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....
...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
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.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.
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
See also:
God will ALWAYS give you more than you can handle
and:
Our church may not go as far as incorporating the "Hymns to Swear By" byPádraig Ó Tuama, (though we probably should be that bold and insurrectionist).
But we will no doubt glean lots from the section of the Rollins' "Insurrection" book ("The Centrality of Absence," p, 175ff in which we are introduced to an example from their catalog. About one song, Rollins comments, "this is not simply a song about suffering and the sense of cosmic homelessness--is is sung from that space (177).
Here's the song, but you are probably not ready to include it next Sunday.
Which is precisely why you should.
(P.S. Just tell your team it's called, "Maranatha," ....doesn't that sound safe enough?(:
But we will no doubt glean lots from the section of the Rollins' "Insurrection" book ("The Centrality of Absence," p, 175ff in which we are introduced to an example from their catalog. About one song, Rollins comments, "this is not simply a song about suffering and the sense of cosmic homelessness--is is sung from that space (177).
Here's the song, but you are probably not ready to include it next Sunday.
Which is precisely why you should.
(P.S. Just tell your team it's called, "Maranatha," ....doesn't that sound safe enough?(:
Maranatha from Peter Rollins on Vimeo.
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--SINGULAR PLURALS/USTEDES VA:
A Crash of Rhinos...a Committee of Buzzards
"Rhino Crash Church"
from The Barbarian Way, Erwin McManus
A few years ago I took my kids to a wildlife animal park near San Diego. As we rode on a tram through the open terrain, a guide pointed out the unique features of the different species that we encountered. I suppose I always knew it in part, but I had not come to realize how most groups of animals have unique names or designations when they dwell together.
With insects most of us know that bees are called swarms, and ants are called colonies. Among ocean life, I was aware that whales are pods, and fish are schools. Cattle are herds, birds are flocks, and if you watch Lion King, you know a tribe of lions is a pride. If you grew up in the country, you might know that crows are murders. Maybe the most unnerving one is an ambush of tigers.
I was surprised to learn that a group of buzzards waiting around together to feast on leftover carnage is called a committee. Just this one insight is worth the price of the whole book. This explains so much of what’s going on in churches—a lot of committees waiting around to live off human carnage.
Flamingos are called flamboyants, which for some reason reminds me of TV evangelists. And the less glamorous owls are known as parliaments. They do seem sort of British.
But my favorite of all is the group designation for rhinos. You see, rhinos can run thirty miles an hour, which is pretty fast when you consider how much weight they’re pulling. They’re actually faster than squirrels, which can run up to twenty-six miles an hour. And even then who’s going to live in dread of a charging squirrel! (Sorry—that was a bit off the point.) Running at thirty miles an hour is faster than a used Pinto will go. Just one problem with this phenomenon. Rhinos can see only thirty feet in front of them. Can you imagine something that large moving in concert as a group, plowing ahead at thirty miles an hour with no idea what’s at thirty-one feet? You would think that they would be far too timid to pick up full steam, that their inability to see far enough ahead would paralyze them to immobility. But with that horn pointing the way, rhinos run forward full steam ahead without apprehension, which leads us to their name.
Rhinos moving together at full speed are known as a crash. Even when they’re just hanging around enjoying the watershed, they’re called a crash because of their potential. You’ve got to love that. I think that’s what we’re supposed to be. That’s what happens when we become barbarians and shake free of domestication and civility. The church becomes a crash. We become an unstoppable force. We don’t have to pretend we know the future. Who cares that we can see only thirty feet ahead? Whatever’s at thirty-one feet needs to care that we’re coming and better get out of the way.
We need to move together as God’s people, a barbarian tribe, and become the human version of the rhino crash. The future is uncertain, but we need to move toward it with confidence. There’s a future to be created, a humanity to be liberated. We need to stop wasting our time and stop being afraid of what we cannot see and do not know. We need to move forward full force because of what we do know.
Yesterday Mariah was in a store with her mom. She saw a man working with fabrics, and for some reason he caught Mariah’s attention. Mariah looked at Kim and pointed to the man, and she said, “Mom, look at the man. He’s the loneliest person I’ve ever seen.” Mariah began to weep uncontrollably.
We may not be able to see what’s at thirty-one feet, but we don’t have to be blind to what’s right in front of us. There’s a world that desperately needs God, a world filled with loneliness, hopelessness, and fear. We have somehow become deaf to a cry that reaches heaven coming from the souls of men. But God hears.
Erwin McManus
How does it change your interpretation of the Bible to realize that many passages are to a "plural you":
Ephesians: 2:8-10, 3:16, 6:10-20 ?
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We watched an amazing video of Cappadocia.
UNFORTUNATELY> this episode called "Don't Forget Us" is not online
(remember the church 2o stories underground, and the amazing testimony of Rebecca from Sudan?) but some notes on it are here. Also pp. 164ff here.
Here is more on Cappadocia and the underground cities of Derrankuyu"
See:
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We finished "Drops Like Stars":
Here (click):
are some quotes from the book by the same name, arranged slightly differently.
Here
you can read much of the book online.
Interview about the book:
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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'?"
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taking attendance at U2church..tag yourself
.. the U2 Gigelpizel U2 fan cam, see it here,
If you want to see a pic of me...or any of the other 70,000 that were with me... at the Oakland gig,click this. (just X out the popup)...Have fun with the videocam! You can find yourself, and almost anyone who is at any concert of the tour.
Week
6
Topics: Living in Community: Individual Worth, Status
and Relationships
Preparation Reading:
Reread Genesis 25:19 – 34; 27:1 – 28:5; 37; 41
Hauer & Young ch 13 “The Birth of
Christianity: The Acts of the Apostles” (entire)
Reread Acts 2
Reread 1 Corinthians 12 – 13
Hauer & Young ch 14, “Ephesians: He
is Our Peace” (pp. 301-303 only)
Ephesians 5:21 – 6:9
Hauer & Young ch 15, “The Literary
World: The Pastoral Epistles” (pp.
311-312 only)
1 Timothy 2:8 – 15; 5:3 – 16; 6:1 – 5
Reread Philemon (entire)
Grimsrud, ch 11, “Paul, Missionary to the Gentiles:
Grimsrud, ch 12, “The Book of Revelation – Christianity
Under Fire”
Grimsrud,
ch 13, “Reflections on God’s Healing Strategy
Preparation
Assignments:
1)
Complete “The Literary World & the Contemporary World” worksheet (attached to this syllabus). This
worksheet and the worksheet from Week 5 form the basis for the final paper.<YOU HAVE ALREADY DONE THIS IN CLASS< YOU DON"T NEED
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