Heroes

I like the Star Wars Epic. I see the scrolling golden text and I am filled with giddiness. Judging from the franchise’s staying-power and financial success, I think that I am not the only one! I think there are a lot of aspects about Star Wars that makes it so likeable. I think everyone secretly wants to be caught up in some grand adventure, where their dearest loved ones are in danger, and the dreamer is the one who springs to action at the last minute, defeating all odds to rescue all those in danger. I think everyone wants to be a Hero.

I remember as a child that most of my imaginations had a common plot line: One of my friends, or members of my family (or the girl I had a crush on at that point in time) was in trouble, and I, with all the gusto my 60 pound body could muster, took it upon myself to save that person from certain doom. It was a simple plot, but the circumstances could be varied greatly, and they always had the same happy outcome: Everyone was safe in the end. It was my imagination; of course I was the hero!

I wrote a series of short stories that involved my older brother, and myself, as well as our respective best-friends Mark and Trent. In each of the stories someone was in trouble, or a mystery had to be solved, and even though adults were baffled or unable to take action, the four of us were ready to serve.

I don’t imagine hero stories for myself much anymore, although I have caught myself “saving” my fiancé a couple of times! I usually imagine different things, like cars that I want, or computer parts that I want, or books that I want. I want, I want, I want… far less noble, I think, than the imaginations of my youth. In fact, I think that young me might be a bit disappointed with what the current me imagines; cars and computers are awfully dull compared to an action story filled with speeding trains, power-hungry bad guys, and damsels in distress!

I think young me, if he did exist, would be right to be upset with me. I think that young people sometimes tap into something, quite inadvertently that is vital to the human story. This something is what we “educated adults” would call “Truth” I think. I did not realize it then, but at that young age, I was recreating the Jesus event in my own life, I was doing Christianity. The New Testament Scriptures are peppered with phrases like “in humility regard others as better than yourselves” (Phil. 2:3) and “Be Subject to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph 5:21).

Even if it was only imaginatively, what I was unknowingly doing was emptying myself (Phil 2:1-11) for others, doing in my mind what Christ did in the world, for all people. It is this self-emptying that we are called to. We aren’t called to wax philosophical laboriously over who really wrote the book of Hebrews, we are supposed to go out there and serve. Now, it may not take the form of a rescue, and hopefully it is more than just imagination, but service is indeed what we are called to.

Are we ready to put away our adult imaginations and remember the truth of what we are called to? Are we ready to live cruciform “cross-shaped” lives? Are we ready to be Heroes?

On the reduction of Baptism

I was reading Patrick Mead's blog today an I came across a blog title that interested me "How small can we make baptism"
Since it was an old post, I dont expect to get much conversation on my comment, so I will put a link to the post here and my comments follow:

I appreciate what you have to say, however, I’m not sure your argument is particularly strong. Your first argument is one of semantics isn’t it? You are saying that immersion was immersion, that it was a cultural practice of the time makes no difference? We have defined a word with its definition, which is helpful, but does not seem to necessitate it on a theological level.

Your second point seems to fail in that the letter to Romans is not a church leader’s handbook on how things should be run. It seems to me that Paul was referencing a common experience between Christians to create an analogy to the Christ event, not mandating submersion as requirement.
Your third point stresses the importance of community, and you have drawn a nice image of entering into community. As community is your point, is immersion the only way in which community can be displayed? In many high churches, where they baptize infants (though infant baptism is not the topic of discussion) through submersion or sprinkling, it is as much of a commitment of the parents to raise their children in the faith as it is a commitment of the congregation to walk alongside that child in his or her faith as well. What a strong show of community, one that is not simply imagery, but a vocal acknowledgment of the responsibility of the community to the individual.
What, may I ask, do you do with the Didache, and its teachings concerning baptism?

I am not trying to be contentious, just trying to encourage discussion as I try to flesh out my thoughts on baptism.

To blog or not to blog

For the past couple of weeks I've been thinking about whether or not I really wanted to start a blog. Do I really care enough to update it enough to make it worthwhile for people to read? Do I really want people to read my random ramblings and nonsensical nothings? What should I write about? Myself? What I'm doing these days? Thoughts about God and the Church and people in general?

I don't really know, but I figured if I have to write a weekly newsletter anyway, I might as well put that up here, and then if I have something that I want to write, I'll have a venue for it. So assuming all goes to plan, I should have one update a week, though it is geared more towards a short article for the church that I am ministering to, than an internet audience.

Anyway, here is the first:

Honesty

I am currently reading a book by an author name Anne Lamott titled “Grace (Eventually)”. The book isn’t about anything in particular, and is framed in such a way that each chapter is a short story about the author’s life, detailing a particular event, or giving some idea of what her life was like in the past. I don’t agree with Ms. Lamott on many things, and we are not similar in many ways, yet I think there is value to her book. While I do not agree with many of the things that she says, or does, there is value to hearing another person present their thoughts and ideas. In some ways, it is especially nice since she is not right here, I can’t get into an argument with her about some of her ideas. Instead, though I disagree with her, I can only simply accept her for who she is. She is not ashamed to let her readers know her mistakes and is straight-forward about the blunders that she has committed in her relationships with her friends, her son, and with God. Perhaps it is easy for her to exercise this self-disclosure because of the distance that is put between her and her audience due to the nature of books, but I think that perhaps she realizes the importance of being honest.

Being honest with the people that you are in communion with is no simple task, it is a risk on your part, and it takes a listening ear and a non-judgmental mindset from the person that you are being honest with. It would be much simpler if one could control all of the variables, but being honest requires you to lay yourself on the grace of the other party. But there benefits from being honest, for one thing, the pressure that we put on ourselves daily by acting to be something, or someone that we really truly aren’t, is lifted. But there are benefits also to the person to whom you are being honest. Perhaps it would provide a good learning experience on exercising grace, but it also opens the doors for more honesty. The more honest that we our with ourselves and each other, assuming we all keep in mind that we are to be filled with the grace of God when dealing with one another, the better off you and I and the community will be.

Honesty isn’t simple, and it isn’t always welcomed with open arms. One should not expect honesty from the beginning of a relationship either, trust needs to be built, but if the mask never comes off and the walls come down, the trust that is needed to be in true community with one another, the community that is part of being the body of Christ, will not be built and our mission on Earth to show others the grace of God, becomes much more difficult.

Camp C.U.M.O.

This past week, as most of you know, the youth group went down to Cincinnati OH, to work for a week at a camp for inner-city children. The camp is, for the most part, run my teenagers from two different youth groups (with organizational help from Lee Porter and Mike Gulley, the Youth minister for the other group).
Now usually when one thinks of camp, they think of a relaxing time sitting next to the water, maybe with a fishing pole in hand. This week was not like that. There was some fishing, to be sure, but peacefulness was not exactly in great supply this week. Here are just some of the activities we had during the week:
Fishing
Zip Line
Volleyball
Kickball
Bean Bag Toss
Tetherball
Classes
Meals (and snacks and canteen)
Cincinnati Zoo
Musical guests
World-class Juggler
And more!
I would like to take this time to thank all the teens who volunteered to work on this mission, not only did they have to do all of these activities, but they also had to chase down unruly kids, run through torrential downpour to retrieve clothing from broken tents, deal with kids who refused to go to sleep, convince 11 year olds that they really DID need to take a shower WITH soap, and put up with a general noise level of about 100 decibels.
No, this past week wasn't exactly a walk in the park, and if you ask the teens who went, they won't be shy about telling you that, but they will also tell you that what they did was a great thing, something that brightened the lives of 30 inner-city kids, and they even found some fun while they were doing it.
~Phil Travis

Invisible Children

What would it be like if there was a civil war in your country for over 20 years?
What would it be like if children between 8 and 14 years old were abducted and conscripted to fight that war?
What would it be like if your children were so afraid of being abducted, that they no longer felt safe at night… in your own home?
What would it be like in a nation where the children travel miles by foot, every night, to the city, to sleep where they feel safe?
What if no one outside of your country knew about it, or even seemed to care?
It would be awful.
It IS awful, and it's happening right now in Northern Uganda.
There is a Civil war going on in Northern Uganda and it has been going on for over twenty years.
The Lord's Resistance Army, or L.R.A. is a religious army which has perverted the ideas of God and the Holy Spirit and has been waging a war in Northern Uganda.
The L.R.A. led by a man named Joeseph Kony, kidnaps children to continue his mad war and literally forces them to fight a war against their friends, family and other loved ones.
To Escape the L.R.A. thousands of children sleep together, packed together with each person having just enough room for their body, if they are lucky.
Now all the children ask for is for the war to end.
Three Young men went to Uganda to see the story they had heard about and to capture it on film. What they recorded is a heart wrenching story.
They brought back their video and started a movement called "Invisible Children", an organization whose purpose is to raise awareness and end the war in Uganda.
They are not content with allowing such atrocities to continue.
They are not stopping until something changes in Uganda and the Children are no longer Invisible.
So what can you do to help? Do you want to? The first thing you can do is find out more information on www.invisiblechildren.com. There are many ways to get involved which can be found on the website. For you tech-savvy folks, the entire "Invisible Children: Rough Cut" is on Google video (there are plans for a full-fledged theater release of the documentary) get involved. Show the Ugandans that Christians do care.

Eustace's Baptism

One of my favorite authors is C.S. Lewis, his fiction in particular (except for his science fiction) speaks to me. I operate in the realm of stories, and so I can much more easily read a story about a man who travels to heaven than I could read a highly technical paper on what Heaven might be like. Some of C.S. Lewis' most timeless books are "The Chronicles of Narnia". If you've seen the movie "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" then you know that this series portrays very Christian themes and stories in rather unusual ways (like talking Lions). It is within this world which Lewis creates a narrative where the redeeming work of Christ is shown.
In "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" Lewis tells a story about a young man named Eustace, a rather "beastly" boy from England. Now remember, these stories take place in a fantasy realm, so when I tell you that Eustace, after sleeping on a pile of Dragon's gold, thinking "dragonish" (read: selfish, greedy) thoughts, finds himself actually turned into a dragon, try and stay with me. So Eustace is a dragon, and surprisingly enough, finds it unsatisfactory.
One night as he is lamenting about the pain in his arm (caused by an altogether too small bracelet he had put on as a child) a lion came and told him to follow him. The lion led the dragon to a bubbling well which would certainly ease the pain in Eustace's dragon leg. The Lion (who is, of course, Aslan) tells him that before he can go into the water he must first undress. So Eustace scratches the dead skin off himself (much like a snake) revealing fresh, clean skin. Seeing that he is fresh and new Eustace goes to get in the well, but sees in the reflection, that the new skin has become hard and rough just as the old skin. Eustace peels this layer of skin off, and the next, but he cannot stay clean.
Finally Aslan tells him that Eustace must allow him to undress him. Eustace when retelling the story later says:
The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off.
Aslan then threw Eustace into the well and while Eustace was swimming he realized that he had returned to his former, human self. He came up out of the water and Aslan dressed him in new clothes and Eustace became a kind and gracious person.
Think about it.

Honesty With God

I have a few friends that are always, always, smiling. Now I have a pretty positive disposition, but I can't even begin to understand these people! I think that if they were told that their right arm and leg had to be amputated they would smile and say "Praise God". Now I'm all for praising God and all that, but if I were told something like that, my response would be one of anger, confusion, and disappointment. I wouldn't just be angry with the situation, either; I would definitely direct that anger at God. I would be livid! How unfair! Now, I'm certainly not trying to criticize people who may have a better outlook on life, maybe the first thing they think of is their opportunities for ministry which have just opened up for them due to their lack of appendages. If that's the case, that's amazing and they are much more spiritually minded than me.
However, I would like to caution those of us (yes me too) that have a tendency from time to time to think that we need to put on a happy face to be Christians. I suppose the whole idea that if you follow God, you will be blessed (and vice versa) originated early on. We can see evidence of this in the book of Proverbs, as much of it's theology is based upon this worldview. For example, Proverbs 11:5 says "The righteousness of the blameless keeps their ways straight, but the wicked fall by their own wickedness" (NRSV).
So it's easy to see where this theory that God blesses those who follow him came from, but there are other things we should consider. The book of Job chronicles a short segment of one man's life who, for some reason unbeknownst to him, is suddenly struck with affliction and disease. Job hasn't committed any sin and he believes that he is being treated unfairly. Job accuses God of acting un-Godly and insists on taking God to court. God appears to Job and tells him in no uncertain terms that God's ways are unknowable and that he is God no matter what he does. In the New Testament Jesus deals with some of his contemporaries who believe that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. In John 9:3 Jesus says "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him" (NASB).
Sometimes life stinks, it's tough and it's not fair. It's not a sin to express anger or disappointment with the circumstances in your life. The key is that you remember that God is a powerful God who has done many things for each of us in the past, and that he is faithful.