A Season of Miracles

Every day is a day to be thankful to God.  Each new season brings new opportunities and challenges.  All I know is right now we are in a season of miracles.  Four weeks ago, we prayed for a man with cancer spreading from his prostrate and now he is completely cancer free.  Three weeks ago, one of our ladies had a vision during communion of a man shooting people in a church.  The whole world read about it the next day in the newspaper which happened in Texas.

I believe this is also a season for the church to be called to corporate prayer.  Last week one of our families lost their only daughter in a tragic car accident.  The miracle of love and forgiveness shown that day was truly miraculous.  Today is not over but I already know there is going to be the miracle of new birth as one of our young ladies is baptized into Christ. Truly we are in a season of miracles for those who have eyes to see.

Love's Flames

God's ways are higher than our ways in Isaiah 55:6-9 is not an argument to defend an eternal punishing God, the context is God's everlasting abundant mercy. The deeper truth about hell is it's more about how we live right here and now than simply a bad place down and under some where. We often think of hell in one dimensional ways rather than the multi-leveled view of Scripture. Too often we preach hell like the Pharisees did than applying the warnings of hell to our own lives like Jesus told us to do. Hell exists because nobody can escape the purifying fire of God's holy love.

We usually think of hell as punishment or destruction rather than purification. Several of the early church fathers like Origen and Gregory of Nyssa viewed hell as medicinal because people resist the flames of God's love. It's not sinners that are destroyed but sin and evil itself that is destroyed in the end. We need to learn from the prophet who spoke of hell the most in the Bible and that was Jesus.  Jesus used very colorful and shocking language to jolt people out of their spiritual slumber. Often the prophets spoke of God's anger or judgement burning forever against Israel but even that was only for a season and not forever (see Jer.17:4 & 30:3 for an example of this). Hell is not used by Jesus as a threat to outsiders but as a challenge to insiders.

Why do Bible interpreters take the flames of hell literally but cutting off body parts as metaphorically? The inconsistencies and selective uses of the Bible are staggering to say the least. The flames of hell may hurt like hell as they burn away all our false and deceptive ways within us and the many masks we hide behind but ultimately God's fiery presence is fitting us for heaven. When it comes to a hopeful universalism, do we have more confidence in the power of human sin or the power of divine grace?

Believing as Peter did in the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21) or Paul did in the reconciliation of all things (Col.1:20) or John did in the renewal of all things (Rev.21:5) does not limit or soften our purpose or mission to evangelize the whole world but should inspire us to preach fearlessly, love limitlessly, and obey unconditionally.

(reflections and excerpts from Heath Bradley Flames of Love)

The Eclipse of God as a Fault of Contemplation

"The earth is ablaze with the fire of God, but only those who see it take their shoes off" - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Contemplation is about waking up and seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. God is looking for people who contemplate and are aware of His presence in the every day moments of life. Life is full of pressures, stress, busyness and so much work that pushes out the contemplative life where God is only an after thought or shadow of reality.

Are we awake to the dance of creation with God the dancer who gives and holds all life together.  When we see life correctly, we see everything in life is a gift.  Abundant living is purity of heart where everything is seen through the prism of God's love.

Can We Rescue the Dead?

The modern western church typically sees a great divide between those who are still alive on earth and those who are dead and have passed on to the after life. What is fascinating is to learn how the earliest Christians not only prayed to the dead and asked for assistance in their prayers but they even prayed for the salvation of those who died without Christ.

There is a list of early evidences from archaeology, grave sites, epitaphs, and early church writings to at least take another look at what these early Christians believed and practiced. Some of the early Christian writings that point in this direction are Luke 16:19-31 nd 2 Clement 8, The Shepherd of Hermes, the Apocalypse of Peter, and the odes of Solomon written during the second century.

Particular interest is Thelca's prayer for Falconilla and Perpetua's prayer for Dinocrates. There is the harrowing of Hell by the ancient Eastern Orthodox of Jesus descent into hell and emptying it and several early church fathers views of universal salvation from Origen and Gregory of Nyssa to later Christians in the early church.  Two teachings that have been lost in the modern church today is (1) Christians still spiritually grow and evolve in the after life; and (2) people can still choose God even after they have died.

Benedictine Monastery: Day Seven

St. Benedict said, "The light of holy contemplation enlarges and expands the mind of God until it stands above the world." My heart and mind have been expanded by Jesus sacred heart and the holy moments of this retreat. How can one not enter into the heavenly realm when one is singing with the angels in the divine liturgy and partaking of the medicine of immortality in the Eucharist.

Wonder, mystery, and total peace fills my soul today in this one eternal moment beyond time. Pure ecstasy, complete joy, and inner peace fills my soul. I have been soul sick for way too long and today I feel completely free. Today I am fully restored. Today I am totally healed by the suffering lamb of God. Maranatha!

Benedictine Monastery: Day Six

I read Psalm 139:1-12 which resonated with my soul this morning. In the translation I was using, verse 9 reads like this, "If I climb upward on the rays of the morning sun." I am reminded of six weeks earlier when I was on a retreat at St. Meinrad's Benedictine monastery of St. Benedict's vision reported by St. Gregory. In this vision, St. Benedict saw the whole word gathered up into a single ray of light.  It was asked how was it possible to see the whole world in a single ray of light? The answer" the earth grows small when the spirit is enlarged. This is the challenge of the contemplative praying. We become so small that all we see is God.

Benedictine Monastery: Day five

When I partake of the sweet Eucharist, there is a fire in my belly and a peace beyond this earthly realm. I am reminded of the words of Queen Elizabeth of the Trinity when she spoke of this Eucharist life of God:

O Jesus of the Eucharist
My spouse, my love, my life,
How I love to listen to you
to speak to you, to see you every evening.

O how sweet are these encounters
How sweet are the tears
You, my supreme love, O my King
My Jesus, when I am near you
It seems to me that I am no longer on earth.

When I hear your voice
O my spouse, O my good master
I hear and see nothing but you.
O these sublime, ecstatic moments
Intimate and sweet union
When my heart beats in unison with my Savior
would that I spend long hours in that holy abode.

My sole love, nothing keeps me here on earth
Jesus alone satisfies me
Apart from Jesus, I can do noting
Near to Him, I am happy
He is my life and my love.

Jesus my only love!
Jesus God of the Eucharist!
Jesus my sustenance, my life,
Jesus who loves and chooses me
that I may love Him and even suffer for Him.

Benedictine Monastery: Day Four

The words of St. Theresa are now forever tattooed on my heart, "Enlarge my heart Jesus with your heart. It's a flame from the furnace of your heart."  I went to a contemplative prayer time early this morning. The whisper of God's spirit said, "Be at peace my child."  I arose and meditated on these words.  I am a son of a preacher's kid from the Anabaptist tradition. My great ancestors I believe were German Catholic Rhineland mystics.  So who am I? Am I a German Catholic Anabaptist mystic? The Catholic priest of this retreat said I was an anonymous Catholic. Maybe I am a secret Anabaptist or a closet mystic? Who am I? I am God's beloved child.

Like St. Theresa, I am entering this journey into the deep chasm of God's heart where Jesus sacred heart resides. I want to live the life of Jesus lived with his heart leading the way. This is the deeper journey into the divine mystery of the Trinity. My soul is raptured by God's consuming fire of love. I hope to live this prayer of the sacred heart of Jesus:

Sacred heart of Jesus, make my heart pure like yours.
Sacred heart of Jesus, fill my heart with mercy and make my heart like yours.
Sacred heart of Jesus, undivided and fully devoted, my heart is yours.
Sacred heart of Jesus, full of heaven, make my heart like yours.
Sacred heart of Jesus, ever prayerful, make my heart like yours.
Sacred heart of Jesus, full of grace and peace, make my heart like yours.
Sacred heart of Jesus, burning with God's love, enlarge my heart with your heart.
Sacred heart of Jesus, simple and child-like, make my heart like yours.

Benedictine Monastery: Day Three

I walk the labyrinth at night
I gaze into my own suffering
and find God's comfort
My body is filled with cracks
and that is where God's light gets in.

As I peer into the night sky
as darkness envelopes everything
I discover that the darkness
begins to shine like the light
And the stillness of this Benedictine retreat
has turned into a divine dance with God.

I am learning that eternity is not in the time that lasts but in the indivisible moment. The entire creation sings praises around me and it's like I've entered into the song of creation where time is no more.  I praise God the maker of heaven and earth for the gift of the eternal now. Those moments where time stops and God's beauty and majesty fills the empty spaces until everything is one with God.  One in me--one in the space---only God.

As scripture that stirs my soul today is Luke 12:49-53 but particularly this verse where Jesus says, "I have come to light a fire on the earth, and how I wish it were blazing."  At dusk tonight, I saw the primrose pedals open to the sky. Fireflies lit the night as quiet raindrops fell from heaven. I gazed at the embers burning in the night as my own soul burned brightly
 by the flame of God's love.

Benedictine Monastery: Day Two

I walked into the empty room and the room spoke to me.
The room said, "Don't evaluate or judge anything, just be with me."
I stood still in wonder for what seemed like an eternal second.
I was both startled and dazzled by the brightness of the darkness in the moment.

Like a veil that lifted off me for a moment, everything was on fire by eternity.
Everything still yet in motion giving praise to the maker of heaven and earth.
I was caught up in a celestial choir whose song filled the spaces between the empty spaces.
Suddenly the ordinary was holy and all matter and time entered into a sweet hush of divinity.

I am simply in awe on this silent retreat in the scenic beautiful area of Beech Grove Indiana. This is a monastery for nuns and there are only two of us men on retreat besides the Spiritual director who is Catholic priest. The other man on retreat with me is a minister of thirty plus years like me and comes out of the same Stone-Campbell tradition that I am from. Silence is not easy for me but I do hope I get to talk to Jim some more before this retreat is over.

I ate lunch in holy silence today. Everyone in silence seems so serious. I am reminded in the moment that God also loves laughter and playfulness. So here is my prayer today:

O humorous, playful, fun-loving God, knock me over with your ridiculous creations.
Roll me in the laughter that the world will never understand.
Push me over the edge of my seriousness into your laughing, loving arms. Amen.

Benedictine Monastery: Day One

I am on a silent retreat. Can I be still and quiet in listening to God's breath this week? I face a new reality---my silent self which is always speaking and the voice of God which is not silent and always calling me to an awakening. As I am carried along by silence this week, I will enter into a flow of the uncharted waters of God's Spirit. Is God inviting me to fullness in silence? Can my eye be single for a week? All I know this week is I want to see Jesus and be obedient to His voice and do whatever he tells me to do. Maranatha!

(reflections I wrote on retreat)

Prayer Walking

I rarely prayer walk but when I do, I see miracles abound.  Why do I not do it more? If God releases angels and answers from heaven, what would keep us from joining the heavenly host in this great adventure?  Yesterday, I was asked to prayer walk around the jail.  There were two teams of us to do it but there was no way to go around the last third because of a fence and security. One of the workers is a Pastor there and he said he would prayer walk the part we could not cover.  I am always amazed how God has everything covered even when we don't think God has things covered.  Maybe prayer walking is like those early disciples walking down the Emmaeus road. They met a stranger and found their hearts touched by God and their eyes opened to Jesus.

Your Word is My Song

Jesus born vulnerable in the dazzling light of creation
Birthed from above, Jesus sings a love song for everyone's salvation
The symphony of life raises its voice for all to hear
God's love poem permeates and reveals God is near

We enter the cave of night
and we are transformed by grace
into the flame of her light

The divine mystery of love unmasks the darkness
The edges of the cosmos shouts to the light that reveals the starkness
The darkness seems so alien and cold
The buried body of Jesus laid in a tomb waiting on the threshold

We enter the cave of night
and we are transformed by grace
into the flame of her light

Suddenly an earthquake erupts
Living water and boundless love emerge as death self-destructs
Surprised and swept away by the crucible of grace
We are invited by the night to walk the path of Christ in heaven's embrace

We enter the night
and we are transformed by grace
into the flame of her light

An Ash Heap with A Cosmic View

Two books I read almost one after the other was Paul Wallace's "Stars Beneath Us" and Mike McHargue's "Finding God in the Waves." Both books are about losing faith in God and rediscovering faith and how science and the Christian faith intersect each other.  I read Wallace's book first which focused on the story of Job.  A very fitting parallel since most people find themselves on an ash heap like Job in some great crises and rise out of the ashes with a bigger view of both God and reality.  Wallace is an astrophysicist and loves how God takes Job on a cosmic tour.  Job's faith and view of reality and God are changed by the great suffering he endures through.

Mike McHargue says its his study of neuroscience that brings him back to God. The mysteries of the brain and how it points us to God consolidated Mikes faith but I would argue it was a mystical experience of meeting God in the waves of the ocean one night that changed Mike life forever.  He still has the mind of an atheist but his heart is now for God.  Each one of these books is biographical in nature that speaks of the divergent journeys people take through faith, doubt, and faith again. When one goes through the darkness and comes back into the light, their faith and how they live and believe are transformed greatly by these mystical intuitions and experiences we have with God's presence and the mystery of God's universe.

What I keep discovering is God is always present to us be we are not always present to God. We often kill God through bad religion and atheism is often generated from bad theism.  Mystical awareness is where we wake up to the constant presence of God in our lives. God enlightens our imaginations, purifies our perceptions, and bring us into union with all reality. I resonate with the Catholic writer Ronald Rolheiser who said, "Death brings about final purification, not by making us as cosmic angels who no longer have bodies, but by making us pan-cosmic spirits with the entire cosmos for a body" (Shattered Lantern, p.90).

The Naked Present

Richard Rohr is a contemporary mystic who writings are timeless and timely. In his book, "The Naked Now," here are some of his essential thoughts:

1.  Asking something from God does not mean talking God into it. It means an awakening of the gift within ourselves.

2.  Science and religion are merging from common descent of all living creatures to the star dust of all creations matter. Oneness is no longer a vague mystical notion but now a scientific fact.

3.  Western religion has been telling people what to know more than how to know, telling people what to see more than how to see.

4.  We see what we are ready to see.

5.  Christianity believes that God and humanity can coexist in the same place!

6.  God does not love us because we are good. God loves us because God is good.

7.  Prayer is about changing you, not about changing God.

8.  Remember this, if you do not transform your pain, you will surely transmit it to those around you and even to the next generation.

9.  There are two great doors we dare not leave closed----suffering and love.

10.  Open yourself to recognizing the great paradoxes in Jesus.  Then you can begin to hold those same opposites together in yourself.

Benedictine Monastery: Day Three

Practicing the Benedictine spirituality is a life of contemplative silent prayer, singing the Psalms, practicing 'Lexio Divina' scriptural meditations, and immersing oneself in the writings of the patristic fathers.  All of life is to be lived and worked as a prayer to God.  Above all, prayer is not asking God for things but learning simply to pray is to be in the presence of God.

I started this spiritual retreat reading Hans Urs Von Balthasar "My Work in Retrospect" and I ended the retreat by finishing the book.  Here is how Balthasar ends his work:

1.  We all start with a reflection on the situation of man. We quickly discover that we exist as limited beings in a limited world.  We are not God and God has no need of the world.  But if God has no need of the world, then why do we exist?

2.  God is love and created us in the freedom to love in God's image. God created us as personal beings who need love and communion.  God reveals himself to us by his Word and Spirit.  Human reason must be open to the infinite and transcendent.  Human knowing is always partial and limited.

3.  The One, the True, and the beautiful all surpass reason and point to transcendent attributes.  God is One and love and makes all things beautiful. Man exists only by interpersonal dialogue. Why then deny speech to being itself?

4.  God is not silent and speaks. God mystically meets and communes with us.  Like an epiphany, God appears! God enters into an alliance with us, a covenant where we do not chase after other gods and idols.  How can God come and make himself understood to man?

5.  The Holy Spirit and Christ's incarnation of love makes us one with God, ourselves, all people and the whole cosmos of creation.  Trinitarian love disrupts our divisions and binary thinking and leads us into fullness and peace with reality.  We enter the divine life through the Son of God who is the eternal icon of the Father.  Our response is simply humble surrender, honest transparency, and vulnerable love.

Benedictine Monastery: Day Two

God woke me up at 4am and heaven and earth collided in mystic joy of prayer.  I had breakfast with a scientist who was seeking after the mysterious unknown.  I sensed his science was not answering his present questions and possibly he had a mystical experience that did not fit into his closed system worldview.  Could it be he is running after what he does not know as he is haunted by the ghost of God?

Another gentleman in my retreat talked about Mother God Sophia.  Here is a man possibly trying to get in touch with the feminine side of God. God is Spirit and beyond gender but maybe some people need God more as Mother than Father? This reminds me of the movie "The Shack" where God shows up in the movie as a black woman.  All I can say is God meets us in the moment and where we are at and reveals as much light as we can accept by his mercy. James 2:13 says "mercy overcomes judgment."

I went to my first confession today. I shared my pain and heart with an 80 year old priest.  I prayed Psalm 149 & 150 and gave contrition for my sins. He simply shared his love and smiled at me the whole time as if I was giving my confession to Christ himself!

Benedictine Monastery: Day One

God is calling me to a life of complete surrender and peace. To learn to be content in all circumstances and to listen to the intuitions and movements of the Spirit of God throughout the whole day.  God is calling me to a contemplative lifestyle where I live an incarnational life and ask the Holy Spirit into every decision of the day.  Every new day is an opportunity to invite the Holy Spirit in the present moment.

At Supper, I met a Reformed minister whose life parallels mine in so many ways. He loves church history, the catholicity of the church and faced many of the same challenges I do in my relationships and life.  I could not help but feel God put us providentially together for such a time as this!  Discontentment, apathy, fear, anger, anxiety have filled to many of the last days of this month.  God is calling me out of the dark abyss into the light and freedom of rest in Christ. Is it possible that facing the worst moments leads to life's best?

In the empty silence of the monastery is the naked Spirit of God healing my overburdened soul and leading me into Holy communion.  After darkness comes light and crucifixion comes resurrection.  God is making all things new and God is making me new. Alleluia!

Immortal Diamond

A new author for me to read is Richard Rohr. He is one of the leading contemporary Christian mystics of our day.  Here are some of the beautiful insights from his book "Immortal Diamond":

1.  The goodness of God fills all the gaps of the universe.

2.  Your soul is who you are in god and who God is in you.

3.  Contemplation is the ultimate recovery, because it is from the universal addiction to our preferred way of thinking.

4.  The opposite of contemplation is not action---it is reaction.

5.  God is resurrecting everything all the time.

6.  Love is what we already are and what draws us to the fullness of our own being.

7.  Intimacy is the only gateway into the temple of human or divine love.

8.  Our failures and insufficiency are what leads us into a larger life and love.

Out Of The Empty Silence

Can you hear it, quietness, gentleness, tranquility
Out of the darkness flows the works of God's Spirit inscrutability
All is one ins the silence of God's eternal kingdom
Everything sinks and is melted into a sacred wisdom

Circular currents of Trinitarian love, everything is connected
Everything turns and spins, one great rhythmic detected
Every pocket of creation sings and echoes movement
The universe stilled with silence and joyful amusement

Sacred energy awakens opening blind eyes to the Divine
Vibrant silence hushes the emptiness and fills it with a new story line
Like layers of ocean waters flooding the soul
Space, time and matter are left behind, the void now filled whole

Can you hear the silence, rippling through the endless landscape
Waves of mercy crushing all with a translucent light  that penetrates
All is still, one with Christ's victory
Even the angels gaze at the cosmic mystery

Top 25: Influential Christian Scholars and Writers

I grew up in the Evangelical world and rarely read non-Evangelicals much less Catholic and Eastern Orthodox scholars. Over the years, I have discovered many of the deepest and riches Christian studies and books are written from people from the most ancient Christian traditions like the Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and Anglican. And what about Jewish scholars or Christian writers? Here are some people who have been influential in my studies and readings so far:

1.  Jewish scholars: Abraham Heschel and Jon D. Levenson

2.  Evangelical scholars: Craig Blomberg, D. H. Williams, Richard Baukham, Greg Boyd, G. K. Beale, Brian Zahnd, Phil Yancey, William Abraham, Mark Noll, Lesslie Newbigin, Rodney Reeves, Jonathan R. Wilson, Telford Work, Michael L. Brown, Jonathon Storment, Joshua Ryan Butler, Floyd McClung, Eugene Peterson, Jerry H. Gill, Richard Baukham, Stanly Hauerwas, William Willimon, Kenneth Bailey

3.  Catholic Scholars and writers:  Henri Nouwen, G. K. Chestorton, Renairo Cantalamessa, Matthew Levering, Teilhard de Chardin,

4. Eastern Orthodox scholars: Hans Urs Von Balthasar, David Bentley Hart, Peter Bouteneff, Bradley Jersak, Catherine Doherty, Andrew Louth

Global scholars: Karl Barth, John H. Yoder, Soren Kierkekaard, N. T. Wright, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Teilhard de Chardin

Current Scholars to read today: N. T. Wright, Hans Urs Vons Balthasar, Peter Bouteneff, Bradley Jersak, Stanley Hauerwas, Teilhard de Chardin, Joshua Ryan Butler, Jonathan Storment, Greg Boyd, John Crowder, Rob Bell, Richard Rohr, Robin Meyers, Richard Middleton, Peter Liethart, G. K. Beale, and Brian Zahnd.

Top scholars are Anglicans: C. S. Lewis, John Wesley, N. T. Wright, Ephraim Radner, Peter Liethart, Rowan Williams

Eastern Orthodox next: Balthasar, Bouteneff, Bradley Jersak, Andrew Louth,

Catholic scholars and writers: Renairo Cantalmessa, Henri Nouwen, Matthew Levering, Jeanne Guyon (whole medieval Catholic mystics)

Methodists: William Abraham, Stanley Hauerwas, William Willimon,

Progressive Scholars: Robin Meyers, Rob Bell, Richard Rohr

Some of the best Christian writers today I am reading currently: Richard Rohr mystical gleanings are excellent. Greg Boyd, Bradley Jersak and John Crowder have written some of the best books on a theology of the cross. N. T. Wright is certainly the most influential scholar and writer today right their with Balthasar. Robin Meyers speaks prophetically of what a subversive church needs to look like today and Peter Liethart is writing some very provocative ecumenical theology.

New writers I appreciare are Jonathan Storment from the Stone-Campbell tradition, Brian Zahnd whose spiritual pilgrimage is similar to my own, John Crowders prophetic and charismatic theology is stimulating, Shane Claiborne's discipleship emphasis is noteworthy, Kenneth Bailey, Rodney Reeves, and G. K. Beale in Jesus studies with N. T. Wright of course. Richard Middleton is a great friend and scholar and Mark Noll is one of my favorite Christian historians.

What are some of the best books to read?

John Crowder Cosmos Reborn, The New Mystics
N. T. Wright Surprised by Hope, The Day the Revolution Began
Greg Boyd The Crucifixion of the Warrior God, Cross Vision
Jon D. Levenson The Love of God
Richard B. Hays The Moral Vision of the New Testament
Bradley Jersak A More Christlike God, Her Gates Will Never be Shut
Richard Rohr, The Divine Dance and What the Mystics Know
Rob Bell Love Wins and Jesus Wants to Save Christians
Leslie Newbigin The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, Proper Confidence
Richard Middleton A New Heaven and a New Earth,
    The Silence of Abraham, the Passion of Job (forthcoming)
Peter Liethart The End of Protestantism, Delivered from the Elements of the World
Mark Noll Is the Reformation Over? The New Shape of World Christianity
Robin Meyers Spiritual Defiance, The Underground Church
Hans Urs Von Balthasar Dare We Hope all be Saved?, Heart of the World
G. K. Beale We Become what We Worship, The Temple and the Church's Mission
Henri Nouwen Return of the Prodigal, In the Name of Jesus
Philip Yancey What is so Amazing about Grace, The Jesus I Never Knew
Shane Claiborne The Irrisistible Revolution, Executing Grace
Rodney Reeves A Genuine Faith, Rediscovering Jesus
Kenneth Bailey Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, Poet & Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes
Joshua Ryan Butler The Skeleton in God's Closet, The Pursuing God
Ephraim Radner Hope Among the Fragments, The End of the Church
Peter Bouteneff Beginnings
Staneley Hauerwas and William Willimon Resident Aliens, After Christendom
Jonathan Storment How to Start a Riot, Bringing Heaven to Earth

Some of the freshest writers are N. T. Wright and Hans Balthasar who are the most prolific and write the most. Upcoming Christian scholars and writers are Bradley Jersak, John Crowder, Joshua Ryan Butler, Rodney Reeves. Jonathan Storment, Richard Middleton and Robin Meyers who I hope write a lot more to come. Writers who have written a lot that I am looking for more from are Richard Rohr, Greg Boyd, Peter Leithart, Peter Bouteneff, and Ephraim Radner.

Is the Historicity of Adam the Main thing?

Did the biblical writer himself consider the story of Adam and Eve to be “factual”? He certainly considered it to be “true,” insofar as it speaks eloquently about God’s creative activity in bringing humankind into existence, man’s rebellion against God’s will, and the suffering of human persons in their estrangement from God, their life “outside of Paradise.” Militating against a purely literal reading of the passage, however, are elements of the story such as Adam molded by God’s hands “of dust from the ground,” the image of God as a gardener who “plants a garden in Eden,” the formation of woman from man’s rib, the “sound of the Lord God walking in the garden,” the clothing of Adam and Eve with “garments of skin,” and the simultaneous existence of other people “in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” This anthropomorphic image of God, together with logical inconsistencies in the narrative, require interpretation, as the Fathers of the Church well knew. As the Fathers also made clear, the entire narrative is to be understood in the technical sense as historical mythology: not a “fable,” a made-up folk-tale, but a narrative element of Israel’s sacred history that speaks of the ineffable interaction between God and His human creatures, a relationship that can best be described by symbolic language. (Consider, for example, the Hebrew terms ‘adam, ‘adama, which signify “man” / “earth”; and ‘eden, which means “bliss,” “delight,” a virtual synonym of “Paradise,” as in Isa 51:3; Ezek 28:13; 31:9,15-18, where the underlying mythological element is quite evident.)

The story of Adam and Eve is in fact the story of each one of us. Because of our own rebellion, we have been expelled from Paradise, and a flaming sword now bars us from the life of beauty, peace and joy for which God fashioned us. In our garments of skin, we wander the earth, longing to rediscover and reenter the Garden in which and for which we were created.

The true end and fulfillment of the Genesis story is articulated most eloquently by the paschal icon of Christ’s descent into Sheol. While His body reposes in another garden, the Son of God, the Second Adam, penetrates the realm of the dead, to liberate us from the power of death that holds us in bondage and exile. There He grasps the hands of Adam and Eve, and with them He embraces each of us, to raise us with Himself and restore us to full communion with the God of Life and Love. The final meaning of this story, then, is summed up in the simple yet profound words of St Ephrem the Syrian: “Adam’s Lord came out to seek him; / He entered Sheol and found him there, / then led and brought him out / to set him once more in Paradise” ^[1]

[1]  Hymns on Paradise 8:10 (tr. S. Brock; SVS Press, 1990, )

Excerpts from an article by the Orthodox Church in America

Is the Church different from the world?

"Abide in me as I abide in you" Jesus (John15:4)

People participate in faith communities for many different reasons. Some searching for a meaningful connection to God and others while some find a sense of belonging or deep satisfaction being part of something bigger than themselves or a group of like minded people with similar needs and concerns.  When Jesus talks about the vine and the branches in John 15, one would think he would be speaking about being connected into Israel. Paul takes this up in Romans but this is not Jesus point in this scriptural vision. Jesus is not talking about connecting everyone to a history or tradition or church group but our connection to Christ.

If God incarnated himself on earth in Christ, the church is to be the incarnation of Christ on earth as God brings heaven to our earthly existence. The church is where Christ resides among his people forming humility, radical dependence on God and one another, and compassionate life long friends.  All of us are human beings seeking a way of life. Jesus for the Christian is the way of life that happens in community (the church).  The church is often tempted to opt for power over love or a life of worldly pleasure and material wealth over a life of sacrificial giving and service to others.

Jesus is the "telos," the goal to which everything in this created world is moving towards. The tension will often not be threats from the outside but threats from within. Our own complicity towards idolatry, addictions, and focusing on satisfying the pleasures of the flash rather than walking in the power and life in the Spirit of God. The gospel of Jesus shapes our virtues that make society a more wholesome and healing place rather than its own propensity towards chaos and fragmentation.  The church is one of many living traditions with a story to tell. That story will only be believed if people see an embodied story lived out by those who represent it. It may take a lifetime of practice, discipline, and discernment but its the patterns and virtues of community that will stand out to people who will either be drawn towards this community of faith or repelled by it. It is only when Christ followers point beyond themselves to Christ that the world begins to see a vision of what life with God on earth can really look like.

Genesis and Adam and Eve Revisted

There are now countless books and debates on the historicity of Adam and Eve and are they historical persons or literary fictions or a mix of both? What underlies so much of the problem is many people do not understand the ancient cosmology of Judaism and its theological background for the book of Genesis. Here are two quotes by Michael Flynn and Teilhard De Chardin that cuts through much of the problems and rhetoric over this issue:

Michael Flynn says, "Modern genetics does not falsify the Adam and Eve tale for the excellent reason that it does not address the same matter as the Adam and Eve tale. One is about the origin of species and the other is about the origin of sin."

Teilhard De Chardin, "The first chapters of Genesis is not visual information about man's history but teaching about his nature."

In the end, unless we look within ourselves at our own nature, pride and sin, it will not mean a whole lot of what we think about the first couple mentioned in the Bible either way.

What News?

Here’s a better way, by Shane Scott:

1.  For every minute you listen to or read a pundit that you agree with, listen to or read a pundit you disagree with. If you watch Fox News, then flip over to MSNBC. If you listen to Sirius Progressive, then also listen to Sirius Patriot. If you read The Daily Kos, then check out Breitbart. Try to understand the arguments the other side makes. “Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude” (1 Peter 3:8, New Living Translation).
2. For every assertion you make on social media, ask a question. This is the precise opposite of how most social media works. But if you decide to ask questions as often as you make assertions – with genuine interest in what those on the other side may say – you might learn something. You might even learn you have more in common than you think, and you will certainly be less quick-tempered. “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19).
3. For every criticism you offer of some outrage on the other side of the political spectrum, make a criticism of some outrage on your own side. Don’t pretend that it is only those you disagree with who are cruel, dishonest, or vulgar. Human depravity being what it is, there is plenty to choose from on all sides. “First take the log out of your own eye” (Matthew 7:5).
4. For every argument you have with someone on the other side, do something kind for someone on the other side. I’m not opposed to genuine debate – in fact, I think a good argument is a great thing for our democracy. But I don’t think it is healthy when our only interaction with those who hold different views is in the context of the clash of ideas. This inevitably dehumanizes those on the other side, reducing them to opponents rather than seeing them as people. Robust debate is great, but loving your neighbor as yourself is better. “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom” (James 3:13).

From Scot McKnight "Jesus Creed" 1-28-2017

Looking for the Hand of God in 2017

Ecclesiastes 2:24 says, "So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the and of God."

2016 was a difficult year for many people including myself. I am hopeful despite the gloom and doom of the media that 2017 will be a better year than 2016.  Not because of who was elected president or who our nation's leaders presently are.  This is a year to listen and hear from God.

Here is what I hear God speaking this year to his bride the church. "When you let go of what's in your had, I will give you what's in my hand."  Many of us need to let go the past and yes, even let go of 2016.  What we need to embrace this year is what is in God's hand.  But please understand this, God is not going to give you what is in His hand until you let go of what is in your hand.

Some people may have trouble trusting God or what is in God's hand? The real issue is do you trust God enough to let go of what is in your hand first? Holding everything with open hands frees us and allows God the freedom to take us wherever God wants to take us.  Where do you see the hand of God already at work? What are some areas in your life you need to let go of so God can give you what's in His hand?

Decluttering the Soul

I believe 2017 is a year of perfection and completion. Old endings and new beginnings. This is a year for starters to declutter my soul:

1.  Exercise regularly and pray constantly.

2.  Detach from things and cling to Christ.

3.  Crucify the flesh and live for Christ.

4.  To imitate Christ in a life of poverty and humility of spirit.

5.  To hold nothing and to hold God's hand like a child again.

"Maranatha!"