More than I ask or imagine. . .

Worshiping God through the Arts

    Much of our discussion in the Reformed world of images and worship have tended to be discussions of pictures of Jesus or any person of Trinity.  So the question then becomes, what about abstract art?  Some think that abstract art is fine too but not comprehensible. How do we communicate through art, while keeping in mind that our hearts are idol-factories?

    The answer is creating as a service to God. The Sermon, music and the prayers are often products of people creating.  When we create as humans, we image God. When we do it to encourage the Body of Christ, it is part of living our 1 Corinthians 12.

    For our Missions Festival at New Life Presbyterian Church, we had a unique opportunity to use the gifts of our Body to encourage our Body.  In a serious economic downturn, anxiety is high for those who support missionaries who lose income and missionaries who have to depend on that support.  In the video below, Alex Pinguli and Jim Lovelady team up to encourage our body through music and art.  Let me know what you think.  For us as a Body, it was tremendously encouraging.

Freedom on Independence Day.

Today is our Independence Day!.  Please read the Declaration of Independence today and remember what it says.  Also, here is an article about the Rights of Life, Liberty, and Property that are really the same rights from Campaign for Liberty.  And finally, a Happy Fourth from Ron Paul.  I am so glad that I have been reading the founding documents recently, much of that has to do with Ron Paul and his campaign last year. I only took an interest in him last year after McCain was the presumptive nominee. Regardless of his political future, I am grateful for his perspective and love for our country.

May our comforts not lull us into losing our freedom.

JD tries some Rice Cereal at 6 months

A Love of Beverages

As some of you know I love beverages, any and every type. It seems that JerryDonald is taking to them too.

Do we really believe the Declaration of Independence?

Image via Wikipedia

Well, July 4th is this weekend and I wonder if we really believe the Declation of Independence.

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."

Could this even be done in today's world? 

A great quote from GK Chesterton about Patriotism and Country: Can (the patriot) hate it enough to change it and yet love it enough to think it worth changing?

Erhman on Colbert: Son of God or Misinterpreted?

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Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Stephen Colbert in Iraq

A Clown for JerryDonald

The Theological Task

Image by Klearchos Kapoutsis via Flickr

I have a deep conviction that we need to keep theologizing.  Theology is not static but always answering new questions and correcting new voids. Often, Christians believe that theology is a done deal, but that leads to a "sit down, shut up, here are the answers" mentality.  We are not called to get our theology right, we are called to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice.

This is also a theological task.  See everything you do is a theological statement, whether its your Starbucks order, your Facebook profile, or your iTunes library.  We say things or even dream things that we want to be, that is a type of worship.  True worship leads to transformation of all of those things. Thereby, theology is being Scripture and life together as a living sacrifice.

The call of Christ demands for us to bridge new frontiers, not because the old ones are wrong, just not complete. We don't want to change with our tradition but we do need development. Daniel Kirk in a post about why he cares about the Reformed world summarizes his thoughts:

Then, I'd say, the work of Christ is equally about transformation of the cosmos and new life as it is about justification. Then, I'd say, the calling of God's people is not only to celebrate their standing before the bar of judgment but to bring justice to bear on the earth.

I'm beginning to see more clearly that the structure of the cosmos, the problem with the cosmos, the work of Christ, and our own lives as Christians are inherently intertwined. And, that certain articulations of structure, problem and work leave folks with deeply impoverished lives that fail to put on display citizenship in the kingdom of God.

This is theologizing.  If we see a brother or sister leading an impoverished life it is often that their functional theology is deeply flawed.  Good theologizing enables us to strike at the heart of this despair with fresh words by the Spirt.  It is a task that I am committed to and I want you to be a part of too. Because we and the world and the work of Christ are intertwined.

 

Another YouTube Video of JerryDonald

Some of my Sermons on the Web

Just a post of links for my sermons on from 2009 so far, there are more in the archives at New Life Presbyterians blog:

Center Yourself: A Sermon on Luke 24

Future Joy: A Sermon on John 16

Mercy, Mercy Me: A Reconciliation Sermon for MLK Day