The Social Network

Sometimes, it feels like people do things just so I can use them in a sermon. This coming Sunday, we are going to be talking about the social network that has been created by the internet. The social network, in an of itself, is neither good nor bad. Its value is determined by how we use it (it is a lot like money in that regard). In Michigan, a juror felt compelled to post her desired verdict on Facebook. The problem is that the trial was not yet over. Not terribly bright. It helps if we think of the social network as something that gives us all superpowers. Every day, we have to ask ourselves, will we use our powers for evil, or for good. 

The Speed of Information

One of the things that I have enjoyed most about the current sermon series is that I get to look at some of the silly things that are revealed in our cultural modes of communication and hold them up to the light of the gospel. Sometimes, this is amusing. Sometimes, it is actually a little sad. But, it is always enlightening. Yesterday, I talked about dealing with volumes of information that come at us at "ludicrous" speed. One of the problems that having so much information so readily accessible to us is that information itself loses much of its value. This is what happens whenever there is an overabundance of something. If diamonds grew on trees in our backyard, then they would not be so expensive. When we have too much information (and we do), the information that we have is less meaningful. Consider that the news cycle never ends. And not only does it not end, but it feeds hundreds of news channels, internet, blogs, etc. That means that those that cover the news spend far more time dissecting, breaking down, and repeating (excessively) the same pieces of information. And, after they have run out of information, they start talking about what "might" happen. Edward R. Murrow (Google him, if that name is unfamiliar to you) would be rolling over in his grave if he heard what passes for news today. And because there are so many options, in order to get noticed, we have seen the rise of the bombast. You know who these people are. They are on the left and the right - no one is immune. These are the people that preach opinion and present it as fact.They are often times rude and almost always disparaging of anyone that might disagree with them. This is what passes as discourse in the media age.  But, God calls us to a different kind of wisdom. It is not wisdom born of the media age; it is a wisdom born of the Holy Spirit. And it is cultivated by developing a spirit that is attentive to the Spirit of God.

Redemption

I saw this video on Youtube and I just had to share it. This is amazing. Braddock, Pennsylvania suffered greatly with "the collapse of the steel industry in the US in the 1970s and 1980s. This coincided with the crack cocaine epidemic of the early 1980s, and the combination of the two woes nearly destroyed the community. In 1988, Braddock was designated a financially distressed municipality...Since 2005, mayor John Fetterman has been focused on attracting new residents to the area from the artistic, urbanist, and creative communities. He has also initiated various revitalization efforts including the non-profit organization, Braddock Redux." Why is it that Madison Avuenue is so much better at telling stories of redemption than the church. Is it because they understand the hope that people need? Is it because they understand the true nature of redemption? What can the church learn about kerygma from Madison Avenue?

Virtual Communion?

This Sunday, we are beginning a new sermon series entitled "Being a Christian in a Media Age" (see my August 17 post for details). There are some that would have us think that being a Christian in a media age is a simple matter of utilizing media for evangelism, but fighting against forms of media that do not perpetuate "Christian" values. There are two problems with this. First, who gets to decide what values are Christian, or not? Second, the availability of different platforms of media raises significant questions on its own. Consider the issue of virtual communion, where people participate in the sacrament of communion from the comfort of their computer. My first instinct is to say that this is not an appropriate way to celebrate the sacrament. However, what about for people that are homebound? Is this form of celebration appropriate. Andrew Thompson of the blog genxrising.com has written a great article for the UM Reporter on the subject. Whatever you feel about virtual communion, the point is, living in a media age brings new complications that the church must learn to grapple with, to talk about, and to face with clarity and grace.

New Sermon Series Beginning This Sunday

We live in a fast-paced, slam-bang, get-it-done yesterday kind of world. There is very little that we do not have access to at the tip of our fingers. This is a blessing in that it unites the world in ways that we could not ever have imagined. But, having access to high speed internet, a 24-hour news cycle, electronic games and much more also bring many challenges. In this media-driven age that we are living in, it is important that we consider what is going on around us, what it means for our lives, and also what it means for the church. Come and discover how God is at work in a media age.

August 22 – “The Signs of Times" Matthew 16:1-4
August 29 - “The Speed of Information” 1 Corinthians 2:6-16
September 5 – "Social Networks" Luke 16:1-13

Bad Love

Last Sunday, we completed our sermon series "Dysfunctional Families of the Bible." We talked about "Bad Love." The sermon was based on the infamous story in 1 Kings 16:29-33 about King Ahab and Jezebel.  Ahab, among other things was a very good example of bad love. To refresh (and to vastly oversimplify), bad love is "any love (friend, spouse, etc.) that, by its very nature, draws us further away from God and God’s call on our lives." Bad love makes us feel kind of like the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:15. He writes, "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." Again, even though we used the example of Ahab and Jezebel, bad love does not necessarily relate only to romantic love. In his book The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis talks about (you guessed it) four different kinds of love. They are affection for family, friendship, romantic love, and "agape," which is the self-giving love of God that we all share. Affection for family, friendship, and romantic love all have the potential to get twisted around and have elements of bad  love. In fact, I have counseled people in the past that have literally had to "break up" with a friend because the friendship was becoming destructive. Regardless of what kind of love we are talking about, the key is to seek to not only experience and share good love, but to also cultivate withing ourselves a spirit that is attracted to good love. That is to say, develop spiritual disciplines that bring us closer to God, serve God in unselfish ways. Do things that represent the kind of person we want to be. And remember the two questions that we talked about in worship. (1) Who am I and where am I going, and (2) Who is going with me. When we answer the second question before we answer the first, we make ourselves more susceptible to bad love. Either way, the good news is that the wonderful love of God is continually working in our lives, drawing our spirits closer to the abundant life that God offers everyone. That is good love.

O.C. Food Bank

Last Saturday, 21 people from Light of the Canyon worked with others to put together over 2000 boxes of food for needy people in Orange County. Doing something concrete that helps others people and enjoying fantastic fellowship in the process. This is what the church was meant for. Check out pictures.We worked for just two hours, but we worked very hard. There were several sore backs when all was said and done. But, it was time well spent. If you want more information about volunteering at the food bank, follow this link.

It's the Love...Stupid (an attempt at a witty reference to the 1992 presidential campaign, not a slam)

Further thoughts on being a light to the world. It is so easy to talk about how we disagree. In fact, it is too easy. We (I refer here to the church as "we," not the culture in general) have become so adept at spouting off about how each other is wrong (and thus will probably burn in hell for all eternity - that's not good), that we have forgotten how to actually come together under the banner of of the love and grace of God in Jesus Christ. We have mistaken (our own) doctrine and theology for truth. However, there is hope (if there weren't, I wouldn't waste my time blogging about it). I just read a great interview by a man named Chris Heuertz. He is the director of an organization called Word Made Flesh. In the interview, Heuertz was asked the question, "Mainline denominations have been committed to the idea of ecumenism for 100 years. If you’re a denominational executive, how do you steer a big organization in that direction?" His response was wonderful. "Look at Mother Teresa. She had challenges not unlike those that denominational execs face. She organized the Missionaries of Charity with a commitment to Christ first, looking for Christ on the road, discovering Christ among the needy." For the whole interview, follow this link. The point is this - love, service, caring action is how we can transcend the walls that we have built up. Jesus allowed the walls of dogma, etc. to be crucified on the cross. Who are we to resurrect them? It is only through devoted, selfless loving acts of towards other that people will know that Jesus is Lord. Everything else is jibber-jabber.

Keeping Up With the Philistines

This week, we continued our sermon series on "Dysfunctional Families of the Bible." Why would we have a sermon series based on something so negative. That is a great question. The answer is that I think that there are opportunities to learn about ourselves and God throughout the bible. We learn not just from the good stuff, but also from people's bad examples. In fact, it might be said that the bible has more stories of people's failure and how God redeems that failure than simply stories about people doing God's will. Theologians have a fancy term for this; they call it learning by the "via negativa." I hope I impressed you with my use of that big word. I am still paying off my seminary student loans, so I feel obligated to use those words every now and then, just so I feel I am getting my money's worth.

Anyway, yesterday, this past Sunday we talked about the Israelites desire to have a king so that they could be like "all the nations." God had given Israel a special role in the world, and they wanted to be like everyone else. They were just trying to keep up with the Philistines. In order to clarify the contrast between having a king and having God as their king, I encourage you to read two scriptures. Before you read the first one, 1 Samuel 8:11-18, ask yourself the question, "What does a king require of you?" Now before you read the second scripture, Micah 6:8, ask yourself the question, "What does the Lord require of you?" I think that you will find this illuminating.

So, what does this mean for the church? It means that God does not call us to be like "all the nations," like everyone else in the world. God does not call us to embrace the cultural and moral values of the society in which we live. Instead, he calls us to be a light to the nations, an example of His grace and love. Being a part of Christ's church means that we covenant (promise) to be be set apart, "in the world, but not of it." This is a constant challenge, one that we never fully accomplish. But, it is the goal of the Christian life to equip people for that holy calling.

You (and I) Are Just Not That Important

This has been a wonderful vacation. Today was the first hitch in the giddy-up. We were in Zion National Park (an absolutely breathtaking place) and my son asked a ranger where he might find petroglyphs (He learned about them in his Junior Ranger book). The ranger told my son where he might find some, but, he also told him that the petroglyphs were not on any map. We followed the rangers directions, and sure enough, there they were.  What you cannot see in this picture is that someone named Amy and Greg decided some time ago to put there names on these petroglyphs ("Amy + Greg", how sweet). This, by the way, is why the petroglyphs are not on the map anymore. Honestly, graffiti on petroglyphs. Here is the reality that so many of us struggle with - we have an over-inflated sense of our own importance. The truth is that, measured against the ancient history recorded on the rocks, I really don't care whether Greg loves Amy or Amy loves Greg or of Greg and Amy are even still speaking to one another. That is not the story that the rocks have to tell. Neither Greg nor Amy nor you nor me are that important. We are not more important than history. This might seem like a minor, or insignificant issue, but I would suggest that our grandiose sense of self has become pandemic in our culture and it is getting worse. Professor Judith Twenge has written a great book about this entitled "Generation Me." I have mentioned this book before, but it is worth mentioning again. Her hypothesis is basically that we have become more self-absorbed with each generation, and many of the things that we do in the name of self-esteem are really about building up this over-inflated sense of ourselves. It is a big problem. Just ask Greg and Amy.