Through the River (Book Review)

Just finished another book review for Viral Bloggers

The title is "Through the River" Understanding your Assumptions about truth. Authors are Jon & Mindy Hirst with Dr. Paul Hiebert.
The book is written to help people of faith better understand how they come to perceive the truth they hold. They use an allegory to depict three different faith cultures and how those environments create a "truth lens" to allow their inhabitants to perceive truth.
Dr. Hiebert was an anthropologist and brings some interesting perceptions regarding how differently something can be viewed depending on ones culture.

The three cultures depicted in the book are the Rock dwellers (Positivists), Island Dwellers (Instrumentalists) and Valley Dwellers (Critical Realists). The Positivists believe the truth to be knowable and needs to be shared. The Instrumentalists are more interested in how the truth is perceived and it is more of a subjective process. The critical realists seeks to find a balance between the two and provide an opportunity for dialogue and an understanding in the context of community.

In the allegory a rock dweller discovers some information that creates a disruption with his/her truth lens and begins to question the adequacy of their lens for interpreting truth. They then enter the river of instrumentalism and try and sort out how this truth applies to their current situation or experience. The book attempts to describe the solution by swimming across the river of instrumentalism and onto the shores of critical realism. Here they are able to hold on to the truth they know and continue to learn the truth they are learning. Supposedly, this view is the cure all for one who has a disruption with their objective truth and finds a lack of solution with the relativism in the river of instrumentalism.

This is probably a great book for a post modernist, not being from that camp it didn't quite strike a chord with me. While it does provide answers to the difficulties in perceiving truth I don't think the critical realists lens is as clear as the authors claim it to be. The sure shore of Critical Realism rather seemed a bit like an island in the river of instrumentalism combining reason and logic with intuition (that was not adequately described) and positivism and hoping that by dialoging together in a group truth will be discovered. I find it a bit disheartening that in a book written to people of faith about truth I can't recall anything written about the Holy Spirit whom Jesus said would lead us into all truth. Truth it seems in the critical realist camp is a process that one learns about. Maybe I'm too mystical but I'm skeptical of a system that attempts to figure out a method of perceiving truth without bringing in the spiritual aspects of it.

Bo's Cafe (book review)

This last week I got the chance to read "Bo's Cafe" new novel by John Lynch, Bill Thrall and Bruce McNicol. The book is published by Windblown Media, for those who don't recognize the name they are the publishers of "The Shack". Here is another fantastic novel that I would have read in two days had I had the time. Like the Shack it is a very well written narrative with lots of great insights concerning difficult situations and recovery in the lives of the characters depicted within the story.
It basically revolves around a community of grace oriented individuals who have come to realize they can't *fix* anyone even themselves but like Larry Crabb (Connecting) they realize that we get healed in relationships where there is openness, trust and protection. So basically it is the story of an individual who is in a marital crisis and his whole world is caving in and he bumps into or begins connecting with Andy (part of the grace crowd at Bo's Cafe). We are taken on a journey of distrust, suspicion, unbelief and then relational connection, openness, sharing and healing in ones deepest parts of their being. It's a really great story of the redemption of one told through the stages of crisis and into a relationship that only grace could enable.

The Diversity Culture

A few weeks ago I received a book from Mike Morrell of the Viral Bloggers to review. The name of the book is "The Diversity Culture" with a tag line of "Creating conversations of faith with Buddhist Baristas, Agnostic Students, Aging Hippies, Political Activists, and everyone in between". I must say I was hoping to get one of the other more interesting titles and well known authors. To my surprise however this was a very interesting and engaging read.

The author is Matthew Raley a Pastor of an Evangelistic Free church in California. He comes across in this book as more of a prophet to that body (evangelicalism) than a defender of its culture. He is clear at bringing out the pitfalls of bigotry, stereotyping, labels etc... that so many of us in evangelicalism are guilty of. He calls this the "reject correct" approach. He doesn't let those in the post Modernism or emerging streams off either as he shows that the "accept-affirm" approach also has its weaknesses. These are just a couple of the great points of tension he writes about in the book relating to the diverse culture we are all in. He then contrasts and compares this tension with the way Jesus related to the women at the well. The dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well has always been one of my favorite biblical narratives. Raley takes this narrative to new heights as he applies it's principals to how we as Christians can effectively relate to the diverse cultural mindsets that exist in our culture right now.

This would be a great book for Christians to have a discussion about. It's not only current in its relevance but prophetic in its overall message of hope in relating to others of diverse philosophies.

An Organic Wedding

This coming June our son is going to get married. This is not going to be your average wedding. Why do I say that? Well there are many reasons but we can start by saying that Leah had a dream of her wedding with children around her dressed in white and tossing it seems white flowers towards her and her groom. At this point she and Jaron were friends but they had not communicated verbally any feelings toward each other. Incorporating children into the wedding party dressed in white however is not the only reason this is going to be an unusual wedding. It is going to take place at Leah’s folk’s house on a point on a lake in a clearing in the midst of a group of tall pine trees.

The fathers Dean and I are the officiates whatever that will entail for as yet we have not got that far into the story. Hopefully we will get there soon, we have had some marriage counseling take place with Jaron and Leah but it has been far from the ordinary as it has taken place organically in group settings usually with Leah’s parents and Pam and I. These were not times specifically set up for counseling it occurred naturally within our fellowship times. I was actually amazed at how much ground got covered and how many of the “normal” counseling topics got covered.

Jaron and Leah met very naturally within the small fellowship we have between our two families and a few other families. To get the background on how their relationship grew see their story here: http://www.mywedding.com/jaronandleah/index.html and click on “our story”

Have just recently finished reading Frank Viola’s new book “From Eternity to Here”. If you get a chance get a copy of this book you won’t regret it. One of the main points Frank brings out is the eternal purpose of God to have a marriage partner for the son Jesus. The understanding that marriage is a type of this eternal relationship is a very awakening experience in one’s spirit. Oh I know we all seem to have a mental knowledge of this biblical principal but to have it come from the heart / spirit is an altogether matter. As John Eldridge so often says in order to understand the story we have fallen into it is important to understand the context. Well one of the main contexts of story you and I have fallen into is that God has created us for fellowship. Not just fellowship but a very intimate and purposeful relationship best depicted in our rather shallow ability to understand by the marriage relationship. The church corporately is the bride.

When fellow Christians think of the ripening of the fig tree in Mt. 24 before the coming of Jesus Christ they think of physical Israel. This is good and right but Israel is a type of something much more than what is represented by physical Israel. To actually understand what is in the mind and heart of God regarding this we need to have a grasp of the bigger picture/ context and that includes the bride of Christ.

Son 2:12-13 The flowers appear on the earth; The time of the singing of birds is come, And the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land; The fig-tree ripeneth her green figs, And the vines are in blossom; They give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

Actually it is the bride that is the fulfillment of the type represented by Israel. This is a people not represented by Jewish or gentile roots but by their relationship to the bridegroom. And it appears the voice of the turtle-dove is heard. This is a dove that migrates south in the winter and so isn’t heard until spring. It seems to represent the awakening of the bride to the wooing of the bridegroom. There is much blooming and fresh awakening here depicted showing the response and time of love to be very close at hand.

One doesn’t have to be prophetic to see this happening with the body of Christ as there are so many that are coming into a fuller understanding of the love of God and a fresh understanding of what the ecclesia is today.

Shadow to Substance

Shadow to Substance

It is interesting to comtemplate the story of how Christ mixed spit with dirt and put it on the blind man’s eyes Jn. 9:6. What an unusual display of miracle working power. What was Christ saying through this vivid picture? One would think that putting a mix of spit and dirt on someones eyes would be just the opposite of what a person with eye problems would need. I mean this may be where these cultures years ago got the idea of putting mud gauzes over wounds for healing.

Looking at the context of the story sheds some interesting facts. Jesus did this miracle on the Sabboth. Man he was notorious for working his miracles on the Sabboth, what was with that? I find it interesting that his performing miracles on the Sabboth was akin to putting mud in the spiritual eyes of the Pharisees. It was this mud “performing miracles on the Sabboth” that created such a problem for these religious leaders. It was the fact that he did these works on the Sabboth that seemed to blind them to what he was actually doing and who he actually was. He seemed to be deliberately offending them to show them that they already had something blocking their spiritual eyesight.

Later Jesus describes to the healed blind man that for judgement he came into this world that those that see might be made blind and those that are blind might see Jn.9:39. Very interesting comment in light of the spit and mud healing. Those Pharisees that heard him make this comment asked Jesus if they were blind. His comment to them that they were because they said they saw was very telling. It is interesting to note how a principal or command given by God if held in the wrong light can itself become a substitute for the relationship with God himself. The principal or command must be held with a Christocentric mindset. In other words how does this fit in with God’s ultimate purpose and plan and what is it’s priority. Maybe that is why Jesus told Nicodemus he must be born again he must see things in light of how they relate to Christ not as something in and of themselves, otherwise they may actually cause one to become blind.

How often do we take the things of God and make them into substitutes or something way more than what God intended them to be. Something holy in and of them selves. We call the scriptures Holy. How many have actually substituted a relationship with God with a relationship with a book. At one point Jesus told the Pharisees to search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life and yet they are they which testify of me Jn. 5:39. Much of current Christianity looks at Sunday as a holy day where a holy man gives a holy message out of a holy book at a holy hour etc… The truth is when Christ walked among the religious leaders of his day few recognized him because they had religious mud on their spiritual eyes. They had substituted the shadow for the substance. Even Nicodemus was schooled by Jesus that he was missing the very simple things of heaven. Then there is the lady at the well. Where shall we worship? Classic question about relegious mud, which relegious mud is better the mud on this mountain or over in Jerusalem. Interesting to contemplate that Christ is there but she is thinking about where, how, when she should worship when she is standing in the presence of the creator of the universe. Christ comment about the time is coming and now is when the true worshippers shall not be caught up with the shadows whether it is here or there, how etc… but will worship in Spirit and in truth. They will enter into the very substance of true worship.

When we are young we have to be told what to do and what not to do. There are so many things we don’t understand and have no clue as to it’s dangers. This is why God gave us types and shadows to train us 1cor.10:11, heb.10:1. The O.T. is full of these types and shadows. These are akin to what spiritual milk is. Principals and rules etc… to give us help when we are very young. Meat however is partaking of real substance, looking past the type and shadow and into what they represent. God’s desire for his church is to come to full age/maturity able to discern between shadow and substance heb.5:14. Which is why the Lord was so angry at the Pharisees who claimed to see (have meat) but were keeping His people locked into the milk or shadows making them the object of their affections. God is looking for a church which has His values not those who are trying to adhere to the shadows. So Jesus came for judgement to provide water for those who admit they have mud on their eyes and in a sense to offend or put mud (reveal the wrong values) on those who say they see but have not the values of the kingdom but the values of one stuck in the shadows of religion. In another place Christ responded to the Pharisees to go and look up the scripture in Hosea, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings”.

Organic Worship

There is a taste with organic vegetables that makes one wonder what is in the industrial grown variety that takes away the natural flavor. I remember the first time we grew our own tomatoes on our deck. It was unbelievable how much flavor there was compared to those offered in the grocery store (that was before they offered organic varieties ha!). It is amazing to me how good the industrial grown fruit / vegetables can look yet it seems to come at a huge expense in terms of quality of taste and benefit. The fertilization process is much different as well as the pesticide usage. Man has found a way to substitue non-organic chemicals which produce a much greater harvest but with less quality.

There are many studies that seem to indicate a lot of our cancer and diseases are a result of some of this tainting of our food supply. I recently heard that cancer has now overtaken heart disease as the number one killer. I think it is interesting to look at the fact that the food which is supposed to give us nutrition and health may actually be doing us harm in some instances. It is a slow process to change traditions once they get established in an industry. Just watched a I love Lucy show where Ricky was smoking a cigarette while singing. That was completely normal back then but for those not from that era it seems so odd. Now of course we have a knowledge of how harmful smoking is to the body.

I find the correlation to these physical truths to be somewhat prophetic of what happens in the spiritual realm as well. Even in Hosea's day God was trying to show Israel that the way they were worshipping was not healthy nor pleasing to him. "Hos. 6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." It was not their sacrifices specifically that God was upset about seeing He instigated them. Rather it was the lack of spiritual graces that accompanied them. There was little thought regarding their fellow man and their relationship to God himself. Instead they were busy with a relegious agenda that in their mind was satisfying to God.

Jesus was questioned about his disciples eating corn in the field on the Sabboth by the relegious leaders of his day. He qouted this verse in Hosea to them as a rebuke to their misplaced values. It seems they were more interested in their relegious traditions and letter of the law than in the core values of their neighbor and in relationship with their God. So while they were offering their sacrifices of keeping the sabboth etc... God was looking for values/fruits of righteousness, justice, mercy, love, kindness etc... which can only come from a close relationship with Him.

A good question for us to consider is what does the Lord delight in. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and contrite heart. Perhaps that is the fertilizer we need to allow God to bring about the organic worship He delights in. He looks at the heart while we often look at what impresses and looks good outwardly.

Personally one area of worship I have enjoyed immensely is the coming together with the Lord's people and experiencing spontaneous worship. True heart felt offerings of thsoe gathered who have spent time with the Lord and want to offer their spiritual sacrifice through psalm, hymn, spiritual song, testimony, word etc... There is something organic about the natural expression of the Lord's people. Each one bringing their spiritual gift to add to the mix. This seems to be an area the Lord is opening up to his church sort of a "knowledge of the Lord" that allows Him to be revealed to his church in ways otherwise not experienced. As each part supplies it's part it provides a healthy exercise for the body and a natural/ organic way for the body to build itself up in the knowledge of the Lord Eph.4:16 Free from artificial fertilizers or enhancements the body has a chance to let the Lord be their focus and energy, it is truely refreshing.