The Return…

It has now been ten days since my official return to the United States from my European vacation. I have told several people that I would blog some of my journal entries during my trip and include some photos. I might start later today but if not I will definitely start posting within the next few days. I need to clean up the entries a bit, they are a little raw at the moment. Not like there is extreme use of obscenities or anything, its just that I can’t handle bad writing, and so I need to make sure they are more prepared for readers so that they are actually coherent. Well, hope to post soon…

The Return

Well, if anyone at all still checks in on this from time to time, I would like to announce that I am back for more blogging action! It has been a very long time and I have really learned a lot about myself over these past couple of months. I think I am ready to get a lot of thoughts out of my head and onto this blog.  So in the very near future, look for some posts to come soon. I am thinking about doing some book/music/film reviews, but I’ll also have my standard commentary on God, life, and culture. Perhaps some theology and spiritual formation will be in the mix as well. Well, hope to hear from you soon…

Book Plug: The Pleasure of My Company

 Per Chad’s request, I picked up a copy of Steve Martin’s The Pleasure of My Company. It’s not a long book, I think 160 pages or something and I read it quickly. If you’re wondering if it is the same Steve Martin of SNL, The Jerk, Father of the Bride, etc., then you are spot on. Not only do I think he’s a great comedic actor, but he’s also a wonderful writer. His book centers on neurotic Daniel Cambridge, whose isolated and pristine life is challenged by those around him. Martin has a great ability to describe loneliness, and the desire for connectedness and companionship. Overall, just a great read. Didn’t change my perspective or anything, just my awareness of my own need in my life.

 So pick it up, I actually found it at Border’s for $3.99!

 

These Days

A group of us from Rivendell are heading to New Orleans to do some volunteer work, please pray for the people of this city, that hope can be rebuilt and that peace can be sewn into the fabric of this city's residents. Pray for us as we go out on mission into a place that has seen much disaster, chaos, and pain.

Be in peace

Rob Bell to be in Oklahoma City

 

Rob Bell, author of Velvet Elvis and pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan, is going on a speaking tour and one of his stops will be in Oklahoma City at the Diamond Ballroom on July 14th. The link is here. His tour is called ‘Everything is Spiritual’, and if there is anybody I would actually pay to hear speak, it would be this guy. He brings a fresh perspective to the faith using history, especially Jewish history, to provide a great context for understanding much of what Jesus talked about. I first heard of him through my friend Brian, and he was preaching out of Leviticus! Not too many pastors do that, and not too many keep my attention doing that either. From what I’ve heard, he has shaved his head while preaching and he also brought live sheep onstage while he was speaking at Willow Creek! If you haven’t heard of him, listen to his teachings online or pick up a Nooma video. If anyone wants to go, I am planning on driving down to OKC that night and coming back that night as well.

Let me know…

The Gospel According to Toad

 

The band members of Toad the Wet Sprocket, one of my favorite bands of all time, are officially reunited and will be on tour throughout the summer!!!

Check them out here on the web and check out their tour dates. My friend Eric and I are going to St. Louis on July 21st. If you are huge fan or have never heard their music, please feel free to come along and chip in on gas!

I had a lover, its so hard to risk another

Have you ever broken up with anyone and felt that sense that you maybe made a mistake or that you were really risking something by moving on from them for someone else? Well, today I made that jump. I got online and ended my subscription to Netflix and have chosen to go with Blockbuster. I’m so attracted to being able to have movies shipped to me and yet still have the ability to go to an actual store and pick up a movie at random.

This is not to say that I have not appreciated you Netflix. You have been a constant friend and have showed me so much over the past couple of months. Who knows, I may humbly come back to your doorstep, ask forgiveness and tell you how much I missed you. I hope you will not be too upset with my decision. This is just what works for me now. And know this, it is not you, it’s me. I just can’t do this right now.

Take care

Love

- Pilgrim

Warning: Ramblings Ahead…

For those of you who frequent this blog, you will realize that there has been hightened activity as far as posting. This is due to the fact that I have had four consecutive days off from work, and I am finally getting to catch up on some writing that I have been meaning to do for some time. As much as I have wanted to articulate some thoughts and reflections on things I have been reading or thinking about, here is some random nonsense.

My artist plug of the month: Sufjan Stevens. He is attempting to make an album for every state in the Union. Crazy, but I can't wait to hear what he has got to say about Oklahoma.

Michigan                            Illinois         

                                                                                                                          

               

And in other news, my friend Kim and I are heading to SEATTLE on July 1st and will stay til the 5th!

 I'm going to be looking at a couple of schools during my time there. I have been wanting to make this trip for some time, to visit Pike Place Market, to walk around and see where the grunge movement started, and to attempt to go to as many Starbucks as possible.

I have a lot planned for this summer, a lot of weddings, a lot reading, travelling, and a trip with Rivendell to New Orleans to help out with rebuilding the city.

What do you have planned for this summer?

I will post soon!!!

I have been mighty busy lately, and I just scrapped a post that I have actually worked on for a couple of days. Dang. Anyways, I am going to actually plan out some posts for the near future, here they are in no set order:

 (1) The Historical Jesus and the current quest and its implications for the church

 (2) A series of posts on my current read, Exclusion and Embrace by Miroslav Volf. Excellent topic: forgiveness, but with social implications for both the church and the world.

 (3) My plans for the next couple of years, involving a trip to Europe and my attempt to find a grad school (may need your help with this!)

 (4) And a general, “Where am I now?” post. Which every blogger should post from time to time. For some of us that is a daily post!

Ok I hope I have not lost many of you due to infrequent posting. I will be back Friday. Til then….

The Problems with Evangelical Theologies, Part 2 or How many pieces to this puzzle are there?

"The Bible was not written in a text-oriented culture but for an oral culture. So these documents were meant to be heard. When you read them out loud in Greek, you notice alliteration and poetry and all kinds of things going on that are totally lost in translation. I think the oral dimension of the biblical world, very much connected to storytelling, is a crucial dimension and is a key to understanding the theology in those texts." – Ben Witherington

 As Witherington stated in his article, "Paul operated out of his storied world". And really, we all do. We all live in a much larger story. It is a story that we reference to when we try and comprehend things, a story by which we tell others about our life, and a story by which we also add layers to. Paul's storied world was that of God as a creator (of the world and of a community started by Abraham), of Exodus (Moses) and kingship (David), of exile and the hope for a return to land and to justice. The Christ event rocked Paul's storied world, and yet it made sense. The scriptures pointed to it and it was fulfilling all the hope that Israel was looking for and what the world needed. This event changed Paul's world and that event is all he talked about. Now, of course, Paul did talk about certain theological "truths" and "doctrines" that needed to be stated for the new communities that grew from this Christ event. And yet, his context and his articulation of these things all fall under the metanarrative that he lived by. Witherington goes on to say:

"When Paul thinks about sin and the fall, he thinks about Adam. When he thinks about the law, he thinks about the story of Moses. When he thinks about faith, he thinks about the story of Abraham. And, obviously, when he thinks about salvation, he thinks about the story of Jesus. So these big-ticket theological ideas are grounded in stories."

I think what we must question in response to this is: "What is our current story?", "What story am I living in now and what about it needs to change and what about it can be strengthened?" Paul's story was moving in a trajectory towards salvation and yet he at first did not even recognize it. He was part of the story that was developing, but initially he wanted to squash the story because he didn't see how it fit. And on some level, it didn't. It challenged his story, and yet was shaped out of it. Paul began to recognize where his story needed to change and where it needed to stay the same. We must do the same. For most Americans, our metanarrative has been manifest destiny, prosperity, social darwinism, the search for self-worth and self esteem, the protestant work ethic, etc. It has been many things, and as we move from the macrocosm to the microcosm, individuals begin to nuance this even further to fit their own local context. Much of it is contradictory to the gospel, it promotes death and injustice instead of life and shalom. And yet, God is at work in our stories. We all long for certain things and act in certain ways that do fit the gospel. We must not lose our own stories because God wants our stories to be shaped by His. Not consumed but transformed. He sees where there must be continuity and discontinuity, He sees where there must be negation and where there must be support. We may be broken and cracked, but we do have pieces to start out with. Pieces of a puzzle that we had no clue how to fit together previously until God stepped into our stories and showed us how they fit. The life, death, and resurrection is the clue to our stories, the clue to salvation, and the clue to history.

Thank God for resurrection. Have a great Easter Sunday.