looking for a way in

This is one of my favorite questions from my "Dear Abby" column. This came in years ago...as did the last question..we let it die to be raised up more wiki.

I answered this years ago; I am sure I would say it differently now (As Bono said after speaking at the Prayer Breakfast, "The me of ten years ago can't imagine that I am here now.")...I might start with "centered sets", but here it is:

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Question: How can I connect what I feel inside to be true about God with what I hear others saying is true, when they don't match up? Should I deny the understanding & relationship I've developed about God in favor of other concepts which are tightly held by friends & family members, but seem strange & untrue to me? Can I be a Christian by picking & choosing among the ideas that circulate within the various Christ-based religions, assembling something that feels believable 100%, or must I take the totality of the dogma of one sect believing many parts to be untrue? I'm looking for a way in. Any suggestions? Also, how can I deal with the concepts that seem false? Disregard them, or fake belief? Faking belief seems dishonest.

Answer: Wow! Great, thoughtful questions. Ultimately, we have to base everything on Scripture. Since I don't know what particular group or groups you have in mind, I don't know whether everything in their particular doctrine is solid and biblical or not. Either way, God's revealed Word (the Bible that is; be wary of any group offering another book as Scriptural or near-Scriptural) is the only ultimate litmus test for you or your family and friends. I would hesitate to say that one can "pick and choose" among the various branches of Christianity, constructing something which "feels 100% believable." There may well be some things in authentic Christianity that don't seem believable to some, but are in fact essential, such as the physical resurrection of Jesus. The Word says without this foundational belief our entire faith is in vain. However, if what we "find believable" squares with what Scripture emphasizes, that model will work.

Don't believe anything either because loved ones (or even I) believe it, or you tend to believe it , but believe it because, in the words the bumper sticker, "God said it; I believe it; That settles it."

In response to the question about needing to believe the dogma of one sect in totality, I doubt that that is necessary. For example, I see no problem belonging to tradition with a slightly different teaching on communion than your personal view, for example (as long as the tradition offers you latitude in this area).

I am glad you are "looking for a way in." I agree that faking belief seems dishonest. But there is a principle I think is biblical, honest and helpful. Some call it "act as if it were true." My suggestion would be to make a list of the basics of biblical Christianity (go straight to the New Testament, or a book like Paul Little's "Know What you Believe" , John Stott's "Basic Christianity, " or C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity," and whether or not you believe it all, live your life for ten days "as if it were true." I don't know anyone who has taken this challenge who has not eventually agreed that Christ and His Word (not necessarily a particular denomination or expression of Christianity) are "the real thing" and found their "way in" in a way that was honest and didn't violate their own conscience and integrity. Start with an honest prayer something like, "Lord Jesus, I'm not even sure what I believe or if I believe in You the way these books describe, but if You are there, come into my life, and for then next ten days, help me to live and pray as if You were Who You say You are, and I covenant to make an honest decision at the end of that time."

If there are indeed particular doctrines that do seem false,. and they are not core issues such as Jesus being God, The Bible being God's Word, and Christ as the way to the Father, I would say tentatively put them aside and pray for discernment. I am so thankful for your refreshing questions. And know God is in love with you, and wanting to reveal Himself in a new way. I think Truth is self-authenticating. Above all, pray that God the Holy Spirit would show you what is essential and of Him, regardless of what anyone, including I, say. Would you keep in touch?"

Non-Con: David Ruis, Jackie Pullinger, and Keith Giles

A conference with

• David Ruis,
• Jackie Pullinger
• and Keith Giles?

How did I miss it? Here it is on audio...Thanks, Keith.

as you might guess with those speakers..

..it could only be called a "Non-Con"
(a term with
at least three profound prophetic meanings) Conference.

Video: Pat Boone-Smoke on the Water

Pat Boone - Smoke On The Water w/Blackmore

Larry | MySpace Video

Hear=obey=shush now and make disciples=שמע

Scot McKnight, "The Blue Parakeet" on the shema/שמע :

Did you know the word "listen" or "hear" is found more than 1, 500 times in the Bible?..Choosing not to listen disobeys the Shema: "Hear, O Israel..Klyne [Snodgrass] reaches this thoughtful conclusion: "The greatest commandment is to love God; the prior commandment [to loving God] is the command to hear."
-p. 98

As Via points out in his review of the book: שמע

Small quip. I feel that McKnight misses the “obedience” definition of the word שמע (shema), which means “hear,” or “listen,” (98-99).

Same is true of the NT Greek term, akuou.."to listen," is inextricable from 'to obey."

The שמע, then is maybe best an emdedded precommand, presupposition, asumption (uh, oh, we all know what happens when someone assumes) which cannot be torn asunder from, touches and kichstarts every "commandment"..including the one we call the Great Commission.

"Hear me/Cease to speak...shush now!":





Related:
John Piper: "Fasting is not a commandment, but a prediction of what will seem normal for those who miss the Bridegroom" (from "A Hunger for God," free here)

and

Great Commission and New Creation Reloaded/Deconstucted

with ads like these, who needs satire?

I am sure the architectural firm is well-meaning..
but I keep these ads for when I teach on the church not being a building to show how amazing the irony is...One would think these ads are Wittenburg Door spoofs of ads...or that at very least an editor would catch such terrible misuse of Scripture...in every ad in the series... to sell church buildings! (I usually also show the ad for the crazy-titled book "How to Put New Wine In Old Wineskins")

How about the verse,"We have a building from God, a house not made with hands," to illustrate a picture of a.....building made with hands!

Or the verse from Acts: "What kind of a house will you build for me?" The assumed answer in that Scripture is "NONE!" But that doesn't stop the ad asking, and offering a sample building~~

Click each ad to enlarge..just to see which Scripture is (mis)used next!!

Wolfgang Simson Starfish Video

Of course, Jesus was Asian:








MORE

Art lets go of accounting/elasticity of time

"In moments of sense gratification..we let go of accounting...
Art has a way of doing that to our experiential clocks.
At the moment when art is experienced,
time comes to a standstill.
At least it becomes experientially elastic."
-David Wang, "Art in a Tick Tock World,"
Mars Hill Review, Issue 24

This is a great article.
Two thoughts:

1)Re: the term "accounting." This connects me to Wolfgang Simson's comments about literal accountants in his seminal "Houses That Change The World." One excerpt:

Democracy may look like the safest form of church government, but it has proven to be the very one which is quickly leading into spiritual oblivion and facelessness, because it has the ability to block out prophetic direction in the name of the numerical majority, and usually introduces bureaucracy as the most inhumane and legalistic form of administration by accountants who will make sure that the letter of the law is followed.
link

2)It hit me that what Wang means by "experientially elastic"
is close to what Michael Pritzl meant by the term "elastic" in the motif and metarrative of The Violet Burning's classic "Plastic and Elastic"..let alone what one experiences in some of the holy moments of that "timeless" (oops, will have to change that word) album:

The interpretive key to this layered and intriguing work is spelled out as early as the title ("Is this CD plastic or elastic?" "Yes, both, precisely").

" Michael Pritzl, who basically "is" the Violets, was inspired to have his band cut this CD after returning from Berlin and seeing a sign reading "Plaste und Elaste"..that is, "Plastic and elastic."

This sign triggered his thoughts that life, relationships, romance and faith are sometimes divided into "plastic" experiences and songs (fun, maybe superficial and throwaway party stuff), and "elastic" items (flexible, fluid, stretching, deep, profound, emotional to the max).

So about half the songs are at heart "plastic": fun, rollicking rockers like "Moon Radio," "Berlin Kitty", "I'm No Superman".."new-wavish" songs and "single jingles" that stick like crazy in your head, and are all incredible on CD; and triply more so in concert; but songs I confess sometimes only preface the real treat of this disc: the "other half": the very "elastic" and ultimately astonishing, elongated, ethereal beautiful and at times almost-impossible to deal with emotive "feeling" songs; both in lyric and guitar. Like "She Says Electric" (a song about ..among other things, that is..remember that plastic "stretches" thematically) what a friend told Pritzl it feels like to be lost in worship": I am electric..face to the sun." Like "Oceana," (about ..on some listenings and levels anyway..how another friend leads him closer to God; and "Gorgeous" (most days my favorite song of basically, well..nothing less than all time..tied with "Goldmine" from the previous VB CD and "Song of the Harlot" from "Strength") ....a song I believe invokes how God feels about us: "I feel so much the distance in your eye..You won't catch me that way.. You're gorgeous".