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Adultery, Judgement, Death and Truth

4/13/2012

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The religious leaders thought they had set the perfect trap.  They had found a woman in the ACT of adultery, and brought her to Jesus.  The Jewish law was explicit - the penalty was death (Deut 22:22).  (Although the law called for both parties to be put to death - where was the man who had perpetrated the same?)  But the Roman law was looming in tension to the Jewish law; no death sentences could be carried out by the Jews upon penalty of death from the Roman occupiers.  If Jesus chose to follow the law of Moses, he would be accused by the Romans and likely killed.  He had already stated He had not come to abolish even a portion of the Jewish Law, but to fulfill it.  The religious leaders had failed repeatedly to arrest Him themselves, now they could just let this situation play out and let the Romans take over the dirty work of killing Jesus.

But when confronted, Jesus assumed a submissive posture, going low, bending to the ground.  Then He does the unthinkable; He inverts the situation to make it about the heart of each and every individual.  He asks the crowd a simple question, that only they can answer internally, giving them the green light to kill the woman as their law allows IF they admit the impossible - true perfection - that they have never sinned themselves.  And none can.  In the flash of a moment, He requires them to achieve introspective repentance, acknowledgement of sin, and in that truth, grace prevails.   In fact, it is only in fullness of truth that grace for each is acknowledged honestly as necessary.

After the crowd disperses, in their final conversation, the woman and Jesus reveal much.   Everyone misses the mark, says Jesus:  "Is there no one here to judge you?"   She replies, "No one, Master" using the Greek, kyrie, translated throughout the New Testament as "Lord", a term that denotes that she has completely devoted herself to him, a full confession of faith and belonging.  Acknowledging her statement of faith He replies, "Then I do not judge you either." He says,  "Go your way, but do not sin again."  Grace...surrender...freedom...truth.  He offers no threat, no judgement, and no condemnation.  She has sinned, everyone has sinned, He has intervened, she has believed.  He has forgiven her, and He has asked her to live better.

As believers we must proceed humbly, to serve the broken, out of the knowledge that we too have been broken and still are broken.   Jesus is as available for each person to approach personally, internally, as He is for us who have already appealed to Him.  And we can follow his example to offer opportunities to encourage people to pursue truth and grace - not through statements of judgement - but through gentle and honest examining of their own experience, their own heart:
   
"Is your life where you want it to be?"  

"Are you teaching your kids what love is?"   

"Are you good with your relationship with God?"
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Fair or Right?

3/12/2012

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Remember school food?  Rectangle pieces of pizza, mystery tenderloins, and mixed fruit with one cherry?  I hated school food, with one exception: the cookies.  The elementary school I attended growing up in Iowa had the best cookies.  Oatmeal cookies with some government milk made for a good dessert. 

At the end of the serving line always stood an older woman, wearing plastic gloves, handing out one cookie per student.  I would beg her- beg her - to let me have two cookies.  There were always extras, always students who for some reason didn’t want a cookie.  I would explain, rationalize, and insist that giving me two cookies would not end the world.  Yet she would always say the same thing,  "If I do it for you, I have to do it for everyone." 

We all know that is not true.  She could have just done it for me and me alone.  She could have just given an extra cookie to the kids who asked politely.  But she fell back on what so many people say - I can’t do it for everyone, so I won’t do it for you.  While that might work handing out cookies, it is a terrible philosophy of life. 

We know that life is not fair.  So do not strive to be fair.  Strive to do what is right, in the moment you are in.  If a neighbor is hungry, don’t tell them that since you can't feed the whole world you won’t feed them.  Feed them.  If a friend needs a place to crash for a day to work through his marriage don't tell him he can’t because if you did it for him you would have to do it for everyone.  Be compassionate to the person in front of you.  Just because I cannot share my faith with the world does not mean I ought not witness to some Good News to the person I see everyone morning at Starbucks. 

I think of Jesus healing the blind and raising the dead.  He did not let the endless mass of human need prevent him from ministry to the person in front of him.  And He did not do what was fair.  He did what was right.  And so should we.  

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Big tent religion

7/20/2011

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I have had a lot of questions over the last week about what we believe, what we are trying to accomplish, who we are targeting at PneuProject, etc.  So let me introduce you to a concept we like to call, the big tent.

Big tent means everybody is welcome.  Our tent is defined by being Christian, so we are going to talk about Jesus.  And Jesus talks a lot about how to love, non-judgement, addressing your own issues in life, forgiving others, living with them gracefully, etc.

If we take him seriously, we aren't EVER going to be telling you what kind of food is wrong, which categories of people are evil, etc.  Because that flies in the face of the things that he taught (see above).

Now, in our church experience, that has caused a lot of consternation.  People WANT to be told what to do towards God, what to believe, what political party to vote, etc.  They want to be told what we believe, so they can decide if they are for or against US not Jesus. 

And if we were to do it, the biggest problem with us spelling out what we believe and requiring you to conform to it, is that essentially, it is requiring you to think, pray, live, LIKE US. 

And while we are REALLY confident about Jesus and his purposes for you, we are still very much works in progress, and we would like the same opportunity we are affording you - to grow as God leads us.

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Hypocrite!

7/18/2011

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We know, it's old news.  Christians are hypocrites.

First - everybody is.  Very few people lead with their flaws, instead pretending to be stronger, smarter, or more stupid, than they really are.

The problem with pretending to be smarter or stronger than we really are with Christianity is that FAITH IS CONFUSING.  Life is incredibly complex.  Everybody is struggling with something.  Nobody - NOBODY has this all figured out.  We may have insight into parts, and we probably are not walking around with the same faith/ life questions we used to.  So we CAN assert we have progress.  But when people of faith lead with a first step of absolute certainty rather than honesty, things get hostile fast.  Because it is so ostracizing to EVERYBODY, because everybody is painfully aware of their deficits with God, faith, living righteously, etc. 

Asserting we 'are' righteousness is judgement with flesh on. And it is a lie.

But we CAN say we know WHO know.  The answer is Jesus (of course.)  I know what I read about him is incredible, His words are not like other people's words.  They are truth.  I want to know him more.  I want to be like him more because He is so honest, so true.  I want Him to love me, and the reassurance he gives that he delights in me - even as flawed as I know I am - is the most beautiful experience I have ever had in my entire life.  And I want to share that. 

And that is a very vulnerable, honest, not-cliche, personal thing to attempt.  That IS the Gospel, the 'good news'. 

What 'good news' is there in fake perfect? 
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Youth sports = Drama

7/17/2011

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I have coached eight different teams in the last three years and it is as if someone double downed on the drama each fall.  It is never the kids.  It is always the parents.  I have drafted teams based not on talent but which mom would not yell at me.  Which dad would not text me F-Bombs. 

All I ever wanted in coaching is for every kid to get a chance to excel and every kid to want to play the next year.  Too often parents get in the way of both.  Too often which kid plays is not determined by who works the hardest but who knows who. 

Tyler and Cooper are step-brothers (not those Step Brothers).  They shared a bedroom every other night when they started 4th grade.  The first fall of their new life together they ended up on my football team.  They had never played, did not have parents in the in crowd, and often used football practice as the swop spot between homes. 

Small, sheltered and naïve, these two boys ran through brick walls for me.  Both had a nose for the ball and loved to hit, I mean loved to hit.  They might have weighed 65 pounds soaking wet, but when asked to put a helmet on a guy twice their size, they got excited.  Moms and dad from the "in-crowd" let me know that they had never heard of them before, they had never seen them play and it was only their first year (read 'maybe they should be benched or worse still they ought not to be starting over their son who cried the moment they buckled up their helmet.)

No one had ever given these boys a chance.  No one had ever encouraged them to unleash the fury inside them.   Even worse, people around them discouraged it.  They were downright mean about it.  Sound familiar?  Until me.  They had permission to let it rip....to go crush somebody...to be who God made them to be, undersized and underprivileged or not.

God has placed a dream inside of you.  For many, we have never been given permission to go for it.  We have never been encouraged.  Yet, even when we mustered up the courage to play at a high level of life, people around did all they could to drag us down. 

Unleash the dream.  Get in the game.  You have permission from God to get in the game and give it all you have.  Distance yourself from the petty voices that tell you to stay in your place.  Now is the time.  Unleash the dream.   You can do it.               

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It ain't easy.

7/17/2011

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We have a saying around our house - 'it's easy to be a jerk.'  Unfortunately, we are proud purveyors of sarcasm, quick wits, and sass.  We intellectually flex our mental muscles by toying with one another - NEVER crossing the line to hurting feelings...but honestly we dance pretty darn close.

But it is far FAR more intellectually and personally challenging to be the nice.  Nice is WAY way way more intentional and terrifying.  It is vulnerable, honest, genuine, loving...  S.C.W.I.D.dy.

Mean is just so much more, well, natural...as in beasty, reptilian... Lord of the Flies type... icko.  

Sigh. 

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Big Mac religion

7/17/2011

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I love McD's.  I eat a lot - too much.  I also love their business model - streamline and conquer.  The ulti-franchise.  And at every joint - whether a town of 2 million or 200, you can count on a big mac tasting the same - down to how much seasoning is on the burger and how many pieces of lettuce are applied.

For an efficiency nut, like moi, that is cool stuff to witness.  Unfortunately, organized religion has sort of done the same thing with an inversion of the idea.  Imagine the most bland piece of meat, on stale bread being franchised across the country - it would tank  - and for good reason.   Church in America has sort of done exactly that.  Whether it is traditional or contemporary, we solidify around tradition - then never innovate. 

If you compare a McD's burger today with one from 25 years ago - it is not the same burger.  Way bigger, juicier, saltier.   But it is still highly salable, and people are still buying in the millions of them every single day. 

Why isnt the church reaching as well as McDs?  Because it is stale and inedible by today's cultural standards.  Now Jesus  - that's a different deal - he was and is and is to come - he is the light and the way - for all days - amen.  But we sure have managed to package him poorly.  Geesh.  Giddy-up leaders - it's time for some Christian happy meals! 
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Atheism alert...tread lightly!

7/16/2011

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I have been hanging out with a lot of Christians lately...actually most of the time since officially disavowing my season of doubt.  (I spent about 6 years as an atheist or some variation of agnostic.)  One thing I hear often is that a well-intended Christian has read this or that atheistic writer and now feels equipped to proselytize the Gospel to atheists.  I sort of wish those books came with a siren - a LOUD SIREN - and a disclaimer. Wooowooo - If you are Christian, you aren't going to 'get it' from reading this book.  Wooowooo...  you get the idea.

The point is this: there are two kinds of atheists.  (Maybe more - I've got two in mind.)  First, there are scientific atheists, these are the guys writing books - and into this camp I will lump people who bother with philosophy - ie: God can't exist.  Second, there are post-trauma atheists - ie: God couldn't exist, a good God would never allow this horrible thing to occur, therefor there must be no God.

Christians, unless you are science literate , HIGHLY science literate (like - you are a scientist or science student), and no, I am not talking about people who read a Dawkin's book, you cannot hang with the folks in camp #1.  They will eat you alive, they look forward to it - it is their intellectual way of snacking.  They prey on Christians who think they can hang (and then eventually end up muttering about 'you just have to believe...')  It is how atheism has gotten teeth; they have sharpened them on Christian pseudo-intellectuals. I would know - I was part of camp #1 back when I was studying biochemistry and philosophy.  I was not nice.

Ok camp #2 is where Christian's drop the ball.  This accounts for most atheists, practical atheists, and many pagans.  They have endured something and it OFTEN comes back to Christians behaving reprehensibly.  Not always, but abuse, lying, thieving...we all know the headlines.  Well somebody lived through all of that and more.  This is where Christ gives us the go-ahead, the green light.  Love non-church people like your life depends on it.  Go visit people.  Drop them a line.  Care when caring makes NO SENSE.  Let Love LOVE do the talking, the walking, and the evangelizing.  He is way more convincing than you are. 

Anyway - the good news is you will also win lots of folks in camp #1 just through irrational, relentless care.  It sort of trumps everything.  So put down the Dawkins (you're just making him rich and toothy) and bake some brownies for that atheist you had in mind when you bought it.


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Love, hmmm.

7/16/2011

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Sooooo... I was thinking a few years ago about love, and it occurred to me that we can't fulfill the 'Golden Rule' - Christ's ultimatum - because we just don't love ourselves.  Check it out:
  Do to others as you would have them do to you... Love your neighbor as you love yourself...you know the variations.

It is predicated on self-love.

So if your internal dialogue is about what an idiot you are, you are gonna live that towards other people.

If you hate your body, your physical self, or worse yet harm it, you are gonna live that towards other people.

If you cannot figure out why someone would want to hang around you, you are gonna live that towards other people.

We cannot LOVE OTHERS until we love US - intentionally, carefully, honestly.  That is not new-age or incense-burning or hip.  That is hard and it is holy.

I am pretty sure most of the ills of society boil down to this bad boy.

Anyway - something to chew on.
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Why fun?

7/15/2011

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Seems a little weird to justify having fun.  BUT in case there are those out there who don't equate church and fun together, well, ever...

Jesus was really cool.  I am convinced he was a really good time to hang out with.  Smart like a whip, always giving you something to chew on, literally (the fish and bread feast), and there is that whole water into wine thing.  I will come back to that someday, but that was a LOT of wine.  A LOT of wine.  Somebody was partying with Jesus that day.

Then there is that whole joy thing.  Have you noticed how contagious joy is?  How ridiculously silly it can be?  It is never hurtful, but it can be exhilarating, wild, downright hilarious, mind-bendingly amazing... you get the idea.  Joy is really, really, REALLY fun.

And that is what we are after.  God made that.  God delights in that.  So we do too.

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