Padre Complex

Well — things are beginning to cook here at the parsonage. We have a week until the inlaws come, and the open house for the church is here at the house this Sunday.

What am I doing? Discovering podcasts! Some of the interesting places to look are — podcast.net (search for ‘methodist’ to see which churches are listed), or podcastalley.com (where a search for ‘bono‘ revealed the complete audio from the Rolling Stones interview from last month — very nice..). If you have any other items of note regarding podcasts I’d love to hear.

So — when will Hauerwas get a podcast going?

Note: No Hauerwas podcast, yet — but Alan Hartung has a podcast for the emergent church entitled a Different Perspective.

Note #2: Ok.. in the ‘now for something completely different’ category there is a podcast entitled “A Klingon Word from the Bible.” Now — not being a full geek but only a partial geek (Star Wars over Star Trek anyday) — I am familiar with those who translate english into the not yet alive (as opposed to dead) language of Klingon. So for those of you who are born again, full fledged geeks, who love Jesus — you’ll want to subscribe to the above podcast. I think the Jewish have a phrase for this — it is “Oy Vey!”

The sidebar to the left - I have never introduced you the reader to it.

+Archives - Yep, you guessed it all the musings of me the padre.

+Blogroll - these are people who are a lot like me - just musing. They don’t get paid for it and they are no more distinguished at it than said padre.

+Good Questions - These are questions that I have found some answers for — sometimes they are obvious answers, other times they are the more challenging parts of being me - a padre with a complex.

+Media - these are some of the journals, and periodicals that I read in attempt to be more credentialed, distinguished, and hopefully to become paid to do what I do.

+Voices - these are not the kind that you get in the head and have to go see the psychiatrist. These voices are people who are distinguished, credentialed, or paid for what they do. And in addition to that they are sources that I use for inspiration, guidance, and sanity.

My hope is that you’ll look over at the sidebar occasionally. But I’ll also give you a heads up as well whenever I add something that is extra juicy.

The latest additions? In Voices - NT Wright, In Good Questions - “Pat Robertson - Faithful Pastor or Angy Man?“, In Media - Bookmining.com.

Take care.

Richard at Bandits No More writes about the recent Called Session of Annual Conference.

He has asked for some comments — and since his setup only allows for blogger login comments - I’ll put mine here.

I agree with Richard. It is an exciting move and the right move.

Change is hardest when it comes from the bottom. This change has been longed for by those of us on the bottom for quite a while. Thankfully, Bishop Huie sensed this and began working towards the health of the conference from her first day in the position. And in many ways her involvement determined some of the vote this weekend. When you have the resources of the annual conference at your disposal it is easy to do a through job of assessing the situation and growing towards change. I’m not saying that the vote was inauthentic because the Bishop was pro-change. I am saying that the argument was easier to make when you don’t have to fight the resistance of an entrenched leadership.

I was most surprised with where the dissent came from. I expected small churches in the farthest corners of the conference to cry foul. I expected them to argue that bigger districts will mean less connection. I expected an amendment that would require the decentralization of the conference office - or some equivalent.

Instead, the resistance came from the old guard, the retirees. I respect the retirees — they have worked hard to construct a church/conference that was able to preach the Gospel and provide me with a place to hear God call me into ministry. But with respect there needs to also come the truthtelling comment that their resistance was so off base that it was laughable.

In many ways we should have expected their resistance. Most views of developmental theory talk about a period of generativity or legacy at the end of life. People want to feel like they have changed their world and left something better for those who will follow them. For many of the retirees we were not just changing the conference — but rather we were deconstructing the very institutions that they fought hard to assemble. To lower the number of districts, and to speak the truth that a DS cannot be an effective expert in every field was to say that their way of ministry was no longer relevant. It was to reject the legacy they had left for us.

“During all my years of ministry I never felt a need to call on conference staff people in Houston. We surely don’t have the need to add more staff there now.”

In contrast, I have called, and used conference staff in both appointments I have served. The conference staff has provided statistical information to assess my church ’s effectiveness. The conference staff has planned retreats on the district and conference level that have helped me learn about prayer, peace with justice, and tax issues related to being a pastor and running a church. In addition, I am pretty sure that the Centers for Congregational and Clergy Excellence are one of the few ways to go if we want specialists who can actually help gather and teach best practices.

I was surprised at the younger clergy person’s comments. He spoke out against the resolutions. He tried to advance an argument that all of the duties of the Center for Clergy Excellence were being covered currently. But the truth is that the DS, Board of Ordained Ministry, and the Office of Ministerial Service are at their breaking points. The mixture of higher accountability, dual relationships, and the literal limits of physical time and money was/is hampering their ability to take care of the developmental needs of pastors.

And of course, the retiree’s comment of …

“There’s an easy solution to conflict. Just move the pastor.”

… got a raucous response because it was so laughably false and out of touch. I can’t imagine what is healthy about resolving conflict (especially if the pastor is lacking in skills, competencies, or maturity) by immediately moving a pastor. It makes me think of the cliche “When all you have is a hammer - everything looks like a nail.”

A one tool toolbox may have worked for the last three decades - but it is out living its usefulness. Thank goodness that the vote has begun a process of adding tools to the tool box so that we can reach people for Christ in a more fruitful and faithful way.

Update: Guy Williams has shared some of his impressions of the debate.

Just some light Sunday Afternoon reading…

And the bottom line of postmodernity is the deconstruction of the individual. No longer are we the masters of our fate, the captains of our soul. We are each a mass of floating signifiers, impulses and impressions, changing all the time, reconstructing ourselves as we go along according to the stimuli we receive, the spin that comes our way. The ‘meaning’ of a book, a poem, a work of art is not something inherent in the thing itself, but shifts according to the readers. Who is to say there is any objective meaning? If metanarratives are to be killed off, so are authors, whose intentions remain opaque behind the text-and is there even a text, anyway?

Equally, you can see what happens if you transpose the same confusion into other spheres, such as politics, marriage and sexuality, or education. This is the postmodern dilemma: reality ain’t what it used to be, the great stories have let us down, we aren’t feeling ourselves any more. We are left with a pick-and-mix culture, an if-it-feels-good-do-it culture, a whatever-turns-you-on culture: the hippiedom of the 1960s grown up, all dressed up for the millennium but with nowhere to go. At the personal level, the culture is symbolized by the portable personal stereo, creating for its wearer a private and constantly shifting world of sound; or more darkly the pornography industry, now providing safe telephone or cyberspace sex for those who find that real relationships with real human beings are too complex or messy. At the corporate level, in the UK we have the Greenwich Dome-a giant impressive space which nobody knows what to do with-it is, perhaps despite its inventors’ intentions, a near-perfect symbol of this confused, shifting, ambitious yet rootless culture.
- N.T. Wright “The Bible for the Post Modern World“

Yep… but what do you do if you id more with being a Postie than a modernist?

With Congressmen John Murtha’s comments on Thursday, a firestorm has erupted in DC. Accusations have flown and the usual formal atmosphere of Congress resembles a little closer the image of WWF’s Smackdown with suits.

Regardless of what side of the aisle you are on - isn’t it strange that both the left and the right claim a moral-religious high ground for the issue of the war in Iraq - but both seemed to be acting and speaking in a way that would be hard to recognize as faithful or dare I say … Christian?

We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life. 3 A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. 4 A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. 5 A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything - or destroy it! 6 A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. 7 This is scary: You can tame a tiger, 8 but you can’t tame a tongue - it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. 9 With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. 10 Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! 11 A spring doesn’t gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? 12 Apple trees don’t bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t bear apples, do they? You’re not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you? (James 3 - The Message)

And for those of you who are less likely to read scripture or to find it resourceful try this…

This morning I have a tube of toothpaste. I want you to watch very carefully and see what I am going to do with this toothpaste. (Open the toothpaste and squeeze all of the toothpaste out of the tube onto a saucer.) There, I think I have just about all of the toothpaste squeezed out of the tube. Now I need one of you to help me with the next part. (Choose one of the children to be your helper.) Okay, I want you to put all of the toothpaste back into the tube. Can you do that? You can’t? You mean that you can’t put that toothpaste back into the tube once it is squeezed out? Of course not, that is silly isn’t it?

Did you know that very same thing is true of the words we speak? Have you ever said something that hurt someone’s feelings and heard them say, “You take that back!” You can’t take it back, can you? Once you have said it, it is said. You can’t put the words back in your mouth any more than you can squeeze this toothpaste back into the tube. That is why we need to be very careful about the things we say. The Bible says, “He who holds his tongue is wise.”

All of you know the children’s rhyme that says, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me.” That sounds nice, but it just isn’t true. Words can hurt. The Bible says, “Reckless words pierce like a sword.” Our words can cut like a knife. They can hurt others. We all know that God hears every word we say and he knows every thought we have in our mind. It is very important for us to be careful about the things we think and say. (by Charles Kirkpatrick)

Let’s hope (pray?) for a better week in DC …

Richard writes about pluralism in the UMC

When we grow up in a denomination where doctrinal pluralism is the de facto standard, why ought we wonder about what’s happening now?Doctrine has consequences. It’s not just a list of beliefs we have in our heads. It shapes our worldview, our actions, and our judgments regarding good and evil. With no clearly articulated and shared doctrinal vision for the past few generations in Methodism ought we be surprised when we find uncritical acceptance of the world’s views on sexuality, abortion, economics and war?It used to be that in the midst of this doctrinal confusion we could rely on authority - the Bishops and DSs and Boards and Agencies would keep us in line. Authority doesn’t seem to be working as well as it used to.

The oft-expressed notion, “If you don’t agree with the United Methodist position on X, then you ought to go somewhere else,” might work if we had maintained doctrinal discipline over the generations. But we haven’t.

Well said.

It is hard not to think that our ‘big tent’ philosophy is becoming to much for the denomination to handle.

Seems to be the curse of standpoint epistemology all over again. How you define the denomination (in this pluralist construct) depends on where you stand. It appears even the Judicial Council and the Council of Bishops have different standpoints.

So if you buy it — who gets to do the determining — the bottom, the top, the middle? Or maybe — (brace yourself) the Bible?

Good post.

“O Lord, no matter what we say or what we do, here is what we think of you.”
–Hilbert Berger, a “prayer before the offering”

I had lunch with a church member a while back and we spent some time talking about how some churches, and some preachers harp on and on about how if you don’t tithe (give 10% of what comes into your bank account to the church) then you are going to Hell. Notice there is no if, and, or but in that sentence. No money in the plate – no ticket to heaven. At least that is what some preachers say.

Now many of you know that I am not a fundamentalist and have never been considered an evangelical – but I do like to think of myself as a Biblical preacher.

The Bible says two very noteworthy things about giving –first don’t rob God and second your tithe is a way to respond to God’s goodness.

You have a long history of ignoring my commands. You haven’t done a thing I’ve told you. Return to me so I can return to you,” says God-of-the-Angel-Armies. “You ask, ‘But how do we return?’ 8 “Begin by being honest. Do honest people rob God? But you rob me day after day. “You ask, ‘How have we robbed you?’ 9 And now you’re under a curse - the whole lot of you - because you’re robbing me. 10 Bring your full tithe to the Temple treasury so there will be ample provisions in my Temple. Test me in this and see if I don’t open up heaven itself to you and pour out blessings beyond your wildest dreams. 11 For my part, I will defend you against marauders, protect your wheat fields and vegetable gardens against plunderers.” (Malachi 3:7-11)

Notice the clear language – the unambiguousness of God’s request. Notice I didn’t need to make the argument via the definition of a word in Greek, or Hebrew, or Aramaic. It is clear. God doesn’t want our money – God wants our honesty. God wants our friendship. Friends don’t rob friends.

I don’t think God will send us to Hell if we don’t give money to the church. But I do feel like it is hard to know God unless you are involved with something beyond yourself. Many of us think that we earned our paycheck. Those same people think that their security is wrapped up in how much is in the bank, in the pantry, and in the house. Jesus reminds us that our security is in the cross and that we are called to belong to something other than our small sheltered world.

A preacher stands up in front of the congregation on Sunday morning to give the monthly financial report. “This morning, I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that we have more than enough money to meet all of our needs and then some. The bad news is it is still in your pockets.” – A preacher joke.

(Thanks to Beth Quick for the first quote).

Oh … my … goodness.

These were the words that recently came out of my daughter’s two year old mouth. They had a slight twang, and they were spaced in such a way as to convey a planned amount of surprise. Think 75 year old southern belle in a two year old body being surprised at the latest town gossip that was what I heard out of my daughter’s voice.

Advent and Christmas are times when – if we do it right – we can be confronted by the goodness of God intruding into the world. What we normally get though is something different. We get a lot of stress, a lot of credit card debt and a sense of buyer’s remorse the afternoon of Christmas day when the kids are playing with the boxes their toys came in and the adults are re-fighting the same arguments they have been in conflict about for the last twenty years.

If done right though we walk outside on Christmas Eve after the worship service, before the hot cider at the house and at that moment we feel surrounded by the love of God conveyed through the crisp chill of the air. You look up and see the brightest clearest moon in the sky and feel that God’s goodness is spreading into the world like the subtle smell of a fireplace somewhere in the neighborhood.

Come … on … in.

My daughter says these words too. She says them anytime a door is opened. She says them altogether as if it were a compound word. She says it as if she has mastered a deep ancient theological concept. As she opens the door she spit the word out. She also says it as she closes the door in your face. This usually is followed by a giggle muffled by the door.

Thankfully, the goodness of Advent usually doesn’t laugh at you from the other side of the door. The goodness of Advent once said “Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you.” (Revelation 3:20 – The Message). Our response is easy. Look at the newborn. Look at the love in the eyes of the child. Hear the cooing and the gurgling. This Christ child is the goodness of God. Oh … my … goodness. … the goodness of God inviting you into a friendship that will redeem the whole world. Come … on … in.

Ok.. I am struggling with something.

According to Caleb Johnson at The Mayflower Pages there are a lot of things that I did not know about Thanksgiving.

If you grew up in the US you heard a quaint story about Squanto and the Pilgrims.

But … Did you know that ‘Captain George Weymouth was far from friendly,’ he brutally kidnapped five Indians from the New England coastline.

Did you also know that after Squanto had gone to England and returned with a mapping expedition and then released from service he was kidnapped by an English Capitain? “Squanto was kidnapped by Captain Thomas Hunt, an associate Captain John Smith left behind to continue trading with the Indians after their mapping expedition in 1614. Hunt betrayed John Smith, and kidnapped 27 Indians who had been lured aboard his ship to trade beaver skins. “

Did you know that the first thanksgiving was not in November? “The “thanksgiving feasts” in England generally occurred on September 29, not in November, and the Pilgrims would not have observed them because they were Catholic holidays. The Pilgrims did not observe religious holidays in England, and that is one of the reasons they fled to Holland in the first place–the English were trying to force holidays and ceremonies on the Pilgrims who opposed them. The Pilgrims did not even celebrate Christmas or Easter. The Pilgrims “First Thanksgiving” occured sometime in October, and was not a religious holiday or observance, but rather more like a fair or public festival.”

Did you know that Squanto lived in the colony for quite sometime. “Since Squanto already lived in the Plymouth Colony, there would have been no point in inviting him(to the first Thanksgiving). Samoset was no doubt long gone, returned to his tribe in southern Maine–there is no mention of Samoset in any Pilgrim writings after March 1621. Massasoit was invited. Massasoit brought with him ninety “men”.

All somewhat minor did you knows..

Except this major one..

Did you know - that Pilgrims most likely did not have turkey at the first thanksgiving meal? “Governor William Bradford sent “four men fowling” after wild ducks and geese. It is not certain that wild turkey was part of their feast. However, it is certain that they had venison. The term “turkey” was used by the Pilgrims to mean any sort of wild fowl. “

Humph!

Richard at Connexions asks:

If you blog about God from a Christian perspective, Why God Blog? wants to know why.

Good question! Another one would be “How do we get rid of the ‘God blog’ label”?

I’m with Richard - the ‘godblog’ label is just another form of a Christianized ghetto that limits the audience and scope of your work (and the intelligence?). A great example of escaping the ghetto but still being authentic to your faith is Bono of u2. He and his boys from Dublin still have a strong faith that is evident in their music and in their live performances — but he is not relegated to the CCM charts — his music reaches a wider audience — why? because it is intellectually challenging, authentic and relevant to people’s lives.

My hope is that when I write — I write in an authentic and challenging way — that is faithful but does not require a ‘Christian-ese to English Dictionary.’