A Must-Read on This Memorial Day

Long-lost poem reveals soldier's torment

Jesus Manifesto: A Review

Thomas Nelson publishers were kind enough to ask me to review an advanced reader's copy of Len Sweet's and Frank Viola's Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ. I truly enjoyed the book. It is a refreshingly passionate defense of a christocentric theology which is not afraid to affirm the full deity and full humanity of Jesus, which are indispensable to a truly transformative christology. The book is a call to revival that can only come about with a singular and unwavering commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and his mission in this world. It is a book filled with quotables, sermonic-type reflections, and insightful reflections on the essential necessity of the supremacy and sovereignty of Jesus Christ. As they write in the Introduction,

The body of Christ is at a crossroads right now. The two common alternatives are to move either to the left or the right. It's our observation, however, that we are living in a unique time, when people are frozen as they look in either of those directions. When they look to the left, they decide that they cannot venture there. When they look to the right, they feel the same.

Whether they realize it or not, people are looking for a fresh alternative-- a third way. The crossroads today, we believe, is one of the moving forward or backward.

What we will present in this book, therefore, is razor-sharp, cut-glass clarity of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Alpha and the Omega. We will show that He is that third way-- and the only way-- that we can forge a secure path into the future. If the church does not reorient and become Christological at its core, any steps backward will result in a surge (advanced copy, xix-xx).

Sweet and Viola do a fine job of living up to the agenda they put forth. Other than finding the book to be somewhat repetitive in places, it is well written, substantive, and passionate in tone.

It is a good read.

The following comes directly from the publisher:

“Thomas Nelson is releasing a new book called Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola. This book will be on special discount from Amazon.com on June 1st, the date of the release. You can learn more by going to www.theJesusManifesto.com. Endorsements by Rowan Williams, Matt Chandler, Calvin Miller, Ed Young, Jack Hayford, Shane Claiborne, Ed Stetzer, Reggie McNeal, Mark Batterson, Gregory Boyd, David Fitch, Steve Brown, Dan Kimball, Margaret Feinberg, Mark Chironna, Francis Frangipane, Todd Hunter, Alan Hirsch, Chris Seay, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Anne Jackson, Craig Keener, Ken Ulmer, Tommy Barnett, Sally Morgenthaler, and others.

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links--Monday 5.31.10

Any Methoblogger who would like a link included in the MBDL, email your post to me at umweeklyroundup(at)yahoo(dot)com. Your link will be posted within two weekdays. No blogs will be listed more than once a week.

Today's reads from the Methoblogosphere:

Jeremy Smith reflects on clergy, integrity and two Facebook accounts.

Brian Vinson writes an apology on a blog post published a year and a half ago.

Dave Nichols comments on high school graduation.

God is not one, part one, by John C. Montgomery.

God-incidence-- a post from Lorna Koskela.

Dave Faulkner preaches on justification.

Dale Tedder has worship questions.

Thoughts on leadership choices from Pastor Deb.

Dan Dick cogitates on the subject of the children of God.

"Being the Product"-- a sermon by Jim Parsons.

A Prayer for Trinity Sunday

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Book of Common Prayer

Truth is Stranger than Fiction 2010.9

Burglar feasts on sandwiches, but leaves money

From Associated Press
May 24, 2010 6:27 PM EDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police said a burglar broke into a Des Moines Subway store, helped himself to a smorgasbord of cold cuts and made sandwiches for the journey home — but left the store's cash behind. Police Sgt. Lori Lavorato said the thief got inside the shop through a drive-up window Saturday night or Sunday morning.

Lavorato said the burglar made some sandwiches and took a significant amount of cold cut meats, bread and cookies, but that he failed to find the store's kitty, which was hidden.

Police have no suspects.

Opinion Central Poll 2010.17: Final Results

Should the U.S. government allow for more offshore oil drilling?

Os Guiness on Reading Scripture Faithfully

U.S. Debt in Real Time

Check out this U.S. Debt Clock in real time.

As I have said before, fiscal responsibility is a social justice issue about which the social justice crowd seems unconcerned.

What do you think? Does what you see here concern you?

Quote of the Day: Life Is Short-- Focus on One Thing

Life is too short to be an apologist for anything but the Gospel. That thought came to mind yesterday when I was asked to grant permission to someone to republish something I had once written on constitutional politics. My initial instinct was to give it. After all, the DBO byline reads, "Restoring our biblical AND constitutional foundations." I have long been a keen student of American politics, its process of development, as well as its relationship with biblical Christianity. Indeed, not too long ago I would have considered myself an "apologist" for the Constitution Party. Anyone who reads this website site knows that I have written very little lately on this subject.

Why?

The more I read the New Testament the more I see that it would have us hold tightly to Jesus Christ, to whom we must accord preeminence, and hold every other loyalty loosely, including our political affiliations. I have come to see that any political movement, perhaps especially one supported by Christians, is a part, not of Christianity, but of Christendom, which itself is a very complex mixture of truth and error. The tragedy is that this connection is not always acknowledged, and the resultant impoverishment has often made Christianity prone to syncretism and to an unwarranted and shameful triumphalism.

In order for the church to fulfill her glorious worldwide mission, its structure must be a global structure. This means that the church is essentially a trans-national body, centered in the Great Commission of her Lord and in the spiritual life and mission of its total priesthood of all believers, regardless of their political views or national loyalties. In this way our churches can be revolutionized by a partnership of grace in which every member has his or her own contribution to make and function to fulfill. No doubt when we begin to look at the Body of Christ universally we will find ourselves acting less and less like "apologists" for our own brand of national politics.

Truly, life is too short to be an apologist for anything but the Gospel.

--David Alan Black

The Quotable C.S. Lewis #30: Choosing to Be the Heavenly Creature

"People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God says, 'If you keep a lot of rules I'll reward you, and if you don't I'll do the other thing.' I do not think that is the best way of looking at it. I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow-creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other."

--Mere Christianity

Blogging As I Can This Week

This week is going to be more hectic than usual for me. I will be blogging as I am able. I hope to post some of my own thoughts, but I will more than likely be online long enough to link to the posts of others.

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links will be infrequent at best.

In the meantime be grateful for another week that we will receive as a divine gift.

Jeers and Sneers

Today's audio sermon from Acts 2:1-21

A Prayer for Pentecost

O God the Holy Spirit, come to us and among us. Come as the wind and cleanse us. Come as the fire and burn. Come as the dew and refresh. Convict and consecrate us to our great good and your greater glory.

Grant, O Lord, to all of us to know what is worth knowing, to love what is worth loving, to praise what is pleasing to you, to esteem what is most precious to you, to spurn what is evil in your eyes.

Grant us true judgment to distinguish all things that differ and, above all, to search out and do what is pleasing to you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

F. Donald Coggan (1909-2000)

The Archbishop of Canterbury

I Really Relate to This Commercial!

Opinion Central Poll 2010.16: Final Results

If someone gave you $1000.00 what would you do with it?

The Methodist Blogs Weekly Roundup 2010.13.224

Any Methoblogger who would like a link included in the Methodist Blogs Daily Links (MBDL), email your post to me at umweeklyroundup(at)yahoo(dot)com. Your link will be posted within two weekdays. no blog will be listed more than once in a week.

If your discover that a link is not correct, please email me at the above address.

*Thanks to everyone for their email submissions*

The week in review in the Methoblogosphere:

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Monday 5.17.10

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Tuesday 5.18.10

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Wednesday 5.19.10

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Thursday 5.20.10

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Friday 5.21.10

This week's Best of the Methoblogosphere!

Deb Spaulding: "The Dance Master"

Tony Mitchell: "Should We Explain This?"

What About Mediocre Churches?

The United Methodist Church's Commission to Study Ministry has offered its report to the Council of Bishops, which it will also offer in final draft to the 2012 General Conference. The Commission will recommend dropping the guaranteed appointment for ordained elders since "'[g]uaranteed appointments' are a major factor contributing to mediocrity and ineffectiveness and emphasize the needs of the ministers rather than the mission of the church."

I concur. The practice of guaranteed pastoral appointments leads to mediocrity in much the same way as a labor union protects ineffective workers. Those who are being served are neglected in favor of protecting the guild.

But I would like for the Commission to consider an additional recommendation. Not only should the UMC not guarantee appointments for pastors due to mediocrity and ineffectiveness, neither should the UMC guarantee appointing pastors to mediocre and ineffective churches. More than a few effective pastors are struggling with low morale and depression because they have been appointed to churches that are more interested in self-service than service to the world. These are churches that say they want to grow but refuse to do what is necessary to evangelize. These are churches who want to simply be fed rather than feeding others in discipleship and in works of charity and service. These are churches that see the empty pews on Sunday morning and reminisce about the people who used to sit there, instead of being motivated to do what is necessary to put new people in those empty spaces. These are churches that cannot understand why people are not beating down the doors to get into the building since what they do at church works for them; therefore, it ought to work for everybody. These are churches who have such an "ediface complex" that they refuse to move beyond the church building walls in mission to the community and the world. These are churches who blame their decline on not having the right pastor, as if a pastor can revitalize a church all by herself.

So, I think it would be a good idea to say to mediocre clergy, "If you are ineffective, you will not be in a pulpit." At the same time, I think we should also say to mediocre churches, "If you are ineffective, you will not receive a pastor."

Actually, I have an even better idea-- let's appoint ineffective pastors to ineffective churches so they can enjoy their highest level of mediocrity together. And let's appoint only effective clergy to effective churches, so that they can pursue excellence in discipleship and mission. And let us also remember that there are effective and visionary congregations who end up with a mediocre pastor with little vision. Those churches get just as demoralized as the effective pastors serving ineffective congregations.

But what do I know? I have never been a bishop nor a district superintendent, nor would I ever want to be. I have been a lowly pastor for twenty-six years and whether or not I have been effective in my office, I truly have no idea.

.

Update: Matthew Kelley and John Meunier weigh in with their thoughts. Check it out.

.

Now also Kurt Boemler and Lauren Porter

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Friday 5.21.10

Any Methoblogger who would like a link included in the MBDL, email your post to me at umweeklyroundup(at)yahoo(dot)com. Your link will be posted within two weekdays. No Blogs will be listed more than once a week.

Friday's feast of reading from the Methoblogosphere:

Kurt Boemler constructively criticizes proposed changes to the appointment system.

This is not your momma's PowerPoint from Gavin Richardson.

Will Rice writes on systematic discipleship and the small membership church.

Greg Milinovich wants to know if you need a hug.

"And She Prevailed"-- a sermon by Beth Quick.

Who is your tribe? Matt Judkins asks the question.

R.D. Mack reflects on poverty and youth ministry.

Chris Roberts cogitates on ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

Lorna Koskela is finished with her MA in theology. Congratulations, Lorna!

Remembering past sins-- a narrative from Questing Parson.

The Poor Performance of Pundit Political Prognostication

Since Tuesday's special primaries I have been reading and listening to the talking heads analyze what Tuesday's primaries might mean for the mid-term elections this coming fall. Political pundits on the left (e.g. MSNBC) dismiss the seemingly bad news for Democrats by simply saying that what happened on Tuesday night is nothing more than an anti-incumbent year for both parties and that the Tea Party movement consists of basically a bunch of angry white people who cannot adjust to having a black president. Such loony leftist nonsense is a denial of reality from people who desperately want their reality to be more than illusion. Then, there are the political pundits on the right (e.g. FOX News) who actually think that the Democratic Party's loss of independent voters is a sign that the people are ready, once again, to embrace the Republican party they rejected only two years before. Such wacky right nonsense is a denial of reality from people who desperately want their reality to be more than illusion.

I remember after the 2004 elections, when the Democrats continued to lose elections, the pundits were talking about how the Democrats needed to moderate their position on abortion if they hoped to attract swing voters. Then in 2008, the American people elected a president whose liberal views on abortion are the most extreme among any president ever to sit in the Oval Office.

Then after the Democratic trouncing of Republicans in 2006 and 2008, the same pundits were insisting that the Republican Party needed to moderate its positions if it was going to attract those same swing voters. Well, as of Tuesday, and especially after elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, it is obvious that such so-called informed prognostication was hardly prophetic.

So, what's the point of this post? Political pundits are, after all, paid to prognosticate. They are just doing what is expected. Of course they are, and I certainly do not expect them to stop. I just continue to be amazed at how expertise in certain areas (in this case, journalism) continues resemble the hocus pocus of the village witch-doctor. The pundits are not always wrong; they could, however, use a little more humility, and produce a little less spin in attempting to minimize the damage to the politicians and the political party to whom they are loyal.

The point is that an eternity in politics lasts about two weeks. Anything can change at a moment's notice. More agnostic prognostication and less prognostic pontification would make the talking heads more credible to the thoughtful people who watch and listen to them (I exclude from "thoughtful" the extreme partisans on both sides).

I realize and admit as I write this that I have quite a negative attitude toward the national media. And while my comments at times are probably too extreme, in general I think that the national media has become less and less serious as a credible source of news and thoughtful reflection, and more the PR arm of the politicians. As I have said before, when George W. Bush was president FOX News was functionally state run media. Now that Barack Obama is the POTUS that distinction falls to MSNBC. And if you don't believe me, please take note that during the Bush Administration the White House watched FOX News, and now during the Obama Administration, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is tuned into MSNBC.

This is all so unfortunate because freedom of the press is so critical in a free society. But unfortunately, much (not all) of the national media has willfully decided to limit its own freedom in pursuit of an angle in reporting and prognosticating that puts forward a political agenda that advocates for or works against politicians and political parties. And politicians have gotten so used to this they get angry when a certain news outlet refuses to simply weave the political narrative as they would like it told. So they seek to control the narrative by marginalizing some journalists while inviting others to the White House.

No wonder more and more people are reading bloggers.

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Thursday 5.20.10

Any Methoblogger who would like a link included in the MBDL, email your post to me at umweeklyroundup(at)yahoo(dot)com. Your link will be posted within two weekdays. No blog will be listed more than once a week.

Today's reads from the Methoblogosphere:

Randy Willis writes on things he doesn't want to regret.

Kathy Randall is getting excited for Kenya.

Sky McCracken reflects on time well spent.

On being a Son of Encouragement from Pat LaPorte.

Are you too familiar with Scripture? Read Betty Newman.

What does revival look like? Will Grady asks the question.

Bishop William H. Willimon ponders major moves in ministry.

Dave Faulkner sermonizes on the Church of the Ascension.

Cathy Turner comments on America's Christian foundation.

John Wesley, Assurance, and Perfection-- ponderments from John Meunier.

The Character of Our Discontent Is Now in Stock on Amazon

Here's the link.

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Wednesday 5.19.10

Any Methoblogger who would like a link included in the MBDL, email your post to me at umweeklyroundup(at)yahoo(dot)com. Your link will be posted within two weekdays. No blog will be listed more than once a week.

Posts to Ponder from the Methoblogosphere:

Dale Tedder writes on faith and courage.

Josh Tinely comments on the media and the public's capacity for empathy and generosity.

Randy Olds ponders Romans 8:29-30 as a problem for Wesleyans and Calvinists alike.

Open doors and doors that stick-- thoughts from Kim Matthews.

Richard Heyduck posts on listening to outsiders.

Ten thoughts from Sunday by Joseph Yoo.

Scott Endress reflects on spirituality and dormancy.

Jay Voorhees new appointment is official.

On renewing deep connections-- cogitations from Daniel McLain Hixon.

Jim Parsons writes on the small church and hiring.

On Being Content with Unanswered Questions

A priest was talking to a group of Sunday school children. "And now," he said, "is there any boy or girl who would like to ask me a question?"

There was silence. Then a shrill voice asked, "Please, Father, why did the angels walk up and down Jacob's ladder when they had wings?"

"Ah yes," said the priest. "Now would any child like to answer that question?"*

In my younger days as I explored my faith, I was very bothered by questions of life and faith that seemed to have no answers. I have always been the inquisitive type and I did not like loose ends and wanted all the "jots and tittles" to be taken care of. As I get older I find myself very content to let many of those unanswered questions remain so this side of eternity.

I certainly do not believe that faith and reason are synonymous, but I also am convinced that there is a rational component to faith. I reject the pure and sharp distinction between faith and reason as if somehow the two are diametrically opposed to one another. Tertullian may indeed have believed because it is absurd. I, however, believe in Christianity because it makes sense. Without reason, faith is intellectual suicide. Without faith, reason can find no ultimate answers to life and its large purpose. While I have become content with many of life's unanswered questions, I still question and seek for answers because Jesus died to take away our sins not our minds.

The center of Christian faith is the death and resurrection of Jesus. When I encounter the difficult questions in life for which there is seemingly no answer this side of perfection, and when doubts at times set in (And yes, everyone at times has her or his doubts. All of us indeed live this side of perfection), I just ask myself the central question the gives Christian faith its credibility: Has Jesus Christ been raised from the dead? The answer to that question is a resounding "Yes!" Of course, there is an element of faith involved in believing that affirmation, but it is also a reasonable conclusion to draw as one looks at the evidence.

And because Jesus has been raised from the dead, life can be lived with questions for which there are no answers in the present. Faith does not have to be packaged all neat and tidy, and such questions as where Cain got his wife are not nearly as significant as we have made them.

I believe because it is reasonable. Therefore, I am content to take many of my unanswered questions with me to the grave.

+ + + + + + +

*Cal and Rose Samra, Holy Humor: Inspirational Wit & Cartoons (New York: Mastermedia Limited, 1996), 99-100.

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Tuesday 5.18.10

Any Methoblogger who would like a link included in the MBDL, email your post to me at umweeklyroundup(at)yahoo(dot)com. Your link will be posted within two weekdays. No blog will be listed more than once a week.

Today's reads from the Methoblogosphere:

Nathan Mattox writes on "my own personal Jesus."

Pastor Deb asks, "What's in a name?"

Women of the Kingdom-- a post by Pam BG.

Andy Bryan reflects on the church and marketing.

How big is the tent?-- Rick Weber asks the question.

Gilbert Caldwell remembers the tenth anniversary of his two arrests at the 2000 General Conference.

Steve Heyduck on waiting.

Lauren Porter ponders the point of the Law.

Do we explain it or live what we proclaim?-- A sermon by Tony Mitchell.

Abi Carlisle-wilke posts some thoughts on contemporary worship services.

Heck Is For People Who Don't Believe in Gosh

Last week during the discussion of another post, Methoblogger and frequent commenter on this blog, PamBG raised some interesting questions on heaven and hell. She suggested that it might make for an interesting post to generate some important discussion and I agreed. In an email conversation, Pam outlined for me her concerns and she gave me permission to quote her. Pam didn't necessarily want me to quote the entire substance of her email, but in her usual fashion Pam's reflections and questions are thoughtful, so I am going to let her email frame the discussion. Here are her concerns in her own words:

I think that there is a popular idea that's extant in general culture and in Christian culture that goes something like the following. Let me paint an exaggerated picture for the purposes of hopefully communicating clearly. Fred dies and is a "real Christian" in God's eyes. His spirit floats out of his body into a spiritual place called heaven where he is welcomed by God and lives in a spiritual realm of happiness, bliss and communion with God forever. Mary dies and is either not a "real Christian" in God's eyes or she is a Muslim or she is an atheist and her spirit floats out of her body to a place called hell where her spirit is imprisoned but somehow still intentionally tortured for the rest of eternity. One British hyper-Calvinist theologian put it that God "creates and sustains the hell to which he sends each person who has damned."

My own view of Eternal Life is best expressed by the condolence wish: "May she rest in peace and rise in glory". It's a "Tom Wright" view of the Kingdom and what I think Christians believed up until about 150 years ago: that all people (sentient beings on other planets too?) will rise in some kind of "real but different, but who knows really" physicality, and that God's Reign will be established in a physical way called the New Creation. Creation itself as well as all the people in it will be born again because of the salvific work of Christ. (There is a wonderful Art Deco mural that runs around the ceiling of the Chapel at Wesley House, Cambridge, which depicts the New Jerusalem and the New Creation. That image of the New Creation always sticks in my head.)

Is there a hell? I'm agnostic on that but open to the possibility. The Orthodox Church reckons that God’s Kingdom will be hell for those who do not want to live under the Rule of Christ. That view of hell seems to fit well with the concept of New Creation but I guess there are sufficient texts about a "punishing hell" that this can't be totally ignored as a possibility. I’m quite resistant, however, to hell as a personal torture that God creates specially for each individual he damns.

So, that's where my thoughts are coming from and here's my idea.

I believe that the "popular version" of heaven and hell is the one that many, if not most, people in the pews believe. I also think that there is a significant minority of individuals who think that "Being on God's side (football team) so that I can go to heaven" is *primarily* what being a Christian is all about. Hence the question: "If non-Christians have a shot at getting into heaven, why would anyone want to be a Christian?"

I hold this view of people’s beliefs about "the football team version" of Christianity because so very many people have told me that "Christians heaven, non-Christians hell" is a core and foundational Christian belief and that without it, the Christian message falls apart. (As an example, I've just had a UMC Lay Leader tell me this on Becca Girell Clark's blog.) So, at a popular level, I think that many Christians raise the "heaven/hell version of Christianity" to creedal level, right up there with Christ as Savior, the Trinity, etc.

So I guess my thesis is this:

1) The idea that the "Christians heaven/non-Christians hell" doctrine is as core and foundational to Christian orthodoxy as the Creeds is incorrect.

2) The spiritual heaven/spiritual hell version of Eternal Life is sub- a- or non-biblical.

3) The dualism implicit in this theology allows us to scapegoat those we disagree with. We are judging matters (who is saved and who is damned) that are not ours to judge.

4) And possibly not relevant to this conversation but still relevant: The Church has largely lost the concept that we are hoping for genuine resurrection, New Creation and the Reign of God.

So, how would you respond to Pam's multi-part thesis? We can easily generate some good discussion on this one. All are welcome to comment.

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Monday 5.17.10

Any Methoblogger who would like a link included in the MBDL, email your post to me at umweeklyroundup(at)yahoo(dot)com. Your link will be posted within two weekdays. No blog will be listed more than once a week.

Today's links from the Methoblogosphere:

Craig L. Adams reflects on Christ as the Head of the Church.

Angela Shier-Jones cogitates on Ministerial Performance Indicators.

Deb Spaulding ponders the life of the Dance Master.

Ken Carter is focusing this summer on the Book of Acts.

Preaching in the language of hope-- a post from Richard Hall.

Ponderings on Acts 2 from Sally Coleman.

Dan Dick writes on biblical preaching.

Mark Winter reports on the spreading of the milk of human kindness.

Andy Stoddard is mindful.

Passion stories according to John C. Montgomery.

Jesus, Go Away!

Today's audio sermon from Mark 5:1-20

The Theological Basics of Jesus' Ascension

As today is Ascension Sunday, I have decided to highlight briefly the basics of the doctrine as I outline them in my theology course I teach at Ashland Theological Seminary.

The ascension is the act by which Christ brought his post-resurrection appearances to an end. The ascension signaled Christ's departure from the disciples in a "physical" manner. He passed into the heavenly realm until his second advent.

The Heidelberg Catechism suggests three benefits that we receive from Christ's ascension:

1) The exalted Lord in heaven is our advocate in the presence of the Father (Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1; Hebrews 7:25). Since Christ offered the perfect sacrifice for sin, he alone is qualified to be our advocate (Hebrews 10:12).

2) The ascension indicates the exaltation of humanity itself. The Heidelberg Catechism states that we have "a sure pledge that he as our Head, will also take us, his members, up to himself"

3) It is because Christ ascends that we can receive the promised Holy Spirit. The presence of the Spirit is the sign of our inheritance as children of the Father, brothers and sisters of Jesus. It was only after Jesus ascended that the church received the Spirit (John 7:39; Acts 2).

Therefore, in the ascension it is demonstrated that the risen Lord lives in heavenly communion with the Father and that he takes an active part, through the Spirit, in the working of God in the world.

Traditionally, the ascension has meant: 1) that the exalted Christ is the priestly advocate who intercedes on our behalf; 2) Christ shares in the sovereignty of the Father; and 3) no earthly authority can exhaustively represent Christ since he is free, that is, he is not captive to the church or any earthly nation.

A Prayer for Ascension Sunday

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Book of Common Prayer

The Methodist Blogs Weekly Roundup 2010.12.223

Any Methoblogger who would like a link included in the Methodist Blogs Daily Links (MBDL), email your post to me at umweeklyroundup(at)yahoo(dot)com. Your link will be posted within two weekdays. no blog will be listed more than once in a week.

If your discover that a link is not correct, please email me at the above address.

*Thanks to everyone for their email submissions*

The week in review in the Methoblogosphere:

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Monday 5.10.10

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Tuesday 5.11.10

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Wednesday 5.12.10

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Thursday 5.13.10

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Friday 5.14.10

This week's Best of the Methoblogosphere:

Rick Weber: "The Person and God's Image"

Sky McCracken: "Being Authentic"

Is There Middle Ground on the Existence of Adam and Eve?

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Friday 5.14.10

Any Methoblogger who would like a link included in the MBDL, email your post to me at umweeklyroundup(at)yahoo(dot)com. Your link will be posted within two weekdays. No blogs will be listed more than once a week.

Some of today's posts from the Methoblogosphere:

John Carney reminds us that God provides.

Daniel McLain Hixon reflects on the tyranny of absolute egalitarianism.

Sally Coleman writes on her experience at three different Communion services.

Missional Church... simple... according to Keith McIlwain.

Jeremy Smith is taking a poll on favorite stoles for clergy.

How then should UM evangelicals fight?-- a post by Joseph Slife.

Jim Parsons ponders sales and product.

Pat LePorte posts on the church as the bride.

Richard Hall writes on love after 1 Corinthians 13.

Flooding thoughts offered by Jay Voorhees.

Jesus and his Mother

John 2:1-12
.
We Protestants have not sufficiently appreciated the mother of Jesus and the important role she played in influencing the ministry of Jesus. Historically Protestants have reacted so sharply to many of the Catholic Church's beliefs about Mary, that we are a little shy to speak of her too much. But one does not have to accept Catholic Mariology to appreciate and affirm the significant role that Mary plays in the Gospels.
.
Before we venture into John's Gospel, we need to dabble a little in the Gospel of Luke. Because Christians believe that Jesus was God incarnate, that is Jesus was God come to this earth in human flesh, it can be difficult for us to hold that claim together with the Christian affirmation that Jesus was also human. Luke tells us that as a boy and a young man, Jesus grew in wisdom and years (Luke 2:52). In other words, Jesus, even though he was fully divine, he was also fully human and, therefore, developed physically and intellectually. And there is little doubt that Jesus' mother played quite an influential role in his development as a human being.
.
We must understand that Jesus' childhood years were not unlike that of any typical Jewish boy of the first century. His father taught him all the things that fathers taught their sons. Joseph taught Jesus how to work the land as well as the skills of a carpenter, or more accurately, a stone mason. Joseph taught Jesus respect for others, and he took his son to the synagogue for worship, prayer, and the study of the Scriptures. In the synagogue, Jesus learned and embraced in faith the story of the Bible. At home, Jesus learned more about his heritage and what it meant to be a Jew from his mother; for in Judaism it was the mother's responsibility to teach religion to her children in the home. At some point between Jesus' twelfth and thirtieth year of life, his father Joseph died; and as the oldest son, it was Jesus' responsibility to take care of his mother.
.
While Mary knew her son's special place as God's Messiah, the Anointed One, she too, like the disciples, needed to learn what that meant. Jesus and his disciples are at a wedding in Cana in the northern province of Galilee. Jesus grew up in Galilee in the town of Nazareth. Either the bride or the groom may have been related to Jesus, but if nothing else they are friends of the family, for Jesus' mother is in attendance as well.
.
In first century Judaism wedding celebrations lasted for seven days. People would come and go for a week and there would be feasting and dancing and celebration. It was customary for the guests to bring a gift of wine with them to offer for the wedding. This would insure that wine was available the entire week. If the guests did not bring enough wine and the hosts ran out, it would be quite an embarrassment to the bride and groom. Often, near the end of each day, as the supply of drink began to run low, the wine was often watered down to make it stretch farther. These customs help put into perspective what is actually happening between Jesus and his mother in this story.
.
When Mary approaches Jesus and informs him that they have run out of wine, we should not necessarily conclude from this that she is expecting him to do something miraculous. Jesus has just started his ministry and John tells us that it is at this wedding where Jesus performs his first miracle. Instead what she could be doing is gently chiding her son for not bringing his gift of wine. Indeed, if Jesus' disciples also did not bring wine, the lack of several gifts of wine could have led to quite an embarrassing situation for the family. So when Mary tells the servants to do whatever her son tells them, she may only be expecting Jesus and his buddies to go get their share of wine to bring back to the reception.
.
But when one reads John's Gospel, one must keep in mind that the stories in John always have a deeper meaning; they must be read on a deeper level. It might indeed be that Mary is simply pointing out to her son that he didn't do what he was supposed to, but perhaps she also knows that as God's Anointed he has the capability to fix the problem in ways unknown to everyone else. That might indeed be the case given Jesus' response, "Woman, what concern is that to you, and to me? My hour has not yet come?" For Jesus to address his mother with the term "woman" is not a sign of disrespect. In first century Judaism, it was a common form of address.
.
But notice Jesus' response. He seems to think that his mother is pushing him to do something that would reveal the nature of his calling as God's Anointed. We must remember that this is right at the beginning of Jesus' ministry. Perhaps his mother has come to believe that her son is dallying in commencing with his ministry and this is her attempt to push Jesus forward into fulfilling his Heavenly Father's call. How many times as a boy did his mother, like all mothers, tell her son to attend to something and he dutifully obeyed. Now at Cana it was no different. Mary tells her son to attend to the problem before them as a faithful son and he listens. But he does not instruct the servants on where to find wine, but instead he does exactly what will become characteristic of his ministry throughout—he will accomplish the task before him with a miraculous deed.
.
Let us thank God that Jesus had a mother who also knew what was best for him. Even the Messiah, the Savior of the World, had to acknowledge and honor the wisdom of his mother.

Opinion Central Poll 2010.15: Final Results

What is your favorite season of the year?

Caption Contest 2010.5... And the Winner Is...

Chuck Tackett: Super-size Print Edition

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Thursday 5.13.10

Any Methoblogger who would like a link included in the MBDL, email your post to me at umweeklyroundup(at)yahoo(dot)com. Your link will be posted within two weekdays. No blogs will be listed more than once in a week.

Today's edition of the Methoblogosphere:

Betty Newman offers a prayer for the children.

Shane Raynor posts on the two modes for Christians.

The $100.00 challenge from Dan Dick.

Is it more blessed to receive than to give? Read Steve Heyduck.

Abi Carlisle-wilke asks, "Are you a woman of the Kingdom?"

Rick Weber writes on the person and God's image.

John Makokha reports on the Sexuality and Gender Equality Seminar that was held in Nairobi, Kenya.

Some thoughts from Sky McCracken on being authentic.

Andy Stoddard cogitates on lights and lamps.

The church as always reforming-- reflections from Will Grady.

The Supreme Court and the Diversity Conundrum

If President Obama's nomination of Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court is confirmed, for the first time in its history the SCOTUS will have no Protestant members. All the Justices will be Jewish or Catholic.

Which brings to the forefront the question of diversity. The High Court Currently has two women and will shortly have three. There is ethnic diversity with one African American Associate Justice, one Latina Associate Justice and one Italian American Associate Justice. But is religious diversity also important?

Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, President of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, and named by Newsweek as one of the nation's 50 most influential rabbis, writes the following:

President Obama has made it clear that personal life experience and the awareness it creates are factors in determining who is best suited to serve as a Justice. Comments made by Justice Sotomayor about the value of her experiences as a Latina, comments defended by the President, made that abundantly clear.

The idea that Justices interpret the law in some abstract way, and read as if uninfluenced by all their previous experiences is inane. What does it mean to read anything independent of all that we as readers have come to know and experience? There is no such thing.

Since there is no such thing as reading the law independent of the reader's experience, both the President and Justice Sotomayor were probably wise to admit what we all already know, and should have admitted all along. But if life experience matters, then a Protestant-free court is not so unimportant after all. Unless of course, religion is simply one of those things that doesn't matter, but gender is.

Why is it that gender experience is relevant, but religious experience is not? Why is it that a court with which more American can identify in terms of gender is important, but one with which they can identify in terms of faith, is not?

If it is time for conservatives to give up naïve notions of Judicial neutrality and the idea that the Constitution simply says what it says, then it is also time for liberals to give up the tendentious claim that they are the inclusive ones. In fact, people of all stripes tend to include what they like and exclude what they do not, and the sooner we are all honest about that, the healthier the process of appointing and confirming judges will be.

The issue should be brilliance, not balance. And it goes without saying that one's definition of brilliance is informed by many things. As long as mastery of the law and ability to play nicely with the other Justices is at the top of the list, then we should save political battles for elections and accept that elected officials from both sides will tend to appoint judges who reflect their understanding of the law, stop worrying about a judges identity, religious, gender or otherwise.

Do you agree with Rabbi Hirschfield? What's your view of the Supreme Court and the diversity factor?

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Wednesday 5.12.10

Any Methoblogger who would like a link included in the MBDL, email your post to me at umweeklyroundup(at)yahoo(dot)com. Your link will be posted within two weekdays. No blogs will be listed more than once in a week.

The daily latest from the Methoblogosphere:

Brian Vinson writes on lonely leadership and tender hearts.

Joseph Yoo ponders a small significant moment.

Ken Hagler is dreaming of peace.

Reflections on Ascension and Pentecost from Jan Richardson.

Randy Willis says "Yes" to surrender.

When you're not fine-- a post from John Fletcher.

Greg Hazelrig posts his thought for the day on Acts 20:35.

Angela Shier-Jones comments on fixing the order of Pentecost.

Andy Bryan reflects on immigration and hospitality.

Michael Daniel asks, "Who is Franklin Graham what is the National Day of Prayer about anyway"?

Joshua in 3-D: Biblical Conquest and Manifest Destiny #5

This is the last post in a series by Dr. L. Daniel Hawk, Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Ashland Theological Seminary. I thank Dan for taking the time to write these posts and to reflect with us on such important matters.

I hope Dan will contribute future posts from time to time on this blog.

Time is almost up for you to receive a 40% discount on Dan's new book, Joshua in 3-D. Order from the website and insert the coupon code "HAWK 40."

+ + + + + +

Alien Invasion

L. Daniel Hawk

.

I would like to take this opportunity once again to thank Allan for his invitation to post to this blog and for those who have responded with thoughtful and incisive comments. It’s been a pleasure to participate in this web-exercise with Allan, whose theological and cultural acumen I deeply respect

.

Renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has recently cautioned against trying to contact extra-terrestrial life, warning that aliens advanced enough to reach the earth might be looking for a world to conquer and colonize. “We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet,” he says. “If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans."

.

Hawking is speaking to a theme that has acquired increasing cultural prominence in the last twenty years. Avatar is the latest in a flurry of alien invasion narratives that have proliferated in the movies (e.g. Independence Day, War of the Worlds, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Signs, among many others), television (V, X-Files, Alien Nation, Invasion, etc.), and popular culture (e.g. UFO sightings, alien abductions). The current interest is matched only by its original manifestation in the sci-fi films of the late 50’s and early ‘60’s, when the United States emerged into a position of unparalleled global influence and cultural dominance.

.

I began this series by suggesting that the stories we tell reveal much about how we look at ourselves, our world, and our place in the world. What does America’s present preoccupation with alien invasion motifs, now exemplified by Avatar, the highest-grossing film of all time, say about what might be going on in our national psyche?

.

It is not uncommon to encounter the claim that the United States used the biblical book of Joshua as a template to legitimize the conquest of the continent. On the face of it, this seems self-evident. The earliest Puritans saw themselves as a new Israel birthed by deliverance from oppression, a passage through the sea, and entrance into a Promised Land. The early Republic then took up Exodus imagery as a way of identifying America as a new people, delivered from tyranny and destined to be a beacon of liberty and emancipation for all nations.

.

The Exodus, however, is incomplete without the Conquest. Even a cursory acquaintance with American history reveals that the United States replicated the mass killing, ethnic cleansing, exclusion – often with appeals to destiny – that tell the tale of Israel’s conquest of Canaan. It thus seems a foregone conclusion that America, “the New Israel,” looked to Joshua as its paradigm for westward expansion.

.

The truth of the matter is that references to Joshua have been virtually absent from America’s religious and civic discourse from the colonial period to the present. Whereas expansionist America readily identified with the Israel of the Exodus, it could not seem to face the fact that, in practice, it was more like the Israel of the Conquest. In other words, the United States explicitly and consistently defined itself as an Exodus people, a beacon of salvation and freedom to all, but it repressed actions that suggested it behaved like a Conquest people.

.

While we easily recognize how repressed memories and impulses influence individual attitudes and behavior, we find it more difficult to recognize how this may also true of corporate entities. Memories repressed by a people, like those repressed by individuals, don’t fade away. Left to themselves, they lurk within the corporate unconsciousness, warping perspectives and practices, until they bubble to the surface in a time of crisis.

.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that invasion motifs have surfaced in America during a period of economic instability, decline in global influence, and a war on terror, just as it was no coincidence that they arose when the Cold War and the prospect of nuclear annihilation confronted the U.S. What does our preoccupation with alien invasion manifest? repressed guilt and remorse? anxiety that in a just universe, “what goes around comes around”? a realization that the God who gives is also the God who may take away?

.

It’s time for the Church to enter the public arena with the words and practices of repentance that open the path for healing from the sins of the past and their residue in the present. Native Americans continue to suffer the effects of a centuries-long program to rob identities, cultures, lands, and dignity. The rates of poverty, unemployment, suicide, alcoholism, and diabetes, to name but a few social ills, are many times the national average. It’s time to acknowledge the full scope of what was has been done and to make tangible moves to reverse course and begin to repair what has been damaged or destroyed.

.

As Israel reflected on its memories of conquest, it could not get around the violent stories and events that had shaped its national identity. But at a later time, in light of its own experiences of suffering and salvation, the nation realized that the dehumanizing and violent impulses associated with those traditions were not consistent with the nation God had called Israel to be. If the American Church is inclined to follow Israel’s example, it might enter this moment with the prophet’s challenge to name America’s original sins, turn from the perspectives and practices they have generated, and bring a justice long denied. In doing so, the body of Christ might more fully reveal the Prince of Peace to a watching world.