PDX

A short and incomplete account of Portland Seminary and the things I have to get out of my brain and into action. The Dead Sea is dead because it has too much good inside, so here we go.

Images of God
This class has landed deeply with my soul. To find God's image wherever I look is invaluable. The readings have been beneficial; primarily by our opening chapter (by J.I. Packer) which highlighted that we are known by God before we know God. He knows us deeply and deeper as we seek to know him. God knows all of us, from this truth do we operate.

Our project has really changed my life profoundly and I am very glad to have been involved in ministry in Ocala as I began this seminarian quest. The project is to ingrain yourself into a community that you wouldn't normally be ingrained in. I knew right away where to go: a local ministry called Wear Gloves (a.k.a. The Dignity Center).

This is a ministry that empowers distressed folks (homeless and others) with skills, dignity, and community. I have begun serving there alongside of the distressed folks weekly. This community is vastly important and I am blessed to be part of it. In that realm Caitlin and I have been able to start getting involved in their soon-to-open coffee roaster shop and I connected a local celebrity, the Ocala Cobra, to Wear Gloves which generated some finances and awareness locally.

The trick is that I sometimes don't look deeply enough at who God considers me to be. He knows me even as I know him. Maybe I'm even doing a bad job writing this right now. As in, it ought to be a prayer rather than me referencing God to the readers and myself as I write. So, I now stop to talk to God about this.

I have been struggling a lot lately with my own image of myself. From my feelings of inadequacy to my fears of not succeeding, I feel I fall short. I know I have what it takes to be a pastor and a leader in the church, but I am weak right now due to many factors. I need my dearest friends for some Shiretime. (That's a new word I just made up for what I value most.)

Christian History and Theology II
Everybody's a heretic. Wow. Christian History is riddled with people hating on each other and straight up murdering people whose theological beliefs were not in accordance with their own based on who had power. (Geneva is the last place I ever want to go!) John Calvin is misunderstood today, Martin Luther has a lot to teach us, and the overlooked Christians of history are the most notable.

How can this chaos apply today? Well, my paper that I should be working on today is a good place to start. The Vatican Council II's decree of "The Apostolate of the Laity" is critical. Each of us is regarded by God first with love. "God first" means two things as I have written it: God first loves us and that God can have more than one "emotion" toward us. Thus, he has considered us all worthy of his resurrection and all that comes with that. Inheritance, location inside his home, a seat at his table, his presence with us always, his pursuit of us. Thus has God considered us.

Christian History can become fairly ugly if you look close at all. But let us consider this: God is not defined by those who follow him. We are representatives, no doubt, and that in the strongest sense of the word. But God is defined by who he is, and he is I Am. He is the first and the last, the humble servant king, the alpha and the omega. God is truth, he is love, he is eternal.

History has been full of people's faults, misgivings, hatred but also the love, grace, faith, and compassion. The church has continued to operate and develop. How can we continue to do so?

Culture and Systems Change
Ok, here it is. The class that has really made me lose sleep. The class with ideas aplenty and ideas that shake how we are church.

1. Church 2.0
Suggested to us was a new way of doing church in the services. Let's take an open-mic format while we provide only small portions of the material. A short sermon and question followed by table talk and then an open forum for the church at large to discuss the question at hand.

2. The Trampoline
This idea was presented to me in class first and then I read about it in Rob Bell's book which the name of I cannot remember. (I like Rob Bell a lot more than many people I know.)

Imagine a brick wall and that each brick represents something you believe about God. If one of those is compromised, the whole wall can come tumbling down. If you begin to question creation science, the authorship of a certain book or its historicity, or if suddenly you're not so sure about whatever factor of Christianity, the wall weakens and down it comes, inevitably.

My preferred image is one of a trampoline. In real life I don't like trampolines but theologically I have fallen in love. Consider the trampoline to represent the fabric of our faith while the springs represent the things we believe, the same as the bricks. Instead of one brick ruining the whole wall, if one spring weakens the rest can hold the tension still and keep the trampoline functioning. This is the better model to give ourselves because it helps us to ask questions with the intention of strengthening ourselves rather than being scare when we ask questions.

More to come in conversation and future posts. I am too tired to write more now.

3. The Practice and more...
Later, but it basically is a service that focuses on spiritual disciplines.