after church thoughts....session 1

In church, a conversation was occuring between my wife, my brother in law, and my self. The following is the conversation that ensued on a piece of paper during church, an active discussion if you will:

Me: There is always going to be 'war' (conflict, tension, etc.) inside of us...yes?
Katie: head nod.
Me: We do not yet live in the kingdom coming?...or do we?
Katie: head nod.
Me: Does maturity look the same always?
Katie: Peace can be translated differently...no? What is true 'peace?'
Me: Peace is 'realized' in the Kingdom. Paul says the Kingdom is 'in-breaking,' 'the already/not yet' Kingdom. We live in the tension between two Kingdoms. It sounds like a fairtale no?
Dave: What is true community?
Me: Reliance upon others for 'necessities?'
Dave: What necessities? Spiritual? Physical? Emotional?
Me: Community touches all of these - and the categories are not that neat.
Dave: So community is messy?
Me: Following Christ is messy...

In trying to translate our lives as Christ followers, it is not neat and clean and not always peaceful. In trying to decipher my own thoughts and feelings on the 'peace of Christ,' I'm caught in a suspended tension. We are given peace through Christ. We are made whole in Christ. We are still human, we are still imperfect. The only hope we have is in the reliance upon God to make in us what we can never transform ourselves into; in this he has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. What I will not be able to grab ahold of is the 'peace of Christ.' I am more peaceful with Christ breathing life into me, but I do not feel 'peaceful.' Peace is something I believe will be more realized as we become more aware of the kingdom coming...for that we have to be listening through the ear-deafening noise, looking through the night falling fog, and remaining open and vulnerable to a world that wants to take all that we have to give...

fantasy vs. loyalty

I was pondering on my way into seminary this morning about how pumped I was about Iowa going to the Orange Bowl to play Georgia Tech on the 5th of January. I love the Iowa Hawkeyes. I have been a fan since I could understand Jim Zobel saying "I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT!" on the radio. I wear Hawkeye t-shirts, sweatshirts, have the fight song ring tone, and stickers on my car. It is great to be a fan, to be inspired for the thrill of a football game. However....

What is it about fantasy that drives us crazy? What is about fantasizing that makes our imagination go wild? Ideas become great insight, absurd remarks are acceptable, and we act as if we are more attached than we are in real life. How is it that the potential and possibility of things unreal give us thoughts and feelings of ecstasy without ever having to come into contact with the real? I get very excited about college football, I take ownership of a team in which I know no one on a personal level; I reach my highest highs and lowest lows on the performance of this same group of people. Where is my motivation outside of fantasy land? Why is it not the same or maybe more sobering, why can I not become lost in anticipation and excitement with my faith versus my fandom?

As I ponder more, the biblical narrative tells very much like a fantasy. I have to believe in faith all of the extraordinary instances of God’s provision and intervention, yet I become more engrossed in a 3 hour game…a game versus the foundational story I claim to build my life on. How is it that priorities have gotten turned backwards? Or better yet, why is this “foundational story” not evident in people as much as their loyalty to their sports? These are just a few of my developing convictions….

enemy of the state

A reversal of everything, the government was upset,
Yet the government rested on his shoulders.
"Lording if over" was not his method,
Service was his vow; to suffer.

The kingdom is and is not yet established,
Violence was never the intent.
Misinterpretation to fuel our selfish desire,
Unfortunately and casually spent.

Exemplary he is, revolutionary indeed,
One who suffered for the sake of humanity.
I do not suffer, I do not relate,
How am I to follow?

A lasting impression, a site to see;
A baby, a Life, a Cross.
Not what was expected, not what we have created,
A dirty birth, a controversial life, the death of an enemy of the state.