A concrete poem of the Gospel

Mark Driscoll on Avitar.... hmm

After watching the video below I think it's very odd that Mark Driscoll is the pastor of a church called Mars Hill. For those of you who don't know Mars Hill is the place where the book of Acts records the Apostle Paul's sermon to the Athenians. In it the apostle Paul introduces the Gospel to the Greeks by proclaiming one of the God's they serve is really the God of Israel. He then uses a pagan work Phenomena by the poet Aratus to communicate how we are related to God. The lesson I take away from this encounter is that something completely pagan can be used to proclaim the truth of God.

One might think a Church called Mars Hill would be about claiming truth for God.

After watching the video below I got the distinct impression that Mark is more interested in claiming art for the devil. In it he claims the movie is demonic, the visuals are a tool of Satan, and calls the Christianity of those who don't agree with him "disappointing."

Although I firmly belive that spiritual warfare is a reality that Christians deal with on a daily basis, the passages that talk about our spiritual struggle have nothing to do with what world views we are exposed to, but the realities of our lifestyle. For example let's look at Romans 13:12b-14,

So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. (13) Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Early Christians were surrounded by Paganism, but their response was not to give the stories and poems over to Satan, on the contrary they used them to communicate the Gospel to new cultures and peoples, and there are few places that illustrate this tendency better then then Paul's sermon at Mars Hill.

If Jesus Christ is truth what are we afraid of?

Mark Driscoll on Avitar -

Happy 125th Anniversary ECC!!

Today marks the 125th Anniversary of the founding of the Evangelical Covenant Church! The Covenant Church is the denomination I am seeking ordination in after I finish seminary. I thought today would be a good day to tell you a little bit about it!

Since my relocated to Chicago to study at North Park Theological Seminary many people have asked me why I decided to move. Some wonder why I left at all. Others have questioned why I would choose to go to a seminary that they have never heard of. For me the decision was not difficult. I spent a long time discerning a call, I believe is from God, to go into ministry. After many years of searching for a Christian family, I ran into a small denomination called the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC). North Park is the best place to go if you want to be a Pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church, and that is where I feel called to be. Once I explain this the question I get most often to this is, "what is the ECC?"

It's a Denomination... but not sectarian

Many Christians today have declared that Denominations are going the way of the dinosaur. Some have argued that they are simply contributing to the endless splintering of Churches, while others have interjected that the establishment of any denomination goes against scripture. The Covenant Church is not unfamiliar with these objections to Denominationalism. Over it's history it has come under fire from many quarters for even existing. Nevertheless in 1885 the Covenant Church was formed out of a group of Swedish immigrants which believed that those who believe in Christ should gather in unity to live in peace and under the Word of God, and they have held together with that conviction for 125 years.

Many denominations have formed as a result of a rejection of something else. Because of that their identity is often about what they aren't. They might be focused on what they don't do, or what they don't believe. We can even see this sort of thing in the wording of the Nicene Creed, or the formulation of the Hypostatic Union. This mentality often sees those who do not fit into a particular circle as needing to be converted or in some cases purged. Although the Covenant does desire that all would have the new life that Christ offers the world, they don't have strong lines that specify what or how that life must look.

As a denomination it is much more interested in providing the space and resources for that life to continue to grow. Just like in any family the children of God often look and behave quite differently from one another, but under it all the Holy Spirit declares we all share one father, we are built from the DNA of regeneration, and whenever the paternity test comes back positive room is made in the family for new membership.

The Covenant Church as a Family

The image of a family is actually a great image to use to understand how the Covenant is held together. Just like a family the Covenant Church has an Identity, and a history. If you look at the family tree of Christianity you can find the Covenant family sprouting off of the Lutheran branch of the tree, that is because at it's founding the Covenant was made up of mostly Lutherans. However as it's continued to grow it has grafted many other families into itself. Just as families change and grow as members are married to one another and children are brought in, so too the Covenant has embraced the diversity of the Church, and the people that make up it.

As a Scandinavian Lutheran by birth and baptism the covenant would seem like a place I might find a comforting equivalency, but on the contrary my first experiences were anything but. The first Covenant Church I attended was in the heart of Detroit and made up of more Blacks then Whites. This church was nothing like my fathers Finnish Lutheran Church. They were on the streets risking their lives to push back the tide of drug abuse and the breakdown of education among the children of the inner city. These were people who did not share the same heritage as me, but they shared the same heart. The Covenant Church recognizes that family is not made by blood as much as it is by love and they welcome all who wish to join in mission of being that kind of family in Christ.

Now don't get me wrong, all families suffer from a certain degree of dysfunctionality. The differences between members, and the simple fact that families are made up of real people means there will be conflict. The Covenant Church, or any church for that matter, is no different. There are plenty of times in the history of the Covenant Church where love was replaced by envy and malice, or where the mission atrophied into apathy. Although this is sad, I for one am glad to be within a body of believers that continues to repent and examine it's linage.

In my personal life I look to my family medical history to teach me ways I should avoid

living, and problem areas that may arise in my health if I'm not careful. Being in a church family can operate in the same way. The brokenness of the past can teach us how to live a healthier life in the future. That way we can truly be an effective witness and participant in God's mission in this world.

The Covenant Church is Mission Oriented

The Covenant church was founded as the Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant of America. Even in it's original name it's emphasis on mission is clear. The Covenant Church has sent missionaries abroad, supported missionaries domestically, and has planted churches all over North America. They are clearly interested in sending people out for Missionary activity.

Additionally there is a strong focus on what is often called "missional" church activity. Instead of sending others out being "missional" is focused on embodying the Gospel in the context of the daily lives and neighborhoods of the laity. In my own Church I have experienced this missional living in their work serving the homeless in Chicago, fighting for the rights of the underprivileged, and providing food for the hungry in the surrounding neighborhoods.

At the heart of both sending missionaries and being an incarnational presence at home is a desire to join in the mission that God has been perusing for the world all along. This is something deeply at the heart of the Covenant Church and I believe is the catalyst for their momentum outward.

The Core of the Covenant Church

The undertaking of coming together, the sending out of missionaries and the conservation of the bonds of charity in the Covenant Church are all grounded and empowered by an encounter with the life of Christ. Though they are not perfect, for like all things, it is made up of broken people in need of God's grace, at their core the Evangelical Covenant Church is in the very serious business of loving both God and others. This, more then anything else, is why I want to work with and within them.

Saint Valentines Day - Luther on Marriage

Have a blessed Saint Valentines Day!

I thought today I would share an article written by the German Reformer Martin Luther. My wife and I recently read through this together, and we both found a good deal of life in it. I hope you enjoy it, and can take to heart the depth of God's call to love one another!

The Estate of Marriage (selections) by Martin Luther
tr. Brandt, from "luther's works, volume 45." (Fortress Press, 1962)

The world says of marriage, "Brief is the joy, lasting the bitterness." Let them say what they please; what God wills and creates is bound to be a laughingstock to them. The kind of joy and pleasure they have outside of wedlock they will be most acutely aware of, I suspect, in their consciences. To recognise the estate of marriage is something quite different from merely being married. He who is married but does not recognise the estate of marriage cannot continue in wedlock without bitterness, drudgery, and anguish; he will inevitably complain and blaspheme like the pagans and blind, irrational men. But he who recognises the estate of marriage will find therein delight, love, and joy without end; as Solomon says, "He who finds a wife finds a good thing," etc. [Prov. 18:22].

Now the ones who recognise the estate of marriage are those who firmly believe that God himself instituted it, brought husband and wife together, and ordained that they should beget children and care for them. For this they have God's word, Genesis 1 [:28], and they can be certain that he does not lie. They can therefore also be certain that the estate of marriage and everything that goes with it in the way of conduct, works, and suffering is pleasing to God. Now tell me, how can the heart have greater good, joy, and delight than in God, when one is certain that his estate, conduct, and work is pleasing to God?

Now observe that when that clever harlot, our natural reason (which the pagans followed in trying to be most clever), takes a look at married life, she turns up her nose and says, "Alas, must I rock the baby, wash its diapers, make its bed, smell its stench, stay up nights with it, take care of it when it cries, heal its rashes and sores, and on top of that care for my wife, provide for her, labour at my trade, take care of this and take care of that, do this and do that, endure this and endure that, and whatever else of bitterness and drudgery married life involves? What, should I make such a prisoner of myself? 0 you poor, wretched fellow, have you taken a wife? Fie, fie upon such wretchedness and bitterness! It is better to remain free and lead a peaceful. carefree life; I will become a priest or a nun and compel my children to do likewise."

What then does Christian faith say to this? It opens its eyes, looks upon all these insignificant, distasteful, and despised duties in the Spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine approval as with the costliest gold and jewels. It says, "0 God, because I am certain that thou hast created me as a man and hast from my body begotten this child, I also know for a certainty that it meets with thy perfect pleasure. I confess to thee that I am not worthy to rock the little babe or wash its diapers. or to be entrusted with the care of the child and its mother. How is it that I, without any merit, have come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy creature and thy most precious will? 0 how gladly will I do so, though the duties should be even more insignificant and despised. Neither frost nor heat, neither drudgery nor labour, will distress or dissuade me, for I am certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight."

A wife too should regard her duties in the same light, as she suckles the child, rocks and bathes it, and cares for it in other ways; and as she busies herself with other duties and renders help and obedience to her husband. These are truly golden and noble works. This is also how to comfort and encourage a woman in the pangs of childbirth, not by repeating St Margaret legends and other silly old wives' tales but by speaking thus, "Dear Grete, remember that you are a woman, and that this work of God in you is pleasing to him. Trust joyfully in his will, and let him have his way with you. Work with all your might to bring forth the child. Should it mean your death, then depart happily, for you will die in a noble deed and in subservience to God. If you were not a woman you should now wish to be one for the sake of this very work alone, that you might thus gloriously suffer and even die in the performance of God's work and will. For here you have the word of God, who so created you and implanted within you this extremity." Tell me, is not this indeed (as Solomon says [Prov. 18:22]) "to obtain favour from the Lord," even in the midst of such extremity?

Now you tell me, when a father goes ahead and washes diapers or performs some other mean task for his child, and someone ridicules him as an effeminate fool, though that father is acting in the spirit just described and in Christian faith, my dear fellow you tell me, which of the two is most keenly ridiculing the other? God, with all his angels and creatures, is smiling, not because that father is washing diapers, but because he is doing so in Christian faith. Those who sneer at him and see only the task but not the faith are ridiculing God with all his creatures, as the biggest fool on earth. Indeed, they are only ridiculing themselves; with all their cleverness they are nothing but devil's fools.

St. Cyprian, that great and admirable man and holy martyr, wrote that one should kiss the new-born infant, even before it is baptised, in honour of the hands of God here engaged in a brand new deed. What do you suppose he would have said about a baptised infant? There was a true Christian, who correctly recognised and regarded God's work and creature. Therefore, I say that all nuns and monks who lack faith, and who trust in their own chastity and in their order, are not worthy of rocking a baptised child or preparing its pap, even if it were the child of a harlot. [...]

But the greatest good in married life, that which makes all suffering and labour worth while, is that God grants offspring and commands that they be brought up to worship and serve him. In all the world this is the noblest and most precious work, because to God there can be nothing dearer than the salvation of souls. Now since we are all duty bound to suffer death, if need be, that we might bring a single soul to God, you can see how rich the estate of marriage is in good works. God has entrusted to its bosom souls begotten of its own body, on whom it can lavish all manner of Christian works. Most certainly father and mother are apostles, bishops, and priests to their children, for it is they who make them acquainted with the gospel. In short, there is no greater or nobler authority on earth than that of parents over their children, for this authority is both spiritual and temporal. whoever teaches the gospel to another is truly his apostle and bishop. Mitre and staff and great estates indeed produce idols, but teaching the gospel produces apostles and bishops. See therefore how good and great is God's work and ordinance! [...]

10 Questions to ask yourself as a communicator

We are all communicators, we can't avoid it. Our daily interactions at even the most menial level are transmitting messages to others around us. For many people, myself included, this process goes on often without a great deal of thought or concise involvement. I, for one, know that so often I'm not cognizant of the rules that guide the positions and mediums I employ every day to communicate.

I have been reading Charles H. Kraft's Communication theory for the Christian Witness (Orbis Books, 1991) over the last few weeks and it's been challenging me to be more intentional with how I interact with people both formally and informally. Kraft is a professor of Anthropology and inter-cultural communication at Fuller seminary in Pasadena, CA. He believes there are discernible rules in the communication process, and knowing these can help a person become a more effective communicator.

One of the things I appreciate about Kraft's work is how deeply enmeshed with the scriptures it is. His work is laid upon a foundation that looks to how God communicates is his word, and in his world. At the same time it is very practical, and contemporary. He casts a vision for Christian communication that is "dynamically equivalent." We live in an increasingly pluralistic world. Our methods of communication must be under constant scrutiny or they risk obsolescence.

As I read, I wrote down the following 10 questions to ask myself as I prepare to communicate. These are the main things I know I am walking away with:

1. Is the message something that could realistically be accepted by the recipient?
2. Does the message establish credibility with the recipient?
3. Is the message relevant to the recipient where they are at?
4. Does the message communicate to the recipient as an individual?
5. Does this message get the attention of the recipient?
6. Is their room for the recipient to explore for themselves within the message?
7. Is my vehicle for transmitting meaning arriving with the cargo intact?
8. Are there other ways I can communicate this that will help more recipients understand?
9. Does the message communicate to the recipient holistically?
10. Am I loving God and the recipient, or simply performing?

Are there any others you would add to this list?