Disqus - Latest Comments for watchman146

Re: The Church is a Whore…

Corey — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:27:22 -0000

Doing sermon research. I was elated to find this old post. Man, I miss Chad writing. I'm typing about him like he's dead.

This is getting awkward.

Thanks, I guess?

Re: After the Storm

Corey — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 08:40:17 -0000

Ugh. What an awful thing for you and your family to go through...

Thanks for the courage to share and I hope that you and your family can find your way through the storm.

Re: Tech Tip Tuesday: Pick A Browser That Fits

Corey — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:01:20 -0000

Yeah, I think you nailed it here. In terms of simplicity, Chrome is the way to go. It is no slouch as far as performance, either. It took me a while to give up on my Firefox add-ons, but Chrome has been promoted to my default browser.

Re: They Say It's Your Birthday...

Corey — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:39:50 -0000

Oh, wow. Did you really just post that vid?

Dear Lord... I'm nauseous.

Also, welcome to the big 3 -0

Re: Questions for emergent friends in ministry

Corey — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:20:27 -0000

Derek F wrote: "To harp upon Watchman's comment to look out for you and your family, I have heard that from a lot of people, including my own pastor. It doesn't strike me that most Churches really care for your family. You're in ministry, darn it. Your family is on a mission to do God's work. So suck it up and use your gifts."

omg(osh)... did that ever sound familiar.

Re: What is Sin?

Corey — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:10:12 -0000

a.) what do you think Sin is?
Sin is the act of alienation. When I act in a manner that alienates me from my wife, I am sinning against her. So, if I cheat on her, I am sinning against her. If I steal my neighbors lawn mower, I am sinning because I am destroying our relationship (even if I don't know him). I am sinning against God when I do things that alienate me from him.

(b.) what does it mean to be a “sinner”?

Sinner = Imperfect.

(c.) what does the Gospel offer as a solution to sin, and how does this solution play out on a day to day basis?

Sin divides, the gospel gives a means and a way to reconciliation.

Re: Questions for emergent friends in ministry

Corey — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:23:53 -0000

Hi. Don't do it.

Listen, there is a lot that is appealing about an institutional clergy-type job, but it is lipstick on a pig, man. Be careful and look out for you and your wife. The four walls of a church provide a wonderful place to hide villainous dysfunction.

Nobody

Nobody in the institutional church likes to hear critiques of the institutional church. Nobody. Not even the mainline liberals like to hear it. I about had a PCUSA guy crying once when I criticized his giant church building. So, when you start teaching kids that church is a great distraction that funnels important resources away from the real needs of the world and squanders them by providing a big building where spoiled church kids can have a lock in once a month, nobody will be happy with you.

Nobody.

Have a nice day!

Q. "Do you find that your theological standpoints garner negative reactions from your church/ministry?"

Sweet Lord, yes.

Q. "Were the thoughts you had on your blog investigated and interrogated before being offered a job?"

Nope, but they were as soon as I started ruffling feathers. Investigations like that are merely used as pry bars. If a jerk on a church board wants to fire you, he/she will find a reason to.

Q. "Have you felt like you needed to censor yourself any because of your ties to the UMC?"

I'm not a Meth Head, but I would guarantee that almost any denomination will require some significant self-censorship. I doubt you will have to censor your theology, though. More likely it will be about stupid crap like rated "R" movies and beer drinking. I had an old church lady that tried to get me fired because our youth group's my space page had an automatically generated horoscope sign. "He's teaching those poor children the occult!" rawr rawr

Q. "Do you feel like you can be a bit of an agent provocateur and help bring those you work with a bit farther outside of the mainstream?"

No. Institutional mainstream religion is a giant, comfy pyramid scheme. The people at the top are clergy and the people on the bottom are uber comfortable knowing that Jesus can't get in. Why the hell would we want to get out? Things are dangerous out there!

Q. Finally, would you actually recommend a ministry job to anyone else?

Yes. Relational masochists.

Re: A Question for Contributors

Corey — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 15:46:15 -0000

I'm in. I have the time to help edit, also.

Re: What is Gospel?

Corey — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:59:18 -0000

The Gospel, to me, is the good news that God is restoring everything to where it should be, and he has invited us to be a part of that restoration through the life, death and way of Jesus.

Re: Prayer///Matt Scott

Corey — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:32:28 -0000

Matt, prayer is far too often self-centered, as if the petitioner is the central factor. No wonder so many Christians see prayer as a grab bag for life. I love the idea of prayer being a communal practice. If prayer is , as you say, an opening of our very selves, then communities of faith ought to be enabling those kinds of experiences.

Personally, I need help to open myself up. I long for a community of faith that can pry me open.

Good post.

Re: Wrestling with my own Agnosticism (read disclaimers!)

Corey — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:37:42 -0000

I am too incapable to generate a response that meets the passion of your thoughts, Matt. So, I won't. I'll let Pedro:

And who shall I blame for this sweet and heavy trouble?
For every stupid struggle?
I don't know.
I could buy you a drink.
I could tell you all about it.
I could tell you why I doubt it, and why I still believe it.
And why I need it.
And what the pharisees don't see.

And we'd have more drinks. We'd speak of so many things.
But I don't know you, and you don't know me.

Re: Prayer///Blake Huggins

Corey — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:37:53 -0000

Wow. When I read "I want to broaden my horizon and avoid dichotomizing the two into
some sort of binary," I went back and read my comment. How easily I slipped into that exact dichotomous thinking!

To summarize: Prayer is all that we do, including prayer!

Re: Prayer///Blake Huggins

Corey — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:31:11 -0000

Blake, very well done. I appreciate that you rightly criticize the tired old paradigm of the Divine Genie in the sky, waiting to grant us wishes. I also very much appreciate that you encourage us to expand our definition of prayer. Limiting prayer to a quiet time is just as useless as limiting it to a particular building.

With that said, I think a word of caution is in order. There must be a balance. While acknowledging that everything we do CAN be "prayer," not everything we do IS automatically prayer. While the outward activity (be not conformed to the world) is vitally important to the "renewing of the mind," the inward devotion is equally important to the necessary conformity to the Jesus Way.

I fear that in our very correct efforts to see everything from our chores to our singing as a prayer to God, we may fail to actually communicate to God verbally. I am horrified at the thought that I could transcend even the spiritual heights of Jesus Christ who prayed often and verbally.

So, the inner workings of spirit and mind are still as essential as the outward efforts. We can not, must not, overemphasize one to the point of ignoring the other. I worry sometimes that we may be reacting too vehemently to the inadequate theologies of evangelicals and Pentecostals.

Nonetheless, excellent thoughts, Blake. Forgive my cautionary note.

Re: Prayer///Chad Holtz

Corey — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:38:25 -0000

Good stuff, Chad. Richard Foster said, "Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life." I think we spend most of our time in the subdivisions and strip malls of spiritual life, wondering why nobody wants to join us there. But, on the frontier, there is adventure and glory and maybe some hope.

Re: On The Fourth of July

Corey — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:06:38 -0000

Matt, I have been waiting to reply to this until I had a better grasp of my own tangled thoughts on this. Forgive the aphorisms Here I go:

1. Empire is bad because of the corrupt nature of power.

2. National Identity is not bad because of the essential goodness of community and cooperation

3. Freedom is a good thing because it is preferable to the alternative

So, I am a patriotic in the sense that I readily identify with my nation, people, culture heritage, etc. I identify with the commonality and community I have with America. I am patriotic in the sense that I celebrate freedom and personal liberty. I am patriotic in the sense that I oppose the enemies of my nation. I am patriotic in the sense that I am filled with personal pride and happiness when my people come together and accomplish something beautiful and great.

I am not patriotic in the sense that I am not nationalistic. I am not patriotic in the sense that I do not support imperial ambitions. I am not patriotic in the sense that I will not allow my preference for the political home team to ever be confused with my spiritual life.

Re: Performing the Imago Dei by Chad Holtz

Corey — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 08:04:21 -0000

We are made in God's image - every single one of us. For that reason, our essence grants us rights and privileges, even if our actions and thoughts do not.

So, just because a person is a jerk and a sinner does not mean they are not still made in the image of God. If such were true, they would be susceptible to all manner of poor treatment.

Re: how the evangelicals lost me, and why I might go back (pt5)

Corey — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 22:45:18 -0000

Two things:

1. "remerging evangemergent?" My damn head just exploded.

2. Disqus = grrrrrrrrrrrrr..........

Re: Imago Dei///Andrew Martin

Corey — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:09:58 -0000

Blake, I am interested to hear more of your view on "the myth of progress."

The first thing that struck me reading Andrew's post was that maybe progress isn't all that hot. It seems to me that much of our progress has given us creature comforts. Our life expectancy is longer, so we can enjoy that many more hours of American Idol and microwaveable meals.

One of my favorite films is The Thin Red Line. In that film, director Terrence Malick does a masterful job of juxtaposing the ravages of "civilized" society with the serenity of Aboriginal culture. Sometimes I wonder whether all this progress is strangling us spiritually and ethically.

Re: Imago Dei///Marika Rose

Corey — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:24:33 -0000

I certainly disagree. Jim, you wrote, "I think the sarcasm was misplaced and undermined your credibility in this essay." In fact, I believe the exact opposite is true. Marika's use of sarcasm and the humorous ribbing of dead theologians actually maker her writing stand out. Writing is useless if it is unreadable.

Well done, Marika.

As to Marika referencing original Hebrew (thus unassailable), this was also humor. It was a nod to the many preachers and theologians who claim authority based on such referencing. Also, hilarious.

Re: My suspicisions about systematic theology

Corey — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:34:34 -0000

ugh... sys theo is certainly a noble cause, but it has its limitations. At the very least, the church ought to accept that small critique.

Re: Imago Dei///Marika Rose

Corey — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:15:19 -0000

"It's all straw"

Many readers down through the years have made a different comment.

"Ugh... it's all Aristotle"

While pursuing an exhaustive description of God and his ways is an admirable task, I don't think God is all that interested. It is doomed from the very start. At least, the Apostle Paul thought it was doomed in Romans 11

"How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His ways! For who can know the LORD's thoughts?" (NLT)

Any knowledge of God occurs in too fertile an ecosystem to every be fully described. By time one element of the system is discovered, it has evolved into something richer and greener.

Re: how evangelicals lost me, and why I might go back (pt2)

Corey — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:48:59 -0000

Freud wrote a criticism of the way religions educate people. In essence, we are very good at catechizing, but not good at actually dealing with questions. We teach people which questions they can and cannot ask. Therefore, we never have to answer any of the really difficult ones.

Re: How evangelicals lost me, and why I may go back (pt1)

Corey — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:21:33 -0000

Thanks for this, Matt. One of the things you wrote really hit close to home for me.

You wrote, "Eventually you reach a point numbness, while you may still have feeling in the singing, you’re grasping at straws, hoping to catch that emotional high so easily provided on a weekly basis."

Scott McKnight termed the emotional thrill seeking that we often do in church "spiritual eroticism," and I think he is right. Of late, I have been trying to work more of the old liturgies into our services and centralize the service more around Jesus, than around individual entertainers.

It has been an epic failure.

The fail is a result of the fact that I have only ever known fundamentalist and evangelical worship patterns. They are so ingrained into me (though I am numb and bored) that I am hopelessly awkward outside them.

I pray for more vitatlity in my worship experience. I want true depth, not "ohhh... look! Light show!"

Re: Imago Dei///Marika Rose

Corey — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:10:28 -0000

Marika, I am certainly subscribing to your blog.

I also appreciate the suspicion you hold toward sys theo.

One thing I have learned (yes, only one) is that theology is a conversation. I think we miss much when we assume that there is an "X" on the theological map that we are supposed to find. "X" does not mark the spot. There is no spot. This is a conversation that should be vibrant and growing, as a community grows (hopefully) in its understanding of the divine. It is when we stake our claim with unnecessary vehemence, that we completely mess things up.

There, now I have completely derailed the post.

Re: Performing the Imago Dei by Chad Holtz

Corey — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 08:59:54 -0000

Chad,

Well done on this post. I was especially impressed with the emphasis you put on the fact that God's image is displayed most prominently in community. However, I am still a bit uncomfortable with the implications of God's image (and thus our inherent value) being based on our performance.

You write, "Where I neglect the mediation of Christ or overstep the limit placed upon me in any relationship I am forfeiting my imago Dei."

Again, I agree with the point you are making (that we can fail to display the Image) , I am just uncomfortable with the implications. If the Imago Dei is the basis for our intrinsic value, and our very human rights are founded on the Imago Dei, forfeiture seems a serious thing to contemplate.

Perhaps, a failure to display the Image of God does not mean that image is not still imparted?