_awakening

EmergentSoCal Hosts Randall Balmer.

In an effort to keep everyone up on events in the Southland, those fine folks at EmergentSoCal are helping host this event in July. Here's the "official" info on the event...

Around the Table and Student Indaba present Randall Balmer on his latest book Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Rights Distorts the Faith and Threatens America at All Saint Church, Pasadena - Sunday, July 16, 3PM. The event is co-hosted by EmergentSoCal and Progressive Christians Uniting.

Randall Balmer is the Ann Whitney Olin Professor of American Religion at Barnard College, Columbia University, and a visiting professor at Yale University Divinity School. He is editor-at-large for Christianity Today, and his commentaries on religion in America, distributed by the New York Times Syndicate, have appeared in newspapers across the country. His latest book asks the question, "How has evangelical Christianity become so entrenched in partisan politics?" Abortion, gay marriage, intelligent design--the Religious Right is fighting, and winning, some of the most important political battles of the twentyfirst century. The event is FREE.

Parables as Subversive Speech [part 2].

Even if Jesus were a poet, poets were not executed unless their work turns politcal. Even if Jesus were a theologian, theologians are not imprisoned or killed unless their theology challenges the powers that be and subverts their idolatrous claims. The great difficulty with so many of the contemporary models imposed on Jesus is that they fail to explain the crucifixion.

If parabling was a part of Jesus' public activity that was followed with suspicion and eventually deemed actionable, then his parables must have dealt with dangerous issues, which always means political and economic issues, since the preservation of power and the extraction of tribute from the peasants dominated the concerns of the ruling elites of the ancient world. Any teaching that exposed exploitation and demystified the forms of legitimation used to sanctify oppression would have been considered a threat. [p. 27]

[from Parables as Subversive Speech by William Herzog]

Parables as Subversive Speech.

The parables of Jesus have long been revered as earthly stories with heavenly meanings. They have been viewed in this way because Jesus was thought to be a teacher of spiritual truth and divine wisdom. However, this view of Jesus stands in some tension with the account of his final trial and execution. If Jesus was a teacher of heavenly truths dispensed through literary gems called parables, it is difficult to understand how he could have been executed as a politcal subversive and crucified between two social bandits. It appears that Jerusalem elites collaborating with their Roman overlords executed Jesus because he was a threat to their economic and political interests. Unless they perceived him to be a threat, they would not have publicly degraded and humiliated him before executing him in as ignominious a way as possible. [p. 9]

If he had been the kind of teacher popularly portrayed in the North American church, a master of the inner life, teaching the importance of spirituality and a private relationship with God, he would have been supported by the Romans as a part of their rural pacification program. That was exactly the kind of religion that the Romans wanted peasants to have. Any beliefs that encouraged magic, passivity before fate, and withdrawl from the world of politics and economics into a spiritual or inner realm would have met with official approval. Had Jesus' parables indulged in apocalyptic speculation or threatened the end of the world, would have been watched and left alone. The Eastern Empire had its share of astrologers and visionaries. Had he merely proclaimed any or all of the themes attributed to him by Jeremias, he would have inspired arguments but not malice. Had he anticipated narrativity and metaphoricity, he would have been remarkable but not crucified. Narrativity and metaphoricity were not capital crimes in the Roman Empire, and the one thing about Jesus that can be known with certainty was that he was executed as an enemy of the state and the Temple. He was crucified between two "social bandits" (lestes) on the charge of subversion because he claimed to be "king of the Jews." [p. 27]

Nicely put.

[from Parables as Subversive Speech by William Herzog]

Day O' Fun.

Last week was our youngest daughter Madison's birthday - she turned six this year. She's the youngest of four, so you can probably guess her personality - she's pretty crazy, and with no fear. So when we asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday, without a moments hesitation she said, "Wild Rivers". Now for those of you who have not experienced it, Wild Rivers bills itself as Southern California's Premier Waterpark which is tough to argue with as there is only one other waterpark in Southern California [Raging Waters in San Dimas].

Today was the perfect day for the adventure as at 12pm it was a toasty 103 degrees. It was the fourth day we've seen 100+ degrees and the first day without humidity... since when did we move to the south?!? It's been like stepping into a furnace, praying for a breath of fresh air.

Anyway, we loaded up the clan and a few of Madi's friends into a few vehicles and were off.

When we got there, we headed off for the "little kids" section of the park. But after a few moments of exploration Madi pronounced, "Hey Dad, can we go on the big rides?"

Oh yeah, that's my girl!

Off we headed for the "big rides" - Congo River Rapids, The Patriot [like three or four times], The Cobras, and Bombay Blasters. She was completely unstoppable, running from ride to ride, checking her height against the height chart. [You needed to be a minimum of 44'' to ride most of the "big kids" rides... and Madi is like 45'', maybe 46'' on her toes.]

Yeah, that's our Madi, our little six year old thrill seeker.

It was a great day - tons of sun, lots of sunscreen, some pretty fun rides, and a ton of laughter. By the time we got home, we were way whooped. Dinner. Showers. Sleeping.

Making Everything New.

Here's a slice from last Sunday morning's teaching at sa'kred, which explored the woman who anointed Jesus' feet at the house of a Pharisee [Luke 7.36-50]. I re-formulated it for a devotional series I'm writing for HomeWord...

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”

_Revelation 21.3-5

What if?

Those two words are perhaps the most powerful in the English language. They speak of a profound hope that is at the heart of what we as Christians believe and embrace; namely, that what we see and experience right now in our lives is not the end of the story. The pain we feel, the past that haunts us, the failure that leave us with the feeling of being less than… all of these things are not the end of your story, or mine.

The hope of Christianity is that in Jesus, God is making everything new again.

Revelation 21 paints an astounding picture of the dream God has for this world. In it we find God remaking the cosmos – a new heaven and a new earth. Yet what is most extraordinary is what happens next – heaven comes crashing into earth – humanity does not go somewhere else to be with God, God comes here – his dwelling place is now among the people. It is in this new reality that God proclaims that he “is making everything new.”

God is making everything new and right again – everything from creation to your life and mine. Everything made new again. Everything.

Let that sink in a bit. What might this mean for…
... the things that haunt us from the past?
... the hurts that seem to control us?
... places of failure, where we just don’t have it all together and we always feel less than?
... places where we just cannot sense any victory?
... our fears of what has been, or what is, of what could be?
... the anxieties we feel about the present of the future?
... our relationships?

Think of the hope this brings. Your life, right now, is not the end of your story. The God who is about the business of making every new is more than able to make your life new again. The hope of Christianity is not merely that someday, somewhere else things will all work out, but that in the here and now you can experience freedom and wholeness.

This is the good news of Jesus.

What if your life could be made new again? That would be like heaven, wouldn't it?

Religion and Empire.

Spent the day doing some reading for a future teaching series. One of people I'm reading right now is Richard Horsley who teaches religion out at UMass. He's pretty brilliant. I read quite a few things of his, but I had never read Religion and Empire. It's a fast read... and flat out amazing. I read the entire book in one sitting. He explores the relationship between religion and empire in historic settings, both ancient and modern. He describes three patterns of interactions between religion and imperial power - a religion contructed by imperial elites for their own purposes out of a subject group's religion, a people subjected to imperial rule who mount a resistance by renewing their religious tradition, and an imperial power that develops a "religion of empire" [think what the worship of Caesar was to the Roman empire]. It's a definite read, which will leave you highlighting a ton. Here's just one nugget...

After the Roman crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth as a rebel leader ("king of the Judeans"), the Israelite renewal movement(s) that he spearheaded among the Galileans quickly spread - first among other Israelite peoples such as Judeans, Samaritans, and diaspora Jews. Paul and other diaspora Jews then catalyzed "assemblies" or ekklesiai of the movement among peoples and cities of the Roman Empire, including Rome itself. Paul even used symbolism central to the Roman emperor cult, such as "the gospel" of the "Lord" who brought "salvation" to the world, as key symbols in his gospel of Jesus Christ as, in effect, an alternative to the Roman emperor. In the divine "mystery" or plan for the true "salvation," God had outwitted the imperial "rulers of this age." Paradoxically, precisely in their crucifixion of the "Lord of Glory," God had begun the final defeat of the imperial powers. Enthroned in heaven, Christ was about to destroy every imperial ruler and power (1 Cor. 2.6-8, 15.24-25). The book of Revelation portrayed the Roman Empire as the very embodiment of dehumanizing and destructive demonic forces. The communities of Christ-believers, however, gradually assimilated to the Roman imperial order and finally, under Constantine, "Christianity" was established as the imperially sponsored religion. The imperial imagery that Paul had applied to Christ as the anti-imperial Lord was easily transformed back into symbolism that supplied Christian approval and granted legitimacy to the imperial order.

Jesus had led a prophetic movement to renew Israel among Galileans and other villagers, revitalizing the traditional Mosaic covenantal principles of communal mutuality and justice, in resistance to oppressive Roman imperial rule. Within three centuries - and continuing in to modern missionary enterprises largely overseen by western European empires - his movement has been utterly transformed into an imperial religion used to control such villagers, often by suppressing or subverting their traditional way of life. The central symbols of imperial Christianity, moreover are easily transferable to new situations. The English colonies on the eastern seaboard of North America, who understood themselves as God's new Israel in an exodus from oppression in Europe, quickly adopted an identity as the new Rome once they gained their independence. The fusion of these two irreconcilable identities in America's conception of itself is now coming to climactic expression in the upsurge of American imperialism. [pp. 90-91]

TEAM Conference 2006

For the past few years I've been involved in this most amazing leadership conference called the TEAM Conference which is held at Azusa Pacific University [that fine educational institution and my alma mater]. The TEAM Conference is a 10 day leadership conference for high school and college students which explores issues of leadership in the current cultural mileu from a very different approach. The conference is part conference, part camp, part missions experience, part college course, and part worship experience. My role over the past few years has been teacher, facilitator, and content developer for the core curriculum. It was [and still is] a great project to be attached with.

After the first year of the conference, we decided that we wanted to do an Alumni Track as a part of the main conference for those who had gone through the core curriculum already. It went off stellarly. [The shot above is of one of our alumni groups from a past conference... with yours truly on the left in black.] This year we are changing the alumni track a bit... and this is where you come in. Below are the descriptions for the four new sessions. I'm putting together a comprehensive reading list and would love some input. If you have read something that fits into the ethos of one of the sessions, I'd love to add it to the list. So let 'er rip. Recommendations anyone???

The Alumni Track is built around Isaiah 6.1-8 [Isaiah’s call] as a larger framework.

Session #1 – AWAKENING TO WHAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN [“I saw the LORD” – v. 1-4] Rather than position leadership as the dispenser of goods and services, this session explores the realization that leadership is the process of inviting others to awaken to what has always been, and is going on all around them. God is the ultimate reality and the ground of all being. Leadership begins with a life altering awakening to who God is and what his dream is for this world [the kingdom of God]. This session will explore the lives of Moses and Jacob as narrative models of what it might look like to encounter, wrestle, and awaken to the God who has always been.

Session #2 – BROKENNESS [“Woe is me.” – v. 5] New expressions of leadership need to flow from places of brokenness, not sufficiency and aptitude. Brokenness breeds authenticity. Sufficiency breeds authoritarianism. This session explores the need for brokenness in the life of a leader. Have we really come to terms with our own brokenness? Leadership in the future will have less and less to do with being the voice behind the curtain and more with inviting others into the journey of wholeness.

Session #3 – WHOLENESS [“Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for” – v. 6-7] The story of the Scriptures is the story of restoration. God is about making all things right and new again - a cosmic restoration movement which includes all creation, as well as our lives. God’s desire is for us to be made new, to go in shalom experiencing wholeness in our lives. As with the narrative of Exodus, God is freeing people to be what his dream is - a people who will join him in the restoration movement. We are not merely freed from something, but we are freed to something. Leadership embraces this calling, and invites others into it as well.

Session #4 – ADVERSARY OR ALLY? [“Here I am. Send me.” – v. 8] As followers of Jesus, how are we to engage culture? Do we approach it as an adversary, or as an ally? This session explores the posture we take in engaging the larger culture around us, presenting what it might look like to embrace culture as an ally - finding places of commonality and appreciation as starting points for dialogue and transformation. Our calling is not to take God into the world, but help others see the God whose presence fills all creation.

Day O' Dad.

Yesterday was perhaps the most fun a Dad can have. Here's the day at a glance...

7:30 am - The newspaper is ceremoniously delivered, while I am still wrapped in the sheets, slowly awakening to the day. Within miliseconds of the presentation, I am pounced upon by four rabid children, all bearing glad tidings of the day!

8:00 am - Breakfast is served downstairs. All the kids played some part in the morning creation. On the menu this morning - eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, cantalope, juice, and coffee [the last offering being an absolute must]. The kids crowded around as I opened their gifts - bookmarks and picture frames. There's one more gift on the table in a really nice bag [which obviously is from my wife, Jamie]... a gift certificate to Burke Williams Day Spa for one of those hour long deep tissue massages. Now that's what I'm talking about!

9:25 am - We head out to gather with our church community for worship. We are kicking off a new series called Seed Stories, which I'm pretty amped about getting underway. This series of teachings definitely falls into the "got something to say" catagory rather than "got to say something" catagory [Those of you who teach know what I'm talking about...]

11:30 am - We leave church to head back home with thoughts of the rest of the day and what adventures await us...

1:30 am - After grabbing some lunch at home we head out for Angel Stadium, the Padres are in town. What better way to spend Father's Day than to take in a game? Only problem... the game started at 12:30am, so we're going to be late. When we get there the parking lot is closed and the game is a sell out [unbeknownst to us at this point]. We decided to give it a shot, park across the street, and hoof it across the parking lot. When we get to the ticket booth, Jamie decides to work her little magic. She asks to see if there are any tickets left. The lady behind the glass produces six tickets for us... for FREE I might add... and were in! I look at or tickets and notice that we're in Section 209, which is just off the third base dugout in the shade. All is well in the world. It even makes buying the $12 Corona Bomber a little easier. Angels lose. Bummer.

4:00 pm - We make it back to the car and head off for Disneyland. One of our Christmas presents to our family were annual passes for everyone. With a family of six, it gets a little nutty trying to go to Disneyland without them. We headed over to the California Adventure side. The kids were told that it was Dad's choice for what we would do, so everyone had a "suggestion" for me as to what I shoudl choose for "my choice." [Ever been there?] After riding California Screaming [which Josh gave the "It was good, but not as sweet as Viper" pronouncement], and a few other things the kids wanted to do, our stomachs were ready for dinner.

7:00 pm - ESPN Zone at Downtown Disney for dinner... oh, yeah! We had to wait almost an hour because of the NBA finals, but that was okay. I sent the kids on a quest to keep them entertained - find out how many televisions there are in this place - and off they went. 78 was the final talley. We finally got seated just after half time and watched the rest of the game. Thoughts on the game... If Dallas hits this three free throws in the last few minutes of overtime, game over. Also, what's up with the foul to Wade in the final second, very ticky tack.

10:00 pm - We walk/run to the car in the parking structure. The car is on the fifth level and we decide to run the steps. Josh tells me it was 89 steps to the fifth level, feels like way more than that. Am I really that out of shape? Can't be.

11:30 pm or so with everyone in bed the day ends. A stellar day was had by all.

My wife rocks.

Seed Stories.

Tomorrow morning at sa'kred we're launching into a new series of teachings called Seed Stories. Jesus used stories to awaken people, to take them by surprise. They used images that everyone could connect with - seeds, soil, vineyards, sheep and parties - but often took a turn, leaving his listeners shocked, considering what they just heard and what it might mean.

Often times we have this image that Jesus was unique in telling these kinds of stories, but in reality he was aligning himself with the teachers of his day who told stories to make their points. Yet it seems that Jesus elevated this kind of storytelling to an art form. His stories were like subversive time bombs, like seeds that were planted deeply into the very being of his listeners. They sat dormant in the soil of their heart, when suddenly they would take hold and start to grow and change, pushing through the surface, producing something beautifully subversive - an expression of the kingdom in this world.

I've been reading and studying about the parables of Jesus for quite a while and am really excited about where God will take our community as we explore how these stories connect with our lives today. We want to see these stories take up residence in our lives, producing something beautiful, something transformational in our community and our lives.

If you're around on Sunday mornings, swing by - or you can follow the teachings online here. More to come.

All-Stars.

A friend just sent me this shot of Josh and I taking in a baseball game this week. We were at the quarter finals of a tournament put on by District 68 which represents ten Little Leagues in South OC. A really good buddy of mine was managing a team from our league in the game. The bad news is that they lost 6-5, but it was a hard fought game.

In other related news, Josh was named to the 11 year old All-Star Team for Rancho Mission Viejo Little League. You can check out his name in lights here. He had a great year and it's sweet to see him get the recognition of the other managers in the league. He was one of our top pitchers [one of a few left handers in the league], with an ERA under 2.00. He also hit a grand slam in the championship series. Our team, the Orioles, were a mere five outs away from going to the District 68 Tournament and saw it all slip away. But in the end, it was a great season filled with amazing memories.

More to come from the All-Star tournament for District 68... and hopefully a few pics as well. [If you are so inclined, you can check on our progress here. Just follow the links for the 11 year old All-Star Tournament.]