set face dark against Jerusalem
turn toward medusa desert
watch the petrified heart turn
stone
there is a chest with stone
dead weight behind cold bone
unwanted treasure
kept alone
Month: August 2010
Revelation: When the Wild Wind Blows
Serendipidy – the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
Today I was reading my latest review copy of the Brazos Theological Commentary on Revelation and as I am Matthew is nearby playing a new song by Iron Maiden on his guitar (very well I might add). It was one of those moments where things gel in a way they usually don’t. The lyrics of the song meshed wonderfully with my reading about Revelation. I was a good moment and a bit of a thin space for those who know what I mean.
Anyhow since I am writing a post I should say that the commentary is starting out very well. I am one of those (and I am sure we are many) who primarily use commentaries for reference purposes and not for pleasurable or fruitful reading. If other commentaries are like this one then I have been missing out and need to read more of them for the sheer enjoyment of it. Here are some select quotes that I have found quite good:
"European and North American intellectual culture has been de-Christianized. The effect has not been a cessation of Christian activity. Theological work continues. Sermons are preached. Biblical scholars turn out monographs. Church leaders have meetings. But each dimension of a formerly unified Christian practice now tends to function independently. It is as if a weakened army had been fragmented, and various corps had retreated to isolated fortresses in order to survive. Theology has lost its confidence in exegesis. Scripture scholars function with minimal theological training. Each decade finds new theories of preaching to cover the nakedness of seminary training that provides theology without exegesis and exegesis without theology. Not the least of the causes of the fragmentation of Christian intellectual practice has been the divisions of the church."
"It is unfortunate that in the minds of many people, Revelation is associated exclusively with debates over end-time scenarios, often associated with particular political agendas and judgements. Too often such readings reflect worldly interests that have little to do with the upbuilding of the church."
"Like wisdom, apocalyptic theology calls for transformation of the mind and heart combined with prudent action."
"Before the church can speak the word of God, it must listen for it."
Saint Francis by Robert West
The book, Saint Francis by Robert West is a quick and easy read. It is a high level view of the man’s life with moments where the reader dives in for a little detail and then back to the stratosphere again for a while. It is not a bad book. Unfortunately it is hard to call it a good book. Part of the Christian Encounters series being published by Thomas Nelson it is a low-cost paperback with fairly flimsy glue binding that threatened to come apart as I was reading it. What saves the book is the subject matter. With so much source material and additional biographical detail already written on Saint Francis it is hard to create a completely awful text.
The biggest failing in the book is the author’s tendancy to speculate and hypothesize about what "may have happened’ and what ‘could have occured’ etc. It is no exageration to suggest that nearly every page of the book has some form of ungrounded, unreferenced speculation. For a biography this is simply unacceptable and makes one feel that the book is partly fictional.
At the end of the day though it has some worthy gems that the reader will appreciate but it is not a great book. I suggest if you have read nothing about Saint Francis before the least this book will do for you is offer some bibliographic direction to some other, truly outstanding works already published and referenced by West as source material.
I was provided a copy of this book for review from Thomas Nelson. If you have a blog and like to read/review books check out their program at http://booksneeze.com.
Stephen Colbert and the Bible
What a night. First an amazing Daily Show and now Colbert has given me a reason to blog. Anyone who knows some about Stephen Colbert will know that he is a person of Christian faith. A devout Catholic Colbert once told The New York Times:
"I love my Church, and I’m a Catholic who was raised by intellectuals, who were very devout. I was raised to believe that you could question the Church and still be a Catholic. What is worthy of satire is the misuse of religion for destructive or political gains. That’s totally different from the Word, the blood, the body and the Christ. His kingdom is not of this earth."
I look forward to the day when someone writes a serious and deep biography (I would prefer an autobiography) of him. He had a pretty rough go growing up. Raised by devout and deeply intellectual parents, when he was 10-years-old his father and two brothers were killed in a plane crash. The rest of his siblings were already away from home by then so it was just him and his mother from that point on. He relates that he was beaten up fairly regularly and turned to humour in the midst of all this. Later in university he found himself in a place where he had lost his faith. A story in Parade magazine says:
"Soon after graduation, he was living in Chicago—an earnest young actor with a full beard and a proclivity for dressing in black. He also had lost his faith. “I was very depressed about it,” he says. “I wanted the idea that I would see my father and brothers again, and it was heartbreaking to think that that wouldn’t happen.”
Then, one icy winter day, as Colbert walked down a street in Chicago, a Gideon handed him a Bible. “It was so cold, I had to crack the pages,” he recalls. “I flipped it open, and it had a list of things to read about if you were feeling different ways. Under ‘Anxiety,’ it said ‘Matthew V,’ the Sermon on the Mount.” He paraphrases: “‘Who among you by worrying can change a hair on his head?’ It spoke to me.”
At any rate back to tonight’s episode. Colbert is satirizing the current criticism of Obama and his tolerance of Islam as well as suspicians that he is a closet Muslim despite his numerous direct statements that he is not. At one point as he is offering Obama advice on how to appear more Christian he suggest praying harder and then specifically says "Like Matthew 5:47 says pray hard or go home" with a nice big graphic that simply read Matthew 5:47.
Colbert is not the kind of person to do anything thoughtlessly in his show. He knows very well that his audience is going to look the verse up. When you look it up you find the following:
"And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?"
This is a stark condemnation of the hate and intolerance that is developing in the United States about the mosque planned near the World Trade Center site in New York City. It becomes even more powerful when read in the context of the verses around it so I will you with them, Matthew 5:43-48:
"You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
A Cry Against Apathy
There are several ways you know you have read a good book and one of them is how quickly it is read. I devoured Max Lucado’s new book Outlive Your Life as a starving man would devour food placed in front of him. Lucado’s purpose with this book is deceptively simple: teach and/or remind people that their lives are God-given as a gift with a purpose in mind – to serve others and by doing so serve God and "outlive their lives". In the space of 150 plus pages Lucado accomplishes his task with clarity and pragmatism.
Outlive Your Life is rooted in the first 12 chapters of the New Testament book of Acts and blends scripture, real life stories and Lucado’s skillful ability to get to the point. In this case the point is simply that the church and Christians today seem to have fallen into a sleep of apathy and a mindset overwhelmed by the sheer volume of brokeness in the world. Lucado uses the book to remind readers that God is about the business of the church if we would simply trust that he is capable of overturning the evil of the world by using the admittedly imperfect tools who are his followers. As proof he points to the nascent church of Acts and helps the reader to understand that this ragtag group of unremarkable 1st century Jews, once empowered and enlivened by the Spirit of God, then go about the business of transforming of world.
Another clear purpose for the book is to challenge Christians and the church to wake from their apathetic slumber and confront directly the evil of the world which manifests in many ways such as hunger, poverty, war, racism, slavery etc. Lucado wants to make sure that anyone who picks up this text cannot put it down and claim ignorance to the needs of the world – in this he also succeeds.
The book is divided into 16 short chapters, each following Acts as well as tackling a particular practical way of maximizing life for the sake of Christ and the world. This structure as well as a handy Discussion and Action Guide at the end make the book a great tool for Bible Study groups, Life groups and Sunday School or other Christian Education classes.
Ultimately Lucado systematically removes every conceivable excuse a Christian may have for not living out the gospel and provides simple ways of moving into a life that emphasizes cummunity over the individual and the critical importance of prayer. It is important to note that Lucado does not simply present ‘practical’ ways of acting but also ends each chapter with an applicable verse from scripture and a prayer.
I highly recommend the book for Christians of all stripes as well as pastors, teachers and other leaders in the church. It is clear that the book has been written with the Christian believer in mind and from the outset uses language and content that directly addresses this audience. For this reason it is likely the non-Christian audience, while possibly agreeing with the action items, will not fully appreciate the text and the scriptural reasoning behind it and may not find it beneficial.
It should be noted that Lucado is not simply teling others how to outlive their lives. 100 percent of author royalties from all Outlive Your Life products go to WorldVision and the James 1:27 Foundation.
Book has been provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available September 2010 at your favourite bookseller.
Like Blood It Tastes
there is still salt in this water
like blood it tastes on tongue
‘cross cheek to roll – drawn down
trailing life like hope in the desert
tell-tale sign of spring beneath
poised to break and burst
may the wild water run deep
cover over leather-cracked earth
listen
there are songs below the waves
there is music in the underneath
it is the far-flung future
racing as love’s light to now
brace yourself
Seeking God
I wonder what it really is we are seeking when we claim to be seeking after God? I have noticed in myself that I often find myself coming up disappointed which can only mean I have not been doing a good job in the hunt. I have a skeptical nature which I fight to keep from becoming cynical which I view as sinful (BTW – I recognize the irony of a statement that speaks of steadfastly attempting to avoid sin in one area while whole-heartedly pursuing it in another…such is human nature). When I encounter those who have claimed to not only have sought but in fact have found God I wonder if their expectations were simply so low that they could not have helped but to find exactly what they were looking for.
Don’t get me wrong I understand that we have been told to "seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened unto you" but these verses from Matthew 7 are about seeking the kingdom of God. I do not know if I can claim that the kingdom of God and God are synonymous with one-another if you know what I mean. If one finds the kingdom of God has one in fact found God? I cannot pursue this line of thinking right now because this post is about seeking God and not the kingdom of God (whether or not you see them as the same).
There are some theologies within Christianity who believe God cannot be found by any human effort and I think I would agree. I am not saying evidence of God cannot be found for all of creation speaks of God so-to-speak. What I am saying is finding God on our own, with our own faculties. God in this sense is so beyond us that we do not go to him but he condescends to come to us. We cannot reach him with any human effort (and God knows we have tried in so many various and sundry religious ways). Even our prayers must be taken up by him.
So then to seek after God is a lonely task for we are bound to fail. Perhaps then we must put ourselves into a place where he will find us. Perhaps we must allow ourselves to be lifted to him, by him and in being found we may begin to be healed and transformed. There are many places in scripture where God seeks after humanity. He calls to Abraham. He whispers to Moses on the wind. He seeks and dwells with Israel. But never is it human effort that seeks out and catches God.
******
if pain is a warning of disease and distress
well then we are honestly pretty much ******
because everywhere I look are the drowning
screaming at the water for its selfish depth
clawing for air and pushing others beneath
i
i claw for air
i
i push others beneath
may as well rage ragged at the sun
for thoughtlessly pouring light
exposing private shadows best kept hidden
we are incomplete gods breaking the world
we are outrageous wax-winged angels
suffocating in our reaching for airless moon
Lord teach us to gather praises like gold wheat in the fall
Lord teach us to rule as sons and daughters of heaven and earth
teach us to love in the wilderness
that the howling black does not tear us to pieces
with the help of our own crazed nails
Tools of the Trade
File this under tools of the trade. With the new journalism job underway it was time to buy a new recording device. My old trusty handheld tape recorder works fine but frankly I wanted a Digital Recording Device because they are MUCH smaller and record the files as MP3s for easy transfer to the laptop and easy transciption. Also tapes (even Digital Audio Tapes – DAT) have greater possiblity of noice because of the inherent degradation of the tape itself as well as the contect of the recording heads to the tape. Trust me, when you are transcribing an interview the less noise the better. I have spent well over an hour stuck on a word that somebody mumbled trying to figure out what it was. The difference between say the word "hate" and "great" can impact the whole tone of an article.
Anyhow I decided on the Panasonic RR-US551 IC Recorder (see pic below). It’s a nice little 1 GB MP3 recorder with a fantastic "Zoom mic" built in for great clarity of voices over and against other background noise. I tested the recording quality at different distances from the subject because frankly people generally don’t like it when you push a microphone within a couple of inches of their face. The Panasonic records very clearly from within several feet. Very nice and all for a reasonable price. They offered 2 GB and 4 GB models but honestly the 1 GB model records more than 16 hours at its highest quality. If I ever have to do an interview that lasts more than 16 hours…well…shoot me now.
I also picked up several mechanical pencils and a decent hard-covered flip notepad. I have literally hundreds of very nice pens at home but I learned early on that a journalist should never use a pen. I was interviewing a subject on Parliament Hill and things were going fine. I had a nice high-quality Parker pen and felt like King of the Journalists. Then without warning it started to rain. Ever try to write with a pen on wet paper? You know what happens? Nothing…it doesn’t work. Results – terrible interview and I had to call the subject later and redo most of it. Pencils write on wet paper. Also a mechanical pencil needs no sharpening. All in all I’m pretty setup and love reporting so away we go…hopefully the new paper does well.
Dropped Kisses
who wants to fly when the wind blows ripe
what sky hopes to hold one so bold
rather stay low to the ground this day
with each wheat stalk bent above my eyes
gold buttresses of transparent cathedral
watch corsair clouds seek the longing lost
eyeless white wonders blind to the hidden
throwing threads like reaching arms
moist fingers touch like love dropped kisses
as if to say –
"take care to move my sweet
lay long enough and I will carve a smile
upon your face with perseverance"
Harnessing Chaos 