Poster Project

This is something exciting that I happened to stumble across today. I found out about this faith community in Houston, Texas called Ecclesia and I like what I am seeing. Ecclesia is a holistic, missional, Christian community.

As someone who values highly creativity I love it when churches and faith communities value it as well and incorporate it into their community life. So when I found the "Poster Project" on their website I just had to share it. All of these posters were created (at first as paintings) by the staff artist Scott Erickson and they reflect the core values of Ecclesia.

These posters are on sale and all the proceeds go to the new building project that Ecclesia is working on at 1100 Elder. To learn more about the building project check out this video:
http://vimeo.com/17980931

On to the posters:

1. "Together" poster

This poster represents the value of community.

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
Ephesians 4:22-24

2. "Rise" Poster

This poster represents the value of Resurrection.

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!"
Luke 24:5

3. "Renew" Poster

This poster represents the value of Kingdom.

"Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name, 
your kingdom come, 
your will be done, 
on earth as it is in heaven."
matthew 6:9-10

4."Naaman" Poster

This poster represents the value of obedience.

"Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy."
2 Kings 5:13-14

5. "Give" Poster

This poster represents the value of Hospitality.

"“Come, all you who are thirsty, 
come to the waters; 
and you who have no money, 
come, buy and eat! 
Come, buy wine and milk 
without money and without cost. 
Why spend money on what is not bread, 
and your labor on what does not satisfy? 
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, 
and you will delight in the richest of fare. "
Isaiah 55:1-2

6. "Bless (orange)" poster

This poster represents the value of speech.

"Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts."

James 3:4-5

7. Alternative "Bless" poster

This poster represents the same value as the one above it.

These posters are quite reasonably priced and can be purchased here:

http://society6.com/ecclesiahouston

If you want to learn more about Scott Erickson, the artist you can check out his really cool website here:

http://scottericksonart.com/

And if you want to learn more about Ecclesia Houston you can go to their main web site here:

http://www.ecclesiahouston.org/

I hope you all enjoy these works of art as much as I do!

Grace and Peace

Book Review: "Oh Holy Night: The Peace of 1914" by Michael C. Snow

"They had saved something

from a gigantic wreck, and what they had saved

was immensely important – manhood and comradeship,

their essential integrity as men, their

essential brotherhood as men."*

It's Christmas Eve in 1914 and soldiers on both sides of WW1's western front have reached an unofficial truce in order to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Michael C. Snow weaves together history, poetry, letters, songs and Bible verses to recapture the heart of peace and kindness that arose between men who otherwise should have been bitter enemies on a Christmas day almost a century ago. But this book is more than just a retelling of historical happenings, rather it is a cry for peace and love, a prayer for God's will to be done "on earth as in heaven". It is a much needed reminder that love and peace can win out over hatred and violence.

I was personally moved by the letters from the soldiers telling of their eagerness and delight in sharing Christmas with their enemies. I can imagine them climbing out of their cold, muddy trenches and walking out into "no man's land" to shake hands with their foes. They said prayers and buried their dead, exchanged gifts and sang carols around the bonfire, they ate together and played soccer, and even had a communion service at an old farm. They were able to see the men across the battlefield, not as a demonic foe but as fellow human beings created in the image of God. In short, these young men exemplified what Christmas is all about.

This book a short and yet delightful read and I would definitely recommend it, especially with Christmas just around the corner as it would make a wonderful gift.

You can purchase the book here:

http://www.amazon.com/Oh-Holy-Night-Peace-1914/dp/1616230800/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321991905&sr=8-1

Michael C. Snow is a former Marine and a fifth generation farmer. One of his other books, "Love, Prayer and Forgiveness" can also be purchased at Amazon.com. He received his M. Div from Earlham.

You can learn more about him at his website:

http://mikesnow.org/

*From Richard Aldington's novel "Death of Hero".

Poetry: "Love" by Franz Wright

"While they were considering whether to stone her -
and why not? - he knelt
and with his finger wrote
something in the dust. We are
as you know made from
dust, and the unknown
word
was, therefore, and is
and forever will be
written in our flesh
in gray folds of memory's
flesh. En 
archē ēn ho Lógos:"

-"Love" by Franz Wright ("God's Silence", 2008)
This poem is from the poetry collection I am currently reading, "God's Silence", and while I haven't finished the book yet this poem was just too good not to go ahead and share. Once I finish the book there may be a review in the works but for now just enjoy!

Sabbath

When the Israelite people were slaves in Egypt they worked every day. When the sun came up they started making bricks and they continued making bricks until the sun went down. In Egypt your worth as a person was based on how many bricks you could make. You had to meet the quota.

Then God liberates the people of Israel. He sees the oppression that they are living under and He does something about it. So they are led up to the base of a mountain. And on that mountain God gives this command, to take a day out of the week and rest from working because in the creation story God took a day and rested.

This command is a reminder of creation.

On God's mountain your worth is not based on how many bricks you can make.

On God's mountain you have inherit worth as a part of God's creation.

You rest because God rested, and the creation story reminds you that you are created in God's image.

We still need the Sabbath. We still need to be reminded that we are human beings not human doings. We need to know that our worth comes not from our bankroll, our social status or our achievements. Our worth comes from God.

Grace and Peace

Defending God

I was recently reading a blog in which the author said that he could not support a well-known emergent pastor because he felt that that pastor did not make defending God a central priority in his writings.

This really got me thinking. Why is it that Christians have made such a big deal about defending God. You don't have to look very far on the internet to find someone who considers themselves to be a doctrine defender. Someone who will, without any apparent reserve, verbally assault a popular Christian writer, speaker or pastor who they do not disagree with about every single issue. (All though if you examine more closely you will likely find that they agree about much more than they disagree) And what's worse is that many people who claim to be defending Christ seem to go about it in such an un-Christ-like way.

For me this is very problematic and it raises some serious questions.

1. Is it okay to say awful things about people who disagree with us as long as we do it in the defense of God?

A lot of people seem to have this idea that God makes exceptions for our un-Christ-like, unloving, and often down right hateful attitude as long as we are defending what is right and true. But it seems to me that in Jesus' life what he accomplished was equally important as the way in which he accomplished it. (selflessness, sacrifice, and radically inclusive love)

2. Is it okay to not practice humility as long as we are talking about our doctrinal ideas?

I'm not saying that our doctrines are not important. In fact I think the ideas you affirm about God are very important. So the problem is not the ideas that we hold but the way in which he hold them. Do we hold them so tightly that our hands are clinched around them like fists? Because the problem with making a fist is that you are then more inclined to strike someone with it. I think if we are honest about our own limitations and frailty then we can admit that we probably get it wrong just as much as anyone else. And then it just seems silly to respond violently to everyone who disagrees with us.

3. Is the point of Christianity to affirm all the right doctrinal ideas?

One of the major themes of Paul's writings is this idea of being transformed into a new creation. So maybe the goal of Christianity is not doctrinal correctness but Christ-like transformation. I personally don't think God would be very impressed with someone who somehow managed to get all the doctrines exactly right, and yet didn't show selfless love to the poor, hungry, and oppressed. (Paul might say this is like being a "clanging cymbal") That's why when Jesus talks about the sheep and goats in Mathew 25 he doesn't sort them based off of their views on atonement theories or hell. Instead they are sorted by how they treated the poor, the hungry, and the homeless.

4. Does God need for us to defend Him?

We really do worship a big God! In fact God doesn't really need us to defend Him or prove His existence does He? Notice that the Biblical authors spend very little effort making concrete doctrinal statements about God; And even less time trying to defend His existence. They seem to be more interested in poems, songs and narratives that tell the stories of all sorts of different people from all sorts of different settings relating to the one true God. It's as if the Bible isn't a collection of writings that  merely tells you all about God, but rather one that invites you to experience Him first hand!

When I look at the life of Jesus this way of understanding God becomes especially evident to me. I don't see Jesus spending a lot of time sticking up for certain doctrinal beliefs or trying to prove that God exists. Instead I see Jesus sticking up for the the people on the margins of society like widows, lepers and even prostitutes. It seems like Jesus' idea of defending God is actually to stick up for the people that God loves, and yet the rest of the world has turned their backs on. After all, isn't that the whole point of the story that Jesus tells in Matthew 25 about the sheep and the goats?

Thoughts on Creation Care

"The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.  But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—  if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant."

- Paul's letter to the Collosians 1:15-23 (NIV)

“Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead He set before your eyes the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that?”

— St. Augustine (354-430)

“Any error about creation also leads to an error about God.”

— St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

“Now if I believe in God's Son and remember that He became man, all creatures will appear a hundred times more beautiful to me than before. Then I will properly appreciate the sun, the moon, the stars, trees, apples, as I reflect that he is Lord over all things. …God writes the Gospel, not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.”

— Martin Luther (1483-1546)

“What can be seen on earth points to neither the total absence nor the obvious presence of divinity, but to the presence of a hidden God. Everything bears this mark.”

— Blaise Pascal (1623-1620), 

“Let him who possesses a field, so partake of its yearly fruits, that he may not suffer the ground to be injured by his negligence; but let him endeavor to hand it down to posterity as he received it, or even better cultivated. Let him so feed on its fruits that he neither dissipates it by luxury, nor permits it to be marred by neglect. Moreover, let everyone regard himself as the steward of God in all things which he possesses. Then he will neither conduct himself dissolutely, nor corrupt by abuse those things which God requires to be preserved. …The creation is quite like a spacious and splendid house, provided and filled with the most exquisite and the most abundant furnishings. Everything in it tells us of God.”

— John Calvin (1509-1564)

“True Godliness doesn't turn men out of the world, but enables them to live better in it, and excites their endeavors to mend it. …We have nothing that we can call our own; no, not our selves: for we are all but Tenants, and at Will, too, of the great Lord of our selves, and the rest of this great farm, the World that we live upon.”

— William Penn (1644-1718)

“They (the creatures) encourage us to imitate Him whose mercy is over all His works. It may enlarge our hearts toward these poor creatures to reflect that not one of them is forgotten in the sight of our Father which is in heaven.”

— John Wesley (1701-1791), 

“We have seen that the Son of God created the world for this very end, to communicate Himself in an image of His own excellency. ... When we behold the light and brightness of the sun, the golden edges of an evening cloud, or the beauteous (rain)bow, we behold the adumbrations of His glory and goodness; and in the blue sky, of his mildness and gentleness.”

— Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)

“This is my Father’s world,
And to my listening ears
All nature sings,
And round me rings
The music of the spheres.

“This is my Father’s world:
O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong
Seems oft so strong,
God is the Ruler yet.“

— Maltbie D. Babcock (1858-1901)

“The dramatic threat of ecological breakdown is teaching us the extent to which greed and selfishness are contrary to the order of creation. …A given culture reveals its understanding of life through the choices it makes in production and consumption… a great deal of educational and cultural work is urgently needed, including the education of consumers in the responsible use of their power of choice…”

— Pope John Paul II (1929-2005)

“Folks, our Lord and Savior put a human face on poverty long before we did. And his concern for the degradation of creation is inextricably linked to his concern for those whose options for life have been severely degraded as well. The poor! So what do we do until He comes? What leadership do we bring? I think we do what He would have done.”

— Bob Seiple, president of World Vision and past president of Eastern College and Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary

“Earth is crammed with heaven
And every bush aflame with God
But only those who see take off their shoes.”

— Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet

Book Review: "Insurrection" by Peter Rollins

"To believe is human.

To doubt, divine."

Peter Rollins is a controversial and widely-sought after author, blogger, and speaker with a PhD in philosophy from Queens University, Belfast. He is  a research associate with the Irish School of Ecumenics in Trinity College, Dublin. He is also the founder of ikon, a faith group that has gained an international reputation for blending live music, visual imagery, soundscapes, theatre, ritual and reflection to create what they call ‘transformance art’.

His latest work is simply dangerous. There is no way around it, If you are not careful this book will wreck you. The introduction says, "There is a fire inside the building; Please step inside" and it captures quite nicely what Pete's new book is all about. He sets fire to beliefs and traditions and burns away the bulk that many would call "christianity" in order to get back to something central - what I call the Jesus Event.

In the likeness of Bonhoeffer, Pete evocatively wrestles with the idea of a "religionless Christianity" and his unassuming, critical approach has done as much to re-align my thinking as any book has in a long time.

I strongly recommend this book, but it's not for the faint of heart. 

To purchase a copy:

http://www.amazon.com/Insurrection-Believe-Human-Doubt-Divine/dp/1451609000/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321477326&sr=8-1