Archive for the ‘Bible’ Category
This would be good pre-watching before this Sunday’s event on "Christians & Citizenship".
The nice thing about being in a conference is the rhythm of a schedule. I don’t need to worry what is going to happen next.
The conversations during the meal times are usually unexpected and interesting. So far, I found myself engaged in topics such as young adults today, the ups and downs of secondary schools, the issue of land and church buildings, and of course, the regular toppings on politics and the current climate we are in.
Good to be reminded that God not only worked in the past, and revealed himself in the past, he continues to do so today in the life experience and history of today. I’m listening to a series of examples in a community like what we read in Exodus, and also in a person like Job. This is also found in the New Testament, and the scripture reading for today included the letter to the Ephesians.
Oh yes, I need to spend some time on Ephesians. I’m a little overdue for my proper “solitude” day.
So I wonder how does God manifest himself in our day to day life today? How does God show himself even through people whom we consider “unable” to perceive God or not the “chosen people”?
Obviously, there are examples to clearly in the scriptures that God showed up in the lives of the non-privileged groups. “God’s revelation is not frozen” has been one phrase repeated thus far.
back to some random thoughts.
It’s always nice to see the variety of church leaders in a context like this. Bishops in their purple, Salvation Army leaders in their uniform, those from the Orthodox tradition with their cassocks, some in batik, and me? I’m happy with jeans and I’ll put on a collar later (it’s comfortable)! 
I realized so often while we may not like it, we tend towards what Luther calls “the Law” – what we should or shouldn’t do, what we have or have not done. A lot of our discourse also can be captured by the phrase the “paralysis of analysis”. The tendency towards raising questions (which is great) but I wonder whether so much of it, it’s actually disempowering.
The seeds of transformation to me seems to be sown and later will grow in the midst of discourse which is “creative” and even “playful”. Break out of our polarities a bit, or come out of our boxes, and a surge of energy oozes out. But of course, there’s also the ground experience is that we won’t see transformation happen speedily. I do think however, that this “experimental” and “open” space is crucial because if not we’ll be bogged down by “analysis”.
I’m learning more and more the need for deep analysis, as well as more detailed thinking. But only when it’s backed by more free wheeling explorations of possibilities, that we can break free from the past.
Since, the Bible study is about God still manifesting himself himself past and present. So, he shows up as we analyze the past and present, and he also shows up from the future helping us to relook at the past and present.
I think the coffee is finally kicking in. The Bible study is probably coming to an end. And we’ll have another long day.
Brian McLaren’s Bible Overview – Audio Podcast Series (.mp3 format)
I just finished the first free podcast. It’s pretty good
I like TNIV too, and the Bible Experience is awesome.
Hermeneutics: Conservative vs. Liberal
I like the following one line:
Give us inquiry and awe which keeps heart and mind open to the Original Mystery.
Israel’s Two Creation Stories (Part 1)
Israel’s Two Creation Stories (Part 2)
Israel’s Two Creation Stories (Part 3)
One of BLC’s LiFE Groups is looking at the Book of Genesis afresh. I get excited when people want to seriously engage the Bible.
For readers today, there are four very good reasons to focus on the differences between the creation stories in Genesis.
First, if this is what Scripture presents, as many alert readers have indicated, it is reason enough for us to look at it carefully.
Second, two different perspectives on creation in Genesis suggest (as it did to Philo) that “recording history” is not the point. That is clearly a very important point to ponder in the discussion between Christianity and evolution.
Third, outlining the distinctives of the two creation stories encourages respect for what is actually written, rather than obscuring those elements in order to achieve some artificial unity. Genesis 1 and 2 is not the only place in the Bible where two different versions of the same story are placed side-by-side. (For example, there are two genealogies in Genesis 4 and 5 and two accounts of the spread of humanity in Genesis 10 and 11. There are also two distinct histories of Israel, one in Samuel/Kings and the other Chronicles, and four distinct tellings of the story of Jesus.) So, when we see the “two-ness” of the creation story, we should pay close attention to what we can learn from this.
Fourth, perhaps ironically, seeing how Genesis 1 and 2 differ will help us appreciate what role they play together at the beginning of the Bible.
I suspect the final venue will be at the level one chapel if my guess the turn out will be bigger than expected.
My feeble attempt to connect the mundane and the mess of our lives to the mystery of the Triune God. Of course, all my Prezies will only make more sense live But one can still catch a glimpse of the overall flow of the message.
This is REALLY good.. and we need to HEAR this afresh!
It’s nice to see Gareth and the other children at ease in BLC. Looking at the mats reminds me of this was the season we started the first round of implementing ideas from Godly Play.
Children are important to us. In many ways, we learned along the way as many of our members have been giving birth throughout BLC’s 10 years. May Chin and I included, we have three (is enough!) Gareth now 8, Elysia is 5, and Ewan will turn 3 in November.
Children are not “empty vessels” where we flood them with a ton of moral values, or spiritual information, and what we think is best for them. They are created in the image of God, and yes, they are “sinners” like us, but in many ways we are often surprised at how they are able to relate to God, and allow the Spirit to work in and with them. One is also amazed how the Scripture and particularly the narrative portions are able to shape their imaginations and open up conversations that we adults need to reconsider too.
For those of us facilitating children’s ministry, and having a desire to nurture our children in the Christian faith, we need to have a strong awareness of our own faith development. Ministry is always at least a two way street between those of us who are serving and those whom we serve. I’d like to add a strong third dimension less we are reduced to a mere human to human interaction. The third dimension is the God factor, the mystery factor, and more specifically the dance of the Triune God in the space we have opened up before us and within us. This is most challenging and rewarding when we are working with children.
And for that to happen, we need to be ready for change, or to use a more biblical term, “repent”.