothing and so we just protest?

I want to know what you are thinking.

ron

Have a Happy Easter

...or else the kid gets it.

Slow Down

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters"
-Psalm 23: 1-2 (NIV)

"Slow down everyone you're moving too fast
Frames can't hit you when you're moving like that..."
-Jack Johnson "Brushfire Fairytales"

I've come to the conclusion that I am on the go too much. I hate this time of school because I am so rushed with papers and finals. I am sick right now (I think due to school, church work,and hanging out with kids), and even though I am sick I am still working. In the Psalm, I found it interesting that it says "He makes me lie down in green pastures". It is the thought of forcing you to slow down, much like a shepherd would for his flock in the middle of the day. It's finding rejuvenation in a quiet,tranquil and serene place. I found this video of a beach just a walk up the way from my favorite beach in the world, Kailua Beach.

As we are entering into one of the most busiest times of Church work, Easter, we need to take ten minutes out of the day and just relax. Watch this video and just escape for a little time. rejuvenate.

"There are two types of Mormons: Later Day Saints and Later Day 'aints".

Today I had a visit from the mormons. It was pretty interesting. We talked for a while, but usually when I tell them that I work at a church and also study christianity and culture at TWU they back down. This didn't happen today. It was interesting because I was asking them about how they felt about their beliefs and they were very open with me. I really appreciated our conversation actually. What I want to tell them is I want to be their friend not their project. I want to hang out with Jerry the person, not "Elder Jerry" the missionary. I also want to know more about the magic underwear. Minus the magic underpants, maybe this is how people feel about us Christians.

While researching my new friends and their faith, I came across this video. I thought that it was ridiculous and funny. It looks like "superfriends" meets propaganda. Don't worry, I am still a christian. I loves me some Jesus and I love my neighbor, even if their beliefs are different than mine. Now if only I could meet a true buddhist like Merton.

Playing Catch Up...

It's been a while, so I'll catch you up on the going on's in the life of Ron:

- Getting ready to write papers and take finals. One of my papers is going to be called, "The Kingdom is at Hand and You Won't Believe Who's There". It will be about who is really "in" the kingdom of Heaven. If you have any resources, I would like to borrow them. So far I have Kraybill's "the upside down kingdom", McLaren's "the secret message..." (would like to use "generous orthodoxy" if you have it), and some Gustavo Gutierrez writings.

- Writing more papers. One on the verse, "Be Still and know that I am God": is it a meditation, or is God speaking out against the war that is going on? Another on Kierkegaard (the shizness), and one that's due next week on something that I have no idea what to write about.

- Signed up for classes. Summer classes will be 1)Moral Christian Theology and 2)Digital Recording. Fall Classes will be 1) Catholic Spirituality in the Modern World, 2) Contemporary Christianity, 3) Developing a Christian Worldview, 4)Sociology of Religion, 5) Popular Physics and 6) Basketball.

- After taking these classes, my chances of graduating in december are good to great.

- Going through the rocky quintology before I watch Rocky Balboa again. Also watching scrubs through netflix.

- listening to Van Morrison. Why didn't anybody tell me about this guy before...well one of my prof's did, but he's kind of a tool.

- Will be planting Roosevelt Community Church on Easter. A day of new beginnings and liberation. Free at last, Free at last, Thank God Almighty we're free at last.

- trying to get in shape again. Lost 15 pounds in a month. It's my once a year thing I do. I'll probably stop at the end of the summer again only to start again in the new year.

How are you doing?

ron

Faceless Love

This one is going to rabbit trail a bit...I'm stuck on this thought of a faceless love. What is tripping me up is the thought that once you've put a face to love it is no longer love but just a form of affection. I say I love my wife, but is it true love or is it that we wear rings that say that we love each othere and we also said it in front of a bunch of friends? That being said, do I truly love her? I know everything about her, but now I have a face on that love! Where is the mystery? Of course I love Cynthia, but is it simply an earthly love? If there were no identity to this love, would this love be even more? I wonder this about my love for Christ also.

When I think about Jesus, I have a face on him. He is attractive, white, and quite honestly a bit effeminate. I picture the jesus in the picture at your grandma's house. I wonder if by putting this face on him if my love is skewed in any way? There is no mystery. With this face put on Jesus, now I have a saviour that I can understand. It's the thought of iconification in which once we have a face on someone or something, we make them into whatever we imagine them to be.

This makes me sad because I wonder if since Ive been living with this icon of jesus in my head, have I ever truly loved "Jesus"? I've had plenty of girlfriends of whom I told that I love, but today I never talk to or about any of them - they are only a memory. If I stopped following the Jesus I know today, would I still love him ten years from now? Would I miss him, or would he be like my girlfriends and become one of those we don't speak of?

Maybe Jesus and I need to go to marriage counselling and reconnect so that the mystery will come back. Maybe it is simply that I need to find the mystic Jesus that nobody really "knows", much like the Orthodox church. I don't want to become one of those guys who simply worships christ because it is cool, but instead is worshipping because God is with us. I wonder if Jesus' humanity is what is killing the church because now that there is a face on him, we can control him. "if our god is for us, than who can be against us"? Now Jesus works for us instead of us working for him.

thoughts?

A Couple of Emergent Thoughts...

Lately I've been having a discussion with people regarding the "emergent" church. It's a funny concept really. Ive been reading Peter Rollins "How (not) to Speak of God" (which I think would be fun to discuss in the hot tub soon), and I've been enjoying it because he makes it clear that the emergent church is not a church or denomination - which some people try to make "emergent" churches into - but instead is a dialogue. Dialogue is the buzzword for the emergent crowd, which I think is overused but we it's hard to find another word, that describes what is going on in the movement rather than what they are all about.

He speaks on faith versus theology and I must admit that my eyes were opened at this thought. Faith is the experience of God, while theology is the reflection on the experience. This opened my eyes, because so many times I find my self reflecting on God rather than experiencing Him. Rollins went on to discuss the thought of our reflections becoming an idol that we have built.

"The arguement is made that naming God is never really naming God but only naming our understanding of God. To take our ideas of the divine and hold them as thy correspond to the reality of God is thus to construct a conceptual idol built from the materials of our mind."

This was on page 2 of the book. This is why we need to bring this book to the Hot Tub. I feel like there will be a lot of discussion forming from this book.

Peace,
ron

PS - New post at the Hot Tub

Valentine's Day

Here's what Valentines day is based on. It may not be just a hallmark holiday!

"In the third century, the Roman Empire was ruled by Emperor Claudius II Gothicus. He was nicknamed Claudius the Cruel because of his harsh leadership and his tendency for getting into wars and abusing his people. In fact, he was getting into so many wars during the third century that he was having a difficult time recruiting enough soldiers.

Claudius believed that recruitment for the army was down because Roman men did not want to leave their loves or families behind, so he canceled all marriages and engagements in Rome. Thousands of couples saw their hopes of matrimony dashed by the single act of a tyrant. And no one seemed interested in standing up to the emperor.

But a simple Christian priest named Valentine did come forward and stood up for love. He began to secretly marry soldiers before they went off to war, despite the emperor’s orders. In 269 AD Emperor Claudius found out about the secret ceremonies. He had Valentine thrown into prison and deemed that he would be put to death.

As Valentine was awaiting execution, he fell in love with a blind girl, who happened to be the jailers daughter. On the eve of his execution, with no writing instruments available, Valentine is said to have written her a sonnet in ink that he squeezed from violets. Legend has it that his words made the blind woman see again. It was a brief romance because the next day Valentine was clubbed to death by Roman executioners.

St. Valentine gave his life so that young couples could be bonded together in holy matrimony. They may have killed the man, but not his spirit. Even centuries after his death, the story of Valentine’s self-sacrificing commitment to love was legendary in Rome. Eventually he was granted Sainthood and the Catholic Church decided to create a feast in his honor. They picked February 14 as the day of celebration because of the ancient belief that birds (particularly lovebirds, but also owls and doves) began to mate on that very day."

Don't forget to get a card for your lady friend. Hope you Valentines Day is filled with Sweet Love Making and Chocolate.

Peace,
ron

I Go To an Ugly Church

This past weekend I was leading the singing part of our church and I looked out at the congregation and realized what an ugly bunch of people I lead. We have people who have marital problems, drinking problems, learning problems, sexual problems, people who have and/or are very open about their psychiatric problems, and people who are either "semi-homeless" or actually homeless who come to our church. We have the socially awkward, the socially inept, socially abandoned, and the socially weak. We have people who have lost their children to the state, have lost their spouses to disease, lost their lives to infidelity, "almost" had chidren out of wedlock or actually had their child out of wedlock - all come to our church. We have hippies, bankers, annoying people, liars, free loaders, slanderers, and gossips. We also have the poor, the marginal, the middle class, and the poorest by our standards. Now you are probably saying "Welcome to ministry Ron, We have these people in my church also", but the beauty of this weekend is that I realized that I know them by name.

I know all of these people who by the standards we have been given are considered ugly. Then there is me. I am the ugliest because I see these things. But now I've realized that these things that are ugly about them are the most beautiful part. It is the thought of them coming to Roosevelt Community Church to find someone who loves them and knowing that this person is Jesus. Some come to church because they feel that this is what good people do, but others come because jesus has begun healing them of their ugliness.

As I led the congregation in singing, I began thinking that this is what heaven is probably going to look like. Sorry, but I truly believe that the Kingdom of Heaven is not going to be a pretty place. We like to imagine that it will be, but I really believe that it is going to be one giant ugly place. Jesus spoke about this when he told the story about the King who threw a party. None of the pretty people showed up and when he sent his servants to remind the pretties, the servants were either told that the pretty people were too busy or the servant was killed. This is when the King told them to invite any who will come. I believe that the hopeless will make it into the Kingdom before the hopeful - better yet, the ugly will make it before the beautiful simply because the beautiful see the ugliness and decide that that is not for them. We are all drawn toward the attractive - it's true. We like the attractive things about culture - music, fashion, film, literature - but recently I've been gravitating toward the ugly. I've been leaning toward the broken before the fixed. I've seen the attractive and it is very inviting, but the ugly seems to be more real to me.

My church is ugly. As a worship leader, I point them in the direction of the One who sees them and makes them beautiful. I love it.

Artistically Cruel

“For anyone to love a man, he must be hidden, for as soon as his face is shown, love is gone.” - Dostoevsky

I finished the Grand Inquisitor the other day and came away with the thought of "artistically cruel". Dostoevsky used this term to describe the ways that the Turks were torturing people, but I can see it used by Christians.

Christians are called to love God and love others even if they don't like them. The funny thing is that we are so quick to "help" other Christians when they stumble. It is artistically cruel because our accountability is a wonderful act but it is done with the wrong intentions. We love to call others out on their sins, which is a needed thing, but we love to call them out on their actions that are very public and wrong. What about the sin of not hanging out with their family enough? What about the sin of over loading thier schedule? We seem to only focus on the juicy stuff - the really good sins. Artistically cruel.

I love the truth inside Dostoevsky's quote above. Love must be a faceless love in order to truly be love. What if our faith is not "true" love, because we have put a face on teh God who loved us first? What if the Jesus of our agenda is not faceless anymore, so therefore we just love ourselves. Artistically Cruel. We take this love, this perfect and powerful love, and we lose it because we can picture the one who gives it to us. What if this is our "personal Jesus"?

thoughts?

PS- Our Friend Rob has joined the blogging world over at ADD Theology. I can't wait to see what he has to say. Check him out on my newly alphabetized blog list. God doesn't play favorites, so neither will I...until someone donates money toward my guitar fund.

Two Amazing Movies That I Saw

This past weekend, I watched two movies that I loved: Little Miss Sunshine and Favela Rising.

It seems cliche to say that I liked Little Miss Sunshine, because everybody who watches The Office (american version) loves it simply because Steve Carrell is in it. The reason I liked the movie is that it shows a broken family. It's the realism of this movie that captivated me. There is a father who is laying unbelievable amounts of pressure on his family to be "winners", a mother who is ready to quit the family, a grandpa who is a heroin addict, the wife's brother who is a gay professor who attempted suicide because of his lover leaving him for his nemesis, a son who hates so much that he decides to not talk to him, and a daughter who is not "beauty pageant" material, but is accepted into the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. I would say, if I had to compare the movie, that Little Miss Sunshine was like National Lampoons Vacation only darker and hits closer to home with dysfunction and what is happening to some of today's families (though not the exact same problems).

Favela Rising is a documentary showing a ghetto in Brazil. Here is a story of a favela (ghetto) run by drug lords and dirty cops, and a guy who's brother was murdered by the cops decides to do something positive instead of sinking deeper into the world of the drug lords. He starts a music group which sings about what is going on in his neighborhood. They begin gaining the respect of the neighbors because of their positive impact and message, and even gain respect of the drug lords. They begin the Afro Reggae movement and even begin teaching kids how to play the drums. This is what was so impactful about this movie for me. I began wondering what I have to offer the kids in my neighborhood. What could keep some of them focused and away from the drug scene? This movie really challenged me to think "what am I doing to make a positive ding in the Roosevelt Neighborhood". This is a dangerously inspirational movie. If you've got Netflix, flick it now.

Hot Tub Theology - the blog!

We've seen Jesus Camp, now let's discuss...

book mark it on your sites.

peace,
ron

Interesting article

here is an article I read from Sam's friend/mentor, Wade Hodges.

This article is an interesting look at a "come and see" (numerically driven) church moving into the role of a "go and do" (gospel driven) church, and I felt is a glimmer of hope for the direction of church and the gospel.

peace,
ron

jesus camp showing

Just letting you all know, that I will be watching Jesus Camp at my place at 12:00 Noon on Friday, February 2nd. All five of you who read this can come. Actually, you must come. Until then, here is another video to keep you entertained until then.

Hot Tub Theology

For all of you Hot Tub theologians, I got the movie "Jesus Camp", and we need to set up a time to see it. It really depends on you, because my schedule is pretty open. Until we figure this out, here is the trailer for you to see.