spiritual regurgitations

Codex Sinaiticus NOW online!

This "bit" of info is from the new website!  I've been trying to get on to look at the Codex all morning...too much traffic!  Can't see it!  That's how significant this is!

Codex Sinaiticus        

Codex Sinaiticus is one of the most important books in the world. Handwritten well over 1600 years ago, the manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament. Its heavily corrected text is of outstanding importance for the history of the Bible and the manuscript – the oldest substantial book to survive Antiquity – is of supreme importance for the history of the book.

DeVries hits one out of the park today!

This is a post from my buddy Mike DeVries blog today.  Good job Mikey!  Way to yank that sucker out of the park!

Rediscovering the Gospels - By Mike DeVries

I was doing some reading tonight when I came across this quote from Tom Wright:

I am forced to conclude that there is a substantial swathe of contemporary evangelicalism which actually doesn't know what the gospels themselves are there for, and would rather elevate "Paul" (inverted commas, because it is their reading of Paul, rather than the real thing, that they elevate) and treat Matthew. Mark, Luke and John as mere repositories of Jesus' stories from which certain doctrinal and theological nuggets may be collected.

I think he is dead on with this. It took me back to a conversation we had while we were in the Bahamas for Soularize. His statement at that time was that for a substantial section of evangelicalism "Paul" is where we go for the "Gospel," while the Gospels themselves are simply the stories about Jesus. It was as if the writings of Paul were the real theological substance, while the Gospels were somehow lesser in theological stature. What Wright was inviting us into to was nothing less than a re-discovery of what the Gospels are - beautifully crafted representations of the message of the Kingdom, proclamations of what the "Gospel" of God is and looks like.

Could not agree more.

What would our Christian faith look like if it were shaped as much by the Gospels as it is by the writings of Paul?

Eavesdropping into a Great Discussion on the Bible...worth looking at!

I'm a regular reader of Mark Roberts blog...great guy.  He was the Senior Pastor of a Presbyterian church in Irvine, CA while I was doing a similar gig "down the street" at Good Shepherd Lutheran.  Anyway, over the last couple of days, he's been posting a very good discussion on aspects of the Bible that I thought you would like to see...you can check out the rest of the discussion at Mark's website.  He's talking with Chris Smith who worked on the International Bible Society's Books of the Bible. This aspect of the discussion comes after a question Mark poses about the chapters and verses in the bible...enjoy:

The chapters and verses that the Bible was divided into came many centuries after its books were written. Chapters were introduced around 1200 AD, so that authors of commentaries could refer to passages more easily. Verses were added around 1550 AD, originally so that a concordance to the Greek New Testament could be prepared. In other words, chapters and verses were introduced so that reference works could be created. They were never intended to guide devotional reading or to structure public teaching.

Mark: It seems strange to think of the Bible without the chapters and verse numbers, since they’re so much a part of the Bibles we read today. They almost seem sacred, though I know they’re not. Why do these get in the way of our understanding of Scripture?

Chris: Chapters were intended to be roughly all the same length. But the natural sections of biblical books are of greatly varying lengths. Thus chapters tend to divide up a longer sections into shorter ones, or else put shorter sections together into what looks deceptively like a coherent unity. For example, in 1 Corinthians, discussions of single topics have been divided into chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4; into chapters 8, 9 and 10; and into chapters 12, 13 and 14. Meanwhile, two shorter discussions have been combined in chapters 6, 7, and 11. Another short discussion is attached to Paul’s travel plans and greetings in chapter 16. Only chapters 5 and 15 consist of a single discussion in its entirety. How can anyone understand a book that’s been divided up like this, if they try to read it chapter by chapter?

Mark: When I’ve read devotionally through the Bible, going chapter by chapter, I’ve experienced what you’re talking about. But I’ve never given this too much thought, honestly. So what’s wrong with the verse numbers?

Chris: Adding verses to chapters made things even worse. Verses create the impression that the Bible consists of series of independent statements–that it’s a collection of authoritarian rules or doctrinal propositions. This is particularly deadly for a postmodern audience, which is not really receptive to those things. But postmodern people are very receptive to art, music, poetry and the like. If we can make the original literary forms of the biblical books visible once again, postmoderns will be much better able to receive the message the Bible has been trying to convey all along through its stories, songs, letters and poems. All of us, in fact, would do better to engage the Bible as a collection of literary creations that together trace the path of God’s redemptive work.

Just in case you want to know...

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Coming to Re/New for the weekend Conversation

Great video...we'll be having our community discuss it over the weekend to come. 

All I can say - PERFECT!

Lord Save us from your followers - quick "thumbs up"

All I can say now (I just got home and need something to munch on) is that this film gets a BIG "thumbs up".  Go to the WEBSITE and order a copy...show it to your community/church/group/whatever and have a great discussion.  Worth every minute of it!  I'll give a fuller "review" soon...but for now let us suffice to say that the book was good but the movie was better! 

I recommend it highly...there was a number of people in our community that were challenged and encouraged by the fact that it is God's mercy/kindness that leads people to Him AND for more reasons than we care to admit, we're blowing that message in a rush to set up and "us vs. them" mentality/posture in the culture.  My feeling is that it is time for Christ-followers to take the Kingdom message back from those who want to use it for their own purposes or for that which constantly divides and condemns.  So...more to come! 

In the meantime, check out the WEBSITE and order one today!

Virgil got this one!

Virgil, a new "friend" in the E-world just brought this to "our" attention today...thanks dude!

Just when you think you've heard it all, Michigan Live reports:

A Canton man is suing Zondervan Publishing and a Tennessee-based publisher, claiming their versions of the Bible that refer to homosexuality as a sin violate his constitutional rights and have caused him emotional pain and mental instability.

Mental instability alright...I wonder if Muslims would put up with this charge regarding the Quran and Homosexuality?

Book Review - The Almost true story of Ryan Fischer

I'm honored to be able to be on the Ooze team of book reviewer...just like in the delight that I feel every time a box with a smile on it arrives from Amazon, so I get excited when a discreet white envelope arrives from Mike Morrell filled with some new gems from the publishing world. 

Unfortunately, I can’t agree with some others who are in the process of reading/reviewing this book…I found this book idiotic and trite. It proved to me what many others have said about “Christian” fiction…it is poorly written and full of stuff that is unlikely and outrageous. The fact that it has on a cover, "a work of fiction" is actually the best part of this book...it is what the dictionary says about fiction - "something untrue that is intentionally represented as true by the narrator".  In this instance, the author's imagination is beyond what is even in the same universe as reality.  Normally, I'm in on fiction.  I read TONS of it.  I just finished a series of "ancient detective" novels by Steven Saylor that were outstanding.  Then there is David James Duncan and others who write incredible stories.  With "The Almost True Story...", I put it down about the 1/2 way mark...it was actually more like a bad illustration shared at a ministry conference than a good idea for a book.  For a book that is intended to be smart, witty and insightful, It actually ended up putting down one of the things it was attempting to lampoon - the church planting struggle.  By making Ryan a “hero” in the church planting world slammed and trivialized those who are out there working the Kingdom with the depth of their hearts and souls. I hope this book just goes away! Now, I don't know the author and I'm sure that Rob must be a nice guy.  He is a "Creative Director" at a mega-church...that's fine.  Rob, God bless you!  I just couldn't buy this one bud!  I'll read your next novel, that's a given.  I'm always game for a good story.  But I don't think that this one was helpful or entertaining (which I believe novels need to be). 

By the way, one suggestion for you - if you want to read a "helpful" though uncomfortable book about Christian subculture, read “Rapture Ready”by Daniel Radosh…it is a much better.

Change again! Request for prayer!

Time's they are a-changin' AGAIN!  I'm on my sixth month of my new journey.  As many of you know, I have joined the world of the bi-vocational...I am in community with a wonderful, growing group of people who are attempting to live the KIngdom here in Idaho (Re/New Ministry); I am also continuing to teach two to three online courses in biblical studies for Azusa Pacific University; beyond that, I still have my fingers in some other life "pies" (family, music, hockey, friends, Allelon's Missional Work, keeping up with long distance buds Yambar, Bundy, Barnes, Hixson/PLBC, Ryan, Mikey, teaching/speaking when invited to do so at conferences, camps and churches, etc.). 

In January, I joined the staff of Accent Funeral Home in Meridian Idaho as a Memorial Counselor.  It WAS my "full-time gig"...until yesterday!  One of the realities of the job was that it was a commission job..in fact, 100% commission.  That in and of itself was not only a challenge but a HUGE revelation for me.  It took a few months, but after I learned "the ropes" and started to gain an understanding of the sales world, numbers, lead generation, closing ratios, etc. it became very clear that this was NEVER going to work financially.  I had been working very hard and representing the Funeral Home well...but only making about $1K a month.  Not enough...so after some frank discussion with my sales coordinator and the Funeral Home director, I decided to leave the business to pursue a different avenue. 

This is a HUGE step of faith for Vicky and myself...I'm not going to publically slam on what happened over the past few months...I met some great people and served my new job as best as I could.  It simply was not going to work...the numbers don't lie and they didn't add up to a sustainable way of life.  So, it is on to something else!  I've left Egypt and am standing on the banks of the Red Sea...will God deliver?  I'm standing on the promise that He will!