Jesus Said
Blessed are the Geekmakers
For they shall imagine the earth
Tag: theology
#Ruth #rejected SermonTitles Let’s talk about #hell (practical applications)
My very savvy 7 year old asked me today what Hell was.
Can I just say that a. I’m glad he asked me b. I’m glad he didn’t have a concept yet
Because, I’m a Pastor and I’m always a little afraid of what is seeping into my child’s brain theologically
I have no doubt this query was prompted by The Corpse Bride.
Halloween is great, and I mean it. Its a way to conceptionalize and deal with fears of death and Hell.
Deep Theology going on.
I have a working concept of Hell.
Its like a hypothesis–in theory this concept has withstood my theological understanding and it works for me to understand life, the universe and everything
Its like a practical application concept. (By the way that’s what theology is…its a working concept of how you apply your faith/beliefs)
The Bible is mostly unclear about what Hell is. When mentioned in the Bible it often carries with it whatever the local culture thinks is the underworld.
My working concept of Hell is that it is that deepest darkest place in existence that has no love.
Not a shred.
Because to me, that is the most horrific concept ever….
And though God promises to be with us, no matter where we are–When we descend to Sheol, God promises to be with us, this does not mean we are able to feel God’s presence/love while we are there. (Romans 8)
When Jesus Christ goes to Hell, when he cries out “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken Me” I believe that Jesus Christ experiences the lonely heart-wrenching existence of no love.
No God.
The hows and the whys of Jesus Christ not being with God and Love when His very self is God and Love escape me, but the definition works for me. Because we all have times in our lives when we feel unloved.
When we feel alone, unloved, unlovely and unable to love.
““Is this Naomi?” She said to them, “Call me no longer Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty; why call me Naomi when the Lord has dealt harshly with me, and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” ” Ruth 1:19-21
Naomi feels this, she says, call me Mara, bitter. I exist in a place with no love.
Even if we aren’t actually alone or unloved.
These places and times are Hell for us. A visit into what happens when God is completely ignored and unaccepted in our lives.
On the other hand, it means that those who love, have seen the face of God.
Those who love experience joy and pleasure and beauty and understanding.
In this way, I believe that whether Hell is a physical place or not, it exists.
(For me it was Jr. High, when I hadn’t really any friends was horribly socially awkward, and for a while a group of bullies told me to shut up every time I spoke or laughed)
Have you experienced Hell?
It makes sense then the contrast of Hell is Heaven, a place of love, a place of family, a place of hope.
How many times have poets compared love to Heaven?
Love exists too, and if we are bringing the Kingdom of God to Earth, then we will be like Ruth. Following Naomi, loving her even when she can’t accept that love.
There are times in our lives when we are loved, and we can’t feel it. The entire stage of teenage-hood comes to mind. Where we are loved, but we feel like no one cares.
The important thing about love, though, is that its different from “fixing someone.” Because fixing someone isn’t permanent, but love can go on and on.
Those of us who are married know that no one is perfect, and we can’t fix them forever, that doesn’t actually happen, but we can still love them. I would argue that loving someone is the opposite of fixing them. Its going where they go, experiencing what they experience, and keeping with them.
Too often at church we forget and try to fix people. Often we can’t fix someone, or the fix is temporary or we don’t know how to fix them. We can however, love them. We can experience life with them and build the family of God. We can make sure no one gets left behind, or forgotten, and call one another brother and sister.
That’s why we do this church thing, so we can be together in Christ.
Mark 3:33-35
And he replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’
Thanks to Chuck Goodman for the Ohana Lilo and Stitch reference
#God #time #daylightsavingstime #philosophy (you know little concepts)
Why Daylight Savings Time, Why?
Most people don’t like Daylight Savings Time, I will admit that as a pastor it is a little terrifying to know that if I get the time wrong I’ll miss doing my job (yipes)
However, my kids have already adjusted their systems (at least 10 days ago) do the new time. Yep, they’ve been getting up and going to bed earlier. Apparently they have great cicada rhythms. So in some ways it will be easier for me.
On the other hand, we humans love time. We calculate it, we keep it, we try to control it. Daylight Savings Time & Leap Year serve to remind me that Time is a human measure.
Consider creation, we all still don’t know what “a day” to God was, but probably God experiences time differently than us.
When I was in Seminary, a Spiritual Practice I tried to remember when I considered deep theological questions, was the fact that God is timeless….God does not need to measure things in time. Because we do, I’m sure God does take it into consideration, but the taming and capturing of moments is a human need, not one that God has…
Puts me in mind of two beautiful concepts
Wrinkle in Time/Tesseract
and Dr. Who
Go forth. Spring Forward (or fall back)
And think deep thoughts about God….Time…..and Humans relationship to God, Humans relationship to to time, and how we all fit together…..
http://www.mbird.com/2009/06/theologian-of-glory-vs-theologian-of/
Ok, so according to this I am more a theologian of the glory than a theologian of the cross…sad day…wonder if these terms should be more of a balance (its the mainline thing, I like compromise)
Thoughts? Its def. a good reframing, but I’m trying to figure out the truth of it (I tend to take preaching the Good news part of my job very seriously)
#MYOGHS a counter to #notmyOGHS, ideas for better theological #media
Presbyterians are awesome. I say this completely biased opinion, but I love, Love, LOVE our theology and integral to that is the community-connectional nature of our theology…We are one in Christ
We shoulder our burden together trying to connect smaller churches with bigger ones, trying to partner up those congregations that differ, trying to reach out into the community…sometimes our actions are not as effective as we like–but we base them on a solid theology.
Were I to run the campaign for One Great Hour of Sharing I would illustrate the following theological statements from 1 Cor 12
Because the Eye cannot say to the hand “I have no need of you” (Someone looking for things, Another person working with their hands)
The body is not made up of one part…but many…(I would make a body shape out of a diverse bunch of bodies)
If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be. (I’d have someone listening, and someone else smelling food)
On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable..(maybe share one of our stories of someone who was raised into ministry or service with low resources, or an illustration of the widow’s mite)
For we were all made to drink of one Spirit (water for all)
One Great Hour of Sharing: Because we need each other…
#Presby #PCUSA #Media & #Marketing #notmyOGHS
Hmmm…..
The #notmyOGHS movement on twitter points to 2 deeper issues.
The first of which is the utilization of stereotypes to market (even if meant ironically). The deep and complex issues of this campaign is summarized well here https://storify.com/breyeschow/concerns-raised-over-2015-oghs-campaign These are amazing issues, that are too complex to address in one blog post, please read over the variety here.
The other issue is media….some people raised the fact that an outside (non-theologically) based company was hired to help with the campaign.
In the quest to be hip(ster) and cutting edge, the denomination mis-stepped…In fact, from what I know about Millennials they might be some of the first to point to the hegemonic issues that exist in such an advertising scheme. I think this was part of the issue with the One Thousand and One Worshiping Communities scandal as well…
#wecandobetter
We can find new ways of speaking…We can do better in media…but we can’t leap ahead, we need Presbyterian marketers, we need to groundsource our young pastors to help with twitter, tumblr and instagram (FB is already passe)….
Media is so, so important…if we are preaching the Gospel we need to translate into all kinds of language–we learn this lesson over and over again.
How can we translate the Gospel into these forms of media, how can we get digital natives to do the translating? If we want to be hip to hipsters…shouldn’t they be the ones helping with the campaign (or give a substantial slice to them?)….
We have so many gifted resources, we should be using them.
Love
We like to limit God
to say God only believes in one kind of love
two kinds of genders
and sexuality is easy to define–
placing all those who don’t fit into these “normal” parameters into a category of…
“sorry God just messed up when God was making you”
“God only believes that these aspects are valid in a human being”
“You are an invalid human being”
Don’t even get me started on ethnicity and differently abled folk
Seriously…what kind of mediocre God are you preaching about…
My God has way more flexibility, creativity and love
My God is so good that I fall to my knees before the Trinity–overwhelmed with a need to love & accept people for who they are in the way that God’s Wild Love can….
and if you say your God is very different from mine…I’m inclined to agree with you….Your God is a lot tamer than mine!
Christianity<–straight up!
“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.”
You see, Aslan is not just a lion, but he’s a great Lion. He’s the King of the Beasts, and the real ruler of Narnia. Now, Susan asks the beavers, “Is he safe?”
Mrs. Beaver says, “If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
Lucy asks, “Then he isn’t safe?”
And Mr. Beaver says this famous line about Aslan: “’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
Why do we want to limit love anyway?
Katy’s Seminary Class
Great thoughts about cultural shift and how it should be taught here!
If I were leading a practicum on ministry I’d probably include the following in the course/cotinuing ed. Workshop
Media: what it is, what it means, and how to communicate effectively in a low/no media environment<–Not Touched and currently the most ongoing hurdle
How to handle critiques on a. clothing b. editing skills c. family dynamics <–these are brought up as issues, but not really strategized
How to write an effective newsletter (and pulling apart why newsletters are important)<– We NEED to learn how to do this on paper and online, because most people do it because its always been done and its not an effective piece of ministry.
Alternatives to Committees: exploring MANY different options (not just the seasonal taskforce) and how to implement
How to read a budget & how to put one together<–a VERY necessary skill, that is not taught at all even if you aren’t the one doing it, you need to know how its done
Stewardship Campaigns: (NOT how to do one) figuring out timing and leadership<–The theology is taught, but the practice of which is left entirely up to the pastors I ended up going to a conference which is layleader run, it was a good handbook of running a basic campagin, but I had many deeper issues (what about your congregants struggling with debt? what if your roof is falling in over your ears? How do we fundraise in a way that the bottom line isn’t actually the money) I do reccommend Consecration Sunday & the Kaleidoscope Conference, but I think they are merely the beginning of what we can do…
Social Workers: When to call, what to say and how to best get help for those beyond the church’s capabilities<–In four years of ministry I’ve already had to call social workers multiple times, this is surely as big an issue as suicidal tendencies, which we are definitely taught about!
Staff: How to run an effective staff, how to be supportive, yet in charge. How to deal with the cowboy personalities whether they be the choir director, the Sunday School Teacher or the renegade elder<–Again, there is little outlining what kinds of things help to SUPPORT a staff, everyone know what needs to get done, but how can we help our people to do it, are we practicing justice? (and in both the scenarios of a church with money and a church without)
Highlighting Strengths: we are all told to do this, <–How? and how to not just Tell a congregation, but also to show them! make them part of the narrative! Sample Exercise Be Wormwood (From Screwtape letters) and denounce ALL THE GOOD in the congregation and explain how its getting in the way of evil,
How to help someone move towards eldercare options/nursing homes<–A HUGE issue in most churches, when to help (and when to not) where to draw a good boundary about the help the church is giving, etc.
Community Connections<–Ideally this is beyond networking! Who are potential partnerships for the congregation? How can you meet them? How can you be supportive of your local community
Look a whole Conference worth of what I didn’t learn in seminary
John 3:1-17: Narrative Lectionary, first thoughts
Less than compelling than Nicodemus in a tree (I mean Zecheus is way more fun story)….I mean really, they are secretly meeting to…..discuss theology… and to make matters worse, this is the where all the “Born agains” get their terminology…..As Beuchner says, the problem isn’t being born again, its proclaiming it like your a Super Christian
John 3:1-17
3Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 3Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Pneuma: Wind, Spirit….we will be born on the wind, or the spirit….because “the wind blows where it chooses” Fresh air…the winds of change will blow us, and being born again/born from above (this is a pun in Greek that means both)… We are able to be MORE flexible because of God (not less) 
Wizard of Oz 
You know the old serenity prayer? I think its a good one…. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change The courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. But maybe another viable version is God grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change the courage to change the things I can the graciousness to grow into changes around me and the serenity to know the difference.
katyandtheword 