Life on the Run

Over this vacation I have finally had some time to think and reflect on what series that I want to do next with The Well. I have had some time to read, study and pray, and the next series that I am going to do is going to be on the book of Jonah. I was captured with the way this story so dramatically illustrates the human condition. It shows our propensity to run both from God and from the call that God has on our life. Jonah shows the way that we even run from God in the name of religion.

The series is going to be called, "Life on the Run." I read a quote from an author and he said, "All human beings should learn, before they die, what they are running from, ad to, and why." I think that's true. I think it is a fair statement to say that we are probably all running either from or toward something. Once we figure out what we are running from or toward our life will make a lot sense.

Recession?

Here in Southern California we have been hearing a lot lately about the current economic downfall we have been experiencing. Houses are being foreclosed upon at an all-time high rate, the unemployment rates continue to rise, and poor little boys and girls can hardly afford to go to Disneyland anymore. Sad day! This economic downturn is not only effecting CA, but the rest of the nation as well. As I'm sure you read, the big three auto makers went back to congress to once again beg for a 14 billion dollar buyout (of their poorly run companies). Thanks goodness that congress once again shot them down... they will eventually give in though. These happenings are just a few examples of the signs of the times.

As a baseball fan, I'm glad to see that the current economic situation has not effected the Yankees. It amazes me that they continue to spend at an alarming rate. Just this week (in the midst of economic chaos in our country) they offered CC Sabathia a $161 million dollar deal. $24 million dollars per year. Not only are these types of contracts bad for baseball in general, they are a bad example to set for a country in peril. Personally, I hope this move comes back to bite the almighty Yankees... luckily, most of the moves they have made over the last few years have.

Milk: An Interesting Experience...

Thursday i finally finished this quarter of Seminary. It was a tough quarter. I took 4 classes which I am pretty convinced was 2 too many, but I'm done for a while! For our last class in Film and Theology we decided to go and see the movie Milk. It just came out. It has Sean Penn in it who plays Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to hold a public office. We went to see the movie on opening night... in Hillcrest. Hillcrest, if you're not familiar is probably the most openly gay community in Southern California. Needless to say, the theater was filled with homosexuals, and they made that known throughout the movie. It was one of the most interesting experiences that I have had in a long time!

As we entered the theater we were invited to a march against prop 8. Every time the movie showed a shot of the church or religious community (which it did often to show the way that church had opposed Harvey Milk and the homosexual population in general) there was open animosity shown. People booed, gasped, etc... you could feel the disdain for the church. At one point Anita Bryant was shown (actual footage from the 70's) making the statement "We love all people, we just don't approve of the homosexual lifestyle." When she said that the theater nearly erupted with laughter. I was caught off guard. I was surprised because I think I have said nearly the same thing before. It is interesting to know that taking that viewpoint is laughable to the homosexual population.

I left the theater pretty impacted by the movie, but deeply impacted by the experience. I am convinced that the church has a very long way to go in order to make inroads into the homosexual community. Unfortunately, the passing of prop 8 didn't help that journey in any way, shape, or form. We have a lot to overcome, but as always our hope is that the light of the gospel might shine in the darkest of areas and that it might bring hope to those who need it most. May the church make inroads and show love in such a way that when we say we love... it isn't laughable.

Genesis

Well, I'm done! I spent this week taking a Genesis intensive class at Bethel. ^ hours of class every day of the week. I think the only word for that is brutal. Actually I ended up rally liking the class and being extremely challenged by it. The prof held to the JEDP theory of authorship - which holds that Genesis was written by 4 different authors over the course of a few hundred years. While I don't leave the class holding the same position, I do walk away having a greater appreciation for the context in which Genesis was written and the theological implications of the book. I'm glad to be done!

An Experience in Hell

I had an experience yesterday that I think could only be rivaled by Hell itself. I moved to California almost a year ago to the day... so I decided that it was high time to get CA plates on my car. So, I had to go to the DMV. I had been putting it off for a long time, but I just decided to bite the bullet and go. The DMV is bad enough in and of itself, but I also am taking a Genesis intensive class next week. The class has a ton of reading for it, so I took some of the reading to the waiting room of the DMV. The reading was on the Ancient Myths of Mesopotamia. So, picture this, I am in the DMV, waiting in line, and reading ancient Mesopotamian literature. Friends, I promise you, it doesn't get any worse than that!

What you really think...

Last week I had the opportunity to go hear a few lectures by Dallas Willard. He is the author of The Divine Conspiracy, The Great Omission, and a bunch of other great books. While some many find lectures like this to be a bit boring, it was seriously like a massage for my soul. His central point is that Jesus calls us to discipleship... not believership. I won't go off here about how the church has gotten that backwards (especially the evangelcial church), but he did share one comment that really stuck with me. He said, "What you really think about Jesus will show when you realize that you don't have to do anything."

Today I want to spend time with Him, learning to be like Him.

A tribute to facial hair

This is the video some guys from The Well made for the Academy Awards night that we had this summer. I figured I would continue my recent trend of flooding the world with bad videos (Healer being the first!).