Consolidating under a new blog

Sorry for the inconvenience, but this is the last post on this blog. All the posts have been imported to a new blog. I had to do this to consolidate all my google account into one google account. It was getting too confusing constantly signing into one account and out of another account. So, please forgive the redirect, but if you want to see any newer posts, go to:
http://pjatjol.blogspot.com/

LOVE — the mark of Christian community

Jesus said that people will know we are disciples if we have love for one another. And that can be a problem. Because “love” is one messed up word, let me tell you!

Most often in our culture “love” means “like a great deal.” I love pizza. I love my car. I am in love with a girl. If you ponder this way of looking at “love” for a moment, you will see that it basically has to do with me. It means that something makes me feel good. Pizza. My car. The girl I’ve started dating. Why do I love them? Because they make me feel so good!

Imagine trying to build a community (or family, or marriage, for that matter) on everything making me feel good. It may sound attractive, but so does being able to fly through the air just by thinking hard enough… and both are equally as likely.

Lucky for us, our feelings are not what Jesus is talking about when he says “love for one another” will be an observable mark of his disciples.

Can you imagine a community where people are patient and kind? Where people aren’t envious, boastful, rude or arrogant? Where people don’t insist on their own way? Where nobody is irritable or resentful? Where people believe in you, don’t keep a record of wrongs, and bear with you? That would be an awesome place! I am smiling just thinking about it.

A place like that would be a place where people have decided to treat each other well, sometimes in direct opposition to how they are feeling. That would a place where love, as the Bible talks about it, is the driving force and have I got some good news for you! That is exactly the place God wants the church to be.

There are over 60 references in the New Testament to how Christians are to treat each other. The message series beginning September 12 at Journey of Life will be exploring how God says we are to treat one another. We will also have 5-week small groups to further explore and grow in how to treat each other well.

You can listen to or view the messages on Journey of Life's Blip.tv channel (http://journeyoflife.blip.tv/). The are usually posted by Wednesday morning, and are often posted on Sunday afternoon following the service. We're also going to take a crack at having a virtual small group, so if you are not in Orlando and want to participate, just let me know. (john@journeyoflife.org).

Love - The Mark of a Christian Community

Jesus said that people will know we are disciples if we have love for one another. And that can be a problem. Because “love” is one messed up word, let me tell you!

Most often in our culture “love” means “like a great deal.” I love pizza. I love my car. I am in love with a girl. If you ponder this way of looking at “love” for a moment, you will see that it basically has to do with me. It means that something makes me feel good. Pizza. My car. The girl I’ve started dating. Why do I love them? Because they make me feel so good!

Imagine trying to build a community (or family, or marriage, for that matter) on everything making me feel good. It may sound attractive, but so does being able to fly through the air just by thinking hard enough… and both are equally as likely.

Lucky for us, our feelings are not what Jesus is talking about when he says “love for one another” will be an observable mark of his disciples.

Imagine a community where people are patient and kind? Where people aren’t envious, boastful, rude or arrogant? Where people don’t insist on their own way? Where nobody is irritable or resentful? Where people believe in you, don’t keep a record of wrongs, and bear with you? That would be an awesome place! I am smiling just thinking about it.

A place like that would be a place where people have decided to treat each other well, sometimes in direct opposition to how they are feeling. That would a place where love, as the Bible talks about it, is the driving force and have I got some good news for you! That is exactly the place God wants the church to be. God wants our church to be an awesome place to be!

Beginning September 12, 2010, we are going to take five Sundays to talk about the over 60 references in the New Testament to how we can treat each other well. We are also going to have 5-week small groups with materials that follow this series. These are going to excellent groups to be in and I strongly encourage you to commit now to be in one when we organize them. We are even going to take a crack at a virtual group because some people who want to be involved have a travel schedule that takes them out of town regularly right now.

When I look around Journey of Life, I already see this kind of love in practice. Journey of Life is an awesome place to be. I am excited to celebrate the love we share, study what the Bible teaches about how to treat each other well, and grow in being able to display the love that marks us as followers of Jesus Christ.

I got cussed at yesterday... very strange

Here's what happened:

Yesterday, part of my day was spent putting out roadside signs for a Financial Peace University preview class our church is hosting this weekend. As I was walking away from putting a sign on the corner of an intersection, I heard someone yell, "Go f--- yourself!" I looked up. A young man was leaning out of the window of a large late model pickup truck that had turned right and was pulling away from the intersection. He yelled again while hanging out of the window looking in my direction, "Did you hear me? Go f--- yourself!"

He could have been yelling at someone else, but I didn't see anyone else around.

I have encountered some harshness toward my faith (though very little). But these signs don't even mention our church, except the web address, which also doesn't indicate it's a church (http://www.journeyoflife.org/). Several churches do put signs out like that in our area, so maybe he assumed it was for a church.

What I don't understand is what, in his mind, is the point? Does he think saying, "F---" to me is goint to hurt my tender ears? Offend me? I guess he is publicly expressing his opinion, which can be somewhat cathartic. Really, though, I just don't get it. Not only did it not bother me, I found it, for some strange reason, mildly entertaining.

Upon reflection, though, I am a little bothered by the incident. It occurs to me that he must not have been wearing a seatbelt and, while cussing out the window is just silly, not wearing a seatbelt is dangerous.

Postmodernism... Sort of

I've been exploring worldviews, truth, etc. for a sermon series on "Reframing Your Worldview." I stumbled across a page that randomly generates short academic papers based on stock terms and phrases. It's quite fun. There is also an adolescent poetry generator linked from that page.

Check it out at:
http://www.elsewhere.org/pomo

Grace and Justice in Society

I was at a friends how the other night playing poker (gasp!). One of the things I love about poker is that it is so interactive. If you are simply playing for chips, or even nickel and dime poker, you can have several hours of great fun getting to know people more deeply for less than the price of a movie with popcorn.

Regardless, this blog is not about the poker game but the conversation after the poker game. It was great. It was political. It was great because it was political. I think that the devil (forces of evil, etc.) have scored a great victory in defining polite conversation. What two topics are off limits in polite conversation: Religion and politics. These are are two of the most important subject a group of people could ever talk about. Our relationship with God and our societal relationships with each other. By moving religion and politics out-of-bounds, we have virtually ensured that we will continue to have greater conflict and deeper misunderstanding because we can't or won't discuss two of the things at the very roots of our lives.

So the game ended and the conversation turned to politics. The political leanings of the people around the table varied significantly. I will probably talk about my own political leanings at some point. Not tonight, however.

One person at the table said he was a Democrat because he believes that they are more grace-filled. Bear in mind that this is a table of Lutherans. We believe that the three cornerstones of our faith are grace alone, faith alone and scripture alone. So his following the party that seemed to offer more grace into people's lives makes sense.

Here is my struggle: is 'grace' the proper posture for a government? Will a grace-filled government lead to a more grace-filled society or to a more chaotic society? In the sphere of Christian faith, individuals are absolutely called to -- even obligated to -- be grace-giving toward others because of God's grace to us. Is this the sphere in which the government operates, however. This especially needs to be thought through in a country like the U.S. wherein the government is constitutionally prohibited from establishing a religion.

My current thinking is that grace is not the government's job. The government's job in the US is to protect us from external enemies and maintain justice within our country irrespective of a person's color, creed, social status, etc. I would call on people everywhere to be gracious, to feed the poor, etc. But to do it voluntarily. As soon as we, the citizens, recruit the government to do our charity (that is our loving of others), it ceases to be love because it is compelled. By using the government to feed the poor, we institute a system of compulsory charity (an oxymoron if I've ever heard one). It is possible that this compulsory charity actually makes our society meaner. Instead of people having to face the poor among us, we can be sure that there is a program somewhere to care for them and as long as we pay our taxes we are doing our part. Instead of having to think about others and make decisions about charity (about love), feeding the poor becomes one more deduction on the pay stub, not worthy of consideration because there is no choice in the matter any way.

Criminals are another matter for another time.

May you recognize God's blessings in your life.

BOOK: "Rumors of Another World" by Philip Yancy

Just finished reading "Rumors of Another World: What On Earth Are We Missing?" I really enjoyed it. It's sort of a post-modern look at natural theology (natural theology is discerning the existence and character of God simply through our observance of thing in an around us and without primary reliance on any sacred scripture as authoritative).

Unfortunately or fortunately, I have a fairly skeptical nature. This often pokes at my faith. In "Rumors," Philip Yancy takes a look at what we see in the world to see if it matches what the Bible teaches. He also looks at several "natural" phenomena -- such as sex, guilt and altruism under horrific oppression -- and sees in them rumors of the spiritual world around us which is not available to direct observation.

One great point in "Rumors" is how to view the commandments of God. If we live a purely materialistic existence, many commands of God seem on the surface to be dictates of the cosmic killjoy. If we only look forward to our spiritual existence in heaven, then we are putting off today's pleasures for tomorrows joys. Yancy's assertion is that this is generally a false dichotomy. God's instructions come to us not only -- or even primarily -- as rules defining sin but more as instructions toward the best life. God made sex. God wants us to have the best sex possible. Sex is best experienced in marriage. Guilt (properly) is a sensitivity in our soul alerting us to areas of brokenness or weakness just as pain in our physical bodies is a gift from God that keeps us from damaging ourselves further. God's instructions bring the best life in every sense, not just in the 'spiritual' sense.

The end result of this book is Yancy's assertion that we need to see life with "stereoscopic vision." The question is not whether earthly live matters more or heavenly life matters more. They are both intricately intertwined. We can see this when we have eyes to see. Both worlds exist. Both worlds matter. We live in both worlds right now, even though we see one with our eyes and one with our spirits.

I highly recommend "Rumors of Another World" by Philip Yancy. If you are in the area, you may borrow my copy.