Tried With Fire

I started Body Broken yesterday and finished it this morning. I ordered a used physical copy because there are too many good passages that need to be underlined, passages like this one: "If the crucified and risen Messiah cannot hold Democrats and Republicans together under the same roof, if he cannot enable them to work through their differences, then he is not much of a Savior - he certainly is not the Messiah of the world. Stories like Woodland Hills 1 "prove" that in the final analysis, we are a social organization just like any other social organization - united by the same sort of bonds that unite other human groups, and apt to dissolve for the same reasons that other human groups dissolve. This is more than unfortunate. It is disobedient, a betrayal of our Saviour, the cause of which he has called us, and the purpose for which he died. It proves that we have allowed our vision of America to capture our hearts more deeply than God's vision for us as his amba...

This is a very transparent confession from Jonathan Walton in Twelve Lies That Hold America Captive , and it resonates strongly with me: When I sat in churches surrounded by those who didn't look like me, I was guarded in almost every way. I overexplained my thoughts because I feared being judged and misunderstood. I made sure to state my reasons for being presents and detailed my accomplishments and qualifications. My primary goal was not to fulfill what I judged to be their stereotypes of me... Moreover, I was suspicious when they shared traditionally liberal or conservative views, wondering what was on their reading lists, what podcasts they listened to, and what leaders developed and influenced them... I struggled to feel seen or heard and to trust them no matter how honest they were... Underneath my fear of being misunderstood and judged is my fear of rejection. So I rejected others first. This is false power... Paul takes it up another level by pressing for the intern...

The following is a quote from How the Nations Rage: Rethinking Faith and Politics in a Divided Age by Jonathan Leeman (pg. 133-135). "Here's the larger point: Christians should listen to what Republicans and Democrats have to say on welfare policy, tax policy, racial reconciliation, the refugee crisis, and growing suicide rates. But our thinking shouldn't start or stop there. Our thinking should be more expansive, more complicated, more personal, more human. Our political instincts should develop by living inside the loving and difficult relationships that comprise a church. You might even say our political thinking should be pastoral..." "Inside the local church is where a Christian politics becomes complicated, authentic, credible, not ideologically enslaved, real. It's in these real-life situations where you're forced to think about what righteousness truly is, what justice truly requires, what obligations you possess toward your fellow God-imag...

There has been a lot of virtual ink spilled ever since the recent TGC conference on the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. I still stand by my desire to take these conversations out of e-space and bring them face-to-face. I affirm that there is a single human race that fell in Adam and has been redeemed through the work of Christ. I affirm that He is the source of our unity and that He fully paid for the sins that divide. While I agree that race is a social construct, God has providentially created us with roots in different countries and cultures. This a wonderful thing for which we should thank Him. Thus the church is not the Borg. Unity is not colorblind nor ethnic blind. Neither is it gender blind. Yet I'm still discouraged by what I've seen on social media. The visceral response to events like MLK50 and David Platt's talk at T4G seems to indicate that there is something unstable below the surface.  Amy Mantravadi describes it as a ...

We took a whirlwind 24-hour trip to see family this weekend. My dad will be celebrating his 90th birthday this year but it falls near the due date of his first great-grandchild and my daughter's commencement. My sister and brother-in-law planned a surprise party for him on Saturday night, so we flew up for the celebration and flew back the next morning. On the flight up, I started reading Troubled Minds: Mental Illness and the Church's Mission by Amy Simpson. David Murray recommended this book in the Q&A at our recent theology conference as a good resource for growing in empathy and understanding. The copy I was reading was for the church library. I need to get one for myself. When it comes to mental illness, Amy Simpson knows firsthand the struggles of a family with mental illness. Her mother's diagnosis of schizophrenia came after years of hospitalizations and medications. She renounced Christianity, pursued the occult, and went missing only to be found in a shelt...

I didn't bother following the election returns on social media last night and fully expected to wake up to a Clinton presidency. I am stunned. I voted for an independent candidate rather than casting an anti-vote, so I'm not quite sure how to process my feelings. However, I will say this: America has become even more polarized in the last 8 years, and I fear it is will continue to head in that trajectory. This election has also amplified the fact that American "Christianity" sees itself as political force. Hence all the big names making sure we knew how to vote if we were to be "good evangelicals." Unjust laws should be changed but laws can't change people's hearts. If we put all our eggs in a political/high court basket, we will be sadly disappointed. Things will only change when the church begins to address issues like race, misogyny, poverty, and the sanctity for all life down at the local level. Absolutely preach the gospel, but the gospel app...

To begin, please read this post -  Presxit: The Church of the Normal .  This is so good that I don't want to take away from it by trying to paraphrase what the author wrote so well. However in case you didn't click the link, in a nutshell he is calling the church to greater empathy. Not at the expense of orthodoxy but perhaps a better way to "deploy our orthodoxy." If every presbytery asked every ministerial candidate what it means to love the people of God and how that would play out in their ministry, and if every pastor and every session committed themselves to creating a culture of nurturing, accepting, and accommodating diversity in their congregation, then it would open the way for truer understanding of ourselves and others by leading us behind the generalities of norms and expectations. It would lead us to encounter individuals on their own terms, as they’d have themselves be known. Creating such a culture starts with active empathizing, and it starts wit...

I'm at Out of the Ordinary today.  Christian community can be risky business because there is always the chance of misunderstanding, but the benefits can far outweigh the risks. Read the post here .

"When I've asked students and friends to describe an experience of community, they often tell stories about a time of intense emotional bonding with a group of people: a weekend retreat that was deeply affirming, a camping trip with friends, or a short-term mission project where participants began to feel like family. Such experiences of community tend to be brief, occasional, and intense. Communities in which we grow and flourish, however, last over time and are built by people who are faithful to one another and committed to a shared purpose. Community life certainly has moments of incredible beauty and intense personal connection, but much of it is daily and ordinary. Our lives are knit together not so much by intense feeling as by shared history, tasks, commitments, stories, and sacrifices." "But communities need more than shared history and tasks to endure. A combination of grace, fidelity, and truth makes communities safe enough for people to take the risks...

Several years ago, I would have been thrilled to attend Together 4 the Gospel. I had no pretensions to being a pastor. I would have been happy just working in the bookstore. I was not young or restless, more middle-aged and sedentary, but I was caught up in the excitement of this new movement and would have loved to bask in the reflected glory of the leaders I admired. The thought of being with so many Calvinists, all talking the same talk was very heady stuff. And this was cool and doctrinally "right" to boot. Having come through a few difficult church situations, I was idealistic enough to believe that selfish ambition and putting an organization ahead of people would never happen. After all, we were Calvinists, and a good solid doctrinal foundation would guard us against such things. But as events have played out over the years and even this week , this has not been the case, and I have been grieved to tears. It's true that elders must be able to teach, but that is...

Growing up, I was very compliant for the most part. I did not make waves, and I did not ask questions, unlike Question Quigley. It may have been part of my ethnic culture or just my personality, but I never doubted what I was taught, whether it was in the classroom or from the pulpit. It also made life easier. In school, I was a model student who dutifully regurgitated the material for the sake of the grade. (Whether that was really learning is another matter.) In the church, I was a model sheep who went along with the rest of the herd, so there were no awkward conversations over doctrinal disagreements. But the time came when I had to ask some hard questions. Circumstances forced me to examine what I believed and why I believed it, and my belief system was found wanting. This resulted in a shift from my previous theological position, and for the first time in my life, I found myself at odds with other believers. Read the rest of the post here.

Last week, Lisa and Aimee got the ball rolling with their posts ( here and here ) on women's ministry and specifically where middle-aged women fit into the picture. As a woman in her 50's, I appreciate that my friends have started this discussion, so if you haven't read their posts, please do. However, I want to take a step back even further and consider what are the expectations of women's ministry ? I've broken this one question into three sub-questions which have spawned even more, so consider yourself forewarned. Who is the focus of women's ministry? The go-to verses about women's ministry are Titus 2:3-5, older women teaching younger women what is good. There is no question of the need to train those who will carry on after we are gone. But is this the sum total of what women's ministry should be? Namely, is the focus only on the younger generation? If so, could this lead to the possibility of older saints falling through the cracks? What is the...

It's my turn again at Out of Ordinary : The women in my church have been getting together roughly once a month for Sunday night socials. Different ladies open up their homes for a meal followed by a time of fellowship. These have been fun times to be together and a great way to get to know one another outside of Sunday morning. My turn as hostess will be in October, and I'm already starting to formulate plans in my head. While I am a planner by nature, there is another reason for thinking ahead so early. Hospitality intimidates me. I have the usual reasons. I'm an introvert. My house is small. I don't have a dining room table. I'm too busy with work. I'm more of a throw stuff in a crock pot with a can of cream of mushroom soup than a gourmet chef. And so forth and so on. In addition to these lame excuses, there's also a lingering fear in the back of my mind of "not doing it right", whatever that nebulous standard may be. So it's no wo...

I love the novel   Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell. In addition to the humor and the delightful characters, Gaskell provides insight into the British mindset of the mid-1800's. I also wonder if she has put on paper what many of us think: “Elegant economy!” How naturally one falls back into the phraseology of Cranford! There, economy was always “elegant,” and money-spending always “vulgar and ostentatious”; a sort of sour-grapeism which made us very peaceful and satisfied. I never shall forget the dismay felt when a certain Captain Brown came to live at Cranford, and openly spoke about his being poor—not in a whisper to an intimate friend, the doors and windows being previously closed, but in the public street! in a loud military voice! alleging his poverty as a reason for not taking a particular house. The ladies of Cranford were already rather moaning over the invasion of their territories by a man and a gentleman. He was a half-pay captain, and had obtained some situation o...

We're writing about the local church this month at Out of the Ordinary , and it's my turn again: I love the local church, and I stand by everything I've ever said or  written  about my faith family. But Christian community isn't always easy. It requires commitment, perseverance, and sometimes it's necessary to roll up one's sleeves and fight for it. But the fight may not be against another person. I've learned that the battle is often against myself. Read the rest of the post ...

There's another group post over at Out of the Ordinary in which we share the ways we serve in the local church. Read it here .

I'm at Out of the Ordinary today: "It will be seven years next month since I've been a member of my church. It's hard not to get teary-eyed when I think of the journey that led up to that day. It's also hard not to get teary-eyed as I write this and think of what this group of believers means to me. If you asked me 10 years ago whether I would darken the door of a church again, the answer probably would have been, "What!? Are you kidding?" Yet here I am today, a member in good standing of a local church…" Read the rest of the post here .

It's my turn at Out of the Ordinary today: "Kim's  post  last week on the heels of my pastor's  sermon  on Acts 2:42-47 got me thinking about relationships in the local church. I love my church, and we care for one another very well. But if the standard is Jesus' command to love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34-35), who would dare say they do this 100% of the time and have no need for improvement? If I carefully examine my own life, I'm convicted of how often I fall short. So as I've considered this subject, here are a few ways that may help us strengthen the tie that binds." Read the rest here .

I'm posting at Out of the Ordinary today. I was inspired by an interesting Facebook discussion that Kim started yesterday. We middle-agers need encouragement too, but what do we do if there are no "older" women out there for us? Are we left to flounder on our own? Read more here .

I'm posting at Out of the Ordinary today: When reading Titus 2:3-4 , it's easy to assume that "younger" only refers to single women, new wives, and young moms in the 20 to 40 age bracket. But we middle-agers still have much to learn and need the example of older women, too. As I considered who were the older women in my life, these three sisters came to mind. So let me introduce you to my role models... Read more here .