I thought I would pull a post from my “archives” for this glorious Election Day in America.
Some will vote Red, some will vote Blue. Some will even vote Purple (like me, voting a split ticket between Republican and Democratic candidates), defying the stifling categories of Right and Left. Front and center in the Right-Left polarity is the issue of Life. Some insist on fighting for the lives of the unborn. Some struggle for the lives and justice of those living now. I say we need both struggles: why can’t we vote for Pro-Life and mean both the living and the preliving.
That’s the way I voted today. I voted with these two white and red wristbands. “Life” is etched in one, which represents the campaign to end abortion. The other has “One” is inscribed, which comes from the One Campaign to end global poverty and bring awareness to issues of justice and quality of life right now.
One wrist. Two wristbands. One vote. A vote that incorporated both ends of the spectrum of the Life Issue.
Popularity: 3% [?]
This is an essay I wrote for my Biblical Hermeneutics class. We were assigned the task of choosing a Gospel pericope (story/passage) and were suppose to describe and analyze it. I thought it was a pretty good read, so I thought I would post it here. I must warn you, it is long (3500 words, 10 pages double-spaced!), but I think it’s a good analysis of exorcism, Jesus and the disciple’s ministry regarding this practice, the ministry of the Other exorcist, and how we should respond in embrace and partnership with modern day “exorcists.” I hope it challenges you to think more broadly about the Kingdom, who is in and out, and who can and is taking part in its work. (PS-This version is absent about 50 footnotes…if you want the original version, go here.)
INTRODUCTION
In recent years, an attitude of exclusivism and exclusion has plagued the Church as various strains within Christianity seem quick to border Jesus in from the Outsider, while attacking and alienating the “Other” with little consideration to embrace and partner with them. What is worse, those walling Jesus in the fastest seem to be more content to live out the American Dream— complete with $93 million church facilities, Christian bookstores, and Purpose-Driven, Live-Your-Best-Life-Now easy listening messages—than the Way of Jesus, even while the Other seems to do a better job at “being Jesus” than the Church; those whom the Church writes off as outside the boundaries of Jesus’ group oftentimes are doing what He would do more often, passionately, and better than His very disciples, a modern-day phenomenon that mirrors an oft-overlooked Gospel pericope found in the Book of Mark.
In Mark 9:38-41, Jesus confronts this same exclusive “Us” vs. “Them” spirit in His disciples. Rather than applauding His their efforts to prevent a non-disciple from exorcising in His name, Jesus rebukes them for creating borders around His Kingdom and having a narrow concept of who is involved in it’s work. But though this pericope has great implications for the modern church as it relates to the Other, a survey of scholarship shows a lack of concern for this passage. While commentaries do handle this text and provide insight, a search on ATLAReligion resulted in only two articles for this pericope. Despite sparse scholarship material, though, I aim to describe and analyze Jesus’ instructions in Mark regarding the ministry of a non-disciple and the response of the disciples’ to that non-disciple. Using the passages immediate context and connecting synoptic material, I expect Jesus’ subversive teachings on who is in and out to establish a robust ethic for modern readers on the art of embracing and partnering with the Other for the good of Jesus’ Kingdom and the world.
Technorati Tags: exorcism, jesus, the other, the book of mark
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Here is a document version of the sermon I have this past Sunday on Mark 9:38-41. I will put it in post format shortly, but until then enjoy this!
-jeremy
Technorati Tags: book of mark, christianity, emerging church, gospels
Popularity: 2% [?]
After I left three years of full-time ministry I worked a stint for Nordstrom, a department store known for their Yearly and Half-Yearly sales, in addition to their high-end merchandise. One of the interesting things about working at this Nordstrom is that it is located in the richest, most diverse county in the country: Fairfax County in Northern Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C..
Aside from the killer comission and earning potential, one of the joys while working during those few months was the sheer diversity of people with whom I came into contact. In my department, a tapestry of religions were represented, including six Muslims, an Orthodox Jew, a Sikh, a Buddhist, a few non-Western Christians and others who were spiritual, but non-religious. Additionally, 90% of my co-workers were originally from other nations. Ethiopians, a Moroccan, Somalian, Gabonian, an Indian, Afghani-Japanese-American, and a Columbian-Pakistani-American created a fantastic work environment. It was in this environment that a single question from one of my co-workers sparked some thoughts in me about pieces of my family tree that I had never considered before.
“Is your name African?”
That question set off a flutter of thoughts!
Technorati Tags: africa, bouma, christianity, colonialism, dutch, election, family tree, post-colonialism, african colonialism, slave trade
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As I have begun (re)wrestling with truth and knowing, and especially how I know and “truth” within our postmodern, post-Christian world, I found renewed comfort that we can in fact know, because God has revealed. I wrote this post over two years ago during a similar “crisis of knowing.” I hope it comforts you as much as it has and did me.
The Modern Era (philosophical, not technological) was defined as the Age of Reason, in part, because of a cleverly concocted phrase by René Descartes: cogito ergo sum, “I think therefore I am.” In the face of the epistemological (how we know, and how we know that we know) conundrum of doubt and certainty, Modern thinkers tried to eliminate (or better, lessen the threat of) these twin threats in two ways: 1) elevating mind/reason through the scientific method; and 2) centering the knowing squarely on the individual man. The only thing Man could be certain of was himself and his ability to reason with his own mind. From that self, through engaging his mind and reason, he could know everything outside himself; knowledge begins with the individual’s mind, and works itself outward through the scientific method.
Postmoderns, however, reject a mind/reason centered explanation of our ability to know because outside stimulus can influence our mind and the tools our mind uses to reason (all of our senses: smell, taste, sight, sound, touch) are failable, thus casting doubt on mans ability to know purely through his own mind and reason. Man, however, isn’t removed from the equation, his reason is replaced by his experience. While doubt is actually elevated in the process, we can know because we can feel and experience. But in the face of this individualized experience, truth is once again relegated to the individual. No one, transcendent, knowable Truth Truth Story can exist, because my personal experience dictates and defines truth that story.
Where is this coming from you ask?
Technorati Tags: christianity, emerging church, epistemology, faith, god, postmodernism, truth
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