Organic Community

I'm wondering if anyone has heard of Joe Myers or his two books?

Organic Community

The Search to Belong

Lullaby

Sufjan Stevens is having a Christmas song contest, but it's not a normal contest... The winner of the contest actually loses the rights to his/her song, but in exchange, receives the rights to a Sufjan Stevens song that he's written especially for this contest.

I've spent a lot of time writing this song for the contest, and although I'm not as crazy about the song as I'd like to be, I'm going to submit it. You can listen/download it here.

Here are the lyrics (it's a new twist on a familiar story... put your interpretation in the comments!):

try not to cry
you need your rest tonight
try not to think about
all that's going wrong

i'll stay awake
i'll keep watch over you
and i'll never leave your side

it won't be tonight
not in a stable
just hang on till morning
and see what he provides

so i'll make a bed
i'll sing a lullaby
and i'll never leave your side

soon you'll have a new life to lead
and i know you'd rather follow

but try not to cry
he'll give you strength
just try to think about
a thousand years from now

i'll make a bed
i'll sing a lullaby
and i'll never leave your side

The Shopocalypse

Anyone want to see What Would Jesus Buy

(found on hburgnews)

Does Occam's Razor Apply to Theology?

I often end up reading theology because of all of the other reading I do. Most recently, I ended up reading a two-part lecture defending "Classical Theism" in light of "Open Theism" I ran into this from a post by Jeffrey Meyers whom I find to be provoctive and thoughtful.

In a layman's nutshell (as I understand it) "Open Theism" allows for God to be changeable. Joel Garver summarizes it as this:

[1] that God's love requires his being responsive to his creatures
[2] that creatures therefore truly influence God
[3] that human freedom sets a limit on God's sovereignty
[4] that God learns the future at it comes to pass, and
[5] that God is thereby dependent upon the world in various respects.

"Classical Theism" holds that God is "immutable, impassible, independent of his creation" i.e. he can't change.

I read through the first lecture and followed it easily. The language is clearly college level, but overall the ideas are concise and don't require an MDiv to follow. In fact, the ideas could be characterized as ordinary; anyone who has experienced love or given love could conclude that in some sense love "changes" the parties in the relationship and hence if "God is love" he must "change".

The second lecture on the other hand (so it seems) is almost impenetrable to all but the elite theologians. It's packed with words like transcendence, immanence, intra-trinitarian, etc. The lecture is at least twice as long and over half is setting the scene for the argument. So when you come to:

This discussion of the revelation of God in Scripture, culminating in the revelation of God as Trinity, and its connection with the claims of classical theism, now enables us to address the important questions raised by the proponents of open theism.

it's a bit disheartening, and the remainder of the lecture is still mind-bending (not in the good way). It concludes with:

The Trinitarian God of Scripture, therefore, is also the God of classical theism who, as being itself and pure act, remains immutably and impassibly transcendent over creation as Trinity. It is precisely in the plentitude of the intra-Trinitarian relations that God already is passionate, loving, and responsive to his creation, even, in some sense, taking up the suffering of his creatures for their redemption. This divine weakness and vulnerability is, paradoxically, the fullness of the saving power of God, that dynamic and over-abundant love that lies beyond passibility and, indeed, beyond any shadow of turning.

Contrast that with the outline above or a simple statement like this from the same author setting the background for what "Open Theism" posits:

If we present a theology in which God is incapable of [love, compassion, mercy, tenderness, delight or pity] in any sense, in which God is inert and dispassionate, unmoved and aloof, then we are not being faithful to the teaching of Scripture. This biblical language of God’s passion and responsiveness cannot be set aside simply as “anthropomorphism” or divine condescension to human limitations in order that we might somehow conceive and relate to a God who, in reality, possesses a character or nature other than what he reveals himself to be. On the contrary, God’s self-revelation in Scripture and, above all, in the Person and work of Jesus Christ, shows us who God truly is in himself. This biblical language of divine compassion, mercy, grief, tenderness, and so on is, in some manner or another, literally true of the God of Holy Scripture.¹² On that much, the open theists are correct.

As I was wrestling through the second lecture I had the asked myself the question which is the title of this post. All other things being equal, is the simplest explanation the best theology? It certainly *feels* that way.

For the record, I don't think I totally endorse "Open Theism" as presented in this article (not that I've ever though about it before... this may be the first time I've ever read the terms), specifically points [3] and [4] above. When we talk about the sovereignty of God I think we need to be careful because if He loses his sovereignty then there is no certainty in His plan for redeeming creation and finally establishing the new heaven and earth.

Also, for the record... I'm a total hack, and while I may sound like I have a clue, I'm sure that God is preparing some words for me when we meet in person ;)

Judging

On the way back from the airport, Ginna and I were talking about past churches and the feelings they bring up when thinking about them - I can't bring myself to name specific churches as I feel like I'm judging a good thing - exactly what I'm trying to write about. Anyhow, I was reading a newsletter put out by Ransomed Heart Ministries in which he (John Eldredge) talks about "judging" being a necessary and good thing - albeit difficult. Here's a link to the November newsletter.

When I think about past churches, I think the thing I react to most is the idea of solid black and white. While it's comfortable to be able to put "God" in a box, I don't like that kind of god - nor can I relate well to that such a god. If God is so black and white, why does my life seem full of gray?

Saul Williams

Since Eric, can't stop talking about Nine Inch Nails ;) it was just a matter of time before he told me about Saul Williams He's a poet/emcee/rapper/actor who recently released an album NiggyTardust (Trent Reznor from NIN produced the record). Like, Radiohead's latest In Rainbows, NiggyTardust was released outside of the traditional channels and you can download it for free (or give $5) from the site. I downloaded it for free, not knowing if it was going to be my cup of tea.

After giving the album one spin through, I'm not disappointed though it's intense music so I don't know where it'll sit in my daily spin cycle. Musically it's amazing. If all you had was the music (without the lyrics) you could spend ages just searching out all the nooks and crannies of each song. Some of the songs are harsh, driving, and angry like "Black History Month" and "DNA" others are intimate and soft like "No One Ever Does". "Sacred Money" is jazzy (remember when US3 had that hit a decade ago?). Others are so simple and elemental (just a beat and voices) like "Raw." Saul also did a cover of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" which is a nice bonus.

The album is packed lyrically too. The lyrics are often uncomfortable because of the language (you might want to skip "The Ritual" unless you have a strong constitution ;) or because they force you to step outside of your context. Oftentimes the lyrics are spiritual and profound too. "No One Ever Does" is a beautiful example of that:

No one ever does.
No one ever does.
Memories are like promises that a seldom kept hence why Jesus wept.
Everyday we are torn away from the one we love. There's no God above.
Only if you would spend your gift to uphold the truth of just me and you and we represent all the time we've spent getting to this day.
There's no other way.
Aren't we who we claim to be.
The descendants of who we place above we must place within and slowly begin to love.
No one ever does.
No one ever does.

Suddenly who I thought was me was not me at all and I feel so small.
Sitting way beneath who I want to be.
I don't want to be who I've grown to be.
Only if I might somehow riff on the way before.
Let it be some more.
Lift me from this flaw if I can walk out [broad?] to love.
No one ever does.
No one ever does.

One of the reasons why I find music like this compelling is that there is no pretense. Saul seems very self-differentiated he is raw, unpolished, and honest (so it seems). Further, I hear an echo of God in the music. Many will find it offensive or difficult to listen to. I hear God intersecting our world; this is a thin place. I think there's a good chance that Papa is listening to Saul ;).

My curiosity piqued, I did some more reading on Saul and found an open letter he sent to Oprah. Again, there is spiritual content (but also themes and ideas which will offend):

There is nothing more mainstream than the denigration of women as projected through religious doctrine. Please understand, I am by no means opposing the teachings of Jesus, by example (he wasn't Christian), but rather the men that have used his teachings to control and manipulate the masses. Hip Hop, like Rock and Roll, like the media, and the government, all reflect an idea of power that labels vulnerability as weakness.

Phew! I shudder at the idea of sharing a letter like that with many Christians I know. Honestly, I considered not mentioning it here, but decided it could be fruitful to ponder.

What does Saul Williams teach us? How do we think rightly about stuff like this?

A series to follow

A lot of the writing that Jeff Meyers does is DENSE and hard to read and often he wrestles with topics that hard-core "reformed" people tend to concern themselves with. However, he just started a series "Is The Gospel in the Gospels?" It looks like it's going to be great.

Stewardship of the Environment

Randy turned me on to Catalog Choice. It's a cool service that allows you to "unsubscribe" from unwanted catalogs. I've been processing my catalogs as they received over the last week and I already have a couple dozen that I've opted out of. I haven't been recycling the catalogs recently (just got out of the habit) but when I did, I could fill an entire paper grocery bag with the magazines laying flat in about 3 months. What a waste!

Kiva

A few years back, I had this idea of making giving work more like investing. You'd get annual reports, have access to "business statistics", etc. If you've never heard of kiva.org then go now and check it out. It's a "micro-lending" site where you can "invest" money (at 0% interest) in the businesses of third-world entrepreneurs. You can read about it here. It comes pretty darn close to my original idea. We have a portfolio, we can invest more money in different business opportunities, we get a return (our money is repaid and can be reloaned... plus it feels good to help), and we get regular status reports.

Shiree and I loaned money to Gulshen Aliyeva in Azerbijan. So far we've gotten about 3 repayments on the loan (though we can't reloan the money until it's fully paid off). You can also follow our other loans (of which currently there aren't any ;)

About the only thing that would make it cooler is the ability to interact with the entrepreneurs via e-mail/Kiva. Obviously there would probably need to be a "gateway" where the email is printed and mailed to the entrepreneurs with a SASE which they could use to send a reply back (which was scanned and then posted on the site).

Thoughts from Raph

Some of you met my friend Raph (either at Food Not Bombs or at church on Sunday)... He sent me an e-mail and had the following to say:

While I was on COTAs website the other evening I checked out a little video they’ve got up now introducing what the community is all about. I thought it might be of interest to some of the folks in your new small group as you explore the idea of intentional community. Also Karen has a recent blog entry reviewing a new book on the emerging church scene within the Episcopal Church that sounds interesting. It’s titled 'Rising from the Ashes: Rethinking Church' by Becky Garrison. If you’re interested, here’s the link to Karen’s blog.

Greenbriar House Thanksgiving Smorgasbord!

I apologize that this announcement is rather late.

My house (affectionately called "Greenbriar" because that's what our street is named) is having a Thanksgiving get-together today (Monday November 19th, 2007) and are expecting somewhere between 75 and 100 people. This has been an annual thing for the past three years or so, and I'm inviting everyone to come.

The only thing that you'd need to bring is some sort of side dish which is Thanksgiving-appropriate if you have 3 or more people coming, otherwise feel free to come and eat. We've got 3, 22+ lb. turkeys, a giant ham, mashed potatoes and gravy (along with massive amounts of stuffing). Everything else is being brought by others, so if you want to make your favorite dish and bring it, come!

Time: 5:30pm
When: TONIGHT (Monday Nov. 19th)
Where: Greenbriar House (across from the Days Inn/University Outpost - park in that parking lot and walk up the Greenbriar Dr. hill) --- 948 Greenbriar Dr., Harrisonburg, VA, 22801
Who: EVERYONE!!! (kids are welcome!)
Why: THANKSGIVING WITH FRIENDS (before doing it with the fam!)

I'll email a notice about this as well - hope to see some of you there!

-Eric

Long-Range Planning

Last April Christ the King served the meal part of Skyline Literacy Coalition's annual Auction fundraiser. There were about 10 people that set tables, served drinks and food, and cleared plates after the meal. I think everyone had a good time and it felt great to help a good organization.

Apparently we did a good job (actually I know that ;) because they'd like us to come back. The 2008 Skyline Literacy Banquet and auction is MARCH 17, 2008. Last year we showed up around 4PM and were done before 9PM. I'm going to be pulling together a team of people to do this. Let me know if you'll put this on your calendar to help!

Put it on your calendars...

On December 15th either Shiree or I will likely be going to Warren Hall at JMU at 8AM to help Mercy House wrap presents for the children that come through.

Skyline Literacy Coalition Pleasant Valley ESOL Class

On Tuesday night me, Aiden, and Riley went to Pleasant Valley elementary school to participate in the Skyline Literacy Coalition's ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) program. The program is on Tues and Thursday night from 6PM until 7:30PM. It was provided in conjunction with the school mostly for parents of students at the school. Parents are taking either beginner or intermediate level English classes run by trained tutors from Skyline.

Our job was to be with the kids. As far as I could tell all of the kids spoke pretty good English. The evening was broken into basically three parts. At the beginning we helped the kids do homework (pre-school aged children drew/colored). Then there was a time where we did an active game (Simon Says this week). The last thirty minutes we read to the kids. Because this week was rich in volunteers the reading time was pretty much one on one. Aiden and Riley did the reading and I just watched and helped when they stumbled.

We read to a boy named Uriel. Uriel was a sweet and very touchy-feely Hispanic boy. He asked lots of question and wanted to make eye contact sometime to the point of pulling your face towards his. He wasn't terribly good at respecting "tradition boundaries" he would come up to you and just grab your leg or plop down on your lap without asking.

We also worked with Octavio and Handwen. Both of these kids were a handful; very ADD and not good listeners. Handwen wouldn't tell you his name, he insisted on being called "Subway." He was a big time jokester. According to Vanessa (the Skyline coordinator in charge of the evening) he is Kurdish. For a while in college I tried to collect the phrase "How many teeth do you have?" in as many languages as possible. So I tried to get Subway to tell me. He may have done it once but blurted it out so fast that I couldn't understand what he said. He spent the rest of the evening insisting he was Hispanic.

Both Aiden and Riley enjoyed the evening, so we're headed back on Tuesday night. Let me know if you're interested.