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Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Building a fence

Law and building a fence; liust is adultery: start about 10 minute mark, and read below.
 if Jesus is a NEW MOSES of sorts, then we should look at 
SERMON ON THE MOUNT:
Discussion on how Jesus was interpreting/reinterpreting the law of Moses/Torah(Matt 5:17-48).
Some would suggest that he is using the rabbi's technique of "Building a fence around the law (Torah)>
For example, if you are tempted to overeat, one strategy would be to build a literal fence around the refrigerator...or the equivalent: don't keep snacks around.

See:

Some wonder of this is what Jesus is doing here.  See:

One can see how this could turn to legalism...and when do you stop building fences? See:

A Fence Around the Law



Greg Camp and Laura Roberts write:

In each of the five examples, Jesus begins by citing an existing commandment. His following statement may be translated as either "And I say to you... " or as "But I say to you ...” The first option shows Jesus' comments to be in keeping with the commandments, therefore his words will be an expansion or commentary on the law. This is good, standard rabbinic technique. He is offering his authoritative interpretation, or amplification, to God's torah, as rabbis would do after reading the torah aloud in the synagogue. The second translation puts Jesus in tension with the law, or at least with the contemporary 
interpretations that were being offered. Jesus is being established as an authoritative teacher who stands in the same rabbinic tradition of other rabbis, but is being portrayed as qualitatively superior to their legal reasoning.
After citing a law Jesus then proceeds to amplify, or "build a hedge" around the law. This was a common practice of commenting on how to put a law into practice or on how to take steps to avoid breaking the law. The idea was that if you built a safe wall of auxiliary laws around the central law, then you would have ample warning before you ever came close to breaking the central law. A modern example might be that if you were trying to diet you would need to exercise more and eat less. In order to make sure that that happened you might dispose of all fats and sweets in the house so as not to be tempted. Additionally, you might begin to carry other types of snacks or drink with you so as to have a substitute if temptation came around, and so forth. In the first example of not killing, Jesus builds a hedge that involves not being angry and not using certain types of language about others. One of the difficulties is that it becomes very difficult not to break his hedges. This might drive his hearers to believe that he is a hyper-Pharisee. Some interpreters have wanted to argue that Jesus does this in order to drive us to grace—except grace is never mentioned in this context. This is a wrong-headed approach to get out of the clear message that Jesus is proclaiming: you must have a transformed life. By building his hedges, Jesus is really getting to the heart of what the law was about. In the first example, the intent is not just to get people not to kill each other (though that is a good thing to avoid), rather it is there to promote a different attitude about how to live together. Taken together, the 10 Words (Commandments) and the other laws which follow in Exodus-Numbers paint a picture of a people who will look out for one another rather than just avoiding doing injury to one another. This becomes clear in Jesus’ solution at the end of the first example. The solution is not to throw  yourself on grace or to become paralyzed by fear, but to seek right relations with the other person. There seems to be an implicit acknowledgment that problems will arise. The solution is to seek the best for the other person and for the relationship. This is the heart of the law.  The problem with the law is that it can only keep you from sin, but it cannot make you do good.  The rabbi Hillel said “what is hateful to you, do not do to others.”  In 7:12, Jesus provides his own interpretation “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you.”  He changes the saying from refraining from sin, to actively doing good.  The thesis statement in 5:20 is “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” This then is how to exceed, or go beyond the law.  In each of the five examples, the way to exceed the law is to make the relationship right.
Instead of drawing a new line in the sand that you are not supposed to cross before you are considered guilty, Jesus, confirms that the center is "love your neighbor" and then just draws an arrow (vector) and tells you to go do it. There is never a point at which you are able to finally fulfill the commandment to love. You can never say that you have loved enough. In the gospel of Matthew, the supreme example of this is Jesus' own life and death. His obedience and love knew no boundaries.  --by Greg Camp and Laura Roberts


We didn't read this in class Ted Grimsrud,  in your "God's Healing Strategy"  book suggests:
 "A better way [as opposed to legalistically legislating morality] to approach [the commandments] would be to ask first, 'What does this commandment teach us about God?'...Hence, the point of the commandments is not establishing absolute, impersonal, even coercive rules which must never be violated.  The point rather is that a loving God desires ongoing relationships of care and respect....Paul's interpretation of the Law in Romans 13 makes clear the deepest meaning of the law not as rule-following, but as being open to God's love and finding ways to express that love towards others: 'The commandments..are summed up in this word, Love your neighbor as yourself.'"  (pp. 33-34)


----
on the 6 antitheses  (case studies) of the Sermon on The Mount, remember my Paraguay stories about:


 "Ever committed adultery, Bob?"
 (oops...) 

-------------------------------------------
OK,  below is the backstory of the "LAUGHING BRIDE," which illustrates "building a fence around the Torah":







How do you name the difference in the shift of the 6 antitheses?  What does it feel like Jesus is doing?  He's making the law______:

  • harder?
  • easier?











Where do you see bounded and/or centered sets in the Sermon on Mount?Is it addressed to a bounded or centered set?  Hmm, see the beginning:

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,  and he began to teach them.
And the end:
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because to them he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
Would you say it's BOTH?   (FUZZY?)

Thursday, September 14, 2017

week 6 and beyond


THE 13 COMMANDMENTS: MOST COMMON MECHANICAL ERRORS IN SIGNATURES

part a)Take this quick test to see how well you will do on mechanical errors on signature paper.  Remember,  if the teacher finds there are mechanical errors on a signature paper in every paragraph, the paper will flunk, and  teacher will call for a rewrite.  So try this  below and see how you might fare.   Remember the big rules: no contractions and no "you" language, but most of these errors are something other.
Read this sample signature paper excerpt below, and either copy it  into comments, making corrections in red, or noting them and correcting them. On Friday, Dave will add a post below with this section corrected.
Don't look at part b until done.

Not since Moses’s day had there been a leader like Paul.  In a sense, Paul was the most important leader mentioned in the bible.  Not only was he an Apostle, but the most prominent  and clear headed one ever mentioned by God in his Word.   Maybe the most prominent character in Christianity’s history.  Due to his special calling, his ability to face prosecution and abuse, his status as an Elder and his great Faith, he ranks highly, even though he is not one of the original 12 Disciples, and wasn’t even mentioned in the Biblical texts that discuss Jesus’s earthly days.

In a way, you could compare him to today’s Pope, or the President of the United States—or more appropriately, the Senior Pastor of a large church or the Bishop of a denomination.  Think of him like a modern Saint, a person that has great Spiritual courage and skill.  A person that  loves God and His ways.  Which makes him all the more remarkeable in the way he treated Onesimus’s owner, Philemon.  Philemon was a humble man, that had a Church in his house, and that owned Philemon as a slave.    In its own unique way, the paradox of Paul the great leader being kind and compassionate to people of lower Economic status like Onesimus (a lowly Slave) shows that he was also a great sheperd not one who would Lord it over people.  He had no allusions of being the King.

Let's examine in detail the world of Paul, Philemon and Onesimus--the 3 key players in a story with abundent  lessons for our day.  In a funny verse, the Bible says "a dog returns to it's own vomit."     Thinking about an animal being attracted to there own vomit is a strong image and thought provoking. This remind's me of  the religous leaders Jesus confronted in the Temple.  One Sunday, my Pastor preached on this.  Matthew 11:15, " Jesus said, "My house shall be a House of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers."  When people think they're more imporatnt then others based on Religion or Race,  the affect is  divine anger.  I have thought alot about why Followers of God would ever think they are holier then other people.   Or how they could justify hating a person that was innocent or poorer then them.  It's a mystery to me, and a headscratching one at that.   I sometimes literally loose my mind over things like these.

Think about someone that dessecrated the Alter of a Church, or think's it's alright to have a prejudist attitude.  What an extordinary embarassment for priviledged people to act that way; witholding grace from a person that is in need.  Our professor talked about this one day when we did a practise for this signature assignment.
-----------

part b))DON'T GO ANY FURTHER UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED THE CORRECTIONS IN PART A. Then scroll down.

Click here for a complete signature paper, which would flunk due to mechanical errors alone.  They are all noted in red and corrected.

Here are the "13 Commandments"--that is the most common mechanical errors in signature papers over the years


1)contractions/you

2)clauses and fragments that are not full sentences
3)commas where they don't belong (or no commas where they do)
4) CAPS: a)words like king, president, pastor, apostle are NOT capitalized unless used as a title.  "Barrack Obama is the President" is  not correct.   "President Obama says.." is.
b)often students capitalize words because they are important: faith, prayer,altar.. Incorrect
c)"Bible" is capitalized; "biblical" is not  Some formats allow Bible to not be capitalized; if you choose that, be consistent throughout paper
5)Careful with plurals, possessives, apostrophes etc.  Google if you need help.
This sign is all over the country, but dead wrong!
6)For historical figures whose name ends in 's, you write  "Jesus' disciples," not "Jesus's."  Note you have a lot of these who may appear in your paper: Onesimus, Moses, et al
7)Traditions and translations vary as to whether or not "He" "Him" "His" are capitalized when referring to God or Jesus.  Either way you choose, be consistent thought the paper.
8)"Their"  vs "they're" type errors
9)It's vs its.  Read this for help.  Think in your mind about our textbook title:
 "How to Read the Bible For All Its Worth"

or is it

"How to Read the Bible For All It's Worth"
Answer and the look.  Most students guess incorrectly, This is even explained in the preface.


10)singular and plural disagreement across sentences  Google for help
11)Departments vary in this. For biblical studies, spell out numbers under 100.
12)HUGE: "who" for people; "that" for things.  "A person that likes cookies" is wrong
13)miselanyaous speling errrors

This sign in a church is incorrect:

--


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Image: MGH Blog - No butt's about it: new patient gowns improve patient experience

Methodist Hospital is closing the gap between hospital gowns and patient experience - literally. Methodist will be among the nation’s first hospitals to use a new style of hospital gown. The gowns feature a new wrap-style, side-tie, and healing ..continued



Ward + Robes: Hospital gowns for teens


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The naughty nurse image turns nurses into a sexualized stereotype that is completely at odds with what nurses actually do in their job. Furthermore, it projects the image that female nurses are sex objects and can be treated as such by patients in the hospital setting.
Drawing in class:
Online whiteboards here
and here:

Free Technology for Teachers: Seven Free Online Whiteboard Tools

----
imelines-Followup
If you are on Facebook, you can see a collection of  timelines by dozens of classes, retreats, etc by clicking here or  below

Dave Wainscott's photo.
Dave Wainscott's photo.
'~Dave Wainscott'
Dave Wainscott's photo.
'~Dave Wainscott'

timelines
29 posts


Thanks to Kristen for sending this meme:



Here's part of why we do these?


As Pastor/Trucker Franks suggests below, sometimes it's "more about the journey than the destination."  See also  "What if Torah/ מלכות השמים, is more 'journey  than 'doctrine'?"


We then take time to interweave/intertext our personal timelines with the timeline/trajectory of Jesus' life in Matthew's gospel (the thrust of the class).

Especially helpful is the suggestion by Donald Kraybill ("The Upside Down Kingdom") and Ray Van Der Laan (  video below)  that throughout  his earthly life, Jesus was revisited by remixes of the original three temptations ("testations" ) of the devil"in chapter 4.

Kraybill provocatively proffers the following taxonomy of the temptations; suggesting that any later temptation Jesus faced (or we face) is at heart in one of these three spheres:


1=  Bread into stones: Economic 

2=Jump from temple and test God:Religious 

 3=Own all kingdoms: Political



So, it may be useful to plot out various temptations along your life timeline, and ask which of Jesus' temptation are each is  tied to.

SO..if every temptation can be filed under one of the three categories:



Economic    Religious   Political..

Hmm..



How might virtually all temptations (the three Jesus faced, or others you could name) be fundamentally economic?  Kraybill, you'll remember, calls the bread temptation "economic," but how might any/all others temptations trace to this root/'garbage"?
HINT: We noted that he term economics comes from the Ancient Greekοἰκονομία (oikonomia, "management of a household, administration") from οἶκος (oikos, "house") + νόμος (nomos, "custom" or "law"), hence "rules of the house(hold)".[1]  

VanDer Laan suggested that the heart of Jesus' "success" was consistently  and persistently keeping the "Shema,"   and not caving into a (mis)use of power.  This is the "binder" of the testations: Love God and neighbor.Thus


Q).Who is Jesus in Matthew?
A.) The One who, unlike Israel, passed the wilderness testations by loving God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength....and refusing to give into using "right-handed"  (a la Capon) power.

 VanderLaan prefers to translate "tests" instead of "temptations."
You have seen that I have coined the word "testations"  It would seen that in Scripture that God tests, and the devil tempts...and sometimes both are going on simultaneously. 



Here's  Van Der Laan's  video "Into the Desert to Be Tested" from Bib 314  (Click here to watch it).
For some, this is a life-changing video.  If the history seems too much, don't worry. But do look for the big picture message.



HERE are some helpful questions you might think about if you want to pursue this topic::


  • 1)What were the three temptations of Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11, Compare any ways Mark's account,  Mark 1:12-13  and  Luke's account, Luke 4:1-13 differ, and suggest any reasons why.
  • 2)How does Nouewen summarize the three temptations(1=to be relevant  2=to be spectacular 3=to rule over). H?  How do you (use your own words)?
  • 3)How do the three temptations connect to the historical and literary world of the Hebrew ("Old')Testament?
  • 4)How do the three temptations connect to the contemporary world of Jesus and the disciples?
  • 5)List and discuss several possible ways that versions of the three temptations reoccur and are revisited  throughout Jesus' life in Matthew's gospel?  (How is Jesus tested/tempted elswhere in Matthew, and how are the temptations versions of a similar one (two, or three) that he faced in the original temptation passage?
  • 6)What are the three core temptations you face, and how have they revisited you  throughout your timeline?  How would you categorize them using Nouwen's categories?  Using the three categories of the "Shema"  (heart/mind/might) a la  Vander Laan'?  Using Kraybill's three categories (1=Economic 2=Religious  3=Political; see chapters 1-4 of "Upside Down Kingdom")
  • 7)What have you learned about passing these tests/resiisting these temptations?
  • 8)What does all of this  (the Matt 4 Scripture, and testing/tempting) have to do with the Kingdom?
  • 9)Discuss how the passages that deal with Jesus not being immune to temptation( Hebrews 2:17-18Hebrews 4:14-16,  and Hebrews 5:7-9) affect your views of  "Who is Jesus?" and of Jesus' divinity and humanity.
  •  

    • Some Moodle follow up:
      •  Bridge
      • Culture survey
      • 13 Commandments

      Philemon:

      • Unveil the Philemon help page
      • Philemon worksheets (do in class)
      • 13 Commandments


      Kingdom
      Temple Tantrum and Signs
      Radical Loving Care Discussion




            • --



              Definition: Liminality


              Liminality/liminal space is very much tied to last week's article about hospitalization as a rite of passage/transition..'"betwixt and between"


              So how does a community develop COMMUNITAS AND LIMINALITY?

               really recommend

              Chapter 5 of "Hospital Ministry,' (ed. by Holst)
              "Hospitalization: A Rite of Passage"  by John Katonah..
              We'll summarize it in class, but it is complete here below

              (click each page to read, then click again to enlarge):







              Related reading:


              >>Here is a link  to read  which critiques Katonah's s three stages (see pp 302-303, about stripping but not consummating )

              >>Another book suggests prayers/liturgies(click to read) that nurses/caregivers can offer  to accompany each of the three stages.


            • What do you remember about the prayer shawl (tallit) and the most important number in the Bible?




              ==

              I told you about Casey in Bakersfield..  and Sarah in Visalia.



              FIVE  being a hugely significant  number for Jews...it's the number of books in the Torah, AKA the Five Books of Moses, AKA The  Pentateuch "(Five Books in One.") .  Moses=5ness.

              More "New Moses" symbolism in Matthew:

              RECURRENCE:
              Example: the five teaching blocks of Matthew.

              Jesus is the new Moses."



              Matthew could have said that,   or even said that five times..but instead he embedded thematically five times in the literary structure/fabric of his book;

              It is no accident that 5 times Matthew offers an almost identical sentence to close off his five teaching blocks..

                                      "When Jesus had finished saying these things, he moved on..."
              ..shows up in


              1. 7:28
              2. 11:1
              3. 13:53
              4. 19:1
              5. 26:1




              There is huge  signficance of five teaching blocks in Matthew, how they are identified, and what they likely symbolize.

              ]\















              Core Message

              See Fee and Stuart, p. 152-3-----------

              ---
              When did WW2 end? 

              -VE (Victory in Europe) Day, the end of the conflict with Hitler’s Germany, came first. Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945,

              Three months later came V-J (Victory in Japan) Day, the end of the Pacific conflict with Japan. The news came in the evening of August 14, 1945.







              More chiasm


              Isaiah 5:20New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)


              Ah, you who call                evil good

                  and                                good evil,

              who put                              darkness for light

                                                                  and light for darkness,

              who put                                   bitter for sweet
                                                                           and sweet for bitter!



              Hard:
              Don't sweat the petty things..

              I'd rather have a  free bottle in front of me ...

              Champaign for my real friends..

              Management is doing things right, and leadership is...

              The sick stay healthy and..
              pearls
              (I have heard of your):love and faith towards..

              Matthew 7:6:
              • “Do not give dogs what is holy”
              •           “and do not throw your pearls before pigs,”
              •           “lest they trample them underfoot”
              • “and turn to attack you”



              Matthew 6:24 exhibits a longer chiasm: "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." 

              This chiasm has five parts, which when broken down looks like this: 

              A No one can serve two masters, 
                B for either he will hate the one 
                     C and love the other, 
                     C′ or he will be devoted to the one 
                 B′ and despise the other. 
              A′ You cannot serve God and money. 




          • Shhhh.  Sneaky...extra credit:

            Is this message on the buzzer they give waiting customers at The Habit Burger a chiasm, and why or why not?  Post your
             answers below by week 4. ( Below, at the bottom of this page, where it says comments.  If you don't have one of the accounts, just sign in as "anonymous," but be sure to leave your name or initials so I know who to give the credit to) 

            Half of what I know about women (and anyone) in ministry I learned by watching this amazing little pastora in the Peruvian Andes, and how she masterfully, humbly and biblically lead her flock of hundreds
            from behind. (See her in action at 1:28ff...and note she had no fear of death, witness what "they" often do to female pastors at 0:15 to 0:44!!)



            • apple or orange
            • Target or Wal-Mart
            • Red or blue
            • Funeral or wedding
            • right or wrong
            • purple or violet
            • Mac or PC
            • Japanese or Chinese
            • Jew or Gentile
            • Protestant or Catholic
            • journey or destination
            • left to right, or right to left
            • kiki or bouba
            • big picture or little picture
            • English or math
            • rock or country
            • jazz or rap
            • immigrant or native
            • believe or act
            • Fox or CNN
            • John Lennon or Paul McCartney
            • Ginger of Mary Ann
            • Dick York or Dick Sargaent
            • Peter Fuhrler or  Michael Tait
            • children or adults
            • Israel or Palestine
            • bounded set or centrered set
            • Gaithers or U2
            •   or usted
            • upside down or downside up


            To illustrate set theory, we did an in-class exercise. Students had to decide which side of the room to stand on. based on which of each pair they preferred.
            Pick a side of the room to stand on for each pair:



            • Target or Wal-Mart

            • Jew or Gentile
            •   extrovert or introvert
            • Lenno or McCartney
            • rock or country



              Me at 19,000 feet



              To give example of the HISTORICAL WORLD reality, we watched this clip to get the backstory of what it entailed when the Bible simply says  in its LITERARY WORLD WAY,"And Moses went up to God":

                 We pick up after a 6,000 foot climb, 10 hours of hiking, several camels, over 100 bottles of water:



              "EPIC Culture: Are You Immigrant or Native?:


              The new issue of Salt Fresno is in the mail, and online...
              including my piece on "EPIC Culture: Are You Immigrant or Native?," inspired of course by St. Leonard Sweet:


              Often in seminars, I ask people to raise their hands if they are married.

              Then I add, "Keep your hands up if you are in a cross-cultural marriage."

              Inevitably, hands go down.

              Inevitably, I argue that every hand should have stayed up.

              My comment at that point is "I didn't say 'cross-racial' marriage; I said 'cross-cultural.’ Culture can defined as a way of viewing the world, and a set of assumptions for behaving.
              How many have noticed that no matter how similar you and your spouse are, at some point you say, 'We are from two different worlds?'”

              Then laughter erupts and every hand held high.
              All marriages are cross-cultural.
              Every interaction with another human is cross-cultural.
              All of us in this world are from different worlds.

              Everyone reading this--especially those born after 1974--know that “the whole world” has changed in our lifetime. Whether you are talking our era’s information explosion, the role of church, expectations of teachers, music styles, or gas prices...it seems almost everything has changed in our culture, some things exponentially, and many things many times over.

              One of the most helpful grids through which to understand this change is to grasp that we have moved from what academics call the “modern world" or "modernity" into the "postmodern era" or "postmodernity." Ironically, this can be one of the most confusing grids, too...since everyone seems to mean something different by the same terms!

              My favorite, simplified way of explaining this shift we have all somehow sensed, comes from Christian futurist Leonard Sweet. In his book "Postmodern Pilgrims," Sweet offers the acrostic, "EPIC," to capture and summarize the postmodern times we live in:

              E stands for Experience, for Participatory, for Image-Driven, and C forConnected.

               These are the foundational hungers of people in our postmodern culture and churches, particularly those born after 1974.

              As compared to the “modern” world’s preferences, especially among those born into it; that is, prior to 1974:

               Rational (as opposed to Experiential), Representative (as opposed toParticipatory), Word-based (in contrast to Image-Driven), and Individualistic (in contrast to Connected).
              Too bad RRWI  doesn't spell anything catchy like EPIC!)



              Which brings us to the question behind today's title:

                                                         Are you immigrant or native to today’s EPIC culture?

              Note that I didn’t ask you how old you were.

               An EPIC-oriented culture is indeed the dominant culture today; but within that broader culture are both those who prefer it and are "naturally" oriented that way, and those who prefer the orientation of the culture that was previously dominant. That culture,  the culture and mindset of the "modern" world, prevailed for hundreds of years (since the printing press, in fact)…until our lifetime. Sweet suggests that those born after 1974 or so, especially people young enough to have never known life without a computer, are "natives” to EPIC culture. People born before 1974 are thus "immigrants" in a new culture.  The world they were native to was rational, representative, word-based and individualistic.

              It might sound obvious to conclude that most older people prefer the RRWI approach, and younger folk opt for the EPIC way. But one realizes there are exceptions to the rule. Leonard Sweet himself, for example, is even older than me (imagine that!), so he "should" be an immigrant who is uncomfortable with an EPIC approach. But he says EPIC is his natural wiring. It is likely rarer, but there are also surely some twenty-somethings who function out of an RRWI worldview.


              We don't have space to talk about all the implications for church, and being salt and light in our day.  But begin imagining the issues that are raised. Traditional churches very often are Rational (logical arguments in defense of faith), Representative (one or two "professional" clergy to represent “laypeople”).  Traditional churches might fear being Experiential, but an EPICwould suggest that a relationship with Jesus, or a sermon, must be experienced.  Traditional churches tend to operate out of a representative leadership model, but EPICs actually want to participate. Traditional churches focus on Words, but EPICs are ministered to primarily by Images.

              We are from two different worlds.
              It’s extremely cross-cultural.

              One can find Scripture for each culture.  As one example, recall that Jesus is both Word of God (John 1) and Image of God (Col. 1:15).  We preachers, especially those of us from an RRWI world should be thrilled that the culture actually would have us stretch, and become more like  image-makers (not as in worshipping images, but as in telling stories, as Jesus did; and incorporating art into worship gatherings).  Picture that!  We become missionaries in our own culture.
              Ecologist Rudolph Bahro writes, "When the forms of an old culture are dying, the new culture is created by a few people who are not afraid to be insecure."

              Christian speaker Graham Cooke adapts the saying for Christians, "When the old wineskin is dying, the new wineskin is created by people who are not afraid to be vulnerable.”
              Holy insecurity and humble vulnerability enable this old RRWI to become a better missionary in these EPIC times.

              Sweet concludes that though there are dangers in accommodating to culture, the postmodern hunger (which we have often condemned as being wishy-washy and far from God) actually positions people to hear, see, and respond to the gospel in beautiful ways not possible in the modern world.   That is, if we truly “get” that:
              ..in  Millennium Three, Christianity faces the most powerful intellectual and spiritual advance in the history of civilization. Internet technology is amplifying the worldwide flow of new kinds of experiences, interactions, images, and connections. The doors of the future are there for Christianity to open for the glory of God. Our ancestors helped create those doors. Will we their descendants open them? Or will we sit back, entwined like mummies in safety-belt strips of protection, fear and suspicion--all death sentences--and let others open those doors while the future flies by?

              There is no door we can't open with EPIC love.
              - http://bit.ly/a2fV2s
               
            • Pop quiz:

              For 1-5, stand on the correct side of the room, you can use percentages this time.
              ..Bounded, centered or fuzzy

              1)Are you saint or sinner?
              2)Onesimus: literal slave or not?
              3)Best way to read the Bible:Apple or orange?
              4)
              5) God or the Bible?  (force yourself to pick one).

              6-10, write on the board

              6)When Jesus was angry at the dovesellers and moneychangers in  the temple, why was he mad?
              What were they doing wrong?

              7)How many times in the Bible is the word "pastor" used?

              8)What is the core message of Jesus/the basic message of Christianity?

              9)What was Jesus' death meant to accomplish?  Jesus died on the cross so that _________.



              10)The Bible says a certain category of people will be "left behind".  __________________.

              the Holy Kiss for today..on a bridge and in a bucket

              "There is the kiss and the counterkiss, and if one wins, we both lose." -Walter Brueggemann -
              ---------------
              We covered the biblical tradition of the "holy kiss" in our gathering last Sunday.
              It was a lot of fun. We started with a game of Hangman;
              We had "Holy _ _ _ _" on the whiteboard when folks came in!

              They has to guess what four letter word filled in the blank to make this a phrase that appears in Scripture. When i said "yes" to the first guess of "S," you should have heard the comments!

              That the Bible explicitly mentions this practice five times:

              • Romans 16.16a — "Greet one another with a holy kiss" (Greekἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν φιλήματι ἁγίῳ).
              • I Corinthians 16.20b — "Greet one another with a holy kiss" (Greekἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν φιλήματι ἁγίῳ).
              • II Corinthians 13.12a — "Greet one another with a holy kiss" (Greekἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν ἁγίῳ φιλήματι).
              • I Thessalonians 5.26 — "Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss" (Greekἀσπάσασθε τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς πάντας ἐν φιλήματι ἁγίῳ).
              • I Peter 5.14a — "Greet one another with a kiss of love" (Greekἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν φιλήματι ἀγάπης).
              ...makes it a classic case study in how to apply
              any scriptures that we assume need a cultural equivalent to out taking them literally.
              (Though some of our folks took the "holy kiss" literally Sunday..no, not on the lips....I wish I had video..someone post the stories!(:...)

              On this issue of interpretation:


              • Brian Dodd's discussion of the "interpretive bridge" is helpful (p. 19 here)
              as is
              • Ron Martoia's posts on the "two buckets" (see "The Two Bucket Theory Examined" here).

              I really recommend you read both above links, then get back to us.
              They helped us when we tackled women in leadership, and homosexuality.

              We learned that, counterintuitively to our guesses from this end of the cultural bridge, it seems the early church's holy kissing was almost always... on the lips!
              The reason is powerful: that form on kiss implied equality...a kiss on the cheeks implied one person was inferior. Nothing like a Kingdom Kiss as an acted parable and reminder that in Christ we are equal! Of course, today, when we look at cultural equivalents like the "holy hug", "holy handshake," we might not realize that that, too, began as a Kingdom equalizer:

              In fact, handshaking, which can seem quite prosaic today, was popularised by Quakers as a sign of equality under God, rather than stratified system of etiquette of seventeenth century England
              -link
              Ironically, the kiss of inclusion became a kiss of exclusion (from centered to bounded set):

              Just as kissing had many different meanings in the wider ancient world, so too early Christians interpreted the kiss in various ways. Because ancient kissing was often seen as a familiar gesture, many early Christians kissed each other to help construct themselves as a new sort of family, a family of Christ. Similarly, in the Greco-Roman world, kissing often was seen as involving a transfer of spirit; when you kissed someone else you literally gave them part of your soul. The early church expanded on this and claimed that, when Christians kissed, they exchanged the Holy Spirit with one another. Christians also emphasized the kiss as an indication of mutual forgiveness (it’s from here that we get the term “kiss of peace”). These different meanings influenced and were influenced by the sorts of rituals kissing became associated with. For example, because the kiss helped exchange spirit, it made perfect sense for it to become part of baptism and ordination, rituals in which you wanted the Holy Spirit to descend and enter the initiate. The flip side of the coin is that before someone was baptized you wouldn’t want to kiss them. Early Christians often believed that previous to exorcism and baptism people were inevitably demon possessed. Given that they also thought that kissing resulted in spiritual exchange, it’s pretty clear why you wouldn’t want to kiss non-Christians. I sometimes think of this as an ancient form of “cooties.” It resulted in early Christian debates over whether one could kiss a pagan relative, if one should kiss a potential heretic, or if Jews even had a kiss.
              -Penn, link


              We incorporated insights from these and other articles linked below, and quoted the only book on the topic, "Kissing Christians" by Michael Penn. You'll note some of the articles below include interview with him. We particularly enjoyed some of the early fathers and teachers' comments and guidelines on the practice.

              One early guideline, for real (wonder if this was in the weekly "bulletin"):

              1)No French Kissing!
              2)If you come back for seconds, because you liked the first kiss too much, you may be going to hell!!


              Clement of Alexandra (c.150 - c. 215
              ):


              "There are those who do nothing but make the church resound with the kiss."


              Chrysostom (4th C):
              “We are the temple of Christ, and when we kiss each other
              we are kissing the porch and entrance of the temple.”


              Augustine (4th C):
              "when your lips draw close to the lips of your brother, let your heart not draw away."



              One interview with Michael Penn:

              Whoever said ''a kiss is just a kiss" didn't know their theological history. During Christianity's first five centuries, ritual kissing -- on the lips -- was a vital part of worship, says Michael P. Penn, who teaches religion at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley. In that context, kissing helped Christians define themselves as a family of faith, he writes in his new book, ''Kissing Christians: Ritual and Community in the Late Ancient Church" (University of Pennsylvania Press). Excerpts from a recent interview follow.
              Q: Let me start with the basic question: Who kissed whom?
              A: In the first two centuries [AD], men may kissmen, women women, but also you would have men and women kissing one another. In future centuries, there continued to be a debate over who should kiss whom. In later years, Christians will no longer have men and women kissing each other, but only men men, women women. [Christians had] debates on whether or not priests could kiss the laity, on whether you should kiss a non-Christian relative in the normal, everyday situation, even debates over whether Jews have a kiss or not.
              Q: When in the service was the kiss performed?
              A: Our earliest references would be a kiss that would follow a communal prayer. Later on, it gets increasingly associated with the Eucharist and also occurs in part of the rites of baptism and in ordination rites. You have Christians kissing each other as an everyday greeting or also martyrs, before they're killed, kissing one another.
              Q: What was the theological significance?
              A: In antiquity, a kiss on the lips was seen as transferring a little bit of one's spirit to the other person. You have a lot of early -- I kind of think of them almost as Greco-Roman Harlequin -- novels that speak of the kiss as this transfer of spirit. Christians modify it a bit, to suggest that when Christians kiss each other, they don't just exchange their own spirit, but also share a part of the Holy Spirit with one another. So the kiss is seen as a way to bind the community together.
              There's another side, though. There was a concern that kissing an individual who has promised to join the Christian community but isn't yet baptized should be avoided, because the spirit that would be transferred wouldn't be a holy spirit but a demonic spirit. So you have the kiss working as this ritual of exclusion.
              Q: Did Christian leaders worry about the erotic overtones?
              A: We have only two explicit references to this concern. One says, essentially, to kiss with a closed and chaste mouth, which suggests that a few of these kisses may have been too erotic. The other one warns against those who kiss a second time because they liked the first one so much.
              Judas kissing Jesus [to betray him] terrifies them a lot more than eroticism. There's this evil intention behind it. Early Christian writers use the kiss of Judas to warn that it's not just how you practice the kiss, but what you're thinking. If you kiss another Christian while keeping evil in your heart against them, you are repeating Judas' betrayal.
              Q: When did kissing fall out of favor?
              A: In the third century, men and women are no longer to kiss one another. Early Christians met in what we think of as a house church -- you meet in someone's living room, essentially. Starting in the third century, when Christians [worship] in a public forum, this familial kiss is less appropriate. It's also a time where Christianity becomes concerned with making sure women and men are categorically separated. In the fourth century, that clergy and laity become increasingly distant. You start having prohibitions against clergy and laity kissing one another.
              The ritual kiss never entirely died out. We still have it as an exchange of peace [in Christian services]. We see it in the kissing of the pope's ring. In Catholicism, a priest may kiss a ritual object.
              Q: What would Christianity have been without the kiss?
              A: What I find exciting is to see how what we think of as trivial is so central to early Christian self-understanding. Our earliest Christian writing, Paul's letter to the First Thessalonians, talks about the ritual kiss, albeit briefly. We have hundreds of early Christian references to this ritual. For these authors, it was anything but trivial.
              -LINK
              ----------------------------

              Of course, you want to be left behind, it's a good thing (:

              This class emphasizes reading the text of the Bible in context.  Sometimes the meaning of a text is not what we have always assumed or been taught.  Have you ever heard that a certain group of people will be "left behind"?  You may have heard this from a sermon or popular books or movies.  The text that the phrase "left behind" comes from is in Matthew.  Before you go any further, post your quick answer on Moodle as to  what category of people you have heard will be left behind.
              Now read this below:

              Read this text from Matthew.

              Read it from scratch, with no preconceived ideas, looking for what it actually says and means.
              MATTHEW 12:

              But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son,[h] but only the Father. 37 For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39 and they knew nothing until the flood came andswept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left behind. 41 Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left behind. 42 Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day[i] your Lord is coming. 43 But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

              Thoughts:

              Who was taken (swept away) in Noah's day?
               People  who were caught off guard, unrighteous and unprepared. Clearly the "good" or "righteous" people; believers if you will. 

               Who was left?  Clearly Noah and family,  the "good" or "righteous" people; believers if you will.  The only righteous family God found on earth,

              The text says it will be the same way when Jesus (the Son of Man) comes again.
              So...who will be taken then, if it's the same pattern? 
               Clearly  the same: the unprepared and unrighteous.
              Who will be left then, if it's the same pattern?
               The righteous believers, just as Noah and his family who were saved.

              Hmmm, then why have most of you heard that the unprepared and unbelivers will be left behind??
              --
               It astounds people when you tell them that

              no one 


              reading the famous "one will be taken; the other left behind" 'rapture' passage..

              (in context; and without everything you've ever heard that it said influencing what you hear)

              will read it as Christians being taken/raptured.

              It is the most obvious interpretation in the world that in this Scripture:

              the Christians are left behind. And that it's a good thing, not a bad thing.




              Try it out! Follow the flow and logic; read text and context prayerfully and carefully.


               Rossing:


              Only by combining this passage together with First Thessalonians can a dispensationalist begin to piece together their notion of 'left behind'...But here's the problem with their use of this passage in Matthew: Dispensationalists make the leap of assuming that the person 'taken' in this passage is a born-again Christian who is taken up to heaven, while the person 'left' is an unbeliever who is left behind for judgement. This is a huge leap, since Jesus himself never specifies whether Christians should desire to be taken or left! In the overall context of Matthew's Gospel, the verbs 'taken' and 'left' (Greek paralambano and apheimi) can be either positive or negative.

              In the verses immediately preceding this passage, Jesus says that his coming will be like the flood at the time of Noah, when people were 'swept away' in judgement. If being 'taken' is analogous to being 'swept away' in a flood, then it is not a positive fate. That is the argument of New Testament scholar and Anglican bishop N.T. Wright:

              'It should be noted that being in this context means being taken in judgement.
              There is no hint here of a , a sudden event that would remove individuals from terra firma...It is, rather, a matter of secret police coming in the night, or of enemies sweeping through a village or city and seizing all they can.'
              (NT Wright, Jesus and The Victory of God, p. 366

              ,, this means that 'left behind,' is actually the desired fate of Christians, whereas being 'taken' would mean being carried off by forces of judgement like a death squad. For people living under Roman occupation, being taken away in such a way by secret police would probably be a constant fear....McGuire suggests that the 'Left Behind' books have it 'entirely backward.'. McGuire, like Wright, points out that when analyzed in the overall context of the gospel, the word 'taken' means being taken away in judgement, as in the story of Jesus' being 'taken' prisoner by soldiers in Matt 27:27. 'Taken' is not an image for salvation"

              (Rossing, pp 178-179)

              HMMM... If you got the point, you can go quit. If you want to read more on this, keep reading here


              HMMM:

              John Knox (at Univ of Chicago) thought Archippus (not Philemon) was the slave-owner and that Paul publicly shamed Archippus into forgiving Onesimus (see Col 4:17)… link
              --

              Knox offered a completely different reconstruction of the occasion for the letter identifying the master as Archippus who was the host of the church mentioned in verse one, and Philemon as the one to plead reinstatement of Onesimus. He considers the epistle of Philemon to be the letter from Laodicea in Colossians 4:16, and the exhortation for Archippus to “fulfill his God-given ministry” (Col. 4:17) to be the request of Paul concerning Philemon (see John Knox, “Philemon” in The Interpreters Bible, vol. xi [New York, 1955], pp. 555ff; Knox,Philemon among the Letters of Paul: A New View of its Place and Importance; Guthrie, NTI, pp. 635-638; Bruce, Paul: Apostle, p. 401-406; O’Brien, Philemon, pp. 267-268).  link



              ---










              Jesus came to serve.
                           The last shall be first.
                                       That's who is great in the Kingdom  economy:
                                                  

              Jesus said in it yet another chiasm:
              But those who exalt            themselves will be               humbled, 
              and those who humble     themselves will be                exalted
              (Matt 23:12)


              Cli
              We might see the whole unit as a chiasm with inclusio.  See below (copied from here):
              Jesus foretells His death: Matthew 17:22-23
              A. Jesus speaks of giving freely/sacrificing self: Matthew 17:24-27
              B. Little children are the essence of the kingdom: Matthew 18:1-7
              C. Sacrifice the body for the sake of the kingdom: Matthew 18:8-9
              D. Do not despise what God values: Matthew 18:10-14
              E. Entreating a brother about sin or offense: Matthew 18:15-17
              F.Agreement between Heaven and Earth: Matthew 18:18-20
              E. Entreating a brother about sin or offense: Matthew 18:21-35
              D. Do not despise what God values: Matthew 19:1-9


              C. Sacrifice the body for the sake of the kingdom: Matthew 19:10-12
              B. Little children are the essence of the kingdom: Matthew 19:13-15
              A. Jesus speaks of giving freely/sacrificing self: Matthew 19:16-20:16
              Jesus foretells His death: Matthew 20:17-19

            S


              Acted Parable: Temple Tantrum:
                   
              •           Literary World clues
              • Judah the Hammer/Simon the Star
              • Sadducees, Soreq and Signpost
              •          
              •            NT Wright
              •            Matrix

              Atonement cont
              •   Gods Aren't Angry: Discuss
              •  Christus Victor and the Woman with the sign
              • Other theories
              • Field trip: "Roll Away the Stone"

              Who is Jesus in Matthew?
              • the one who accepts outcasts in his genealogy
              • the new Moses
              • the one who subverts empire
              • King of the Kingdom
              • the one who passed the test that Israel didn't
              • the Parabler
              • the one who knows the shape of his sonship
              •  the one who confronts racism in the temple
              • the one unafraid to go to "the other side"
              • the One who tricks and triumphs over the devil
              • add more
                 



              Check out this shocking video (HT Michael),  revealing one professor's policy on texting :in class:

               Here's one teacher who welcomes texting in class:



              :


              SIGN 9) INTERTEXTUALITY/HYPERLINKING:

              This means one text quotes another text.  When both texts are biblical, this is often called cross-referencing.  When we get into today's theme, we;ll see intertexting between The Ten Commandments (OT) and The Sermon on the Mount (NT)
              One of Chris Harrison's projects is called "Visualizing the Bible":

              "Christoph Römhild sent me his interesting biblical cross-references data set. This lead to the first of three visualizations. Intrigued by the complexity of the Bible, I derived a new data set by parsing the King James Bible and extracting people and places. One of the resulting visualizations is a biblical social network. The other visualization shows how people and places are distributed throughout the text."  Chris Harrison-

              But why should I tell you when I can show you?:

              "The bar graph that runs along the bottom represents all of the chapters in the Bible. Books alternate in color between white and light gray. The length of each bar denotes the number of verses in the chapter. Each of the 63,779 cross references found in the Bible is depicted by a single arc - the color corresponds to the distance between the two chapters, creating a rainbow-like effect." .More info about this chart, and charts of the Bible as a social network  here.

              NOTE: Sometimes the text "intertexted" to is from another text or genre.

              --


              For  Signs 1-8, see Week 1 post.

              We covered those in red tonight:

              9) Intertextuality/Hyperlinking
              10) Kingdom of God/ of Heaven
              11  Venn it!Where  else does a "Christus Victor": show up in literature/film?
              C.S. Lewis, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" :



              Atonement Series: Ransom / Christus Victor


              ---

              Penal Substitution or Christus Victor, Clinton Arnold:


              Penal Substitution or Christus Victor (on theories of the atonement) from :redux onVimeo.

              ---
              N. T. Wright, Atonement Theories:


              See also:
              Penal Substitution vs. Christus Victor

              --


              --


              Parties:





              "MARRY ME":
              In the VanDer Laan video that we watched most of today, "Roll Away the Stone," we learned that:

              When a couple was to be married, the fathers would negotiate the bride price. Once the bargain was struck, the groom would offer a cup of wine to his bride to be — declaring his love and pledging his life. She could either accept it or not. If she accepted the cup, she accepted the offer and pledged her love and life to him.
              The Passover meal has four cups of wine. The third cup is the cup of redemption (or salvation). The host says a prayer and then passes the cup. “Blessed are you, oh God, king of the universe, creator of this fruit of the vine. He then declared this cup the blood of the new covenant — a new promise, in essence offering a pledge of his life.
              When we take communion, God is declaring his love to us, and when we take the cup, we are returning his offer — promising our love and lives to God.
              The bride-price paid by Jesus was high — his very life. It was so high that he asked God to let this “cup” pass from him.
              The Lord’s Supper is a meal with God after a fellowship offering — it’s eating a meal with God.  LINK



              --

              Brian Zahnd video: The Gospel in Chairs  Restorative/Recapitulation


              Here below is a Brian Zahnd video: The Gospel in Chairs.
              (It's based on this video by an Orthodox priest, and reflected on here by Linda (Kingdom Grace):


                12  Drop-Down Box
                13 Intercalation/Sandwiching
                14  Double Paste
                15  Ellipsis/Hemistich(e)


                16  Generalization>Particularization




                Gods Aren't Angry: class discussion
                -Who found the chiasms?
                -comments on Sadducees
                -case studies
                -midrash
                -temple tantrum guerilla theatre

                --

                P

                -INTERCALATION/SANDWICHING
                -DOUBLE PASTE
                -HEMISTICHE



                INTERCALATION is a "sandwiching" technique. where a story/theme is told/repeated at the beginning and ened of a section, suggesting that if a different story appears in between, it too is related thematically.  We looked at  this outline of Mark 11:

                CURSING OF FIG FREE
                CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE
                CURSING OF THE FIG TREE


                We discussed how the cursing of the fig tree was Jesus' commentary of nationalism/racism/prejudice, because fig trees are often a symbol of national Israel.  That the fig  tree cursing story is "cut in  two" by the inserting/"intercalating" of the temple cleansing, suggested that Jesus action in the temple was also commentary on prejuidice...which become more obvious when we realize the moneychangers and dovesellers are set up in the "court of the Gentiles," which kept the temple from being a "house of prayer FOR ALL NATIONS (GENTILES).

                This theme becomes even more clear when we note that Jesus  statement was a quote from Isaiah 56:68, and the context there (of course) is against prejudice in the temple.


                double paste: Often, two Scriptures/texts are combined into a new one. Ex. : Jesus says 


          • After the  Holy Kiss, opening prayer and song
        I love Paul Hiebert's diagram (below) of our fair city, Fresno, in "Transforming Worldviews." (full text here)
        I love Paul Hiebert's diagram  (below)  of our fair city, Fresno, in "Transforming Worldviews."
        (full text here)

        Like many cities of its era, Fresno was built around,  grew around ,  and oriented to, the railroad  tracks.
        So downtown streets literally follow  and parallel  the tracks...which run northeast-southwest.. and are not tied/tethered to  a traditional (whose tradition was it, anyway?) north/south, west/east grid.

        But the rest of the city follows a traditional north-south, west-east pattern.
        There was less  attitude and latitude for straying from literal latitude  by the time the city expanded beyond downtown.

        So, in some circles, we are famous/infamous for two things: introducing the credit card, and being laid out sideways.

        Heading south on Blackstone (the main drag ....and many do drag there!..and north-south corridor) , one sees on the horizon, in fact as the horizon ("NO Line on the Horizon.. time is irrrelevant, it's not linear") the tallest skyscraper between San Francisco and Los Angeles  But the building's corners are  perfectly angled to the tracks, and look sideways, disoriented, crooked ..and from a parallel universe and orientation.  But once the road hits downtown, it all evens out.  Which is odd.

        Watch it all here:

         Bruggemann offers  a taxonomy of the psalms: psalms of orientation, disorientation and reorientation
        Sometimes we must lose orientation to find disorientation to find  reorientation.  In fact, such may be the only way to grow.  It's more than a Hegelian synthesis.  It's holy liminality and liminal space where holy shift happens.  So it could be what happens to a driver's/walker's orientation is a microcosm and metaphor of what happens as we pilgrimage from "glory to glory"...even if transversing through  Fowler's stages of faith or Kubler-Ross's stages of grief.
        Pastor D.J. Criner
        Sometimes in a Bible class, I will leave the room for five minutes,
        and challenge the students to practice presenting anything they've learned.
        It's totally up to them: they can tea- teach it, one person can present etc.

        Sometimes I am even brave/dumb enough to say they can choose someone to impersonate (roast/toast( me and my style.

        I should have known that with  the delightful and daring Pastor D.J. Criner (of Saint Rest Baptist Church) in class, that  the class would choose him for that impersonation option (:

        It was caught on video ...
        I guess I say ":awesome" a lot.

        Be sure to catch his whiteboard artwork of me. as well:

        T shirt called "Ancient Chinese Secret."  Don't leave the blog now, all offended. (:  Read the story of this T-shirt below

        Any list of great books on the Psalms would include Eugene Peterson's amazing "Answering God" (see "Eugene Peterson on loud farts"), works by Bruegemann (of course) and....

         ...did you know David Crowder wrote a book on the Psalms? It's"Praise Habit: Finding God in Sunsets and Sushi"
        ...and it's a ...well, Crowderesque...devotional on selected psalms. Here's a hilarious highlight, from the book's conclusion:







        The Ancient Chinese Secret - by David Crowder


        Se-mi-ot-ics n
        1.  the study of signs and symbols of all kinds, what they mean and  how they relate to the things or ideas they refer to.

        I bought a T-shirt in Washington,  D.C. It was red. It  said "Ancient Chinese Secret" on the front. Below this  statement, it had writing, which I assumed to be Chinese. Never  assume. My sushi friend Shelley was there when I picked it out. I held it up, and she said, "Oh, that is soooo Crowder." I  put it on that very day. I ate lunch in it sitting across from  the pastors of the church where we were playing music later that  evening. As I made my way across the stage, heading for our bus  that was parked outside, our lighting technician stopped me and  said, "Wow. You are brave."

         "Yes. Well, brave how? I mean, what do you mean  'brave'?"

         "The shirt. You know the secret right?"

         "Well, yeah."
        I nervously responded in an uncertain  chuckle. It is embarrassing to wear a shirt and not know what it  means. "Wait, what? You mean you know Chinese? Wow. So, huh,  well what does it say? I don't know the secret. I don't know  Chinese. What's the secret?"

         "Oh, it's in English."

         "What? No! I studied this shirt at the store like a flipping semiotician. It is most certainly not in English. That I am sure  of."

         "It is in English. Turn the shirt sideways then read."

        It was most definitely in English. Granted, it was intended to be cleverly hidden in ornate, faux Chinese brushstrokes, but once spotted it was unmistakable. I was wearing a shirt that said,  "Go F#$@ Yourself!" It was all I could see now. How had  I missed this? I am not a semiotician. I sat across from pastors  eating hamburgers, laughing and smiling, while the whole time  this was written on my chest!

         Stuff in life happens, and we try to make sense of it. So we look carefully. What could this moment, this tragedy, this weight,  this mountain, this tearing, this violence, this frenzy that is  life be teaching us? What is being said here? And then someone  points out, "Hey, it says, 'Go F#$@ Yourself!'" and  you've had it on the whole time.

        Se-mi-ot-ics  n
        2.  the study of identifying the ways that various symptoms indicate  the disease that underlies them. (Medical)

         The real message, the thing that is scribbled barely legible, the thing that's always there, underlying, is—we need rescue.  
        Things aren't as they should be. When your eyes focus and this  becomes visible, you can't tear your eyes from it. And you start  to see that there are those all around us who wait in begging  wonder. "What is wrong? I am here. I am here, and I need you  to notice. At times I'm waving my arms above my head, screaming  it. At times I am too frightened to move, but always I am here,  and I want you to notice. And in the dark I am afraid. I lie with  my hand on my chest waiting for the tapping to come. Things  aren't as they should be. There are symptoms. You see it in my  eyes. I have seen it in your eyes, too.

        Come  to Jesus
        To follow Jesus doesn't remove us from the stuff of life. It is  not resolution. It is tension and journey. In 1 John 2:6 it says, "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."  Jesus was in the world, engaged, alive, involved, making a  difference. To follow Him, we must do the same. His prayer for us  in John 17 is "Not that you take them out of the world  ..." and "As you sent me into the world, I have sent  them into the world" (verses 15, 18).

        This is what God has  done for us. He has come into our condition. He has come to bring  us back. He has come and embraced us. He has come and covered us  in Himself. Watch this Christ. Watch as He is accused of being a  drunkard, of associating with tax collectors. Watch as He brings  healing to the afflicted, love to prostitutes, forgiveness to  sinners. Watch as He climbs the hill bearing His destruction on  His back. Watch as blood and water flow. Watch as salvation comes  to us all. Watch as glory ascends to come again. Watch and fall  in love with a God who does not resolve, whose rescue is  never-ending. Whose prayer is that you would be that rescue. Who  sends you to be that rescue.
        Be courageous. Even as you stand  there hiding in the bushes, shaking to the bottom of your toes,  frightened of what's to follow, what consequences will come of  it, know that evil will not prevail. That you are not alone. That  you bring the kingdom  of God, and  there is hope. There is hope always. And others will walk out of  dark places and see you standing there, arms outstretched, given completely to this hope.
        Praise is response. Praise happens when there is revelation, and there is revelation waiting for us around every bend, in places  we would not suspect.
        Our task is to live with eyes wide open to  God's greatness because when we see the imprint of the creator,  our insides will swell with devotion, our hearts will erupt with thankfulness. You will live, breathe and radiate praise. The  habit isn't in learning "how to praise"; it is in  reminding yourself "who to praise." It is a remembering  of who you are. It is a remembering of your identity. Praise is  redeemed and redefined with rescue.

        When you have been found by  grace, your identity is swallowed in Christ. You are enveloped by  Him, clothed in His merciful sacrifice. To live in this  remembrance is to bring awareness of Christ into your every encounter. In this awareness you bring His embrace to the things you embrace.

        You  Are Here

        There is a sign in my favorite restaurant, 1424,  which happens to be located directly across the street from my  house, that hangs by the bar and states, in black letters on a  pale-yellow background, "You Are Here."
        I call often  for takeout. I pretend that they are my residential kitchen staff  that just so happens to cook the most flavorful foods on the  planet. The chef's name is Bill, and he knows exactly how I like  my pork tenderloin. We have never discussed it; he just knows.  He's always known. And as I wait for my order to be packed in  white Styrofoam and placed in a plastic bag for transport, I sit  at the bar and read, "You Are Here," and it brings a  comfort and solidity to things. You often hear or encounter  inspirational art convincing you to live as if today is the last,  to engage each moment as if it were all we had, but usually this  is married to the idea that it is. That this is it.  
        There is nothing more than now. All we get is what we suck out of  this moment. But I disagree. I read, "You Are Here,"  and I am equally inspired to be fully present in this moment, but  it is not because that is all I have, but because I am bringing  something more. I am bringing the very kingdom of God.  
        I read, "You Are Here," and I, ignoring the dramatic  punctuation of finality, think, "The kingdom of God  is sitting at this bar, waiting to bring something better."

        We are to be rescue. We are to be redemption. We are to carry the story of God to the ones waiting. To the ones with their hands on their chest, begging you to notice that things aren't right. And  this is praise. You are the note sounding in a thousand different  rooms. There are chords and reflective surfaces around you. There  is context.

        Sometimes life comes at us with the delicacy of a sunset, and  other times it comes with the rawness of sushi and the bitter  bite of wasabi. Sometimes the tears will be because you cannot  stand empty-eyed in the presence of such beauty, and sometimes  they will be full of fire, but notice/know this: You are here. You Are Here! You are here, and you are not alone.

        Look me in the eyes. Can you feel the fabric on your skin? It is woven from the threads of love. Pay attention to the way it folds around you, sense its softness, brush the hair of your arms as  you lift them toward the heavens in unencumbered declaration.

        It is the coverings of rescue that you feel. It is a flood. It is  an ocean. It is a sea that has no bottom, for there is no end to it.  To be fully present in the rescue and recreation of Christ is to  embrace what God does for us, and this is the best thing we can  do for Him.-David Crowder, pp, 152-153 Praise Habit: Finding God in Sunsets and Sushi

        Building a fence

        Law and building a fence; liust is adultery: start about 10 minute mark, and read below.  if Jesus is a  NEW MOSES o f sorts, then we sho...