05.30.08
Posted in Beliefs, Personal at 9:33 am by admin
Recently there has been a good deal of attention focused on SE Portland and living a “missional” life. What does this mean though? Obviously I don’t have all the answers and neither do any of the folks involved in this conversation but we’re all feeling called to explore this idea together and we’ve defined a few things along the way.
First, missional living is local. It’s about the neighborhood you live in, the place(s) you work, the people you see on your commute (hopefully by bus or bike 
), and those you come in contact with when you purchase a latte or go grocery shopping. This is not to say that global missions have less value, they absolutely do not. However, this is simply an attempt to refocus individual hearts to be living intentionally and interacting with the lives that they come in contact with in every day life.
Secondly, it’s communal. You don’t run after Christ alone. There are other believers coming alongside you. This is about the church being family. Living in community can be a stretch for those of us who happen to be more introverted ( say, me on occasion) because it challenges individuals to not only be available to others but to pursue relationships. Be proactive.
The most challenging aspect of this heart attitude is that it happens every day. I am reminded of a sermon Rick McKinley preached a little over two years ago entitled “Cross-shaped Devotions” where he points out that Jesus calls us to pick up our cross and follow Him daily. This means seeking the face of God, being obedient, being faithful every day. The most convicting part for me is when he mentions how often the believer’s mindset is to lay down the cross “temporarily”. I’m going on vacation to the Bahamas for two weeks so I’m going to lay down my cross and I’ll pick it back up as soon as I get back. I’m choosing to sin and in that moment I’m laying down my cross. I don’t feel like it today so I’ll stow it away in my laundry room for another day. That kind of a mindset. And I am so guilty of this. I tend to embrace the first two, living in local communion but I do so sporadically. There are days when I don’t want to live missionally. The conviction for myself is that bearing that cross everyday does not mean giving up a 2-week trip to the Bahamas (heck no, I’d never turn that down) but it does mean living intentionally, seeking God even there. I believe God blesses each of us in different ways. In America, those blessings are pretty luxurious, like long trips to foreign countries and lots of fun perks in life that more than a third of the world couldn’t even imagine. I don’t think that cross-shaped devotion means we become monks and abstain from any of the “fun stuff”. It’s harder than that. It’s about relishing the gifts we’re given while not becoming distracted by the pleasures of this world and slipping God into our back pocket until we need him again.
A few parting thoughts. Living missionally is not a new “fad”, or at least it shouldn’t be. And it shouldn’t be happening just in SE Portland. God is EVERYWHERE. He has shown up and is working all over the place. We’ve been invited to join Him where He’s already at. Therefore, missional living, is more about joining God in His work then being “sent out”. I recommend listening to Michael Frost for a paradigm shift on that subject. Being missional doesn’t mean that we do an activity or volunteer in a program so that we can go home at night and check off the mission box on the list of “Christianity’s To-Does”, it means actively engaging the heart to love God and love people in all areas of life.
There is so much more to this conversation and to the working out of our faith as believers that this barely holds a candle to it all so please don’t take my few comments as the authority on what it means to “live missionally”. I am simply a fellow journeyer on the path to becoming more like Christ and welcome dialog that will help me be transformed.
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01.22.08
Posted in Beliefs, Politics at 3:02 pm by admin
Thanks to Jamie, I took this quiz that matches your personal political views with the 2008 candidates. Admittedly, you do need to have some knowledge of what agendas are on the table right now in order to be able to answer some of the questions. My results are posted below. While I would never vote for Mitt Romney, I found it interesting how high his name came up in my final scores. I’d love to say that Huckabee or Tancredo have a fighting chance but I find it very unlikely.
If you’re looking for a website that will spit out where candidates stand on the issues check out this website.
84% John McCain
79% Mitt Romney
77% Fred Thompson
75% Mike Huckabee
68% Tom Tancredo
63% Rudy Giuliani
51% Ron Paul
50% Hillary Clinton
46% John Edwards
45% Barack Obama
43% Bill Richardson
41% Joe Biden
40% Chris Dodd
28% Mike Gravel
23% Dennis Kucinich
2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz
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01.09.08
Posted in Beliefs, Literary Pursuits, Personal at 1:01 pm by admin
There is a class I’ll be attending this quarter that promises to be particularly challenging, if not frighteningly maddening. The topic is gender and rhetoric which is not my strong suit, partially my reason for taking the class. However, the true topic of the class is feminism and rhetoric, which also interests me and again-not my strong suit. The only frustrating part is every one else enrolled for the class. I think mid-way through the two hour seminar I had the intense urge to start banging my head against the table in front of me.
First off, there’s the young undergraduate (by the way, I’ve turned into a complete snob and I despise taking classes with undergraduates. I’d like to petition that the amount of time and money I’m spending on my Masters entitles me to classes with only my peers present) who has lots of high ideals and strong opinions but very little actual knowledge to back every thing up with. Then there’s the student sitting next to me who wanders off into the realm of her personal life for no apparent reason and feels the need to share with every one her emotions and current crises. Lastly, we have the highly intillectual and very opinionated bunch that won’t let the rest of us get a word in edgewise. In the academic community we’ve moved further down the rungs of Dante’s hell to poststructuralism (for those of you struggling with postmodernism in contemporary culture I’m here to tell you that that’s “so yesterday” in academic circles) and nothing makes sense anymore.
A large part of my problem, I know, is the fact that I’m not huge into theory because for the most part it doesn’t translate practically into the real world. I get easily fed up with going round and round about how to define “man” and “woman” (one suggestion was lactating and non-lactating individuals and there’s always simply “chair persons”) or whether it’s more beneficial to seek equality for all the oppressed or focus on special interest groups, of which I’m apparently one since I qualify as a woman.
All this to say that gender and rhetoric is going to stretch me and while I dread some of the fist fights (figurative of course) that we’ll all be engaging in, I am very excited to hear what the professor has to say. She is a brilliant woman who knows a lot about a lot of things which means I respect her opinion far more than any one else in the class, even if I disagree with some of her views.
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12.19.07
Posted in Beliefs at 8:17 am by admin
I never realized how passionate I could be about issues that may cause even myself a great deal of discomfort and yet, here I am. This Christmas Bryan and I have “bought” into a movement called Advent Conspiracy that challenges Americans to spend less money on gifts, be responsible and not rack up debt, and help those in need at the same time. This doesn’t mean giving up gifts altogether, although I’m sure it can be taken to that extreme. However, I was emailed an article today that spoke into this conversation about spending less and giving more that I think you should read. It’s from the Earth Policy Institute and it was actually written last year but they’ve re-sent it out because not much has changed. The title of the update date is Santa Clause is Chinese. I encourage you to read it. It’s sobering for those of us who follow the larger economic picture, beyond just Christmastime. Lastly, if you just read the article from the EPI, then I’d encourage you to stop purchasing anything, yes you heard me right, anything made in China. This seems like a very daunting feat and it is. For those of us who live someplace like Portland, we’re blessed with a local economy that encourages small businesses, hand crafted items, and an entrepreneurial spirit. Check out the ecometro website for loads of information about businesses in five different areas from California to the Twin Cities that sell a majority of locally made items while also promoting environmental awareness. Lets provide our kids with a brighter future by taking deliberate action now.
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12.02.07
Posted in Beliefs, Personal at 1:21 pm by admin
It’s a new month and a new season. I have to admit that I love Christmas time. It has always been my favorite holiday but as I get older it becomes precious in deep and meaningful ways that I can’t even explain. Occasionally the power and awe I experience when thinking of the birth of Christ makes me teary-eyed but more than that, December is my month of hope.
This morning in church the Pastor of Women’s ministry, Heather, preached on preparing for the arrival of Christ and the meaning of Emmanuel (God With Us). She asked, what does that mean to each of us,personally? What areas of sin and bondage in our lives need to be exposed and given to the Lord who came in the flesh, offering freedom and release? It was a moving sermon for me. It was simple, straightforward and it helps that Heather is a GREAT storyteller but it touched me a lot and I am reminded once more of the scandalous, beautiful, magical, mystery that is our God.
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10.09.07
Posted in Beliefs, Literary Pursuits, Personal at 11:19 am by admin
“…if riches cannot eliminate need, but on the contrary create new demands, what makes you suppose that they can provide satisfaction?” Boethius, 524 A.D.
I have been reading the Consolation of Philosophy for a Medieval literature class and have been thinking about Boethius’ premise that the ultimate good and happiness is found in God. His arguments are fascinating in a world where postmodernism has eroded any absolutes and almost everything is arrived at subjectively. I am also fascinated by the mix of early Christian theology with Greek mythology and the Roman system of worship which involves a great number of gods. Boethius seems to fluidly move from one of these standpoints to another as though they are not in direct opposition to each other. Even though some of his points are extremely off-base in my opinion, such as the fact that by obtaining the ultimate good we become gods, there are some very basic premises (like the little blurb above) that are excellent reminders for the 21st century reader whose life is so wrapped up in fame, power, wealth, prestige, and the “rat race”, as we call it. Boethius is reminding his readers that to strive for material goods and human glory is an incredibly vain pursuit because in reality it gets you nowhere.
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