like you need an update
because you're all hanging on the edge of your seat waiting to hear what's NEW and exciting in my life.
because there really is a lot that is new and exciting in my life.
haha.
(that was sarcasm. because there isn't anything new)
well, i lied.
there is some new stuff...i survived the week! (praise the LORD i'm still alive)
six days of waking up at 6 am to spend a gruelling 11 hours breathing in dust and gravel and garbage. unhealthy, yes. but i have a new pair of landscaping shades and now i look really cool and professional.
meanwhile, i have made no immediate plans to quit the dishpit. meaning yesterday (yes, saturday) i worked from 7-3 and then from 5-11. i was tired. if i keep this up, i will have absolutely no social life this summer, at least for the next month. except of course for a week at campfire. therefore you, blogworld, will be my closest friend.
lying again.
i have friends.
when i was a little kid, i would draw a picture of a person and tape it to the chair opposite me, for a tea party. haha.
i don't do that anymore...i just blog. *cheesy smile*
Anyways, i went to forestview church/church without walls today. (www.forestviewchurch.ca) it was interesting. we had to leave early as my friend had to work, so i missed the end of the sermon and the rest of the service...
but the pastor (when he FINALLY started the sermon, after a long worship session, communion and offering) was talking about encountering God in the bible, and about the bible's divine inspiration and all that. all scripture is God-breathed. and how the liberal church, on one hand, looks beyond the text into the main message and human experience that God wants us to learn about...and the conservative church, on the other, looks just at the text and doctrinal theological issues. feelings vs book theories.
i guess there's a happy medium that we need to find. it felt funny---knowing my church is more on the conservative side of the spectrum, but should i feel guilty for this? what a rich heritage of biblical teaching---deep sermons, scriptural music choices (musically challenged maybe) and with the emphasis on campfire and streetlight and a newer outward focus, this really is changing. slowly. (or is this wishful thinking)
but another aspect of the divine inspiration of the bible is a modern inspiration---as in, each generation looks again at the bible and relates the message to its specific situation on the timeline. not reinterpreting or changing the message of scripture itself, but letting the spirit speak anew, relating its message to NOW. instead of basing all beliefs on what generations of dutchies decided years ago was the right thing to believe---for example, the fact that maybe genevan tunes were the only acceptable music choices of the day when the canadian reformed church federation was founded...but music has evolved and grown and changed and reformed.
anyways, i think most of the people who read this blog would agree about the music issue, this is more of an observation on the today aspect of this inspiration that maybe those churchgoers of yesterday have difficulty coming to terms with in general.
another example is small groups. i went to a presentation a couple weeks ago about small groups...saw the bulletin announcement for burlington east, went to check it out---the three members of this small group, their parents, and one other guy were there. why the lack of interest? because the idea of a small group---a group of 3 or 4 close friends who share prayers, struggles, triumphs, and the joys of christian fellowship---promotes closer unity within church family---is strange! new! foreign! i like small groups. i'm sort of in one, it's small group/biblestudy/marriage counselling. it's big--there are 7 of us so it's harder to get a word in edgewise when you really would like to, but it's such a blessing. this is a new thing----fifty years ago can reffers didn't talk to each other about their personal life with God---and it still shows up in our circles (check out the chat forums at www.ycc.ca) ---but church community is based on a community's life with God! becoming closer in unity as fellow christians can only be beneficial in the long run. for a healthy church life. and therefore for glorifying our Lord to the best of our abilities. i'm not saying forestview was more united as a church body than my home can ref, but it sure seemed more alive!
i don't want or plan to leave the church i'm comfortable in. i can still serve here, i can still try to work to bring about some positive changes not just for the church community but also for others...but it's really interesting to go church hopping and to see what other, more liberal churches think.
i didn't know i was capable of such deep and intellectual thought processes today(unorganized though they are) maybe i should start using this crazy amount of brainpower towards a good cause like my realism exam which is at 9am tomorrow morning. enjoy citb tonight if you're going---i'm not. cousins night at aunt carolin's, gonna be fun. and i'm not moping about missing citb...hehe...sing loud for me.
1 comment:
nice to know someone actually listens to the sermon. it was interesting to read about your forestview experience - always good to know what a visitor sees, hears and feels. i appreciated your comments, but want to clarify one point. if i'm reading you correctly, i led you to believe that i prefer a liberal-mainline reading of scripture over a conservative-evangelical one.
i was trying to point out the flaws of both groups and point to a 3rd alternative (which you described fairly well). though i will refer to 'liberal' and 'conservative' camps, keep in mind that the terminology is somewhat dated... the lines are blurring between these traditional groups - and besides, its dangerous to label. we begin to predict behaviour based on which group one belongs to (and more and more i suprised by individuals from boths sides).
having said that - the terms liberal and conservative can be used to describe certain methodological approaches to interpreting/reading scripture.
throughout most of the 20th century, liberal scholars believed that the text did not accurately represent the real historical events. they set out on a search to discover the experiences 'behind the text'. the text took second place to their historical reconstructions.
conservatives, while claiming to value the Word more than their liberal counterparts, gave the text second place priority as well. as liberals went looking for the human experience behind the text, conservatives went looking for the 'eternal principles' (propositional truth)within the text. the second of these two positions sounds better (orthodox) but it too can cause one to stop listening. once you discover all the 'principles' and order them in a systematic theology, you no longer need to listen to the text. no one sets out in this direction, but sadly it can be the result. we are tempted to listen to 2000 yrs of systematic theological construction over the voice of the Spirit.
it is helpful to note that the Spirit gave us the bible and not the reverse. Jesus promised a comfortor that would 'lead us into all truth'. the bible is his book. when we come to it, we are coming to listen to Him. and while the text is fixed (what the authors wrote centuries ago) and non-negotiable, the spirit speaks freshly through it everytime we come to it again.
I would encourage both my liberal and conservative friends to return to the text again and again, with a naive and humble desire to listen. ask...what is the Spirit speaking to me today. he we will give us something new everytime - not in a way that contradicts the authors original intent, but in a way that breathes life into my contemporary world.
good authors to check on this stuff...
clark pinnock and stanley grenz. grenz coauthored a book with john franke called, BEYOND FOUNDATIONALISM: shaping theology in a postmodern context
a good read
hope you'll drop by FV again, and keep raising questions about what you experience.
mike
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