God at Work

From Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis, thanks Johnny Storm.

“The point in the book of Acts isn’t the early church. The point is the God who is at work in and through the early church to change the world. When we take the Bible seriously, we are taking God seriously. We believe that the same God who was at work then is at work now. The same God in the same kinds of ways. The goal is not to be a ‘New Testament Church.’”

My church heritage has held to this very reading of scripture that leads to a well-intended but ultimately short-sided effort to replicate the pattern of the New Testament Church. Because in the same way one don’t study a map to learn the map, we don’t study the Bible to know the Bible and we don’t study the Church in the past to replicate the Church. You study a map to arrive at a destination. We study the Bible to know God and we study the Church in the past to dream of what Church can become in the future through God's work.

Change

Four years ago my brief mountain biking stint came to a sudden conclusion on one windy Abilene, Texas afternoon. In the midst of riding a trail on this fated day, I went through a patch aptly titled “Cactus Minefield.” The evil wind huffed and puffed with such vigor that would blow even Lance Armstrong off his bike. Despite my best effort to right my faltering bike, the wind won. I lost. The cactus lost, she lost her spines. My face, neck, arm, hand, leg and torso adroitly recovered the prodigal cactus spines.
When I finally arrived back to my house an hour later, my nurse wife began a lengthy process of attempting to remove these spines, but even the most skilled medical professional couldn’t remove all the little devils that occupied my body. To this day one still remains entrenched in the palm of my hand.



For the last four years I had grown accustomed to living with it, but now it is starting to annoy me. So my question for you is do I leave it or try to cut it out?

Please hear the analogy of this little devil in my hand to the wounds, bitterness, and destructive habits we carry around with us for years and not make the effort to try to remove them because we have grown accustomed to living with them.

We make serious life change when the pain to remain exceeds the pain to change.


UPDATE: (10.27)
Over the weekend a friend who doesn't read the blog invited me to go mountain biking. I quickly turned him down. Unfortunately for him while riding he broke his hand. I think I am just bad luck.

Kingdom

Here are some words from Frederick Buechner on Christ’s Kingdom.

“What he seems to be saying is that the Kingdom of God is the time, or a time beyond time, when it will no longer be humans in their lunacy who are in charge of the world but God in his mercy who will be in charge of the world…
We cannot make the Kingdom of God happen, but we can put out leaves as it draws near. We can be kind to each other. We can be kind to ourselves. We can drive back the darkness a little. We can make green places within ourselves and among ourselves where God can make his Kingdom happen.”

Lord Jesus come soon…

NT Wright

The line of good and evil never runs between us and them, but between ourselves.
NT Wright

Random Football Thoughts

Here is a pic from the Monday night Cowboys/Eagles game a few weeks ago. It just happens to be one of the best games I have ever seen and to see it in person made it even better.

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The Oakland Raiders recently inquired of my father-in-law and the rest of his high school football staff regarding one of their former players who currently kicks for UT. The first question they asked,
"Was he on time to class?"

I have wondered year after year why I don't get drafted, and now I know. And to think, I always blamed it on being small and slow.

Peter Gomes

Peter Gomes recently spoke at my good friend Brian's seminary. Over lunch Dr. Gomes told Brian that he had never seen an episode of the Colbert Report, but while in the greenroom waiting for the show two weeks ago he realized that Stephen Colbert was a loon. So he decided to treat him like any of the smart-(edit) undergrad students at Harvard that he has taught for the last 20+ years. I think he held his own while talking about his new book.

Avery Video

Here is a video I put together about Avery's arrival. For more Avery stuff please check out my wife's blog


EDIT: To see Lindsay's blog go to the link "My Girls" on the side.