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Yard Sale Find
the hat that is. . . . this is Mary Kathryn, our 3 year old, who is already enthralled with being a bride. this one may come in handy one day.
to read a great reflection on the point of sale check this out. posted by John David Walt | at 6/27/2005 10:30:00 PM | 3 comments
Friday, June 24, 2005
BEHOLD THE PIERCED ONE
just got a digital camera-- my first one-- and wanted to try it out here. this is the cross we got for Tiffani on the occasion of her ordination as a Deacon. you can read the post on it here posted by John David Walt | at 6/24/2005 11:50:00 PM | 1 comments
Thursday, June 23, 2005
More vacation poetry I wrote this one on vacation. it came out of the struggle to sustain real attention to my children. I was finding my mind lazily wandering to mostly work as they clamored for me to play with them. How can i claim to pay attention to Christ if I can't sustain attention to these three beautiful children before me?
I am stunned and challenged at Jesus answer to the question about who is the greatest in the Kingdom. He held up a child and said, "Unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven." And then he went on to say something like, "anyone who welcomes one of these little ones welcomes me." Think about that. Here's how I do the math: attention to children = attention to Jesus.
UNLESS you change. unless YOU change. unless you CHANGE. YOU never enter. you NEVER enter. you never ENTER.
you can read the poem here
Labels: poetry
posted by John David Walt | at 6/23/2005 12:17:00 AM | 4 comments
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Thoughts on Practicing Pentecost I had to break up the frustrating inertia on the Asbury blog by posting there intead of here today. posted by John David Walt | at 6/21/2005 09:31:00 AM | 0 comments
Monday, June 20, 2005
Vacation Poetry you'll find it here posted by John David Walt | at 6/20/2005 01:21:00 PM | 0 comments
Friday, June 17, 2005
Batman Begins I saw a really great movie tonight. Talk about the power of remembering a story. I won't go into detail here for the sake of you who want to see it. But there is one idea I want to expose and invite some analysis on once you can see the movie.
"It's not who I am underneath but what I do that defines me." It is a recurring line through the movie. The movie is all about identity and vocation and their interrelationships.
Another interesting feature. As my friends and I were leaving the movie, one of them commented with some excitement, "That was amazing. It was so real. I feel like I could be batman. They made it so believable."
And I thought-- that's the whole idea of worship and the Christian Story. To so encounter Jesus that I can imagine becoming him-- to put on his character-- so to speak. To "skadoo" into the Story as I have indicated in an earlier post. "I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me. The life I live I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself for me."
Now here's the kicker. I overheard a conversation in the bathroom following the movie. Three guys, one of them apparently a pastor, were discussing the film with excitement. One of them-- presumably the pastor-- said, "Yeah, I got a letter from Fuller Seminary that they were doing a Bible STudy on the movie." Another eagerly added, "Yeah, I can see the applications."
I will be interested to see that one. posted by John David Walt | at 6/17/2005 10:47:00 PM | 7 comments
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Experiential Epistemology I am continuing to ponder this idea of Spirit Knowing. When it comes to the Trinity, so many forms of knowing are inferior. This is at the heart of Paul's praying for the Church. Check out this one from Ephesians 1:
17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[f] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead
and this one from Ephesians 3
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
and this one from Colossians 1
9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God
See any trends in these prayers?
Labels: theology
posted by John David Walt | at 6/16/2005 10:10:00 AM | 4 comments
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Behold the Pierced One This week I've been reading Pope Benedict's (then Cardinal Ratzinger's) book by the title above. I really appreciate the way some of these Roman Catholic giants do theology. (I also read a USA Today story about people being fired from their jobs because of their blogs. ;>) So- off the record- I kind of think of the Roman Catholics as the Race of Men and I think of the Methodists (at least myself) as a Hobbit. I'm not prepared to defend all the implications of that line of thought as I haven't fully thought it through. . . . . but it's a fun thought to toy with.
Ratzinger ala Benedict is dealing with an experiential epistemology (way of knowing) rooted in prayer. It is not a circumference-less or open-ended epistemology. That's what I love about the best Roman Catholic teaching-- it is thoroughly Christ centered. That is the problem with theology coming primarily from the source of one's experience (which is the genesis of our division in the Methodist Church) It has no circumference because it has no center. So behold this thought from the German Shepherd (i.e. Benedict 16)
"The New Testament continually reveals this state of affairs and thus provides the foundation for a theological epistemology. Here is simply one example: when Ananias was sent to Paul to receive him into the Church, he was reluctant and suspicious of Paul; the reason given to him was this: go to him 'for he is praying' (Acts 9:11). In prayer, Paul is moving toward the moment when he will be freed from blindness and will begin to see, not only exteriorly but interiorly as well. The person who prays begins to see; praying and seeing go together because-- as Richard of St. Victor says-- 'Love is the faculty of seeing.' Real advances in Christology, therefore, can never come merely as the result of the theology of the schools, and that includes the modern theology as we find it in critical exegesis, in the history of doctrine and in an anthropology oriented toward the human sciences, etc. All this is important, as important as schools are. But it is insufficient. It must be complemented by the theology of the saints, which is theology from experience. All real progress in theological understanding has its origin in the eye of love and in its faculty of beholding." (pp.26-27).
any of you fellow "Halflings" out there have any thoughts about this? posted by John David Walt | at 6/15/2005 10:38:00 AM | 10 comments
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Is this for Looking At One of the gifts we gave Tiffani for her ordination was a small Jerusalem Cross Crucifix made of olive wood and actually from Jerusalem. As I was showing it to David he curiously asked, "What do we use this for, Daddy? Or is it for looking at?" I was stopped in my tracks and I thought to myself, "Wow!" He has neatly categorized the Church right there. We are tempted at every turn to "use" the cross-- our crucified God-- for our own purposes, plans and projects. It's pretty clear, though, isn't it. . . . . . as in, "Behold the Lamb of God."
I said David, that's amazing. You're right. It's for looking at.
More on the imperative symbol of the crucifix later. We are on vacation for a few days. Will try to blog-- may be hard. Don't forget me out there.
Labels: quotes
posted by John David Walt | at 6/09/2005 10:23:00 PM | 1 comments
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
pray for us Blogger friends. I will be leading Bible Studies the next two mornings at the Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. They are 11-Noon. For those of you who don't know what this is, it is the annual meeting of all the clergy from the UMC in Kentucky and also a delegation of lay persons from each church. I will be teaching on John 15-- pray that I may teach clearly and that these very ancient texts might become new wine skins and even better that the Spirit might pour out new wine.
thank you. posted by John David Walt | at 6/07/2005 09:00:00 PM | 7 comments
Friday, June 03, 2005
Star Wars or Star Peace??? Recently, on a visit to a large, growing church some of the staff gave me a tour of the media department. They were really excited about a short video piece they had produced for the children's ministry and wanted to show me. Apparently, the children's ministry was having a difficult time getting adult volunteers to help. With all the Star Wars hype in the culture, they decided to do a Star Wars theme. The production was unbelievable. . . . amazing. They had children from the church starring in the roles of Luke SkyWalker, Princess Leah, Yoda and yes, Darth Vader. Luke and Leah were attempting to get the Sign-up sheet out of the hands of Darth Vader in order to save the Children's Ministry from the "Dark Side." The cinematography was all original (no scenes cut from the actual film). They were proud (rightly) that they had only utilized a bit of the famous soundtrack. The film climaxed with the massive space ship landing on the lawn of the Church. Luke Skywalker walked into the sanctuary where he met Darth Vader at the altar at which time a violent light saber fight ensued. Darth Vader used his dark powers (lightning from hands) to knock Luke to the ground and he stood there with his red light sabre poised to strike the death blow. A hoard of children in costume, including R2D2 and others rushed down the center aisle, light sabres in hand and rescued Luke and the all important "Sign-Up Sheet."
I am told the piece was met with thundrous applause and approval from the congregation, and I am not surprised. The production was amazing. They told me it took them about 100 hours to complete with the light sabre scene taking the longest since they had to paint the light over the pvc pipes the kids used in the fight scene. I also understood they got their volunteers.
Since my 4 year old Son was not allowed to see Star Wars, I opted to show him this short piece as a kind of treat. From all the cultural hype of the story, David has become very intrigued and interested in the movie. Needless to say, his response from watching the short film was, "Daddy! Lets watch it again!."
But here's the kicker. The following day, as we headed to the airport, David brought the film back up in conversation. He wanted to know, "Daddy, why were Luke SkyWalker and Darth Vader fighting in the Church?" "Daddy. . . . they were breaking God's law. You can't fight and kill each other in Church." As much as I initially liked the cute idea and was awed by the video production skills, I had to agree with the 4 year old. He's right.
I think it was David Hart, in his book "The Beauty of the Infinite" who argues that there are really only two metanarratives. There is the story of agape (love) and the story of violence. The story of agape traces to Jesus Christ. The story of violence traces to Caiphas. Are we telling the story of Jesus or are we syncretistically slouching toward the story of Caiphas? The Church I'm referring to in this instance tells the story of Jesus in marvelously creative ways and yet the interrogatory of the 4 year old should challenge them. (You see the essence of syncretism isn't to cease telling one story. It's to muddle it up with others.)
The big question: which story shapes us? I submit it is the story we remember in worship and whose plotline we learn to imaginatively enact with our lives. Herein lies the tournament of Stories. A thousand of them vie for our attention. Tim Costello recounts this illuminating interchange with Ivan Illich. "Ivan Illich was once asked what is the most revolutionary way to change society. Is it violent revolution or is it gradual reform? He gave a careful answer. Neither. If you want to change a society, then you must tell an alternative story, he concluded." Most stories only inspire imitation. If we're honest, this is what tires us with our present church culture. We are at best copycats, mimicking the forms of contemporary culture. What we long for is imagination; not something new but original creativity.
Star Wars is not a new story and while it is impressive, it lacks real imagination. It's interesting that our Story, too, finds it's advent with a Star, only this one is the sign of Peace.
Labels: theology
posted by John David Walt | at 6/03/2005 10:18:00 AM | 9 comments
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Tiffani's Ordination We just returned from The Woodlands, Texas (Houston) where we attended the Texas Annual Conference. As Annual Conferences go (which is usually like watching paint dry) this one went really well. The Holy Spirit seemed to stir in the new Bishop to catalyze new hope. I was actually inspired by it all. Last night Tiffani was ordained as a Deacon in the Church. It was a real blessing as the Ordination service (along with the Conference) was hosted at our home church-- where we served and where Tiffani had been confirmed in her calling to seek ordination. The presence of so many powerful symbols in the service created a virtual universe of story and meaning. There was the Shepherd's Staff carried by the Bishop, the baptismal font, the cross, cups and chalices, towels and bowls, and a host of red stoles. Those symbols were telling a very supernatural and yet earthy story. Just following Tiffani's actual ordination, I received inspiration to pen down a few verses to try and capture what prose could never contain. Check it out here. Low Society
The contrast between the seminary graduation service two weeks ago and this ordination service. . . . . . stark.
Labels: poetry
posted by John David Walt | at 6/02/2005 08:41:00 PM | 3 comments
Today...