Smart Pastor

Generally I am not the world’s biggest Louie Giglio fan and probably would have gone about this differently, but this is gold.  Talk about a wonderful illustration on God holding all things together.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Col 1:15-17)

Pretty Cool, huh?

Image via Wikipedia

What would it mean for little green men to visit earth? According to some theologians it would throw everything we know about Jesus up in the air.

The central conundrum posed to Christianity by alien contact would involve the Incarnation — the arrival of Jesus Christ as God’s representative on Earth, his crucifixion and the absolution of humanity’s sins through his forgiveness.

“It would still be true — but if there are other races and intelligences, then what is the meaning of this visit to our race at that time?” asked Vatican astronomer Guy Consolmagno, who in 2005 penned the booklet Intelligent Life in the Universe?

For others, it would mean multiple forms of Jesus.

Some propose that the Earthly incarnation of Jesus some 2,000 years ago redeemed all intelligent creatures, in all places and — since a space-faring race is likely older than us — in all times. Others have suggested that Jesus could take multiple forms.

“Just as Jesus is human like you and I, you would find an alien-specific Jesus,” said Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary professor Ted Peters.

And what would we do if we meet little green men?

………missionary work may be required, something the aliens may not welcome — especially if, as many postulate, they are technologically superior to humanity and do not have religions of their own.

(Source for quotes and the rest of the story, E.T. Come to Communion.)

If nothing else, your position on extra terrestrial life may be one you ought to prep for when looking for a new ministry job.

I read a good number of books by mega church pastors to plagiarize gleen ideas for sermons. Most of these books end up shelved - not being of much value other than the illustrations and quotes. The Contrarian’s Guide to knowing God was an exception to the norm…I really liked it!

Most “sermon-series-turned-books” just don’t come across as all that thoughtful to me…this one did. Pastor Larry Osborne takes on much of the conventional wisdom on spiritual growth and forces his readers to reexamine their long held assumptions. He also put language to one of my theological pet peeves and that may be of great help to me.

It is called the “Contrarian’s” Guide as contrarian thinking, at its best, asks if conventional wisdom is true.  This book challenges many widely held assumptions on the Christian life and spiritual growth.

First my pet peeve. It seems to me that some Christians make knowing the Bible the point of being a Christian. I think, for some, the Bible almost ends up being an idol viewed as the missing member of the Trinity. (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Book.) I have always believed that our chief purpose in life is to serve God, not become Biblically literate. Of course, knowing the Scriptures helps us understand how to please God, but that is a means to an end. Don’t get me wrong, I am pro-Bible and don’t think Christians read it enough, but as Pastor Osborne points out in his book, If knowing the Bible is a point of being a Christian, how did Christians for the first 1600 years or so have any chance of pleasing God? What about those that can not read? Do they have a shot to glorify God?

Also, he takes on another issue I have been struggling with. It is the idea that the only God pleasing spirituality is one that looks like an introverted and introspective monk. He points out, and I believe rightly so, that the reason we may think that is so is because only smart introverts write books on Christian formation.  Where are the scatterbrained and odd models for us to follow?  How many people in the Bible look and act like Dallas Willard or Richard Foster?  (My question, not his.)

I appreciated his “real world” approach to growing in faith.  He writes about how it seems rare when people grow based on our clever strategies and baseball diamonds.  He does not write opposing the idea of such 101, 201, etc. progressions, but at least having a more realistic approach to growth.  Quite frankly, I find his approach to be much more based on the work of God in a person’s life and not human effort and sociology.

A final theme I found helpful was when he writes on the subject of passion.  We have somehow come to believe that A good Christian should always be “on fire” for the lord and have a passionate relationship with God.  He tackles in a thoughtful way what it may really mean to be with your “first love.” (Rev. 2)

If there was one thing I did not appreciate it was a lack of a call to anything other than a ordinary life.  He makes a point, and again I believe rightly so, that not everyone is called to be a leader and not everyone is called to change the world.  But I think he may have in the process of making that point understated the need for followers of Jesus to life sacrificially so the world may be changed.  It really is a minor point of disagreement.

As sermon series to books go, this one is the best I have read in years. I recommend checking out The Contrarian’s Guide to knowing God

NEED TO GET IN SHAPE THIS SUMMER?

• The Health Watch Center on 16 Kick-Start Tips For Your Own Body Transformation.

IN GOD WE TRUST

• It is now more than a national motto, it is a name. Being a cynic, I can’t imagine selling his artwork had anything to do with it.

ON GLOBAL SLAVERY

• This is one to bookmark and share with your church and/or mission board…10 Shocking Facts About Global Slavery in 2008.

MORE GREAT READS

• The 100 Top management and leadership blogs from HRworld.

REALLY UNFORTUNATE OUTAGE OF THE DAY….SO FAR

“True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.”

~ Winston Churchill

I found this last week on CT. Very Interesting….

What may be a promising twist to the story of the American university’s fall from grace was covered in a recent New York Times Magazine article, “Students of Virginity.” There’s a growing number of brave students banding together to both resist the hookup culture and to promote sexual abstinence before marriage—and not mainly for religious reasons.

photo credit: Stoichiometry

Virginity clubs like Harvard’s True Love Revolution (TLR) and Princeton’s Anscombe Society instead ground their arguments in philosophical ethics and scientific studies that show the harmful consequences of recreational sex. The list of things undesirable and therefore avoided is long: diseases, unplanned pregnancies, rape, feelings of regret and alienation, and in some cases, higher divorce rates and maternal poverty. Overall, argues TLR, casual sex leads to “personal unhappiness and social harm,” while premarital abstinence ensures better health, better relationships, and “better sex in your future marriage.”

The piece then goes on to suggest how we might make a bridge to the culture.

Where a Christian sexual ethic can pick up where philosophy and statistics leave off is in articulating reasons for premarital abstinence beyond “it works.” And for this, it will likely be seen as antiquated and strange. The idea of doing something (or not doing something you want to do) for reasons other than individual gain or loss defies the my-happiness-first logic that’s enshrined in the West. If going to a “pimps and ho’s” party, getting drunk, and sleeping with a stranger decreases my overall health and happiness, it makes sense to refrain. But what if having protected sex with my fiancée seems like it will increase our health and happiness? If our benefit is the measure, then refraining becomes absurd.

The church, following the picture of sexuality throughout Scripture, has consistently taught that sex belongs smack dab in the middle of marriage. “One can say that in Christianity’s vocabulary the only real sex is the sex that happens in a marriage,” Lauren Winner wrote in Real Sex. “The faux sex that goes on outside marriage is not really sex at all.” Thus, a distinctly Christian argument for premarital abstinence is ontological, not utilitarian. God keeps sex in marriage as an expression of the audacious covenant that two people make, in the context of community, to be bound together exclusively and eternally—an echo of the bond between the persons of the Trinity.

Here is my thought…perhaps we could make the theological argument based on a practical foundation. This works because this is how you were made. This works because it is in alignment with the One who holds the universe together.

I agree that making the rational for it a strictly practical one gives permission to walk away from that decision when it no longer seems practical, but it seems the practical benefit of abstinence has power to make a bridge. Let’s not be so quick to run away from it.

GOING ON VACATION THIS SUMMER?

• The Dumb Little Man on the 7 web sites you must check out before you leave on vacation.

WONDER WOMAN IS TO LATE TO SAVE THE DAY…REALLY

• Wonder Woman (Linda Carter) found a body on the Potomac River.

IRONIC NEWSPAPER MISTAKE OF THE DAY

• A May 31 Metro article about the Scripps National Spelling Bee misspelled last year’s winning word.  See for yourself.

ON GAS AND GAS PRICES

• Long time readers of this blog know I like to have fun with North Dakota from time to time.  (See my visitor stats and post on a North Dakota Bible Camp.) Perhaps I should not do so as North Dakota may have more oil reserves than Saudi Arabia.  Finally, in my photo of the day, check out this “Thrifty Gas.”

(Source)

“Better three hours too soon, than one minute too late.”

— William Shakespeare

This is a radical departure from our last two YouTube Friday’s where I featured the initial and follow up talk by Micheal Frost on the mission church.  (Both are excellent and worth your time.)

Today, as a tribute to my readers who’s formative years were in the 80’s, I offer the perfect combination of vintage pop culture meeting Web 2.0.

The rock band Journey has a new lead singer, a guy from the Philippines who they discovered on YouTube.  Check them out here on the Ellen show…the guy sounds near perfect.

“You must accept that you might fail; then, if you do your best and still don’t win, at least you can be satisfied that you’ve tried. If you don’t accept failure as a possibility, you don’t set high goals, you don’t branch out, you don’t try – you don’t take the risk.”

— Rosalynn Carter