PeaceableZealot

Pre-registered

Well the semester is getting pretty busy. I haven't had much time to blog this week. Here is my course schedule for next semester. I am really excited for my Perkins, Elolia, and Butzu courses. 

Unfortunately, I still need to finish my work for this semester. 

Wintersession (Jan. 26-30)

CD7950 Contemporary Theologians on Religious Diversity (3 hours)  - Dr. Perkins

Course Description:

Contemporary Theologians on Religious Diversity explores the spectrum of current theological thought on engagement with other faith traditions.  The course will explore Christian perspectives on salvation, the person of Jesus, the Trinity, and salvation history in order to provide a framework for constructive, faithful, and creative conversation across religious traditions.

Spring Semester 

CD7950 Seminar I Theology: Salvation (3 hours) - Dr. Elolia 

Course Description:

The Doctrine of Salvation/Soteriology is clearly elaborated in the Bible as a witness of God’s saving work. From the beginning, the creator is the savior who brings forth life and sustains it in the midst of threats. The account of Genesis for example has a salvific features that demonstrate God as a savior who creates and works to give life and wellbeing of humanity and the rest of creation alike. Similarly in subsequent biblical material, we find that God is concerned with the salvation of his creation in a more comprehensive sense that responds to the need for SHALOM which in the words of Walter Brueggemann is a ‘well being that exists in the very midst of threats’.

We find the doctrine of Salvation clearly re-emerging in the New Testament particularly in the coming of the Messiah. It is here that Christ becomes the fulcrum of Salvation. The various texts in the New Testament show the particularity of the believers’ responses to salvation. Clearly the examination of the doctrine of Soteriology from the Biblical perspective will help us address the comprehensive nature of God’s saving act in contrast to the individualistic approach commonly espoused in some Christian quarters. Obviously, the latter approach ignores the rich field of salvation as presented in the Bible. 

The topic of salvation is receiving considerable attention in contemporary theology of liberation. Liberation Common among these theologies is the Biblical Exodus tradition and teachings of Jesus that demonstrate God’s Salvation in its varied yet concrete expression. Feminist theology provides a sharp critique to the way the images of the divine has been particularized in maleness. The question we might want to ask ourselves is whether this particularization of the universal has any bearing to the doctrine of Salvation. Finally, we shall examine Soteriology from the light of religious pluralism. Religious pluralism in our world today has posed other challenges to the theology of Salvation.

CD6720 Contextual-Liberation Theologies (3 hours) - Dr. Elolia 

Course Description:

 Liberation theology is contextual theology:  It emphasizes human freedom as its starting point and specific cultures as its context.  This course explores fresh ways of thinking about the triune God, especially in the southern hemisphere, but also among marginalized groups in the northern hemisphere; in short, wherever the issues of justice and freedom are at the forefront.  We examine the biblical notion of liberation as it has found expression in statements from major conferences and key theologians of the movement.  Above all, the course attends to the life and ministry of Jesus as the central focus of liberation.

CH7010 Seminar: The Church at Worship: Mapping the Ecclesiological Terrain (3 hours) - Butzu

Course Description:

 Fifty years ago, Charismatic worship looked stereotypically charismatic. Evangelical worship appeared identifiably “evangelical.” Still older denominations had their own defining liturgies. Then came the Worship Renewal of the 1960's where churches of all traditions began to study in earnest the more ancient elements of worship. With the cross-pollination and hybridization of worship forms that ensued, the lines of what could be expected in a Christian church, or Presbyterian church, or Pentecostal church began to be blurred. The recent “Emergent” movement gives us one illustrative snapshot of what this worship experimentation looks like in the opening decade of this new millennium.
           Yet may questions remain to be asked: Is the church throughout the world closer to ecumenism today as a result of shared or idiosyncratic worship forms? What are the non-negotiable elements and sequence of worship that might be acceptable to every church? What are the particulars about the Lord's Supper that unite—and separate—churches today? Why is baptism so central—and yet so divisive—that a local congregation might feel their own Christian individuality to be bound up with the particulars of this practice? What does it matter to the church worldwide which leadership roles are performed by ordained or lay members? What kind of disciples is our worship forming us to be?
          All of those questions demonstrate that it is impossible to disconnect the question, “What is Christian worship?” from the question, “What does it mean to be Church?” It seems imperative, then, for church leaders, especially those who oversee worship, to be aware that worship is not simply something the congregation does, but is actually constitutive of what the Church is. How exactly worship is prepared and performed speaks volumes of the nature of the Church in the most expressive, lucid, and paradigmatic ways.

OT5160 Old Testament Introduction (Second Semester) (3 hours) - Dr. Rollston

Course Description:

A critical introduction to the basic literary features, historical setting, and theological significance of the corpus of Old Testament prophetic texts, wisdom texts, the Psalms, and the works of the Chronicler.  Substantial attention will be given to the history of scholarship, the most dominant recent proposals, and the importance of the archaeological and epigraphic record as hermeneutical tools for understanding the biblical corpus.  Some attention will be given to comparable ancient Near Eastern literature.

CMF5020 The Nature of Christian Ministry (2 hours) - Dr. Wasem

Course Description:

This course is part of Emmanuel’s SME program and is designed to function, along with CMF 5010 (which focuses on the person of the minister), as the entrance to the curriculum in the area of Christian Ministries.  It builds on the self-assessment work of the 5010 course.  It is a team-taught course, led by the available faculty in Christian Ministries.  It is not an attempt simply to introduce students to congregational leadership.  Its purpose is rather to lead students to develop their understanding of ministry in the light of the nature of the church and to integrate the various activities of ministry into a theology of ministry.  To accomplish this, there will be development of a statement of a theology of ministry, responses to required readings, input by professors, and ministry projects by teams of students.

The second half of each class session will be devoted to spiritual formation small group meetings.

Wintersession: 3 hours

Spring semester: 14 hours

Total hours: 17

I'll be busy.

Oh, and for those of you who were expecting me to write something about the election, watch my Jesus Politics site closely. I'll post something in the next day or two.

Jesus Politics

I know I haven't been blogging on here lately. Don't worry, I'll return. 

I've been doing a bit of blogging on my Jesus Politics site. For those of you who don't know, JesusPolitics.net is a network of blogs committed to discussing the issues surrounding the intersection of the church and the state. It is worth your time to check out. 

Here are a few recent posts:

Public Greed

Why I'm Electing Not to Vote

Rev. Wright and "Reverse Racism"

I hope you take the time to read them and maybe even leave a comment.

Common Root

Mark Van Steenwyk from Jesus Manifesto has put together a great little website, Common Root. It is a networking site (think facebook) for those who are committed to Jesus' shalom. New Monastic communities, Roman Catholics, Anabaptists, and other traditions are represented there. See how you feel about their convictions, and join up.

and don't forget to say hello to me. 

Can an Arrow forget the bow that sent it flying?

Do yourself a favor and read this by Miroslav Volf.

Imagination in a Scientific Society

“The poetic imagination is marginal within our dominant scientific culture. This tends towards a deadening literalism. In most traditional societies, poetry, myth, song and music were central to the culture. In our society these have often been reduced to entertainment. The hunger for the transcendent is still there in the human heart. As St. Augustine said, it is restless until it rests in God. But in our postmodern society it is harder for the preacher to evoke that ultimate human destiny which transcends our words. Few preachers are poets. I am not. But if the preaching of the word is to flourish, then we need poets and artists, singers and musicians who keep alive the intuition of our ultimate destiny. The Church needs these singers of the transcendent to nurture her life and her preaching.” 

Timothy Radcliffe. ”The Sacramentality of the Word,” in LITURGY IN A POSTMODERN WORLD, pp.133-147, here p.145

HT: Tony

Advent

Well, do not be fooled by the title, I write this not in the season of Advent, but in that long and tiresome season of “ordinary time.” It is October. In East Tennessee Halloween merchandise seems to be a hot commodity. There are two stores that are completely devoted to purveying costumes, cobwebs and the like. The leaves are beginning to change. It is life as usual. And that’s the problem. 

Life on this side of the empty tomb should never be “as usual.” Life here should always be lived in hopeful expectation and preparation for the appearing of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus. Most days I forget this. Most days I go from A to B to C and I might think about serving others, I might think about resisting sin, but I rarely think of the appearing for which we should all be longing.

Our lives seemed to be imprisoned in the present. For me, I feel like I am always behind in life. There is always more to be done that should have been done days, if not weeks ago. I could list at least 5 simple tasks off the top of my head that I have needed to get to for some time. My busyness binds me to the present, to weekly calendars, to-do lists, alarms, and reminders. When I think of the future it is usually in one of two improper ways. (1) Seeing the future as a myriad of possibilities and seeking my place in the midst of them (What happens after graduation? Phd? Ministry? Where?). (2) Seeing the future as injustice, pain and downfall within both the world and myself (Will I ever change? Will my habits be the downfall of me? Will justice come to Zimbabwe?). 

But the future isn’t mine to think of in any way I see fit. The future belongs to God. It is in his possession. I should think of it with imagination and hope. I should long for the appearing of God. I should be shaking in anticipation of the coming Kingdom. I should be working for that day, because I know that because of the promised future my work is not in vain. 

"When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.

Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain."

Lord, fill within your church a passion to see your Kingdom come. Fill us with holy dissatisfaction with present anxieties. Give us your vision for the future. Through your Holy Spirit allow us to work toward that future in preparation of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Marana tha

Amen.

Prayer

"Prayer and love are learned in the hour when prayer has become impossible and your heart has turned to stone." -Thomas Merton

More soon. 

Whose Conservative Christianity? Which Fundamentalism?

This past week I had two very different encounters with two very different groups of conservative Protestants. 

We'll start with the bad.

So, my cousin (we'll call him Jack) asks to be my friend on facebook (and you can too!). Now Jack is a very overbearing person who makes his views known and loves to spout the reprehensible theology of The Way of the Master ministries (his former employer). I haven't really spoken to Jack for four years, since he lives in California. But I figured that even if I felt strongly that his theology was heresy, I should still accept the request (sine he is family and all). Well apprently when Jack had a look at my profile he saw my status update from a few days prior, "Stephen is trying to comprehend that 8 trillion Zimbabwe dollars is only worth one American dollar. wft mate?" (that last phrase was inspired by this old youtube video)

Well Jack was "shocked" to see someone who claimed to be a sincere follower of Christ to use language like that. Here is part of his first message to me: "I point this out to you to help you ask yourself where you are with God. Do you fear God? Are you seeking to live a holy life, one that is pleasing to Him? Is Jesus precious to you? Is he the focus of your affections... of your life?"

Well...I wasn't very pleased to get this message. He basically told me that my salvation was in question for using the letter "f" in that way. So, as I was writing him back, I changed my status to "Stephen is tired of Evangelicals." He didn't appreciate that, so he deleted me as a friend (which I still don't get. If he really thinks I'm cut off from Christ, wouldn't he want to be my friend so as to bring me back in the fold?). 

Here is my response unedited (don't feel obliged to read it all):

I haven't talked to you in years and this is the first thing you are going to say to me? You are questioning my Christian convictions? I can understand if you were offended. I think that would be silly, but I can understand it. But for you, who doesn't even know me, to question my convictions because of three letters that I typed is wholly inappropriate and unchristian. 

I think this is completely uncalled for, and not what I would expect from someone who claims to be committed to following the Way.

I'm pretty sure that when we are told to judge a tree by its fruits that he didn't mean to see if Christians cuss and if they do, then they don't love God. Christianity can be seen in the fruits of the Spirit. If you still are questioning my Christianity, come and talk to the people I live in Christian Community with and see if what they have to say, see if they see the fruits demonstrated in my life. They are much more apt to speak on this than someone who hasn't spoken with me in years and judges my convictions without even knowing who I am.

(Allow a quick digression. Paul uses the equivalent of the word "shit" in Philippians 3:8 (NIV politely translates it as "rubbish"). It might also do you well to read it in context, since there Paul succinctly describes what Christianity actually is about and not lists of words you can't say)

I can see that you deleted me as a friend. I'm guessing this has something to do with my current status. I have that status because I am currently very upset that my interactions with Evangelicals (e.g. message you sent) are seldom interactions with Christians.

Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. 

So we went back and forth for awhile. I ended up saying things like:

if more Christians cared about Zimbabwe and its current political and economic situation than they care about condemning other Christians for cussing then we might see the Kingdom advance in Zimbabwe rather than causing a needless argument about trivial things that don't matter. 

and:

I am worried about your salvation, Jack. You seem to have completely replaced anything resembling Christian love and faith with lists and requirements. God is not about that. God is about offering himself to a hurting and dying world that is in need of healing. I really do pray that you remember this and meditate on it before God and repent from your ways. 

This encounter with conservative Christianity was incredibly frustrating. I have come to the conclusion that Jack must have no idea what Christianity actually is. I want to help him, but it is like talking to a brick wall. 

I left this encounter disheartened and discouraged because this false gospel is being propagated and wreaking havoc on people's lives and faith. 

Now, on to the good. 

I have a good friend here in Lexington by the name of Jonathan. We both have a deep love for Kentucky, so several times during my stay here we have gone on "Kentucky Adventures." And he had a special one planned for me on Saturday because I will be moving to Tennessee on Tuesday. So we left Lexington around 5:20 on Saturday and drove for about an hour. I had no idea where we were going. Jonathan told me to turn off of and lo and behold there was and Old Regular Baptist Church. 

There are very few Old Regular Baptist Churches left anymore, so I was very glad to be able to go. 

Here is a quick description of the denomination:

Old Regular Baptists are about as conservative as you can get. The denomination was forged in the Appalachian Mountains, with the majority of congregations existing on the border between Kentucky and Virginia. They do not have paid clergy or instruments. Their singing is where much of their unique identity lies. They exclusively sing in lined-out hymnody (here is a great example of the singing). And while other groups occasionally sing in lined-out style, the Old Regular Baptists maintain it in its most pristine form because they sing it exclusively.  They also emphasize death and sorrow. They often have pictures up all over the sanctuary of people within that church that have died. 

We pulled up about 6:35 and they were already singing, but a few people were still arriving. The building was small and could probably seat around 150 (including the pews on the platform with the pulpit), but it was no where near full. There were about 27 people there besides Jonathan and myself. All but two of them were under 50 (one of the younger ones was in her mid forties and was there with her grandmother, the other was in her twenties and was there with her grandmother as well). 

The music was deeply beautiful and deeply sorrowful (here is another example, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross). I saw boxes of tissues placed strategically around the sanctuary and, as I heard them sing beautiful songs about crossing the Jordan to be with Jesus, I felt something somber and sacred about the place.

 

After Jonathan and I took our place in the back of the room, people began to walk across the sanctuary to greet us. About five people came over to us during the singing and shook our hands and told us how glad they were to see us. At first, I thought that it was probably because they had received so few visitors in recent years, but when some of their own came in after us and got the same treatment that we received I understood that their greetings were very much a part of their theology. 

After a few songs, there was a time of prayer. They went through a list of their brothers and sisters who was sick and afflicted. Then I watched as old men and old women stood up and turned and knelled on the pews. There was a long and pregnant silence before someone started crying out to the God who saves. There was such honesty in that prayer. I could hear the brothers and sisters crying and they called out to God. 

The prayer was followed by several different preachers presenting the people with a message from the Lord. So many of their words were about death and about staying true to Jesus and longing for perfect community with him. The preachers would walk around the congregation as they were preaching and shake hands with people, often with the same people every couple of minutes. The preachers often pointed to the dozens of pictures of people who had died from that congregation and refer to them as the "saints" who had stayed true to Jesus. When one preacher finished, everybody walked around the room and shook everyone else's hand or gave them a hug. And then another preacher would start. 

One preacher in particular must have thought that Jonathan and I were far from Christ. Because he looked intently at us during his entire message about sin, hell, death and eternity. He spoke with such intense sorrow. He told the church that he was from a family of ten, and that he was the only one left. He told of his two sons who have abandoned the faith. He told how he was alone, but would never turn back on Jesus. His eyes watered as he told us of our need to repent. 

My very soul was moved by his words.

After his sermon, as he was walking around greeting everyone, when he came to me and Jonathan he shook my hand and looked me in the eye and said, "I love you." 

It is not that I agree completely with their theology, I don't. In fact, I think that their eschatology is really lacking an inaugurated understanding.

But the differences in our theology did not dissuade me from knowing that these are people who have experienced deep sorrows and who desperately love Jesus and want him to save them. Their unrelenting honesty about their pain created a deep koinonia. 

After the service, they insisted that we share a meal with them, which we did. They truly showed us the love of Jesus as best they could.

I left this encounter deeply changed. I felt pain and hope at the same time, and I knew that Jesus was the one who brought hope out of pain. I felt a deep sense of God's beauty and mystery. And I knew that, while we might have significant differences in our doctrine, these people truly love Jesus and show that love as best they can to people.

The juxtaposition of these two encounters have made me reflect on the state of the church, especially the (ultra)conservative Protestant church in America. I think there is reason for deep discouragement. But I also think that there are glimmers of hope, of people who really are staying true to Jesus and really loving people. 

Perhaps Fundamentalists have a word from the Lord to share with us. Perhaps even liberals and Evangelicals should look to their hyper-conservative cousins and learn something about the God who suffers with and for people and about the hope he offers to the world through Jesus. 

----------------

Photos:

first, Hell's Best Kept Secret book by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron of Way of the Master Ministries

second, Jonathan and I on our way to the church

third, a picture of the pulpit after the service (you can see all the pictures of the dead saints on the back wall)

Me and Jesus Broke Up

This blog post spring boarded me into thinking about the whole Religion vs. Relationship dichotomy. So I want to give credit where it is due.

You don't have to sit around Christian circles for long before some says of Christianity, 

"It's not a religion, it's a relationship." 

Riiiight...

A relationship that has a certain narrative about the beginnings of all things.

A relationship that has a particular understanding of the goal of all things. 

A relationship that brings you into communion with millions of others.

I can't think of the last date I went on that came with its own narrative that encompasses all of reality. 

But maybe I just don't date enough.

I understand what this sentiment is trying to say, that Jesus isn't a dusty old book, but is alive and active within the lives of those who follow him. But I think that they say their point very poorly. First, it is an outright lie. Christianity is a religion. Shocking, I know. I'm not even going to argue for that one. Second, to say that all of Christianity can be boiled down to a relationship between you and Christ is errant on so many levels. It is language that is completely foreign from the Bible, not to mention the fathers. 

This might come as a disappointment, but Christianity is not about you and Jesus. 

Christianity is about the Triune God who dwells eternally in perichoresis. It is about this God and his coming to the world. 

Thirdly, I don't like the individualistic bent of this popular aphorism. Where is the Church, the body of Christ? 

"No one can have God as Father who does not have the Church as Mother" -St. Cyprian 

And I know that the Church is screwed up and it is hip to like Jesus but not the Church. But, listen, the Church is an outpost of God's Kingdom, a continuation of the incarnation. If you don't love the Church, then you don't love the very body of the crucified and risen Lord. 

“The Church is a whore, but She is my mother" -St. Augustine

Fourthly, it is overly romanticized. Do we really expect a Sleepless in Seattle experience with Jesus? (I know, I'm not being relevant enough by referencing such an old movie, but you'll deal. 

I guess I have come to the point in my life where I don't want my experience with and in God to be compared with the frivolities of romanticized love. I don't want my relationship with God to be merely a relationship. I don't want a religion that begins and ends with me entering or exiting a relationship on my emotional whims. I don't want a religion that rests upon my feelings, experiences or even my faith or lack of it. I want a religion that is an out flowing of the love of the Father and the Son for one another and the Spirit which animates that love. I want something more than a personal relationship. 

(I hope this is coherent, I am boarding on exhaustion. I might not even agree with it tomorrow. Oh, well.)

Jesus and Taxes

Hey, I won't do this all the time, but since some of you might not have updated your RSS feeds yet, I wanted to let you know about a new post I wrote over at Jesus Politics on Jesus and Taxes. You can read it here.