"The kind of food our minds devour will determine the kind of person we become." - John Stott, Your Mind Matters

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Respectful, Waiting, Recycling, Weaving: A Review of Cross Roads by Wm Paul Young

Disclosure: I received this book free in exchange for agreeing to write a review for Speakeasy

Wm Paul Young, the self-published author of the megahit The Shack has written another novel, this time with the help of Faith Words publishers, who released Cross Roads last month. Once again, Young writes of an encounter between a broken human being and the three members of the Trinity, depicted in his characteristically earthy, accessible and (in my opinion) winsome way. This book reminded me in turns of The Shack, A Christmas Carol (Dickens), The Great Divorce (Lewis), and Pilgrim’s Progress (Bunyan).

To get my biggest criticism out of the way, I’ll just say that the first thirty-some pages turned me off completely. If I hadn’t been committed to reading the entire thing and writing a review as part of my agreement with Speakeasy, as well as having liked The Shack well enough to press on in faith that Young's storytelling abilities would win out, I would’ve abandoned the effort. The first few chapters are meant to introduce the reader to the deplorable state of the main character, Tony’s, life, but do so by a string of preachy commentary and psychoanalytical insights that leave no doubt that we’re being set up for a redemption story.

After his rough beginning, however, Young does what he does so well and draws the reader in by telling good stories and writing great dialogue that develop each character in a meaningful, fleshed-out way that feels natural and engaging. Finally, I began to care about the main character. Tony is a successful businessman, too self-absorbed and too busy to really care about or even notice the trail of broken relationships he’s left in the wake of his path to the top.

After a medical situation (you can read the fifteen paragraphs of technical medical lingo yourself if you want the details) which leaves him in a coma and near death, he wakes up to find himself in what is later described as the “in-between place” that separates the “life-before” from the “life-after.” The characters he meets in this place have different roles to play on his path to self-discovery and redemption. The main characters here are Jesus-in-blue-jeans and Grandmother, who represents the Holy Spirit as a feisty elderly Native American woman.

Part of Tony’s journey involves “sliding” into the minds of several people in the life-before, most notably a 15-year-old boy with Down Syndrome named Cabby and a feisty African American woman named Molly. These perspectives allow Tony the opportunity to experience the world outside himself by “walking a mile in another’s shoes,” as it were. Here, Young’s storytelling and character development are wonderful. I fell in love with Cabby almost instantly as I, too, got to experience a perspective outside my own. I had a few good laughs when Maggie was convinced she had a demon because Tony spoke inside her mind to prevent an awkward situation.

The back of the book sets up the premise of the story: God gives Tony the chance to choose for one person to be healed: will it be himself, or someone else? His time inside the minds of four or five people in the present time (the life-before), interspersed with his conversations with Jesus and Grandmother and a few other surprising characters in the in-between help him to make his choice, which wasn’t quite as predictable as I’d thought it might be.

Several things have stuck with me since reading Cross Roads. I was intrigued by Young’s repeated theme of God as one who respects relationship, who is willing to wait for his creation to make room for him in their lives. “While he is never absent, he also waits for you in the forest, outside the walls of your heart,” says Grandmother to Tony. “He is not one who forces relationship. He is too respectful.” (80)

Through Jack, a companion of Tony’s in the life in-between, Young pictures God as a great recycler, through whom nothing is wasted: “God wastes nothing, not even the wrong we have imagined into existence. In every building torn down there is much that remains that was once true and right and good, and that gets woven into the new; in fact, the new could not be what it is without the old. It is the refurbishing of the soul.” (159)

Lastly, and my favourite, was the way Young characterised the Holy Spirit. Grandmother, Young’s image of the Spirit, describes herself this way: “‘I am she who is more than you can begin to imagine and yet anchors your deepest longings. I am she whose love for you, you are not powerful enough to change, and I am she whom you can trust…I am a fire and fury opposed to everything that you believe that is not the Truth, that is hurting you and keeping you from being free. I am the Weaver, you are a favorite color, and he,’ – she tilted her head toward Jesus – ‘he is the tapestry.’” (93)

Respectful, waiting, recycling, weaving. As with The Shack, I’m sure some will take issue with the ways that Young has chosen to represent the members of the Trinity. And my response is the same as it was with The Shack: you don’t have to agree to be challenged in your own understanding of what God is like, and to grow from the experience. The man is not writing a theology textbook or attempting to rewrite the Bible. He’s using his God-given imagination to explore his own understanding of God and our interactions with him, and overall I was quite pleased with the effort.

~Becky

Check out the brand-new trailer here and the archived Cross Roads interview here.
Check out these links to find out more about Wm Paul Young:
Paul's website
Paul's old blog
Paul on Facebook
Paul on Twitter
Crossroads chat on Amazon

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

It's Because I'm a Girl, Right?

Huh. 
What?!
Oh no!
Oh.

These are a few of the responses I got from some of my close friends and family when I shared the happy news that I'd been asked to preach at my church. Some others - who found out via Facebook - said nothing at all.

And I get that. It's weird. It's different from the traditions we came from. And besides, woman preachers are all ultra-liberal-feminists with an axe to grind...right?

But still, it hurts. It hurts to see the reservation in someone's eyes when you're sharing your exciting news. It hurts to know that, even though they're not comfortable with it, they don't even try for your sake to fake interest, let alone excitement, on your behalf. It hurts to know that if it was Steve who told them he was preaching, they'd be thrilled. They'd ask him questions, offer prayers perhaps for a good experience, invite their friends to come and hear him speak on the Big Day.

But, because I'm a girl, it's weird. It's awkward. 


And I know most don't mean it this way, but it's a little bit shaming, too. Instead of rejoicing at the chance to follow my passion and use a gift that's been growing in me, I feel apologetic somehow, like I need to explain that I'm not trying to be a rebel, I'm not trying to be a usurper. I'm not one of those ultra-liberal-feminist preacher-women.

I'd like to explain to them that I've never sought out preaching. I've intentionally never asked or inquired about opportunities in this area - that has been my own personal fail-safe to make sure that if and when it did happen, it was from God and not from my own ambition. Seven, eight, nine years I spent silently waiting, and two months ago, I was asked. I trust that God is willing to work with my personal fail-safe to trust now that this request was approved by him.

I'd like them to know that I have struggled with this issue, researched it, and used my brain and seven years of theological education to make an informed decision. I didn't just decide it sounded better because I wanted it to be. I found the arguments for egalitarianism to be the most persuasive and in line with Jesus and with the Biblical witness as a whole.

But I won't tell them anything - because attacking complementarianism and winning converts isn't my goal. Living out my vocation is. And that's been huge for me - to realise that, although I'd like the approval of those closest to me, I don't have to have it. The confidence is there now, I have peace that God is walking this journey with me.

But still, it makes me sad. It hurts to know they very well might think I'm sinning by following what I sincerely believe to be my God-given passions. In truth, it often frustrates me that people think it's wrong for me to preach - simply because I'm a woman. This is how it feels:

  • View A (mine): Wow, how wonderful that you're so excited and passionate to share God's Word!
  • View B (others): How unfortunate/wrong that you're a woman who wants to share God's Word!

It reminds me a bit of the story of the blind man in John 6. While everyone else was debating whose sin was responsible for his blindness, Jesus healed him. And instead of Response A...

  • Praise God, a man who was blind all his life can now SEE!!! How amazing! How wonderful!!! 

...the religious folks gave Response B:

  • Um, it's SATURDAY! How dare you heal on the SABBATH!!

Is it fair to say they might've been missing the point? 

All that to say: I'm not trying to pick on those with a different view in this area, and I'm certainly not suggesting that my hurt feelings are reason enough for a change in one's theology. But I think it's worth sharing/hearing how it feels to be a woman on the outside - to feel judged by another believer for using the gift you are fully confident is from God - for no other reason than your gender.

Is there some way to rejoice with each other in this area despite our differences? Or is avoiding the issue the best we can do?

PS - If you're so inclined, you can read my sermon here.
PPS - Since Rachel Held Evans tweeted this post, I've got an influx of new pageviews. If you'd like to hear a little more about my vocational journey, check out my earlier post, Finding My Voice: A Turning Point at Calling Lake. :-)

Monday, July 30, 2012

More Than We Ask Or Imagine

This Sunday I got to experience for the first time a dream many years in the making. I preached my first sermon! There are quite a few posts I've been wanting to write leading up to this point, but I'll have to get to that later. For now, because some have asked and because the audio recording didn't happen, here's my sermon! Thank you, thank you, thank you, to those who dreamed with me and encouraged me on this journey - I couldn't have gotten to this place without you!
--


More Than We Ask Or Imagine
Liturgical readings: John 6:1-21; Ephesians 3:14-21
preached at First Baptist Church, Edmonton, Alberta on 29 July 2012

Today’s passage is taken from the beginning of John 6. It’s a familiar story: the sun-weary crowds follow the healer-teacher Jesus, who multiplies a small boy’s meal to feed them all as they sit on the grassy hillside. It’s familiar because it’s a darling of children’s Sunday School lessons – give what little you have and God will make much of it!

It’s also familiar because the Bible itself tells the story so many times – this is the only miracle story that appears in all four gospels. Why this miracle? What’s extra special about this one?

As I read and reread this passage along with the thoughtful commentary of many scholars, I was surprised at how much more there is to this story than I had ever noticed before. What is the “point” of this story? Generosity? Faithfulness? Jesus’ supernatural power? His deity? The importance of caring for the physical needs of weary souls? God’s power to make much out of little? Hm, yes, I think – and more!

Let’s see what there is to discover within this familiar story…

In John’s Gospel we find Jesus, travelling across the countryside. He’s begun to have quite a following, as he performs signs and healings along the way. There’s been a lot of doing, but Jesus has also been doing a lot of talking - his healing acts are not an end in themselves, but are meant to communicate something about who he is, what he is all about. What does Jesus want his hearers to hold onto?

At the moment, the truth the people are holding on to is: Miracle Worker. Here is a man with power. And the people, in their neediness and powerlessness, follow him. The other gospel accounts fill in the picture a bit here for us, telling us that the people “ran on foot” to catch up to Jesus, who then had compassion on them and healed them and began teaching them.

But John’s account doesn’t tell us any of those details. It simply tells us “The Jewish Passover Festival was near.” Three times in his gospel, John highlights the season of Passover. With each brief mention of it, John calls to his Jewish readers’ minds an entire history of experience with the saving power of Yahweh. This second mention of Passover foreshadows the rest of the story, starting with the latter part of John 6, when Jesus turns his attention from physical bread that satisfies hungry bellies to the heavenly bread that nourishes souls. Jesus, who serves the bread, will soon be serving us himself as soul food in the truest sense.

As he surveys the mass of people before him – no doubt hot, dusty and exhausted from their enthusiastic pursuit of him – Jesus has a very practical thought: These folks must be starving! Then he asks a very impractical question: Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?

Now, John is nice enough to let us in on a little secret so that we don’t look as supernaturally naïve as Philip when he answers Jesus with a very reasonable denial of such a possibility – there’s no way we can afford to do that, Jesus! Instead, we are told in advance that Jesus was simply testing him. Jesus had a plan, but first he wanted to test Philip. Eugene Peterson’s Message translates it this way: Jesus wanted to “stretch his faith.” I’ve begun to see it this way: Jesus asked the question to “stretch his imagination” – Jesus had already imagined a perfect ending to this story; he wanted to see if Philip could catch the vision, too.

But alas, if this was a test, Philip didn’t exactly pass with flying colours. He is thinking rationally, logically, realistically – he has knowledge aplenty, but something’s missing. Consequently, all that information stifles his imagination as he focuses on the financial reality: there’s not enough dough this side of Galilee for that much bread, Jesus! Taking another tack,  Andrew weighs in with a seed of possibility: “Well, there’s this boy, and he’s got a bit of bread and a couple of fish, minnows really, but…how far will they go among so many?”

Well, it looks like Philip and Andrew have some growing to do in the imagination department – they are a far cry from the faith-filled, God-confident evangelists of the Book of Acts.

And can we blame them for their lacking here? Do we routinely expect or even imagine that God will perform in such amazing and unpredictable ways? Do we imagine he will drop twelve basketfuls of groceries on our steps as we make our way to the Mustard Seed to prepare dinner? Do we even have it in us to imagine that God would just multiply out of nothing to meet the needs of those around us? There are real-life stories of those throughout history who did and were amazed, but I suspect most of us, myself included, tend to limit our prayers to the safer realm of the “reasonable” and the “possible.”

Jesus doesn’t blame Philip and Andrew either. He just carries on, without rebuke or reprimand for their smallish, uninspired faith. I’d like to think that as he told them to get the people seated, he said it playfully – with a wink and a grin, perhaps. Jesus was Rabbi – teacher – after all, and I think he enjoyed the opportunity to teach in such a way as this: Let me give you a peek into my imagination, he says: Watch this!

The people sat down – five thousand men, in addition to the women and children who were also there – no doubt waiting for something awesome, another impressive “performance” by this powerful man, Jesus. (They, at least, had imagination of a sort.) Jesus took the little boy’s lunch sack – five small loaves of bread and two fish – and gave thanks. And in that act of gratitude, something happened. Jesus handed out the blessed food and fed the entire multitude until they were satisfied – full to bursting with bread and fish – so much so that they had twelve basketfuls leftover! God is not stingy with his gifts.

The crowd is rightly impressed: “Surely this is the Prophet who is come into the world!” These desperate, needy people latch onto a new understanding of Jesus – Political Hero! – and desire to crown him king by force. But it’s a misunderstanding. They’re still not getting Jesus – who he is, what he is trying to teach them about himself. Jesus withdraws to a mountain by himself, and we are left to wonder: What is the response he was looking for? How was he wanting to stretch the imaginations of those around him?

The disciples were limited by their own sense of how-it’s-done, and the crowds-people were limited by their own agendas of what-needs-doing. Jesus was stretching them, challenging them to take a look at how God gets things done: His way is better because he satisfies with abundance, his agenda is bigger because his salvation is for the whole world, and his ability is limitless because he is all-powerful!

Thankfully, that isn’t the end of the story for the disciples’ understanding of what Jesus was all about: they didn’t miss their One Big Chance to prove their big faith and elastic imaginations. Their faith – like ours – is a continual journey of being stretched. That very same day, the disciples get to have another crack at it.

After Jesus withdrew, the disciples went ahead and left without him onto a boat and headed off across the lake for Capernaum. Once they were quite a ways from shore, a storm began to brew and the winds whipped their faces and the water turned the colour of mud. As if that weren’t concerning enough, they wiped the sea-spray from their eyes to see…Jesus? And he’s…walking on water??? Jesus is not holding back with the faith-stretching now and the disciples are terrified. Matthew and Mark’s accounts of the scene tell us what they’re really thinking: It’s a ghost!!!

Jesus, in his mercy, doesn’t allow them to stay terrified for long. “It is I,” he says, “Don’t be afraid.” His response is two-fold: It is I, Jesus, the one who you’ve seen heal bodies, feed multitudes – yes, I can walk on water too! I can speak to the seas, I can command the winds. I am powerful beyond your wildest dreams! …But that bit of truth on its own might not help with the terror, so he adds these words: “Don’t be afraid.” Even with all that mighty power, there is no need to fear. I love you. So much – beyond your wildest dreams!

And with that, John’s gospel tells us, they were “willing to let him into the boat.” It’s a funny response, I think, to Jesus’ amazing demonstration and declarations. But, it’s a start, a beginning, and it’s all God needs.

So, as we look back over the characters in today’s story, I wonder if one – or more – resonates with you?

§         Are you like Philip and Andrew – thinking carefully, rationally, responsibly, and missing the point?
§         Are you like the crowd –limiting your understanding of who God is with the narrowness of your own expectations?
§         Are you like the disciples in the boat – afraid of God and unsure of his intentions toward you?

§         Or maybe you’re like the other, silent character, the one I think came closest to the response that Jesus desired – Are you like the little boy, perhaps not amounting to much in the eyes of others, but the possessor of a great childlike imagination that makes room for the unexpected to happen?

I suspect most of us have identified with each of these characters at different points in our journeys. But no matter: Faith-full, faith-little, dreamers, worriers, analyzers, and zealots – Jesus’ response was the same: all were fed and ate their fill. All were satisfied with the abundance of God’s meal. All were stretched – some more, some less, perhaps – but all left that place with a bigger, truer picture of who Jesus was than the one they brought with them.

How is Jesus wanting to stretch our imaginations this morning?

How does he want to satisfy us with abundance out of who he is?

Ryan has recently been referring to our church as FPC – First Pentecostal Church – and challenging us to consider how we can share in the vision of Joel 2: speaking prophetically, seeing visions, dreaming dreams. How is God inviting us to participate with him in his imaginings?

I’d like to read a quote by Madeleine L’Engle from her book Walking on Water. It’s from a chapter titled “Probable Impossibilities:”
“It might be a good idea,” she writes, “if…we practiced believing six impossible things every morning before breakfast, for we are called on to believe what to many people is impossible. Instead of rejoicing in this glorious ‘impossible’ which gives meaning and dignity to our lives, we try to domesticate God, to make his mighty actions comprehensible to our finite minds.”

How is God inviting us to “rejoice [with him] in the impossible?”

Is there some thing – some relationship, perspective, or mode of being – that we’ve resigned ourselves to when God has a plan for something new and wonderful? Are we willing to dream dreams with him? Are we willing to have faith that what he calls us to is good?

I’m going to give us a minute or so to rest in that – to make room for God in our imaginations, to meditate on what it means to be abundantly satisfied by Jesus, and then I’ll close with a prayer from Ephesians 3.

***

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God…Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory …for ever and ever! Amen.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Quotes À La Carte

I've been chewing on some good thoughts over the past few days. Here are a few:


On Becoming the Church
Lots of thoughts to be provoked...
"We decided to stop complaining about the church we saw, and we set our hearts on becoming the church we dreamed of." - Shane Claiborne in The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical (p. 64)


On Tithing and World Poverty
"Today, on average, evangelicals in the United States give about two-fifths of a tithe...if American Christians just tithed, they would have another $143 billion available to empower the poor and spread the gospel. Studies by the United Nations suggest that just an additional $70-$80 billion a year would be enough to provide access to essential services like basic health care and education for all the poor of the earth. If they did no more than tithe, American Christians would have the private dollars to foot this entire bill and still have $60-$70 billion more to do evangelism around the world." - Ron Sider in The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience (pp. 21-22)


On Living the Bible
“The New Testament was written in everyday street language,” Peterson said. “Words make something. They don’t just say something. … You are free not to study the Bible but to enter into it, to let it become part of you, — not deciding what you need, but receiving what’s there.” - Cathleen Falsani, quoting Eugene Peterson at Sojourners with Lost in Translation: Eugene Peterson and His 'Message'

On Guilt-Free Spirituality
“Pay attention to what’s there, not what isn’t there,” Peterson said. Go about the journey of faith — the Christian life, the Way — relaxed, he said, “not feeling so guilty, not having to prove yourself all the time.” - Cathleen Falsani, quoting Eugene Peterson (again) at Sojourners with Doing Nothing For Lent. 


On Passion, Vocation and Wisdom
Steve and I attended a conference with Gordon T. Smith (former Academic Dean and professor at Regent College) speaking on "Vocation, Work, and Career" and I liked his definition of (vocational) passion as "where we feel most keenly the brokenness of the world." I was also intrigued by his suggestion (inspired by Waltke) that the Proverbs 31 woman was not an addendum to the Book of Proverbs, but perhaps the capstone: the embodiment of Wisdom (Sophia) as one who does Good Work. So cool!


On Partying With Jesus
“Jesus never said, 'The Kingdom of God is like a church service that goes on and on forever and never ends.' He said the kingdom was like a homecoming celebration, a wedding, a party, a feast to which all are invited. This idea was too radical for the religious leaders of his day. They were more concerned about etiquette, manners, traditions and religious rituals than about partying with Jesus. And that’s why they missed out. That’s why we miss out.” - Steven James at CNN with Stop Sugarcoating the Bible

What are your thoughts? Any good tidbits to share?

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Lent is a Miserable Way to Live!


Here's another Lenten reflection to chew upon. Mark Galli, senior editor of Christianity Today, wrote an article entitled "Giving Up Self-Discipline for Lent" at Christianity Today Online in which he challenges the idea of Lent as a Self-Improvement Plan.

Here are a few snippets:
So Lent for me has generally done just the opposite of what it's supposed to do. It's made me more aware of my sinfulness, selfishness, and lack of faith. It's made me a worse Christian in some ways...And this may suggest the real point of Lent.
To me, participating in a Lenten discipline is my chance to do a little play acting. What would it be like to live as if the law were in fact sufficient? How about for 40 days I pretend that I really can improve myself in the sight of God? Let's see how that works for me.
What I find Lent after Lent after Lent is that Lent is a miserable way to live! This is one reason we're so glad when Lent is over! If Lent were such a great idea, if it really did make us better Christians, you'd think we'd want to turn Lent into a lifestyle. But no, we don't want to do that precisely because Lent is an onerous form of existence. It's the life of duty. Life under law. Life as a death march...
It's a good reminder that Lent is not about improving oneself by pious acts of denial. It is about making room in our lives for God - to show us our need, his love, his grace, his gift of salvation. It is about remembering that we need God - and he shows up to meet us there.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

A Lenten Prayer

Here's a Lenten prayer, courtesy of Matthew Paul Turner:


What stands out to you? How do you need to receive God's love? How do you need to share it with others?

Friday, February 24, 2012

Lent: Coffee, Chocolate, and the (other) F-word

Well, it's Lent, that season of the year when so many Christians around the world and across denominations choose to set aside some part of their regular lives in order to make room to experience Christ in a new way. We take forty days to ponder again the sacrifice of Jesus and seek to share in some small way the journey he makes to the cross. We move forward in self-denial with the expectation of receiving something better - of something new being born in us - as we move through the dark days of Lent and into the resurrection themes of Easter Sunday. What is decaying, dying, or dead  in me that can be remade and reborn through renewed commitment to Jesus?

Each year I consider the obvious candidates to cut out of my life for forty days: chocolate, coffee, and Facebook. Each one seems unthinkable - an invitation to failure and spiritual guilt. This year it seemed clear that Facebook was the thing that should go. In my half-sleep on the morning of Ash Wednesday, I struggled for the better part of an hour with the question of "Can I do this?"  When I lived in the country, Facebook was a lifeline for me during a time of intense loneliness and isolation, but my new life in the city has helped to satisfy that deep need for meaningful interaction through a multitude of ways.

Three things gave me the push I needed to commit:
  1. I am now attending a liturgical Baptist church, and I want to experience this aspect of the liturgical year in a deeper way with my community. 
  2. My fear of giving up what is essentially a product of a multibillion dollar corporation highlighted just how much I really need to distance myself from this time-hungry habit and reassess my use of my time.
  3. I took an honest look at all the potential benefits of my redirected time, and found it hard to justify not giving it up for a season.
So, in light of these things I have done the unthinkable and signed out of Facebook for Lent. In its absence, here are some of the better things which I hope to make room for over the next six weeks:
  • being with Jesus
  • playing with and really engaging my children
  • reading my Bible
  • reading good writing (books, blogs, articles)
  • interacting more meaningfully with my friends (Facebook or otherwise) through visits, phone calls, emails, Skype, and so on
  • engaging more meaningfully through blogging, writing, studying
  • going to bed earlier
It seems a pretty good trade; I'm excited to see (guilt-free, of course) where it will lead and what God will grow in me through the journey. I'll post tidbits along the way as inspiration strikes. 

And now a question for you: How are you making room for Jesus during your Lenten journey toward Easter Sunday? What have you given up so that you can receive something better?

Lastly, if you're looking for a few ideas on how to be more thoughtful during the season of Lent, Rachel Held Evans has compiled a list of 40 ideas for Lent on her blog. It's worth a look!

~Becky