Who is a Christian?

This question has been with me for some time now. Not from a place of self-righteous judgment: "I deem you Christian and you un-Christian." But rather from a place of doubt and confusion: What does it mean to be a Christian? What really constitutes Christian faith? Is Christian faith substantive or simply a delusion? If one is a Christian what do they do and what do they believe? And are their actions and beliefs prescribed by Christian faith, implying that in there absence Christian faith is null and void?

Is there anything that I can point to in my life (my actions, my beliefs, my community, my relationships) that gives me assurance of my Christian faith? Is there something I can hold up and say here this is my Christianity?

There have often been two responses to this crisis of identity: dogmatic sectarianism or uncritical assimilation. In the former identity is held up over relevance, and in the latter relevance does away with a distinct identity.

Myself and others who "grew up Evangelical" find ourselves today in this crisis. As we venture into uncharted territory attempting to move beyond our inherited "us vs. them" tradition, we go through a loss of identity. At our low points we despise our tradition and rebel against it, constructing an identity that is simply anti. On the other hand we move out and assimilate and identify with the "other", but we find that we do not quite fit in "out there" either. We also try and formulate new doctrines, or new ethical imperatives, some more successful then others. But at the end of the day we often continue to struggle for any assurance of identity or relevance to the outside world.

So how do we build an identity and develop relevance? This blog is long enough, so I will simply offer this quote by Jurgen Moltmann from his book The Crucified God. Here he is attempting to develop Christian identity from the viewpoint of the cross and the God who was crucified upon it.

"Christian identity can be understood only as an act of identification with the crucified Christ, to the extent to which one has accepted the proclamation that in him God has identified himself with the godless and those abandoned by God, to whom one belongs oneself" (19).

Heart Wrenching

I recently finished A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. It is a breathtaking and heart wrenching novel that invites the reader into the lives of two women living in Afghanistan. It powerfully captures the beautiful desires of these women and the horrific circumstances that bestow tragedy after tragedy upon them. Despite living in the horrific shadow of war and the abuse of a patriarchal society these women actively bring redemption into each other's life.

This book exposes the futility of violence, the undeniable evil of patriarchy (in whatever form it may take; our Western forms are just as destructive), and the incredible power of love and hope. I hope that you take the time to be captivated by this story.

Here we go again

The Fall semester has begun. Last week I was in Church History I (Early Church through the Reformation) Monday through Friday 9-4PM. It was a long week, but our professor was quite good and Church history is always fascinating.

One of the new thoughts that came my way was a discussion on the Reformers understanding of predestination. Why was it so important to them and what necessitated that belief? Their actions had caused the Catholic Church to excommunicate them, thus they were damned to hell. They needed some heavy duty salvific assurance to stand up to the one and only church: hence, it is only God who determines who is saved (i.e. predestination). Now I am definitely not trying to instigate a discussion on predestination nor am I implying that the Reformers simply made up doctrines to react to the Catholic Church. Rather I continue to find it intriguing to look at the contexts and circumstances that give shape to who we are, what we believe and what we do. Life is always contextual and that is the beauty of it.

This week I will start the rest of my Fall classes: Corinthians, Theology I, and Human Growth and Development. Following this Fall, I will have 7 hours in the Spring and then 4 hours next Summer and I will be done with my Masters! It feels good to be on the downhill slope.

Well hello there...long time no see.

Well this turned into quite the busy summer for me. I took 10 hours of class on top of working 30 hours a week at Starbucks; and then we decided to throw in a move. I am currently enjoying my week break (we start class again this coming Monday). So needless to say I am a bit worn out. I am looking forward to settling into a routine this fall.

The thought of writing anything at the moment of any significance feels quite burdensome to me, but I will offer one insight that came to me through my studies this summer.

Imagination is the interpretive key. One can spend incredible amounts of energy learning and studying the scriptures in order to understand what it is that they mean. But in the end it requires a profound imagination and creative freedom to envision and enact the biblical reality in our own day in age. The Biblical story paints a picture of a new world, a new way of being, a new reality that has been brought about through the creative working of God via Christ. The Biblical story though, is incredibly specific and bound to is own context. The creative imagination of Christ that radically changed the landscape of first century Palestine cannot simply be replicated on a one to one basis into our time. It requires an imaginary leap. One must be inspired and awed by the reality that God creates through the Biblical narrative, and then that inspiration must be used as raw fuel in order for us to create a new reality in our day. The key to reading scripture well, or living scripture well, is to have an imagination that runs wild.

Last Minute Camping Trip

When the mountains are only a little over an hour away, it is easy to take a quick trip. This is Kate and I camping at Lake Dorothy. It is an alpine lake in the Cascades Mountains. It was quite beautiful, but a little buggy.

*Scott, I went for a swim again. It was a little warmer this time, it actually felt pretty good. You probably would have wimped out though.

Our New Home

Here are some pics of our new place. We are loving it! We unpacked in time to throw a 4th of July party. Grilling meat in my own backyard on the 4th of July with good friends was pure bliss.

Years of marraige: 3. Moving trucks: 4

When Kate and I moved into our apartment here in Seattle we told ourselves we are not going to move for as long as possible. Well, we made it almost a year. Fortunately we are only moving .9 miles away. Now we love our apartment here in Lower Queen Anne. The hardwoods are beautiful, our little office where we type all of our papers has been good to us, and the Thai place right our back door has provided far too many of our meals. There is just one thing that is lacking: sitting outside on a porch and grilling (and numerous other outdoor/yard/porch activities).

So we are moving up to the top of Queen Anne Hill into a little house. It has a big front porch and a little backyard. Oh yeah and we will be joined in the house by our friends Shelly and Mazie (I am not sure if I spelled Mazie right? But she is a dog, so she doesn't read blogs. She doesn't read anything actually).

Ummmm I can already taste the delicious grilled meat.

Regret

This past weekend I partook in a three day intensive class on leadership at MHGS. At a young age I took on leadership responsibilities. For a beginner I think that I did some things well, and I am thankful for many of the opportunities that came my way. On the other hand though I made mistakes. There were instances that my words were not very wise nor loving. There were times that I did not value the people around me. And there were times where I simply took on more than I should have. With that said, and without going into further detail about my past, I carry with me regret. Now in one sense regret has served me well. It has caused me to seek new ways of doing things. It has brought me to MHGS, where I have entered a community that seeks to re-imagine what the gospel is.

As I went through this class though this thought came to me:

Regret you have taken me this far; you cannot take me any farther.

Regret can motivate us to do many things. It can motivate us to change the way things are, often in positive ways. But ultimately it will destroy us, and it will prohibit us from living into the beautiful things that we desire.

So we must come to a place where we grieve the past. Recognize the wrong that we have done, and then embrace the beauty that we hope to create.

These are simple thoughts, but powerful if we were to live by them.


*We watched the The Mission in class as a tool to examine leadership. For a poignant example of the power of regret watch Rodrigo Mendoza, the character played by Robert De Niro in the film.

I think I like it here...

In a couple of months Kate and I will have lived in Seattle for a year now. As far as we know we will not be moving next year. A pattern that we are happy to break. As the cloudy Spring dragged on here, and the vast majority of time was spent confined to the concrete of the city, I was beginning to feel claustrophobic and somewhat resentful of city life in the midst of a cloudy and dreary March, April and some of May.

But all of my unhappy feelings are quickly being burnt away by the beautiful blue skies that have arrived. The wonderful secret of Seattle is June, July and August, where the sun comes to stay and it rarely gets above 90. So to get to the point of my post, I have taken advantage of the beautiful weather and have ventured into the great outdoors.

I work early mornings so I am off usually by noon. This has allowed me to spend my afternoons lying on the beach,reading for school and attempting quick immersions into the ice cold Puget Sound.

Furthermore, I have made my way out into the nearby Cascade Mountains for some beautiful hikes. Here are some pics from my most recent excursion. My friend Mark and I hiked up to Lake Serene. The Lake sits below Mt. Index (6000 ft) at 2500 ft. It was 3.5 miles up to the lake, with 2 miles of considerable elevation gain. It was a beautiful day. And yes, I think I like it here.







I don't think I will be able to do any homework this Summer.

Good Times

A trip to Mexico with my wife and a visit from my best friend; life has been good as of late.

We were really too lazy to try and take pictures; so here is a picture I took of some palm trees on our last morning.


Scott thought the glacier water was really cold; what a baby.


I tried five times to take this picture, but guess who kept messing it up?!


So I made Scott go to timeout.


My favorite people.

Help start a business in the developing world

So my friend Josh here in Seattle told me about this organization. Check it out.

Waiting for Messiah

As many of you have heard, Kate and I are headed to Mexico in the coming days for some much needed rest and relaxation. I do not think I have ever so greatly anticipated a vacation. We have been married for almost three years now. And in one sense it feels like we have been on the move since we said our vows. Three moves, several different jobs, three different schools for me, and many miles traveled in between. And as my second trimester at MHGS has come to an end, I find myself weary. Thus I am looking forward to long days spent basking under the Mexican sun with nothing to do.

We all have things that we look forward to: Reunions, homecomings, trips, quiet walks in the woods, a home cooked meal, a good cup of coffee in the morning, a lovers embrace before falling asleep. These longings, desires, anticipations, sometimes even groanings, have caused me to think on a greater scale of late.

Our lives, our homes, our communities, our churches, our jobs, our countries, our economies, our world, are continually touched with disappointments, mistakes, abuse, violence, anguish, and futility. Nothing is ever stable, nothing is immutable. Our laughter can turn to anguish in the time it takes to read an email, or chat on the phone, or read the news.

In response to this, we strive incessantly for security and stability. We fill our minds with ideologies and structure our lives into foolproof patterns, so that we might escape unharmed by the tragedy that lurks around every corner. Our beliefs and our social structures so often turn into illusions in the end. They fail us.

So we find ourselves waiting, groaning, longing. When will justice come? When will the wars stop? When will everyone have food? When will our brokenness be restored? When will Messiah come?

So the next time we find ourselves longing for a friend, a meal, a lover, a day of rest, let us stop, and let us dig deep into that desire; let it churn inside of us. Let us not cover it up with false security, ideological illusions, self-contempt, or shame; but rather let it help us imagine the raging desires of our God; our God the redeemer of all things. Our God who gives rest to the weary.

Where did you eat lunch today?

My dad was in town this weekend for a visit. Kate and I showed him around the city yesterday. And today he and I headed out into the wilderness (We left Kate behind so we wouldn't be attacked by bees). We hiked in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area. This is where we stopped for lunch. A little over 4000 feet up, we are looking out over Lake Olallie. The mountains are still covered in snow, so most of our hike was walking on top of 4-7 feet of it. It was a beautiful day and I will never forget this lunch break.

When Messiah Comes...

Yahweh! Have you forgotten us?
Are you blind? Do you not see what is happening?
Our land has been taken, our homes have been destroyed.
The sustenance of your earth is sold for profiit by the rich.
Our enemies pursuit has left us exhausted.
We become their whores in order to recieve their food.
Joy is a stranger, dance has been forgotten.
The wine has run out, the bread has gone stale.

But Yahweh, we thought you did not change?
We thought your rule was unending?
We must have been mistaken.
For you have forgotten us; you have abandoned us.
We demand restoration, we demand the return of your joy.
When will you come?*

*My own paraphrase of Lamentations 5 in response to some tragic news from a friend.

Nasty Cold, Home Movies, and Resurrection

So I am on day six of an extremely nasty cold. I went to the doctor yesterday and received some antibiotics, so hopefully I will be able to engage the world again in a few more days. So in my incapacitated state I have had the opportunity to watch a few movies: Blood Diamond, Children of Men and Stranger Than Fiction. All great movies, and I highly recommend them.

Tomorrow is Easter, the day of our Lord's resurrection. Being that I have been on my couch all week, I have not been able to participate in any Holy Week activities, nor will I make it to service tomorrow.

With that said, I have found the theme of death and resurrection quite apparent in these three movies that I have watched. In each of these films the main character is confronted with the futility of life.

In Blood Diamond, we are taught the phrase TIA, This is Africa. War, death, evil, and horrific suffering are just the way it is, so like Leonardo's character we should just try and get what we can, no matter what we destroy in the process.

In Children of Men, the people of the world can no longer bare children. Infertility is a metaphor to the human race giving up hope and accepting our doomed fate that life is going to come to a horrific end and there is nothing we can do about it.

Stranger Than Fiction, a lighter story for sure, dives into the same themes. Harold Crick lives a mundane and fruitless life. Throughout the story though, he begins to break out of his cyclical patterns of futility by embracing the life that he has.

Each of these stories end with the main characters loosing their lives (in reality or metaphorically), so that they and the people around them can find life.

War in Africa, the devouring appetite of global capitalism, or the monotony of the nine to five work week can and often do convince us of the futility of everything. And yet we continue to tell stories of resurrection, of new birth, of life. We repeat them with the hope, that in the re-telling of these stories of life, we will know and experience resurrection even in the midst of our daily tastes of death.

Christ the Lord is Risen.

What every Barista has thought about saying...

If you are a barista, and you have had a day full of spilt coffee and ridiculous customers, this* might make you laugh.

*Look for post titled: Starbucks barista: We're not your friends (but your tips are appreciated)
**There is some explicit language in this post.
***Views expressed in this outside post, not neccesarily the views of this barista.

St. Patrick's Day Reflections

Now in reality, I am much more Scottish and British than I am Irish (though recent genealogical research suggests they are genetically the same), Kate and I took the opportunity to throw a St. Patrick's day party at our place last night. We drank what the Irish drink, but we served chili for dinner (who really wants to eat Irish food).

Anyway, in the process of preparing for the party, I typed up some Irish quotes to display throughout our apartment. Here are a couple that I enjoyed:

"Ireland was born on a storm-swept rock and hates the soft growth of sun baked lands where there is no frost in men's bones." -Liam O'Flaherty (Irish Novelist)

"A lament in one ear, maybe, but always a song in the other." -Sean O'Casey (Irish dramatist and memorist)

Now, like I said, I am more of a Scott, than an Irishmen, but I think the same could be said for the land and people of Scotland. It is a harsh place, that has a created a tenacious, hardworking, frugal people, with dry humor and warm hearts. For evidence listen to Irish or Scottish folk music, and its American counterparts.

If you listen to the spirit of the music (or the culture) there is a sense that there is a darkness, a harshness to life. But as a stubborn and proud people, they refuse to bow to the unceasing rain of turmoil that this world can bring. Instead they choose to mock it with biting sarcasm, and insatiable laughter. (I.e. In Braveheart, William Wallace and his men, turning their arses towards the British infantry).

Not a bad way to stand against the cruelty of the world that we live in (at least once in a while).

A Little Retreat on the Hood Canal

Student Loans

How about this idea for paying off our Mars Hill debt a little faster?

Is your Starbucks watered down?

Check out a memo from the Chairman of Starbucks, Howard Schultz. He is addressing the "watering down of the Starbucks experience."

I just hope this doesn't translate into me doing more work :-)!