Missional Living

Or 'The Cohabitation of Moderns and POMOs'…

I've tried to wait, but I can't. 

For the last week, God has been refreshing my spirit in many different ways. God At War. Double-shot venti no-whip mochas. Last Monday's downpour of rain. And Eric Johnson.

EJ is one of the most amazing guitar talents to ever come down from Mt. Olympus and walk our little blue planet. Or any of the other 7 planets in our solar system. (Yes, I know 7 +1 = 8, not nine. But remember that Pluto got nixed as a planet last week or so.) Anyway….

On Eric's latest release, Bloom, which I've had since June 14, 2005, he puts together a phenomenal version of Bob Dylan's 'My Back Pages'. You need to go to iTunes and get it.(I'll send you $.99) Let the tone of his aural expertise wash over you and remind you that we take life way too seriously sometimes. Remember the words of Jesus, who said "let the little children come to me"….and something about 'faith like a child'.

Here are lyrics:

Crimson flames tied through my ears
Rollin' high and mighty traps
Pounced with fire on flaming roads
Using ideas as my maps
"We'll meet on edges, soon," said I
Proud 'neath heated brow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth
"Rip down all hate", I screamed
Lies that life is black and white
Spoke from my skull. I dreamed
Romantic facts of musketeers
Foundationed deep, somehow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

Girls' faces formed the forward path
From phony jealousy
To memorizing politics
Of ancient history
Flung down by corpse evangelists
Unthought of, though, somehow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

Too serious to fool
Spouted out that liberty
Is just equality in school
"Equality," I spoke the word
As if a wedding vow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

In a soldier's stance, I aimed my hand
At the mongrel dogs who teach
Fearing not that I'd become my enemy
In the instant that I preach
My pathway led by confusion boats
Mutiny from stern to bow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats
Too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking
I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms
Quite clear, no doubt, somehow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

BTW, Bob Dylan turned 65 this year, just released his new album Modern Times, is scheduling an upcoming tour, and is on the cover of the September issue of Rolling Stone (got it in the mail today). Look for the media to blitz us with his genius. 

Ever think God gets tired of our whining? Maybe even exasperated? 

I found this today while cleaning out some old files on my home PC. May it inspire you to get up and do something. Anything.

One night, I had a wondrous dream;
One set of footprints there was seen.
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.

But then some stranger prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, "What have we here?"
"Those prints are large and round and neat,
But, Lord, they are too big for feet."

"My child," He said in somber tones.
"For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait.

You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk of-faith you would not know.
So I got tired and fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt,
Because in life, there comes a time,
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand."

Alrighty then. 

I've been completely snowed for the last week and am just now getting around to nailing some thoughts down about this  not-so-easy-to-deal-with book. Yes, I know Boyd is an openness proponent. But rather than listen to others dissect and condone/condemn this book, I wanted to deal with it myself. So there. 

Boyd goes to lengthy detail to establish a 'warfare worldview', in which God has enlisted us as believers to engage in the conflict. He gives a great historical and cultural background of many world cultures (from Eastern Ecuador to Babylonian and Mesopotamian). Those of you familiar with Gilgamesh and the like, will appreciate the connections he makes. However, don't think this is a demons-under-every-bush book, either. It's not. 

The perennial question has to be dealt with in concrete terms : Why do evil things happen to good people? After all, if the world is truly caught up in the middle of a real war between good and evil forces, evil is to be expected–including evil that serves no higher end. For instance, when evil happens (murder, rape, abuse, …televangelism), it may not be 'in order to bring glory to God by your testimony years down the road.' Evil just happens. In any state of war, evil for the sake of evil is just part of the equation. "Only when we assume that the world is meticulously controlled by an all-loving God does each particular evil event need a higher, all-loving explanation." [p.21]

Hmmm..

Now before I get a slew of nasty emails: He's NOT saying God is not all-loving, or that God cannot/does not/will not bring good/blessing/healing from evil suffering. He IS, however, saying that just maybe, when Jon Benet Ramsey was murdered, it wasn't for a higher cause of fulfilling His will. If we are in a real, spiritual war, maybe she was murdered as a casualty of that war.

Chew on this: why do we pray? Out of duty? Or out of a sense of 'warfare'?

Why study the Word? What difference does it make if we know what our role in The Church is supposed to be? If 'everything that happens is according to God's plan'…why bother? Won't it work out anyway?  

Why share our faith? Why bother with the rejection and ridicule? Why not spend the day at the lake rather than in worship on Sunday? When someone drowns in Lake Travis this upcoming Labor Day weekend…why be concerned? If it's ALL according to plan, that is….

Within a warfare worldview, particular evils are their own explanation. When we ask the question 'Why do bad things happen to good people?' we are assuming that bad things are supposed to happen to bad people. That's how God gets even with sinners and they learn their lesson, right? Somewhere along the way (Augustine, I think), we've picked up the idea that people suffer because they deserve it. (To the theologs who visit here, think of a more pre-Augustinian, biblical understanding of the world as involved in a cosmic war.)

Part One of the book (the first 160+ pages) deals with OT references, beginning with the genesis of creation and Yahweh's conflict with the raging sea, and dealing with humanity's role as 'restorative viceroy over the earth.' (I like that.)

Part Two (which I'm beginning as soon as I hit the 'post' button) deals with the NT and the Kingdom of God as a warfare concept, the Christus Victor concept of Jesus' death/resurrection, and spiritual warfare in the life of a believer. Again, not about exorcisms and holy water, but about prayer, service and mercy as acts of engaging the conflict. 

I'll post more thoughts as they brew. Right now, I need to top off my Halle Berry coffee and get back to work…

Thoughts?  

Funny.

And timely.

See it here. 

 (yeah, not an original photo of mine…but it's been a crazy week.)

All apologies. I haven't been up to posting much this week. Next week will be better. Lots of things happening here. God At War. Christians Gone Wild. Ministry Mayhem. Stay tuned…the technical difficulites will be ironed out momentarily.

Mark Driscoll, that is. In the 12 minutes I've had this week to attempt  a new post, I ran across something Mark posted. The intro is below:

" My son Zac and I recently attended a Mariners baseball game for his seventh birthday. On the way home we were rolling along in my 1978 Chevy truck with a bacon air freshener and passed a liberal mainline church. He asked me what that church believed and I told him they do not believe people are sinners, do not believe the Bible is to be taken literally but is more like a fantasy video game, do not believe you need Jesus to go to heaven, and do believe that being gay is cool with Christ.

For a minute he looked like a dog that had just heard a high-pitched whistle and there was an awkward silence as he waited for me to say I was just kidding. After a few moments he could tell I was being serious and then said, "That is the exact opposite of what God says in the Bible. How can they still call themselves a church? They should get another name because they’re just confusing people if they say they are a church."

Outta the mouths of babes, I'm thinkin'. Like the time the guy at the half-pipe at Winter Park told me, "Dude, if sin is real,…that explains everything!" Right on, my zig-zag friend. 

Your life forever changes once you realize that, in sin, you are an enemy of God. Bratwurst for God's grill. Amazing grace is an experience born only from failure.  

To read the rest of the post, along with some fascinating stuff he quotes from the LA Times (go figure), go here.

Crazy week. No real blogging to speak of. It's been brutal, and it's already Friday. Sigh. 

Started back on my 5:30 a.m. workouts. Why 5:30? Because in Austin, we've only had 3 days this month that have been under 100-degrees, and at 5:30 a.m. it's only 84 degrees outside. Geez.

I'm knee-deep in Boyd's 'God At War: The Bible and Spiritual Conflict'. (unrelated to my last post which Jimmie and Scott lovingly ravaged!) 

The big deal this week was the first day of school (ever) for our oldest. Darien started Kindergarten this week. In the words of Julius Caesar, "The die is cast." 

Ah, yes. The journey of 1000 miles is now beginning with a single step.