good times, good things

Graduation: My Fan Club

It was a close call, but Amanda delivered Evan IV on June 24th and, within 48 hours, both were able to attend my commencement from Biblical Seminary. It was a great moment to be able to walk with my class and join in with the graduation festivities. As I heard my name called, I walked up and received what appeared to be my diploma and took my seat. It was not until I was in the lobby afterward that I realized I did not have my physical degree. Instead, there was a note that said something to the effect: “You have not received your degree for one of the following reasons:” and the one that applied to me was incomplete work.

Thus, even though I attended commencement, there is one more requirement to fulfill before I receive my (physical) degree: the Intercultural Ministry Experience (or IME). The purpose of the IME is to develop our understanding of leadership and ministry in a globally-connected age. This involves developing my abilities in intercultural ministry and service, gaining insight into the global church, and opening up opportunities to interact with individuals despite language and cultural barriers.

The majority of my cohort visited Vietnam; however, I was not able to join them due to the (then, pending) arrival of Evan IV. Instead, another cohort member and were given approval by the seminary to do an alternate trip, where we will seek to engage in a similar experience by interacting with a fishing community of Vietnamese immigrants on the Gulf Coast in Bayou la Batre near Mobile, Alabama, from July 12-19th. Our goal will be to engage this community in order to better understand the body of Christ as it manifests itself in a different culture, to understand the journey of an immigrant people as they adjust to life within the United States, and (as the newspapers show) will be assisting these communities through this troublesome time of the BP oil spill.

I will continue to update and reflect on the trip here. I am very excited for this opportunity, and I am not trying to be distracted from my goal there. The chance I have for distraction is great since I really just want to finish so I can have my MDiv in hand, but, if I think like this, I will miss out on this wonderful opportunity God has provided.

Please pray for me and my friend, K.J., as we head out to the Gulf.

If you don’t know already, I am a huge soccer fan. The World Cup is approaching (beginning on June 11), and this commercial just makes me even more excited. I think it is the best commercial on television right now.

What’s your favorite commercial on television right now? Of all time?

N.T. Wright

N.T. Wright’s a scholar, but he’s also a pastor. I knew he was a pastor, but it took this past weekend’s “Jesus, Paul and the New Testament: A Theological Dialogue with N.T. Wright” for this to become a reality for me. On Friday night, N.T. Wright (NTW) spoke about one of his areas of expertise–Jesus, who you may have heard about on this blog. NTW spoke about the Greek words that Jesus and Peter use for the word “love.” In John 21:15-17, after Jesus’ resurrection, he speaks to Peter, and the Gospel states,

¹⁵When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love (Greek = agape/αγαπας) me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love (Gk. philes/φιλω) you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

¹⁶Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love (Gk. agape love) me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love (Gk. philes love) you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

¹⁷ The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love (Gk. philes love) me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love (Gk. philes love) you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

If you notice, Jesus twice asks Peter if Peter loves him with agape-love. Peter twice responds, “Lord, you know I do love you with philes love.”  Peter offers Jesus philes love, which is friend-love, but Jesus first wants agape love from Peter. Peter just cannot go that far. He can only give Jesus friend-love. What is interesting, Jesus doesn’t keep pestering Peter waiting for Peter to finally respond, “Yes! Lord! Fine! I love you with agape-love!” Peter couldn’t go that far. So what does Jesus do? He comes down to Peter’s level and meets Peter where he is. In a sense Jesus says, “Ok, Peter. You can only offer me friend-love right now. Ok, then, do you friend-love me?”

Is that awesome?! Jesus comes down to Peter’s level and accepts what Peter can give at that moment.

NTW ends this thought on a note like this, “Maybe there is someone here like Peter today. You can’t give Jesus everything, but only something. Jesus will meet you there.” If you ask me, that reveals the pastoral heart of N.T. Wright, which is what I needed to hear. I have a lot of “head knowledge” from him. I’ve read The New Testament and the People of God. I’ve listened to him talk about Paul’s view of the afterlife. But I really needed something to cut me to the core. And NTW provided that for me this past Friday night.

So, from now on, when people ask me, “Why do you like N.T. Wright so much?” I may just respond with this story.

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You can read my notes from the majority of the sessions here.

You can listen to and/or watch most of the sessions here.

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[As I speak with many college students, I feel like many of them are going crazy because they have jam-packed schedules. And it made me think of a post I wrote November 22, 2008. I think it is extremely relevant for my own life right now, too].

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

-Exodus 20v8-11 TNIV

I think the idea of “sabbath” (or rest) has been lost on many of us, Christians (particularly, in America). We ultimately have fallen into the idea that we (the Church) need to be best, fastest, quickest, coolest, most exciting people because otherwise the world will look elsewhere. I think this is somewhat true, and there is great benefit in attempting to attract the “un-churched” (for lack of a better term). However, in our attempts to be these things, we have inevitably lost sight of the beauty of sabbath, the beauty of rest.

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Re-posting a post from June 26, 2009 because I’ve been asking myself “Why?” once again:

My most recent post on Everyday Liturgy’s website dealing with the question of purpose is now up:

Why?

Recently, I’ve been asked to join the leadership team for a new church plant that will be happening in Bristol, PA. I’m excited about this venture. As of late, we have been struggling over the question, “Why?” Why are we doing this? What’s our purpose? Are we hoping to be the young, cool, hip group? Or are we hoping to reach the poor of Bristol? Or the families of Bristol? The question, Why?, gives us guidance and helps us understand what the next steps should be…

I have compiled a Christmas list for those who desire to buy me gifts. I do not think anyone reading this will buy me any of these things (or anything, at all), but I am interested in hearing what you want for Christmas, also.

1. Manifold Witness: The Plurality of Truth by John Franke    Amazon.com    $12.24 | Buy.com    $10.89
2. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas [DVD]    Amazon.com    $18.99 | Buy.com    $18.86 | Overstock.com    $16.82
3. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 4 [3 Discs] [DVD]    Barnes & Noble    $27.99 | Target    $39.98
4. Two pairs of jeans    Gap    ? | Levi    ?
5. Two pairs of dress pants    Express    ? |  Gap   ?
6. Church Dogmatics  by Karl Barth (paperback) Christianbook.com    $499.99
7. Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God by J. R. Daniel Kirk    Buy.com    $20.43 | Amazon.com    $21.12
8. Apple gift cards towards a new laptop!    Apple.com    Any amount

What are you asking for this Christmas?

This video has me cracking up:

“While the poor of the world continue knocking on the doors of the rich, the world of affluence runs the risk of no longer hearing those knocks, on account of a conscience that can no longer distinguish what is human.”

- Pope Benedict XVI, from his 2009 encyclical, Caritas in Veritate

Let’s be sure to listen for and hear those knocks.

Here’s a thought for ya’!

eReaders like Kindle sound cool, but can anything (from a sensory standpoint) really replace holding a book in your hand?