Essential reading

Eugene Cho is fast becoming my favorite blogger.  He and his readers spent some time tossing back and forth what they thought was the 10 most essential books for Christians.  You can read his list here http://eugenecho.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/my-10-absolutely-essential-books-for-christians/#more-4005

 

 I was looking down the list and can say that I haven’t read very many of those books.  I have read bits and pieces probably but not all the way through.  The one that I find the most essential on that list (keep in mind I am saying the most essential to those I have read on Eugene’s list) is Surprised By Hope by N.T. Wright 

 

 http://www.amazon.com/Surprised-Hope-Rethinking-Resurrection-Mission/dp/0061551821/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238178153&sr=8-1 

The sub-title is “Re-thinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church.”  Don’t let re-thinking fool you.  N.T. Wright isn’t necessarily re-thinking but rather re-explaining what heaven, resurrection, and the mission of the church meant  in the context of the early church.  He peels back all the layers of tradition that has piled on top to get to the core of what Jesus and his followers believed about heaven, resurrection, and the mission of the church.  It is a beautiful book that would make a great read leading up to celebrating Easter.   Speaking of that I think I am going to re-read it starting today.  Another book Eugene mentions on his list   Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne.

 

 

 

 Irresistible Revolutionis a great book.  The stories that Shane shares are extraordinary.  I mean the man called Mother Teresa on the phone!  It cannot be overstated for people who desire to put their faith into action I can’t think of another book that articulates what that looks like better than this book.

http://www.amazon.com/Irresistible-Revolution-Living-Ordinary-Radical/dp/0310266300/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238179386&sr=1-1

 After reading his list and the list’s of people commenting on his list I started to think of what one book do I chalk up as essential to my journey with God.  What is the one book that I

 

continue to look at, study, ponder, and wrestle with.  The one book that I think every Christian should read.  I know many of you are waiting for me to say the Bible.  I know that many of us read way too much about the Bible instead of reading the Bible but that is not what I am going to say.  This book is the one I go to first after I read my Bible.  Most times that I read my Bible this book is close by so I can see if the author has any insight (and she usual does!) about what I have just read.  To me this is the most essential book I have on my shelf. 

 

 

 It is called Stations of the Banquet: Faith Foundations for Food Justice by Cathy C. Campbell. 

http://www.amazon.com/Stations-Banquet-Faith-Foundations-Justice/dp/0814629385/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238180255&sr=1-1

“Stations of the Banquet, a Scripture-based exploration of the Christian story of salvation as a food story, provides nourishment for those engaged in living out the food and justice challenges of the Gospel.  It highlights the power of our biblical and theological traditions to name the root issues of our day, shape our hope, and define horizons for action.  It is a resource for study and prayer.”  

I was in a class in seminary and this book was one of the required readings.  At first I had no desire to read this book.  It just sat on my shelf for weeks.  To be honest it wasn’t really until after the class I read it.  Before every class we would pray one of the prayers found at the end of each chapter of the book.  If you get the book just for that it is worth the price.  The prayers are some of the most beautiful and vibrant prayers I have ever read.  The rest of the book is just as vibrant and beautiful.  For some it might be a bit wordy and I guess that is why I haven’t bought 10 copies and passed them out to friends and family.  This book really needs to be read and digested in community.  If you do decide to check it out I urge you to ask a few people to read it with you.  This book is dense to say the least.  I won’t give you a long drawn out overview of the book because my words couldn’t do Stations justice but here are a few quotes.

“Time spent in prayer is time spent at the heart of the universe.” Pg 54

“In the simple act of feeding the hungry, we do not just do a good thing or follow a moral imperative to care for our neighbor; we are actually invited to encounter the living Christ, the mystery of the universe from before time to after the end of time.” Pg 70

“Generosity is the impulse at the root of a gift economy.  It is our contemporary spiritual challenge.  It is at the core of the path of abundent life for all.” Pg 158

What about you?  Do you have any essentials? 

Peace,

Nate

Speak of the devil

On Sunday mornings our community spent a couple of weeks talking about evil and satan.  I guess ABC caught wind of what we were doing and they decided to talk about it too.  ABC Nightline has a segment called Face-Off.  Tonight will air the Face-Off called “Does Satan exist?”  An interesting panel has been assembled, here is the lineup.

“…philosopher Deepak Chopra and Bishop Carlton Pearson will face-off against Pastor Mark Driscoll of the Mars Hill Church and Annie Lobert, founder of the Christian ministry “Hookers for Jesus” about the existence of the Devil.”

You can watch it online here http://abcnews.go.com/nightline/faceoff

I don’t know if ABC will show anything different than what is online but If you have ABC I would encourage you to watch.  I love conversation but sometimes I wish the conversation was with people who actually study the devil.  I understand this is ABC and they are looking for good TV more than anything.  I can’t sit here and say I have “studied” the devil.  I tend to focus on Jesus and following him but after watching this and talking with my group on Sunday mornings I need to spend some more time reading about satan. 

I found a couple of books to look at…

http://www.amazon.com/Birth-Satan-Tracing-Devils-Biblical/dp/1403969337/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238103120&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Evil-Justice-God-N-Wright/dp/0830833986/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_7

What other articles/books could help?

Peace,

Nate

 

Where we are headed

Wednesday night we will be starting a new study.  I should say experience.  We will be exploring/discussing/experiencing The Sacred Way by Tony Jones.  

You can look at the schedule here http://tyac.wordpress.com/the-sacred-way/

Along with discussing the book on Wednesday nights we will experience and practice things in Tony’s book.  We will experience some more modern spiritual practices as well.  

Next week we will be heading to Otter Creek Church for their Vesper service.  

Details here http://tyac.wordpress.com/news/

Peace,

Nate

“avoiding the appearance of evil”

 

There is a great article on Scot McKnight’s blog Jesus Creed by Chrissy Wright.  

Read it here

http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed/2009/03/friday-is-for-friends-chrissy.html#more

We seem to paint our definition of sin with a narrow brush.  It seems that sin has been reduced to what we can see.  Sin shows up there but as Chrissy points out sin also shows up in things unseen.  As Chrissy says following Jesus “ It is not an easy path. It is not a selfish path. It is not a comfortable path. It is not an orderly, all laid out, avoid these five things, do these three things, neat path.”  Chrissy finishes with, “It is a daily, creative, intentional adventure of learning how to love, learning how to sacrifice, and learning what it is to see His Kingdom come and His will be done.” Amen to that!

Peace,

Nate

Sex God

This Wednesday night we will re-start our discussion on the book Sex God:  Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality and Spirituality.  We will also talk about what we might look at after we are done with Sex God.  If you have any thoughts or suggestions about what we should do next bring them Wednesday Night or leave a comment on here.

 

Here are some pictures from the 30 Hour Famine this weekend.  In total we raised a little over $5,000 dollars for World Vision.  Hope to see you Wednesday night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peace,

Nate

Collabortive Preaching

Collaborative Preaching Preparation

“The practice of collaborative preaching is eliciting the input of multiple people in the process of sermon preparation.”  In the spirit of the youth, young adults, & other adult volunteers collaborating to do the 30 Hour Famine Feb 27 & 28^th I want to collaborative with you in preparing the sermon for March 1^st.  Fasting is a communal experience and so is a sermon.  It is God’s word to the community gathered for worship.  Here is how to participate if you are interested. 

1. Meet with me and others at Starbucks on Edmondson Pike next to the Wal-Mart Neighborhood    Market in Nippers Corner on February 17 or February 24^th   at 7:30PM.  We will “share our insights with one another, to learn from one another’s perspectives,” and engage in discussion on the scripture chosen for March 1^st. This is not a Bible Study per se but rather a way “to prepare a sermon… with the insights, experiences, and opinions of those who approach the Bible in different ways than I do.”  You are invited to attend both meetings but are not required to come to both. Call me or Email me to let me know if you are coming.
2. Email me (nathantyac@gmail.com) some questions, stories, or thoughts that the scripture evokes in you. 
3. After the 8:30 and 10:45 services I invite anyone who feels compelled to join me in the Young Adult room to share any questions, comments, stories, or thoughts they had about the sermon.  Too many times we are not given the space to express what God said to us during the sermon so I want those who felt God during that time to share what they felt with each other.  This is not a time to say good job or terrible job (though you can tell me that in private) but rather to share with one another what God stirred in us during the message.

 

Scripture for Collaborative Preaching Preparation

Isaiah 58:3-12

2 Timothy 2:14-22

 

 The quotations above come from an article that can be read by going to this site http://www.worshipconnection.cokesbury.com/content.aspx?dyn=1604

 

Peace, Nate

 

 

 

Last Night

  We officially canceled Wednesday night activities last night but since I live half a second away I decided to go ahead and have our group meet.  For those who risked their lives to attend it was good to see you.  For those who couldn’t come I wanted to give you a brief recap so we’re all up to speed when we look at Chapter 4 “Leather, Whips, & Fruit” next Wednesday.

Started by watching a clip from the movie “Sicko.”  Here is the trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlDAUKSh9CQ

I know many people disagree with Michael Moore’s message but the clip we watched was to remind us of how we allow human beings to be treated.  In the clip a woman who can’t afford to pay for her hospital stay is put in a cab and dropped off at the Rescue Mission on Skid Row in Los Angeles, CA.  They have the video of the woman being dropped off and she has no shoes on and is still wearing the hospital gown.  Also the name of the hospital was scratched off the identity bracelets.  Needless to say the hospital didn’t want people to know which hospital kicked her out.  The next day another woman was dumped by the hospital.  The question is asked “Who are We?”  Is this what we want to be known for a society who kicks poor people out of hospitals and dumps them on street corners like garbage.  After that it goes into how some who were volunteers at ground zero after 9/11 have developed serious medical issues.  Many were not employed by the state/government so they don’t qualify for medical coverage.  The people who felt compassion and risked their lives to try and save others are denied basic health coverage.   Here we are the richest country in the world and we can’t take care of the poor or our wounded heroes.  Who do we take care of?

Chapter three of “Sex God” is titled “Angels and Animals.”  In it Rob talks about how living like either an angel or animal is ”destructive, because God made us human.”  According to the book living like an animal is “to give in and let our cravings/desires rule us…”  In 1 Corinthians 6 there is a statement ”Food for the stomach and the stomach for food.”  This idea influenced human action “They understood a person to be a collection of physical needs – you’re hungry and there’s food to satisfy your hunger, you’re tired and there’s sleep…” sex was just another physical need.  Paul talks about how ”the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit,” this image challenged the idea that being human is just a collection of urges and needs.  Earlier in the chapter we read “Everything is permissible for me”—but not everything is beneficial…” which leads us to living like an angel.

Living like an angel is “the denial of the physical and the failure to acknowledge that our sexuality is central to what makes us human.”  In 1 Timothy 4 we read about a group who forbid people to marry and eat certain types of food.  We know from Genesis that what God creates is good so why forbid people to marry or eat certain types of food.  As Rob points out this group saw sex as dangerous and marriage gives people free licence to have sex.  So to avoid that evil you forbid people to marry.  Some food was offered up as a sacrifice to other gods in worship rituals.  “The leaders of this religion decided that if something had been offered to a god they didn’t believe in, they wouldn’t eat it.”  In both these cases Paul says that these things should not be banned “For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.”  The abuse of sex and food are wrong but sex and food in of itself is not evil because God created them good. 

The question is how do we live?  Are we the type of people who live by just whatever feels good, we live by impulse and we allow our desires/cravings to rule us or do we live by avoiding conflict and tension, we repress our feelings/cravings/desires.  Both ways deny what it is to be human and in that case deny what God made us to be.  “When we deny the spiritual dimension to our existence, we end up living like animals.  And when we deny the physical, sexual dimension to our existence, we end up living like angels.  And both ways are destructive, because God made us human.”  

How can we move away from living like an animal or an angel and live more like who God created us to be and become?

There are a few Greek words to point out that can help us. 

“aànwqen:”  Anothen- “from above, from a higher place; anew, over again.”

“Pneuma:”  Nooma- “a life giving spirit; movement of air (a gentle blast) of the wind, hence the wind itself, breath of nostrils or mouth.”

 

Both of these are found in a story in the Gospel of John

 

John 3: 3-8

“In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again (anothen).” “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water (physical birth) and the Spirit (pneuma). Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit (pneuma) gives birth to spirit (pneuma). You should not be surprised at my saying, You must be born again. (anothen) The wind (pneuma) blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born (anothen) of the Spirit.” (pneuma)

Here we see Jesus talking to Nicodemus.  In it Jesus tells Nicodemus “no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”  The word is anothen and it has two meanings.  One is from above and the other is anew/again.  Jesus is teaching that there are two births.  One is the physical one (which Jesus is alluding to when he says “born of water” we normally attach that to mean baptism but Jesus meant the physical birth) and the other is being born of the Spirit.  That word Spirit is pneuma in Greek.  It has several meanings wind/breath/spirit.  Jesus is teaching Nicodemus that to be in the Kingdom we must be born from above/again/ by the wind/breath/spirit of God. 

The book talks about the Hebrew phase tohu va vohu.  This phrase means wild and waste/void/chaos. 

Genesis 2

“The earth was formless and void (Tohu Va Vohu), and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit (Ruach- Wind/Breath/Spirit) of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”

“Each thing God creates and sets in motion is a step, a progression away from the chaos and disorder toward order and harmony…When we act like angles or animals, we’re acting like beings who were created before us.  We’re going backward in creation.  We’re going the wrong way.”

To be where God wants us to be we have to know what God create us to be.  God created us in his image, to be people who reflect his image in the world.  To live with a higher calling than fulfilling our own desires but also not avoid the tension that our desire causes.  What God created us to be/to become is good.  Our abuses of it are what we call sin.  Those who choose to be born anothen are choosing to let God’s Spirit guide them.  God in the beginning breathed his Spirit in us to give us life.  Now until our last breathe we have the choice to follow the Spirit that is in us or choose our own path.  Being human, being who God create us to be is to be a person who protects the image of God in everyone by loving others as Jesus did/does and doing the hard work of learning from/praying to/wrestling with/following God.  We must go beyond knowing what to do (we tell people and ourselves that we should love people as we love  ourselves, we should give it to God, love enemies, ask for forgiveness and learn to forgive.) We must go beyond that and through the hard work of following God connect  what, to how, to actually doing something!  As Tyler said last night “Connecting what we feel, to what we think, to what we say, to what we do.”

Hope to see you next week when we discuss Chapter 4 “Leather, Whips, And Fruit”

Peace,

Nate

“Feelings are notoriously bad guides to what is true…”

  Dr. Ben Witherington III is Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary and on the doctoral faculty at St. Andrews University in Scotland.  He has a great blog and just recently put one up called “The Nature of True Love.”  I highly recommend you read it and visit his blog often.  To read the blog go to http://benwitherington.blogspot.com

Sex God, Super Bowl, & 30 Hour Famine

 Wednesday night we will be discussing Chapter 3 of the book “Sex God” by Rob Bell.  This chapter speaks on how we as individuals should move towards living not as animals or angels but in the space “tension” between the two.

 ”Just as the physical world is linked with deeper spiritual realities, sex and God are intimately connected.  But how?  With unusual beauty and insight, Bell addresses this intriguing question to help you better understand that we can’t talk about ourselves as sexual beings without asking who made us that way.  An enlightening exploration of sexuality and spirituality.”

 

 

 

   This Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday!  It is a bittersweet day for me.  Though I love the Super Bowl, I hate that it is the last meaningful game until September.  I don’t really know who to root for this year.  I really can’t stand the Steelers and freaking Cardinals has the man (Kurt Warner) who was on the team who beat the Titans in the Super Bowl.  Who am I kidding…GO CARDS!  What an awesome story that would be…and Larry Fitzgerald is a beast!  We are having a party over at Tim & Lisa’s so if you got nowhere to watch the game join us at Tim & Lisa’s.

 

 

 

 

 

The T.Y.A.C. is partnering with TCPC youth group to do the 30 Hour Famine Feb 27 & 28.  A schedule and more details to come.  Mark your calender!  If you want more info on 30 Hour Famine check out these sites

www.30hourfamine.org

www.worldvision.org

Peace,

Nate

It has been a long time…

Just a few things. 

The lack of Internet access in my office & home has hindered me posting but hopefully I can post a bit more than I have.

We have started two new studies. 

Wednesday nights we are looking at Sex God:  Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality by Rob Bell.  Each week we are taking a chapter and exploring its theme.  This Wednesday night we will talking about Chapter 2 “Sexy on the Inside.”  If you would like a copy of the book you can find it at most bookstores.  

Sunday Mornings we are starting Faith Matters:  Discovering the Faith.  This Sunday we will be discussing “What can I know about God?” 

Hope to see you soon…until next time

Nate