A Prayer for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Most lovely and most loving God, we place the transcript of our daily lives before you, written on the fabric of our being, and we pray that you will edit our story with the radical love of Christ Jesus.

We are all not as friends think we are, we are not even what we imagine ourselves to be. Our insight is defective and we are not able to read ourselves accurately. You alone see the full text, the lines of glory, the pages of shame, the many grey paragraphs, and the unfinished sentences.

Look upon us with your saving mercy, loving God. Please forgive and delete every single thing that is unlovely and unloving. Correct and restructure all that is misshapen. Highlight the things worth repeating or enlarging. Rephrase the unfinished sentences so that they may continue on to declare your glory.

You alone are capable, you alone can be trusted to deal with all the secret pages of mind and heart. Make us more yours than we have ever been before, and in being more yours, become more truly ourselves. Through Christ Jesus our Saviour. Amen!

-Bruce Prewer

A Very Fitting and Informative Tribute

For those who may be unfamiliar with John Stott, who died Wednesday at the age of 90, here is an informative tribute to his life:

The Methodist Blogs Weekly Links of Note

This week's noteworthy posts from the Methoblogosphere:

Jay Voorhees: The Dilemma of Leading a Church in Decline

Andy Bryan: Do I know You?

Robert McDowell: Marriage, Politics, & Compromise

Henry Neufeld: Renaming the Unpopular

Steve Heyduck: Context Is Everything

Renovate or Die: Fridays with Farr (and Kotan) #2

Stepping Into the River of Grace and Riding the Momentum Stream

We all know what momentum is-- One basketball team is down by fifteen points in the middle of the fourth quarter and then, somehow, things start to shift. The underdogs gain the momentum and win the game. When you first start an exercise routine, it takes everything within you to stick to it day in and day out; but over time, as you get in shape you gain momentum and sticking with the routine becomes easier.

In chapter four of Renovate Or Die: Ten Ways to Focus Your Church on Mission, Bob Farr writes about creating momentum in the church. Far too often, pastors and churches miss opportunities to build momentum because they miss the wave of momentum when it arrives because either churches and pastors are not looking for it or they are simply afraid to catch the wave and go for the ride.

Farr outlines the five steps for catching momentum in the church:

1) If you want momentum, you have to change something. You cannot keep doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result.

2) You go for the low-hanging fruit. Get a quick win. What are the visible and easy things to change that will have an impact on attitude? Just make the easy changes quickly. Don't talk about it for six months and wave a flag in front of everyone. Just do it! Start a new small group. Start a new softball team.

Giants Do Walk the Earth

In those days, Giants were in the land (Genesis 6:4).

Yes, I know I have taken Genesis 6:4 out of context, but out of context it appropriately refers to John Stott, who passed away yesterday, south of London at the age of 90.

I read my first book by Stott as a young college student. My father gave me his short book, Christian Mission in the Modern World as a Christmas gift. From that time on, I was a big fan of John Stott. His book on preaching, Between Two Worlds, is in my opinion, still one of the best books on homiletics today years after its publication. I did not read all of his 50+ books he published over his long career, but I read enough to be reminded of his influence periodically in my sermons and writing. He had the ability to write substantively and clearly, which is not something everyone can do. For Stott, theology had everything to do with the church and the church had everything to do with the world God was redeeming. Again and again in his theological reflection, Stott returned to the Bible rightly believing that a theology that was not biblical was not good theology. And ultimately, the central focus of theology and church and mission and life was Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. For Stott, there was no compromise to be entertained when it came to Jesus.

Now, John R.W. Stott has joined the church triumphant, and we who remain are now cheered on by him as he joins that great cloud of witnesses.

Knowing that seems to make our task a little bit easier today... and tomorrow...

Thank you, John Stott, and praise to you O Jesus, for your faithful servant, whose influence for your Kingdom continues even now.

Pastors Who Want Parishioners to Change-- Physician, Heal Thyself!

Change is a difficult thing. One of the complaints I hear most from my pastoral colleagues is how difficult it is for the their churches to embrace change; and because they refuse to think of doing anything radically different, they are slowly declining heading toward closing the doors.

But my question to my fellow clergy is how willing are you to change? How willing are you to do things differently. A pastor goes to a new church where the sermons have been delivered with PowerPoint and she is unwilling to learn PowerPoint, so that is the end of that. Or a pastor goes to a church with a contemporary service and does not care for contemporary music, so he immediately starts to reshape it in more "traditional" ways. Or a church has been very active in taking short-term mission trips, but the new pastor doesn't like to travel and refuses to participate. I have to confess that my impression of more than a few pastors I have known is that they bemoan the stagnant rut of their congregation's "we've never done it that way before" attitude, but they themselves exhibit the same attitude in reference to their own vocation.

If the mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, how can we who lead the church expect the church to do whatever it takes to fulfill that mandate, when we have been in the same ministerial rut ourselves for years?

Every time I begin a new appointment, I survey not only what I believe needs to change with that church, but I also reflect upon what I need to do differently myself, in reference to sermon preparation, worship planning, and the general discharge of my other duties. Pastors must lead the way in demonstrating a willingness to change. Only then, can they with integrity insist on change from their congregation.

Pastors, do you want your parishioners to change? Physicians, first heal thyselves.

Crony Capitalism Is OK When It Achieves Your Own Ends

From Michael Kruse:

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Bloomberg: Need a Light Bulb? Uncle Sam Gets to Choose

Though anti-populist in the extreme, the bulb ban in fact evinces none of the polished wonkery you’d expect from sophisticated technocrats. For starters, it's not clear what the point is. Why should the government try to make consumers use less electricity? There's no foreign policy reason. Electricity comes mostly from coal, natural gas and nuclear plants, all domestic sources. So presumably the reason has something to do with air pollution or carbon-dioxide emissions.

But banning light bulbs is one of the least efficient ways imaginable to attack those problems. A lamp using power from a clean source is treated the same as a lamp using power from a dirty source. A ban gives electricity producers no incentive to reduce emissions.

Nor does it allow households to make choices about how best to conserve electricity. A well-designed policy would allow different people to make different tradeoffs among different uses to produce the most happiness ("utility" in econ-speak) for a given amount of power. Maybe I want to burn a lot of incandescent bulbs but dry my clothes outdoors and keep the air conditioner off. Maybe I want to read by warm golden light instead of watching a giant plasma TV.

To Label Extremists Is to Mislabel Them

Spot on words from Scot McKnight concerning the Norwegian killer:

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Within a few hours of Breivik' horrendous, despicable acts of murder someone assigned him to the Muslim terrorist fringe, and when it was clear that he wasn't that, someone assigned him to the Christian fundamentalist right wing fringe. Labeling and classifying are how we make sense of things, and so such assignments are understandable and predictable. But these assignments miss something colossally important about Breivik. Proving he's neither Muslim nor Christian also misses the point.

The problem here is not Breivik's supposed Christian orientation, for his own writing makes it abundantly clear he has no idea what Christianity really means. He has convinced himself he's a medieval crusader, and that’s just not normal. So I'd like to suggest we learn to assign such terrorists, and Loughner belongs in this same group, neither to the right nor to the left, and that we also avoid connecting them to a religion. Breivik fits no such box.

These sorts of folks, and their numbers are minuscule in the world, can't be explained by normal categories because they do not live in the normal world. They are deeply disturbed, anti-social, racially-charged, hate-filled, paranoid, delusional human beings who gravitate toward groups where they can find the emotional sensation of like-minded hate-filled folks and where they can find ideas that feed their hatred and morbid paranoia about the world. They almost always discover there is no one quite like them or, if there are, so few that they know they are all alone in their delusional perceptions of what the world is like, what color it ought to be, and what it most needs.

These anti-social delusional humans dwell in a world of their own making and they write things up in order to gather their hate-filled racist theories into some kind of bundle of meaning, and their writings never make sense to normal people. No matter what they say, they don't make sense.

Making sense of people like Breivik is precisely the wrong thing to do. Posting a picture of him is what makes this so obvious: he looks normal. He isn't normal, and assigning into normal categories fails every time.

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Wise words, to be sure. To use these kinds of henious acts as a way for the left or the right to score points against their political opponents is to misunderstand what has happened. Partisans on the left and the right need to learn that not everything can be correctly understood through the lens of their own narrow worldview.

What Book(s) Would You Recommend?

Books I have read recently that I commend to your reading (in no particular order):

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Dave Alan Black, The Jesus Paradigm

Peter J. Leithart, Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom

Bruce Chadwick: I am Murdered: George Wythe, Thomas Jefferson, and the Killing that Shocked a New Nation

Robert D. Cornwall, Ultimate Allegiance: The Subversive Nature of the Lord's Prayer

Hilarion Alfeyev, Christ the Conqueror of Hell: The Descent into Hades from an Orthodox Perspective

Seyoon Kim, Christ and Caesar: The Gospel and the Roman Empire in the Writings of Paul and Luke

Alister McGrath, Heresy: A History of Defending the Truth

L. Daniel Hawk, Joshua in 3-D: A Commentary on Biblical Conquest and Manifest Destiny

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Those are my recommendations. What book(s) have you read within the last year that you would recommend?

Some Helpful Thoughts on the "New" Perspective on Paul

From Scot McKnight:

The "new" perspective has thrown a spanner into theology, and it is such a powerful, paradigm-shifting perspective that at times things seem incomprehensible. The writings of Paul, which used to be so clear in the "old" perspective, are suddenly no longer so clear. Actually, for those of us who think EP Sanders, JDG Dunn, and NT Wright (and others) got us closer to the meaning of the NT things did get clearer, it’s just that the old view got confusing.

In my view the foundation of the "old" perspective was human depravity, and I often say the foundation is an Augustinian anthropology, though I don't mean to say it's not NT but invented by Augustine. What I mean to say is that humans are seen as depraved and dead and in need of grace. From the old perspective, that is the issue Paul is specifically addressing in Romans and Galatians (mind you, it's hard to find that issue in the other of Paul's letters, which ought to be a clue to something being amiss, but that’s for another post). So, the old perspective thinks the driving issue was "how do I, a sinner, get saved and find righteousness before a holy, wrathful but gracious God?"

The new perspective says,"Well, yes, but not quite yet." For the new perspective, Paul — and just read Colossians or Ephesians from start to finish — is facing a slightly different set of issues: How do we incorporate Gentiles into the Israel of God? And on what basis? And what about the law? And what does that say about personal salvation? That’s about the order of things for this new view on Paul, and Tim Gombis, who isn't here offering a brief for the new perspective but trying to help us all see Paul with 1st Century eyes, helpfully gives us some ideas for understanding Paul.

I am in agreement with Scot. My doctoral thesis on Colossians argued for a "new" perspective reading.

The rest of Scot's post, which is on Tim Gombis' very helpful "The Paul We Think We Knew," is here. The link to Gombis' entire article is at the end of Scot's post.

A Prayer for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Through dreams and visions, O God, you broaden the horizon and hope of your people, that they may discover the meaning of your covenant, even in the midst of trial and exile. Increase the number of those who believe in your word so that all people may joyfully respond to your call and share in your promises. Amen.

I Appreciate the Blurbs

I appreciate Scot McKnight, Michael Gorman, and David Opderbeck for blurbing my latest book, The Politics of Witness: The Character of the Church in the World. Thanks, guys!

Here they are:

Anyone who thinks the church isn't political doesn't understand that the church is a politic; and anyone who doesn't think the gospel is political hasn't come to terms with the fundamental claim that Jesus is Lord. Allan Bevere, an ecclesial theologian, combines in this book a wonderful "church as politics" with gospel in a wise, warm, and challenging manner.

-Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor of Religious Studies, North Park University

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Allan Bevere has written a timely, eye-opening, and thought-provoking book for Christians, whether they consider themselves conservative or progressive. He calls us all to forsake the seductive, insidious error of Christendom and civil religion in order to follow Jesus and bear witness to the reign of God. May this book contribute to the renewal of the church for the sake of the world and the glory of God.

-Michael J. Gorman, Professor of Sacred Scripture and Dean, the Ecumenical Insttitute of Theology, St. Mary's Seminary & University, Baltimore, Maryland.

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The Church has tragically returned again and again to the mistake of equating the progress of God's kingdom with the acquisition of temporal political power. Allan Bevere skillfully demonstrates that the modern religious right and left are equally attracted to this error. He calls the Church back to its mission of incarnating the alternative polis that is God's true kingdom -- a necessary corrective for all Christians in times of heated rhetoric and increasing civil strife.

-David Opderbeck, Associate Professor of Law, Seton Hall University

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The book is available on Amazon or it may be purchased directly from the publisher.

Renovate or Die: Fridays with Farr (and Kotan) #1

For the next several Fridays I am going to be working through Bob Farr's excellent book Renovate or Die: Ten Ways to Focus Your Church on Mission. Our pastoral staff is currently reading the book together and discussing it at our Thursday morning staff meetings. While Farr is a United Methodist and his focus is oriented around the UMC, this book is valuable for pastors and parishioners from all faith traditions.

In the Introduction (pp. 1-13) Farr puts forth the argument that individual churches have only two choices open to them: renovate or cease to exist. Renovation is not simply redecoration, which is what too many congregations are attempting to do. Farr writes,

Redecoration is about cosmetics-- an attempt to spruce up the place. Redecoration is making things more appealing on the surface-- visually more appealing most of the time. Redecoration does not call you to make any real structural changes, so it is much easier than renovation, and it normally happens without any professional assistance and with much less expense. Redecoration is definitely less risky than renovation.

Renovation, on the other hand, is closely associated with innovation, which involves starting something new from scratch. Innovation is a result of originality and creativity. Innovation is something you birth; it's a new life. Renovation contains all these things, but begins with a shape, a history, and a form. It carries burdens and traditions from the past, which requires additional tools.... Renovation is often more expensive, risky, and is extremely hard work (pp. 6-7).

The church, according to Farr, has attempted to redecorate over the past thirty years and the results have been far less than fruitful. The time for redecoration has passed; renovation is now the only option for survival and for flourishing. And if the church is going to renovate it needs to recover and focus its attention on its mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Farr ends his Introduction with an appeal to those two 18th century renovators, John and Charles Wesley, who attempted to bring renovation to the Church of England, but with some hesitation started a new movement of God because the larger church refused to renovate. "And as a result, the Methodist Church changed the culture and future for both England and the United States" (p. 13).

The questions which will occupy me personally as I read this book are: Has the United Methodist Church become the Church of England of the 18th century? Will we renovate or will someone need to start a new movement of God without us? Are we in need of a 21st century John and Charles Wesley?

Do You Ever Wish You Hadn't Asked That?

On Tuesday, MSNBC journalist, Contessa Brewer, interviewed GOP Congressman, Mo Brooks (R-AL) on the current situation with our national debt and spending. I have watched Ms. Brewer on occasion. She is competent and intelligent, even if she periodically forays into commentary on things in which she is uninformed.

During the interview with Rep. Brooks, she asked a condescending question that I'll bet she wishes she hadn't asked:

According to RealClearPolitics, Brooks does have a degree with honors in economics. Indeed, Brooks graduated from Duke University in three years with a double major in political science and economics. Moreover, he has a law degree from the University of Alabama.

The point of this post is not to focus on Brooks' contention that without the economic stimulus package a few years ago, the United States would not have entered into another Depression. Reputable economists have differing opinions on this. The point I want to make is to dispute the idea that one cannot comment authoritatively on a subject without formal education in that subject.

The irony of the interview is that Ms. Brewer has obviously drawn her own conclusions concerning the economic stimulus package. It would have been interesting at that point to ask her if she had a degree in economics. Of course, that was really not the motivation behind the question to the congressman. The purpose of the question was to belittle his views by informing the public that he is not credible on the issue of economics. Whether Mo Brooks was right or not, he all of a sudden became credible when he had an unexpected answer to the question.

In my experience, I have encountered this before. In academia, a professor gets exasperated at a student's continued questioning and stifles the debate by appeal to her credentials, which of course is a not-so-subtle way of reminding the student of his lack of formal training. I have seen it in church meetings when someone creates silence in a meeting by reminding everyone the he is the expert. Such questions do not deal with the substance of the debate. They are not intended to. Their purpose is to belittle others into silence and acquiescence.

Don't misunderstand my point: we need people trained in the many and various academic disciplines and vocations, and this is particularly important for those of us who put our views out in public. We need to consult such individuals in order to comment competently. But the reality is that everyone comments on all kinds of subject matter all the time in which we have no formal training or experience. If we have to wait to have an opinion on issues until we are formally educated in them, there is very little we will be able to converse with one another on at the coffee shop, in the meeting, and in interviews. We must always listen to the "experts," but the truth of the matter is, they don't always have it right either.

If journalists want only the formally trained to comment, then I would ask that journalists refrain from their frequent commentary on matters of religion and theology unless they have formal seminary training.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

The Politics of Witness-- A Review

Thanks to Bob Cornwall who has posted his review of my latest book, The Politics of Witness.

The Quotable C.S. Lewis #33: The Evolution of Creation

We ask how the Nature created by a good God comes to be in this [depraved] condition? By which question we may mean either how she comes to be imperfect-- to leave 'room for improvement' as the schoolmasters say in their reports-- or else, how she becomes positively depraved. If we ask the question in the first sense, the Christian answer (I think)  is that God, from the first, created her such as to reach her perfection by a process in time. He made an earth at first 'without form and void' and brought it by degrees to its perfection. In this, as elsewhere, we see the familiar pattern-- descent from God to the formless Earth and reascent from the formless to the finished. In that sense a certain degree of 'evolutionism' or 'developmentalism' is inherent in Christianity.

--from Miracles

True Holiness Is Irresistable

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:

'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory.'

The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: 'Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!' (Isaiah 6:1-5).

"Christians should worship God in awe and wonder," said St. Cyril of Jerusalem. Apparently Isaiah has no choice but to worship God in this way.

Isaiah not only witnesses the grandeur of God, but God's holiness as well. In the world of the ancient Near East, the word "holy" was not extensively used, and it was a word that had no moral connotations. When Israel's neighbors used the term "holy" to describe their deities, they were simply affirming that their gods were not common. But for the Israelites, the notion of God as holy was very different. God's holiness not only meant that he was different from human beings, but that he was morally superior to human beings. His character was perfect and his actions were always just.

Can Efficiency Lead to Stinginess?

From Matt Perman:

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It's counterintutive, but true:

"A stingy man hastens after wealth, and does not know that poverty will come upon him" (Proverbs 28:22).

On the other hand:

"One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered" (Proverbs 11:24-25).

This applies in all sorts of ways to all sorts of areas, and it's not just about money. We are to incline towards mercy and generosity in all of our dealings with people.

Generosity means that when you do your work, you do it to the best of your ability — you do more than is expected, not less. When you lead others, you seek their welfare and building up, and not just the accomplishment of tasks. When organizations create policies, their disposition should be towards serving and empowering their people, not first protecting themselves.

In everything we do, in all realms of life, our disposition should be towards service and generosity, rather than self-protection.

Ironically, one of the biggest threats to this is the quest for efficiency. Sometimes, the quest for efficiency can simply become a cloak for stinginess. That's why I don't hit the note of efficiency much on this blog — I believe that the best way to be efficient is simply to be effective. There is a place for efficiency, but be careful of letting efficiency balloon in to stinginess. Make it your first priority to seek that which serves others and benefits them; let efficiency be the second consideration, not the first.

And, in the end, you will find that this is actually far more efficient. "He who waters will himself be watered."

Caption Contest 2011.9... And the Winner Is...

Richard H.: "And now you know the rest of the story... Paul Harvey, Good Day!"

A Prayer for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Creator God, you call us to love and serve you with body, mind, and spirit through loving your creation and our sisters and brothers. Open our hearts in compassion and receive these petitions on behalf of the needs of the church and the world. Amen.

The Methodist Blogs Weekly Links of Note

This week's noteworthy posts from the Methoblogosphere:

Richard Heyduck: Here there be sinners

Russell Martin: Five Things I Learned When our Youth Band Led a Week of Worship

Henry Neufeld: A Sinful Job Description

Andy Bryan: "I Will Be With Your Mouth" or: Speaking for God

Jenny Smith: puzzle pieces

Tony Mitchell: The Situation Today

Steve Heyduck: UMC Decline: Society’s fault?

Shane Raynor: Churches and Debt: What's Wrong with this Picture?

Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction 2011.13: Banana Goes Ape on Gorilla

Caption Contest 2011.9

Do Churches Need to Develop Mission Statements?

Every church I have served has had a mission statement. I have assisted churches in developing mission statements. Some of those statements have been quite good, others are nothing more than idyllic preference-driven affirmations on how the church can continue to serve only itself. Since the church has a mission, having a mission statement seems quite logical.

But does the church need to develop a mission statement when Jesus has already given us one?

And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you' (Matthew 28:18-20).

I know that when churches develop mission statements they mean well, but in doing so do they unintentionally suggest that they can improve upon the mission Jesus gave the church some two millennia ago? We are to go to all the nations in order to make disciples of Jesus Christ, and that mission has not changed. Perhaps we feel the need to have a second mission statement because we want to add our two cents, believing we have to have a say in what we should be doing as the church.

Now some might suggest that a mission statement gives more detail, fills out, Jesus' marching orders he has given to the church. But the experts in mission statements insist that a good mission statement is short and to the point and easy to memorize, and a long mission statement is counter-productive and basically useless. What is shorter and more to the point than Jesus' charge to make disciples of all nations?

No individual church needs to develop a mission statement. We've had one for two thousand years. What each church needs to do is to get to the task of keeping the charge we've already been given.

The Church's Central and All-Encompassing Dilemma

The church's most significant dilemma that it faces at the dawn of the twenty-first century is the same dilemma it has faced since the fourth century: What to do with Constantinianism and what to do with Christendom? In facing this most difficult challenge the very character of the church is at stake, the very character of its mission is in jeopardy. While the vast majority of believers have embraced Constantinianism (the belief that Christians should forge a close alliance with the state in order to influence and, if possible, enact Christian policies) and Christendom (the product of Constantinianism where the culture of a nation reflects Christianity and vestiges of Christian values), I believe that Christians must reject both if they are to be faithful witnesses to the gospel in the world.

It is from the ministry of Jesus that we understand Jesus intended to reconstitute the nation of Israel in his ministry. In gathering twelve disciples around him, Jesus was founding a nation (that would become known as "Church") that would uniquely bear witness to the nations of the ways of the Lord; and the ways of this holy nation would not be the ways of the nations of the world.

But some two hundred and fifty years after Jesus, the church would be confronted with its greatest temptation-- the temptation to wield power, to reject Jesus' upside down kingdom and replace it with the typical status quo model of the pagans. The Emperor Constantine would offer the church such a temptation, and it would find itself unable to resist.

The Question of Christ in the Earliest Centuries #10 (Final Post)

Attempts to Explain the Relationship Between Christ's Two Natures (Part 2)

Another theologian who offered a way to understand the person of Christ was Nestorius. Nestorius was from the Antiochene school and he found himself at the center of a controversy when he declared that it was improper to refer to Mary as the theotokos, the "bearer of God." Instead, she should be called the christotokos, "the bearer of Christ." Protestants usually reject the notion of Mary as theotokos because of lack of understanding at what is at stake in the debate. Protestants have been taught to reject that Mary was the bearer of God because of what is assumed in reference to what it says about Mary-- it seems to elevate her to divine status. In fact, the issue was never about Mary. It was about Christ.

When Nestorius said that we should not talk of Mary as the bearer of God, he was asserting that a distinction needs to be made between Christ's divinity and his humanity. There are some things we can say about his humanity that we cannot say about his divinity, and vice-versa. Nestorius was trying to maintain an unqualified belief in the humanity of Jesus and maintain the integrity of his divinity as well. Calling Mary the bearer of God was like saying, so Nestorius thought, that God was two years old after Mary gave birth to Jesus.

Like Theodore, as with the others from the Antiochene school, Nestorius offered a solution that made clear distinctions between Christ's divinity and humanity. They were afraid that if such distinctions were not highlighted, then Christ's divinity would overwhelm his humanity and it would be impossible to speak of a Savior who was truly human.

A Prayer for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Through dreams and visions, O God, you broaden the horizon and hope of your people, that they may discover the meaning of your covenant, ven in the midst of trial and exile. Increase the number of those who believe in your word so that all people may joyfully respond to your call and share in your promises. Amen.

Tired Old Phrases that Need to be Retired

Here are mine:

1. Thinking outside the box.

2. Speaking truth to power.

3. The politics of fear.

4. Politicizing [this or that].

5. It is what it is.

6. Whatever...

7. No problem...

8. I'm spiritual, but not religious.

9. It's not rocket science.

10. My bad...

What are yours?

Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction 2011.12: First Degree Carslaughter

Arizona man sentenced for shooting his car

From Associated Press

July 07, 2011 2:20 PM EDT

KINGMAN, Ariz. (AP) — A western Arizona man has received a three-month sentence after authorities say he shot his Camaro because it wouldn't start and then refused to come out of his home.

The Kingman Daily Miner reports Lauriano Lawrence Lovato went out to his car April 13, and when it wouldn't start, he fired two rounds through the windshield and into the dashboard.

Neighbors called police, and Lovato was eventually arrested after a lengthy standoff.

The Kingman man pleaded guilty to one count of discharging a gun unlawfully within city limits and was sentenced to three years probation and 90 days jail time.

The Stuff of Life: Bass Fishing and Talking Theology

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I love theology, but few know that I greatly enjoy bass fishing. For many years I went bass fishing with Charlie. Charlie was a retired chemist. He was extremely intelligent and conversant in many areas of science, theology, philosophy, history, and politics. I loved fishing with Charlie. We would get into his canoe very early in the morning and we would set out on a private lake, whose owners Charlie knew. The fishing was always excellent. We never came ashore without many bass and lots of panfish as big as Herman Munster's hands. Since it was a private lake there were no limits on the number of fish we could catch.

The reason I enjoyed fishing with Charlie is that while we fished we often talked theology. Being an inquisitive scientist, Charlie was not afraid to ask the difficult questions, for which, more often than not, I had no answer, but at least we would talk about it. We would wade into the relationship between theology and science, and science and ethics, and periodically for a change of pace, we would talk some philosophy or history. Even in the evening, back at camp by the light of the fire and a Coleman lantern, we cleaned fish and talked theology.

Clergy Debate Social Media

This post serves two purposes: First, it allows me to post something for you to read since my blogging has been non-existent in the past week, considering my relocation. (Blogging should become more frequent this week.) Second, this post allows me to engage in shameless self-promotion as I was interviewed for the article by Mary Jacobs of the UM Reporter.

The link to the story is here.

A Prayer for the Third Sunday after Pentecost

To fulfill the ancient promise of salvation, O God, you made a covenant with our ancestors and pledged them descendants more numerous than the stars. Grant that all people may share in the blessings of your covenant, accomplished through the death and resurrection of your Son and sealed by the gift of your Spirit. Amen.