October 19, 2007 · 1:48 pm

Baseball vs. Football or Committed marriage vs. affair


I heard this analogy that rings true for me. Baseball is like marriage, it takes massive commitment over time, through thick and thin. Its easy to get in a hole but it is possible to dig out.  Football is like an affair, it is fast-paced, always has a new opportunity for excitement each Sunday. Though I think there is nothing good in real affairs, the analogy rings true. I stayed up last night to watch my team, the Sox, win. It took 150+ games to get here with lots of ups and downs or possibilities of down. Though last night was good, there’s no assurance that it will end well and so the suffering continues. This, of course, is fake suffering. and Manny Ramirez, outfielder for the Sox has it right. It’s just a game and it doesn’t matter. But watch we must.

But it is still fun to cheer nonetheless. And to know my Yankee friends are in turmoil…

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October 18, 2007 · 3:37 pm

How uncomfortable are you willing to be in church?


My bus trip around Philadelphia yesterday got me thinking again about comfort and how we use our desire for it to shape where we worship. When we went to Bethel Deliverance Church, we saw a church that started in a motel suite. They were able to squeeze 60 in the space. Neither the outside nor the inside was much to look at. When they had more than 60, they put them in other rooms and piped in video and sound through security cameras. Not sure how long the church continued in that fashion, but it was for quite some time.

One of the DMin students asked how this church kept people coming since the facility was so poor. His assumption was that suburban folk wouldn’t stand for that kind of issue. The pastor said that the church was primarily conversions to Christ and not transfer. #1 they didn’t know anything else, and #2 it was the Word they were hungry for. Some 20 years later, this church still remains an evangelistic and sending congregation.

How much does comfort play into your church decisions? Style? Space? Demographic? Content?

My church began in the 70s and for many years was like this. Somewhere, I think it lost its cutting edge and became more comfort seeking. Now, our facility isn’t much to look at, but somewhere I think it became a church body looking to be comforted and discipled than to be sent. I love my church and the leaders are doing everything they can to resurrect the sending part. But, until we folk start wanting to be uncomfortable, they are going to be frustrated in their goals. And I have to not point the finger to others. I want to be served–frankly–and need to contend with my me-centered desires.

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October 17, 2007 · 7:05 pm

What is God doing in Philadelphia?


Being an academic has certain perks. I got to participate in one of them today. A DMin cohort is in session this week and part of their class was a tour of Philadelphia to see what God is doing in and through the church. We left early this am on a Hagey bus (donated I hear, thank you Hagey!) and traveled to an African American church on Cheltenham ave. This church started very small in the 80s, meeting in a motel suite. Slowly, they were able to rent more and finally buy the property and several more. I’ll write more soon about this church and how it handled the congregation in some uncomfortable building situations. I was convicted at how comfort (me) focused I am. The church has a tremendous evangelism program. Next we travelled through a good chunk of North Philadelphia (West of Broad) to see Eric Mason at 16th and Diamond (Epiphany Fellowship). This pastor and his congregation are seeking to reach and redeem the hip hop culture and be a presence in N. Philadelphia. We then traveled through a lot of N. Philadelphia: Feltonville, Kensington, and through the Latino populated parts. We ate at a muslim owned business (kabobs) and heard from Rev. Luis Centano (Wyoming Baptist) about his many ministries that are an asset to the community and to the Philadelphia police force. The biggest presence in this area is the Jehovah’s Witnesses and then the Mosque. We saw lots of poverty and lots of people making a way despite being abandoned by everyone, including the police and city.

We then traveled back in time to Bridesburg. This is a very white section of the city cut off (by I95) from most of the city. Very Irish Catholic. We visited a young man who has opened a coffee shop and church (real life cafe) that meets in the shop. His story is quite an interesting one. I dropped off the tour at this point and took the train home but the rest of them continued on to Tenth Presbyterian Church to hear about their center city ministry.

The best part of this tour? Hearing Bill Krispin narrate our trip and share his 42 years experience with the entire city. This man has walked the streets and knows what is happening. His call to us is to do what business does: read the environment and learn what God is doing in the city instead of being 5 years behind.  If you ever get a chance to do something like this with a person who knows your area, be sure to do it. You get to see what God is up to and not just the problems.

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October 16, 2007 · 9:49 am

Charles Schulz, Peanuts, and Double Entendres


As an adult, I enjoy the double meanings in cartoons for kids–whether Looney Toons or Cars. It gives me an extra laugh. Most Sundays I read the comics to the kids but rarely explain the double meanings. But, I’m still trying to figure out how I feel after learning how Charles Schulz embedded other meanings into his Peanuts cartoons. I heard a story on NPR this morning about a new biography about Schulz. Apparently, he was working out his own struggles in the life of Charlie Brown. It makes perfect sense that he did. But I admit that I only read the strip at its innocent level. It was a fun, vanilla, story about a lovable dog with lots of fantasy, a boy who wanted to be great but was only average or worse, an egocentric girl, and so on. And the “story” about Schulz was that he was a Christian.

Now, I am interested to re-read the strip in order to “hear” Schulz’ angst and inner life. And yet, I am only half-interested in doing so because they will cease to be innocent fun (especially when he is making remarks on his love for a woman not his wife).

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October 15, 2007 · 2:21 pm

Emotionally destructive relationships 4


The final part of Leslie Vernick’s, The Emotionally Destructive Relationship is entitled “Surviving It.” In this section she explores how we heal and take care of ourselves. Chapter 10 describes the necessity of spiritual healing that must happen before relational healing will take place. She makes the point that we will must explore whether we believe that God loves us and learn to abide in Him. She ends the chapter by saying,

Healing doesn’t simply involve feeling better about who we are or who God is. True healing happens as we learn to live holy lives by growing into the identities God has already given us, which is what will make us whole.

Chapter 11 describes the necessity of letting go as a key element of gain and growth. Letting go of fears, distorted expectations, entitlements, negative mood, lies about self, etc. This is a tall order but she does give some guidance on how to let go of negative moods by asking of your feeling, “why are you here?” Leslie is right here. Many things that trap us have to do with what we hang on to. This chapter gives a broad overview. The challenge is to put it into practice. I suspect you need a good friend or therapist to put it into practice.

If chapter 11 is about putting off, chapter 12 covers what we are to put on as positive nourishment. Gather a support system, develop a sense of your strengths, and learn how to deal with conflict and a destructive person. The broad brushstrokes are here. Again, I wish she had the space for a bit more details and examples.

Finally, Leslie includes a listing of helpful books, websites and other resources. She has a chapter defining the various types of abuse. And she concludes the book with a chapter for those walking with someone who is in a destructive relationship.

All in all, a great book exploring the struggles and healthy responses to one’s destructive relationship. As is usual with her writing, Leslie urges the reader to examine the heart, deceptions, to meditate on God’s goodness, and to live out of the power of the cross.  

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October 12, 2007 · 12:55 pm

10,000 Spam


Just thought I’d pass on that today this site has logged its 10,000th spam hit. Adam had to fight with briars in his field. I have to fight with spam in my electronic field. Just goes to show that advances in life do not remove the effects of the fall, try as we might. 

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October 12, 2007 · 9:28 am

Not enough grace?


Prayer found in Valley of Vision:

Every new duty calls for more grace than I possess, but not more than is found in thee, the divine treasury in whom all fulness dwells. To thee I repair for grace upon grace.

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October 11, 2007 · 8:57 am

Metaphysics, behavior change models, and a place for Christian counseling in the public arena


Here’s a juicy quote from a new book, Psychiatry: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2006) that James Skillen brought to my attention in a recent presentation on principled pluralism.

“Few issues polarize us as much as how changeable we believe human behavior to be. The disagreements are not just calm, academic ones but fuel (and are fueled by) political and social beliefs reflecting fundamentally different worldviews.” (p. 86) The development of change models are then, “dependent on the values and structures of the societies that [foster them].” (p. x).

Well said.  

While most of us bemoan the devaluing of Christian principles and talk of us vs. them (christian vs. world), Skillen argues for our vigorous participation in “principled pluralism.” “…We should be exercising both our citizenship and our nongovernment responsibilities in appropriate, publicaly open, Christian ways, working to shape public laws and uphold justice for all in keeping iwht confessional and structural pluralism.” (from p. 6 of a paper he delivered at the latest Society for Christian Psychology conference)

Skillen is passionate about Christians being in the public sphere, not just to argue for their own rights but for the rights of all citizens.

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October 10, 2007 · 5:22 am

A bit more on the mission of God


My previous entry mentioned the missional movement in the evangelical church. In some ways this movement is best understood by its two main questions: (1) What is the mission of God? (2) What is our part in His mission? Or put more bluntly as Gary Haugen did at a recent AACC conference (talking about God’s response to injustice), “Are Jesus and I interested in the same things?”

Well, what is our part? Unbelievably, we are plan A in fulfilling his purposes in the world. Here’s my 3 core statements that describe our part of the mission:

a. to glorify God and enjoy him forever in the kingdom of heaven, first here on earth and then fully in heaven.
b. to extend the kingdom boundaries (a la Ezekiel 47) in order to participate in the healing of the nations through reconciling, binding up, loosing, feeding, clothing, and preaching the new good news.
c. to live righteously in exile (Jeremiah 29) for the benefit of all peoples (for their peace and comfort) and as lights shining on a hill giving glory to God (Matthew 5:14)

What else would you want to include in your top 5?
What do we have in our actual, lived-out top 5 that ought NOT be there?

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October 9, 2007 · 10:35 am

How much does personality influence views on theology?


My last two posts cover the effect of personal stories on the positions we take in areas of controversy. One particular controversial area for our seminary has to do with “the missional turn” we are taking as an institution. For those not familiar with this idea, you can explore more by going to our president’s Missional Journal. But here’s the controversy in short. Bible-believing, Jesus-loving, theologians disagree about how the church should reach this generation and the next. Some see evangelicalism as highly deficient in its understanding of the Gospel, of community life and our purpose in the world, and our relationship to God. The system is broken and needs complete overall. Others acknowledge that much of the church is “me-driven” but that our theological systems are just fine even if we need to refine their application to everyday life.

Enter personality differences. Continue reading →

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