Christos Anesti!!

Christ is Risen! Indeed he is Risen! Amen!

I feel a little bad posting this a couple days after the great Feast of the Resurrection, but I guess late is better than never and my excuse is that I was too busy celebrating the feast to blog. Glory to Christ, he is Risen indeed!

I know that if I write too much of my own thoughts on this it would be shamefully disjointed and wouldn't do this glorious celebration justice and so I leave you with the words of the great preacher and bishop of Constantinople: John Chrysostom. I've posted this before, but it continues to bear repeating so here is John's Paschal (Easter) homily.

Is there anyone who is a devout lover of God?
Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!
Is there anyone who is a grateful servant?
Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!

Are there any weary with fasting?
Let them now receive their wages!
If any have toiled from the first hour,
let them receive their due reward;
If any have come after the third hour,
let him with gratitude join in the Feast!
And he that arrived after the sixth hour,
let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss.
And if any delayed until the ninth hour,
let him not hesitate; but let him come too.
And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour,
let him not be afraid by reason of his delay.

For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first.
He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour,
as well as to him that toiled from the first.
To this one He gives, and upon another He bestows.
He accepts the works as He greets the endeavor.
The deed He honors and the intention He commends.

Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!
First and last alike receive your reward;
rich and poor, rejoice together!
Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!

You that have kept the fast, and you that have not,
rejoice today for the Table is richly laden!
Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one.
Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith.
Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!

Let no one grieve at his poverty,
for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;
for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.

He destroyed Hades when He descended into it.
He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.
Isaiah foretold this when he said,
"You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below."

Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.
It was in an uproar because it is mocked.
It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.
It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.
It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.
Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.
O death, where is thy sting?
O Hades, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!

Christ is Risen! Glorify Him!

Glorious Feast!

Today the church exhorts us to join in a great paradox of feasting even in the midst of our Lenten fasting since today is the feast of the Annunciation. Today is the day that we celebrate and remember that glorious day when the Angel Gabriel came to the Virgin and proclaimed:

Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you...Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of the his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end....The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God....For nothing will be impossible with God. (Luke 1:30-33,35,37 NRSV)

Today is the day when we can see the full spectrum of our salvation. We look ahead to Good Friday when we remember our Lord's death, and we even glance beyond Good Friday longingly looking toward Easter Sunday, the feast of feasts, when we celebrate our Lords glorious resurrection. We look ahead like this today as we think of the angel's visitation to the Virgin. We recognize today, maybe more fully than at any other point, that our Lord came as a child to die and rise again for us and for our salvation.

The Lord and maker of the heavens, he who is uncontainable humbled himself so much that he allowed himself to take on flesh and to be contained in a womb. He who knows the expanse of the universe and who spoke to the darkness at creation is the same incarnate word that came and took on flesh as a fetus (if such an impersonal word can be used). We celebrate this day the incorporeal Son, the second person of the Trinity, taking on flesh so that humanity may be united to God. We rejoice in the fact that Christ our God took on every part of what it means to be human and yet was without sin. Our Lord took upon himself not only our flesh, but also our will - assuming everything that is intrinsic to us, for as St. Basil states: "that which was not assumed cannot be redeemed."

Today we also remember Mary's response to the Angel: "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). We remember that her response was a free choice and that it was not forced upon her. In this same way we remember that we are called to emulate her and to respond to God daily with the same words. Theotokos, the God-bearer, that is the title given to Mary by the early church, not as a sign of her exultation but to proclaim the mystery we celebrate today that God himself, in the person of the Son chose to be born. The uncreated one who is without beginning chose to unite himself to humanity so thoroughly that we can say with confidence that Mary bore God in her womb. To say this statement is hard and absurd is true, and yet it is also beautiful in the truth it proclaims. Christ is the fullness of God, and yet also the fullness of humanity and today we proclaim his love. We can see this love clearly as we remember his incarnation and look toward the cross and resurrection.

Glory to God in the Highest! Our redemption is at hand, for Christ our God is conceived in the womb of the virgin so that he may cleanse us from our sin.


Sadly this holy-day is forgotten in most of Protestantism probably due to a number of reasons, chief of which may be (and I'm just offering a hypothesis here) connected to the staunch rejection of anything having to do with the Virgin Mary at the time of Luther's reformation. I believe it would do us well to remember this day with our Catholic and Orthodox brothers and sisters. I believe this feast helps us to think more accurately about the incarnation of our Lord. It helps us to avoid the heresy of adoptionism and some gnostic tendencies that run deep in some of our traditions.

So let us today join with our Catholic and Orthodox friends and boldly sing the praises of God. For today we can see both the incarnation and the crucifixion/resurrection clearly. Let us praise God for his redemption of humanity for today we celebrate the coming of grace as the Son of God becomes the Son of the Virgin!

The Ladder, The Watchmen, and The Saint of Ireland

As I've noted before Kristy and I are reading St. John Climacus' The Ladder of Divine Ascent as a Lenten reading and let me say that even though we're still slowly working our way through the introduction by Bishop Kallistos Ware the book is well worth your time. Just like I stated about the SVS Press edition of St. Athanasius' On The Incarnation (here) this book is worth your time for the introduction alone. The reason it's taken us a few days to get through the introduction is that for the most part it has been very edifying and spiritually challenging (that and I've been a slacker and slothful in my reading at times). Granted I'm making assumptions just based on the introduction but I think this book, except for one part so far, if very accessible to the Protestant paradigm and is an excellent book in regards to the disciplined spiritual life.

At risk of jumping topics too abruptly I went to see the new movie Watchmen the other day and it led to some interesting thoughts. First let me say that I can't fully endorse the movie because it does contain nudity and some graphic violence. It also purports a philosophical worldview that is distinctly different from the Christian worldview. It is because of this last reason that I bring up the movie. While the movie was visually stunning I think it mainly held my attention for the whole 2 hours and 40 some minutes because of the philosophical claims and critiques it was making.

While I'm not trying to give away the movie, it seemed to constantly reiterate the fact that humanity in its essence is violent, perverse, and evil. It seemed to me that this is the central point around which the plot revolved. The suggestion seemed to be made that not only is humanity as a whole this way, but that individuals in their true self are also this way. My first thought was that this movie was offering some sort of Nihilistic philosophy, though I'm not certain that nihilism is the correct term. Either way it paints a world-view that is utterly hopeless and discounts the entire value of humanity. Humanity, so the movie seems to suggest, needs saved from itself by this band of super heroes.

While I know many theologians would probably agree with this depraved view of humanity this seemed to go well beyond the normal Calvinistic view of depravity. I apologize for not being able to accurately describe this but it has been a few very busy days since I saw the film. I would of course agree without reservation that humanity needs salvation and needs to be redeemed, however, I couldn't also help but think through a conversation I had about the "true self." I blogged (here) about this conversation way before I came to seminary and while I'm sure I would articulate things differently now I think I probably agree with it.

I also couldn't help but think throughout the film about some things that I had just read in the introduction of the Ladder. Bishop Kallistos states about John Climacus (italics mine):

Concerning the fall and the resulting distortion of human nature, John is indeed highly negative, although never sweepingly condemnatory in the manner of Augustine or Calvin; he nowhere suggests that the fall has led to a total corruption. But when he speaks about the condition prior to the fall - about humankind's true and natural state, which in Christ we can now regain - he is not only affirmative but optimistic. John is no Manichaean. Human nature in its entirety, body as well as soul, is God's creation and is therefore good: 'God neither caused nor created evil.' Sin is extrinsic to our true personhood: 'No one wants to sin against God.' There are many natural virtues, but no natural vices:

[he then quotes St. John Climacus:]
"evil or passion is not something naturally implanted in things. God is not the creator of passions. On the other hand there are many natural virtues that have come to us from Him"
[end quote of Climacus]

- and these include the highest virtues of all, faith, hope, and love.

It is the tension between these two drastically different views of humanity that I constantly thought about throughout the movie. Just like I have been teaching my confirmation class in recent weeks. While scripture teaches us sin and death entered the world through the Fall, the image of God in which we were created was in no means utterly destroyed. Sure it was marred or tarnished, but not utterly destroyed. There is hope, not that we can redeem ourselves, but that through Christ the image of God can be fully restored so that we may have communion with the divine.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting the philosophy present in the movie so I welcome comments and critiques.



On to St. Patrick, Enlightener of the Celts (ca. 385-464).

I would surely be remiss to blog this morning without mentioning St. Patrick of Ireland. While St. Patrick's Day has sadly been reduced to a time to wear green, drink green drinks, and look for leprechauns it is still good for us to celebrate the holy saint that helped to bring the gospel to the Ireland and who's work still has lasting impact.

While I'm not sure why we remember four-leaf clovers on St. Patrick's day, he is commonly remembered in icons as holding a shamrock or three-leaf clover. It was this clover that he commonly used to teach the doctrine of the Trinity to the Celtic people. Patrick was a devout defender of the faith even in the face of the many pagan tribes throughout the land. We've all heard stories of the Druidic religions of the Celtic region, and it was Patrick who brought the light of the Trinity to this dark place. I've always been awestruck by how beautifully Trinitarian celtic theology has been. This is no doubt largely due to St. Patrick and his work among these people. Praise the Lord for holy men and women like St. Patrick.

While I've not read much of his written works (none until this morning) I leave you with a quote from St. Patrick from his confessions (here). I found this work via my friend Matt Perkins' blog (here). He has a great St. Patrick quote on there that is worth checking out.

St. Patrick in his confessions tells of his zeal for the Lord:

Therefore may it never befall me to be separated by my God from his
people whom he has won in this most remote land. I pray God that he
gives me perseverance, and that he will deign that I should be a
faithful witness for his sake right up to the time of my passing.

And if at any time I managed anything of good for the sake of my
God whom I love, I beg of him that he grant it to me to shed my blood
for his name with proselytes and captives, even should I be left
unburied, or even were my wretched body to be torn limb from limb by
dogs or savage beasts, or were it to be devoured by the birds of the
air, I think, most surely, were this to have happened to me, I had
saved both my soul and my body. For beyond any doubt on that day we
shall rise again in the brightness of the sun, that is, in the glory of
Christ Jesus our Redeemer, as children of the living God and co-heirs
of Christ, made in his image; for we shall reign through him and for
him and in him.

For the sun we see rises each day for us at [his] command, but it
will never reign, neither will its splendour last, but all who worship
it will come wretchedly to punishment. We, on the other hand, shall not
die, who believe in and worship the true sun, Christ, who will never
die, no more shall he die who has done Christ's will, but will abide
for ever just as Christ abides for ever, who reigns with God the Father
Almighty and with the Holy Spirit before the beginning of time and now
and for ever and ever. Amen.

Lord, give us zeal for you and love for the lost of this world like your holy saint Patrick.

- Ben

Finally!!

I finally received my copy of St. John Climacus' Ladder of Divine Ascent.  So what if Lent already started, I guess I'll just have to catch up a bit.  I'll try to keep some regular posts coming on this.

Also if you haven't read or just ignored the comments I encourage you to check out the post entitled "Thoughts from Sunday School Prep."  There is a good conversation going on there between my friends Hiram (be sure to check out his site and music) and Nathaniel.  It started off with a discussion about the heresy of Modalism but it seems to have grown into a larger theological worldview discussion.  Very interesting perspectives and thoughts.  Both of these guys are brilliant and it is well worth a read and, if you feel inclined, your input.  If you want a quick link for easy access click here.

- Ben

Street Fighter the Lengend of Chun-Li

Usually when I talk about movies on this blog it's because the movie spurred some theological pondering or something of that sort (like the half written post on penance in light of Seven Pounds and Gran Torino that I'm still trying to figure out how to finish before I post.) While my response to Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li doesn't really fit the mold I couldn't resist writing a quick blurb about it.

Let me start by saying that I wasn't expecting much. I've learned not to expect much from movies that are based on video games (though I'm still anxiously wanting someone to make a Madden Football movie...BOOM!). So when I say that this movie is probably the worst movie I've seen in my entire life I'm not just using hyperbole. I came in with very low expectations desiring nothing more than to have my nostalgic desire fulfilled. Instead I came away awestruck at how utterly bad the movie was. I really am speechless to describe this to you.

Well I guess I'm not entirely speechless or I wouldn't be writing this blog post. As I was sitting in the theater watching this monstrosity one thought consumed my mind, that this movie is just like listening to a bad sermon (now you see how it ties into my normal movie posts - if I've done one before, I'm second guessing myself now).

Maybe I'm just that much of a nerd, I've spend too much time in school and therefore have an overly critical approach to life, or maybe I've just given too many bad sermons and thus I know them intimately, but I swear the best critique of this movie, besides awful, is that it is just like a horrible sermon.

You know those sermons that have a couple salient ideas but they're utterly lost in the disconnected points and choppy deliver. The sermons that you can tell the preacher has spent his or her whole week thinking of an illustration just to lose all content. This movie was scattered, choppy, disconnected, confusing at times, contained unnecessary rabbit trails, lacked substance, and contained every other element that would make a sermon go from tolerable to utterly bad, or even shameful.

The move still would have been awful even if I spent my time leading up to movie playing Street Fighter on SNES. The nostalgia factor was the only thing that allowed me to sit through the movie and plow through my way-too-big bag of popcorn (I forgot that I normally buy a medium to split with Kristy, not just for myself). I do have to give them some props for getting Chun-Li into her video game outfit (or close to it) in a non-cheesy way and for having her do one of her special moves. They also made sure to say "Balrog" a million times which was sort of cool, though I would have much rather heard: "Sonic Boom!" or "Hadoken!" (sorry I couldn't find a good SNES one).

They left the movie with an obvious sequal in mind, speaking of Ryu and if they do I'm sure I'll go see it, I'm not sure why, but I probably will.

- Ben

Thoughts from Sunday School Prep.

I've been teaching my 8th grade confirmation Sunday school class about the Trinity the past two weeks. I've really enjoyed it even if I was sad that I don't have enough time to really dig deep with them on this issue.

There is one thing that I've been thinking through that has really bothered me the last few days. As I prepare for Sunday school I try to think through various issues the kids may raise and attempt to prepare answers for them. One issue that I've been thinking through in anticipation of the kids was the heresy of Modalism. Even though this issue didn't come up I've been thinking a lot about Modalism the past few days. Just to be clear I'm not thinking about it in a "maybe it's right" sort of way. I completely affirm with the Fathers and the councils that Modalism is a heresy and that it incorrectly describes the Trinity. What I've been thinking about is the soteriological ramifications of modalism.

I've spent the last three years reading, believing, and praying trinitarian doctrine. I affirm the truth brought forth in the seven ecumenical councils of the Church and am resolutely Trinitarian in every way. I can could go on and on explaining why certain Christological heresies strike right at the heart of our ability to be redeemed by God. I can explain to you why it is primarily a salvific issue that Mary be called Theotokos and not Christotokos (as the Nestorian heresy taught), I can tell you how Arianism distorts God's plan of salvation, and I can tell you why I believe that the insertion of the Filoque into the Nicene Creed creates a propensity for Modalism in the West.

Despite all this, when I was thinking about and trying to articulate why we reject I could do no better than penciling down how Modalism is directly contrary to the God explained in scripture. Don't get me wrong, that in and of itself is enough to reject a certain teaching, especially one concerning the Trinity. But I wanted to offer my kids (if they asked, which they didn't) something more than "obviously this isn't how God is spoken about in scriptures." Don't get me wrong, I have a very high view of the scriptures and I believe them to be very clear that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three different persons and yet all fully divine but the scriptures can be distorted and indeed they were used by the modalists to corrupt the teaching of the Godhead.

And so I decided this week that I wasn't going to look up the answer in Pelikan's history, a book on doctrine, or in the works of Irrenaeus and other such prolific defenders of the faith. I decided this because I have no doubts that the belief in Modalism is detrimental to our faith and it corrupts how we think about God. I also know that I have worked through this in the past but am merely drawing a blank. So I ask those of you more theologically astute than I am to post your thoughts on this.

It seems to me the Modalism largely strikes at the incarnation. The description is on the tip of my tongue but I cannot seem to fully articulate it. I had hoped writing this blog post would help me to be able to articulate things but it hasn't worked this time. If each person of the Trinity is not really a person but just a "mode" of God or a temporary manifestation of God (as Modalism teaches) then it seems that something about our redemption in Christ is incomplete. It seems that if Christ is just a mode then was humanity really assumed and redeemed? For we know as St. Basil states; "that which was not assumed cannot be redeemed" (paraphrase).

It also seems that if the Spirit is just a mode of some ethereal divine essence then I wonder how fully dwells within believers. I am so frustrated because I sense all these problems with Modalism and yet I cannot fully articulate it. So give input and we can have ourselves a nice old fashioned heresy bashing party.


Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Ash Wednesday

Today, marks the beginning of Lent for those of us who follow the western ecclesial calendar. Today is a day that we receive ashes on our foreheads to remind us of our mortality. From dust we were created and one day to dust we will return.

Unless our Lord returns beforehand we will all die. While it may be considered morbid by some to think on our looming death it is actually a long standing Christian teaching that we should remember our mortality. The fathers teach through the ages to think on our mortality not only on this day, but all days.

This teaching is hard, but it is good for us to remember our mortality not in a morbid "goth" sort of way, but so that we may place ourselves in proper perspective. We think on our death so that we may remember that we are not God and so that we may live every moment, treat every encounter, and think every thought like it may be our last. This practice helps us to cast out the sin in our life and embrace a life that is full of love and glorifying to God.

So let us begin our Lenten journey today and let us remember our mortality so that we may live truly dispassionate lives daily casting off the passions that cause us to sin. And so we as we receive ashes let the lenten prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian remind us of the passions we seek to throw off and the virtues we seek to embrace.

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant. Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for blessed art Thou, unto ages of ages. Amen.

By the Power of Grayskull!

Yes, I did just quote He-Man. I used to love He-Man so much, in fact, that according to my mom I used to run around the house shouting "By the power of Grayskull!" I guess this is only fitting that I now work in Castle Grayskull.

The other day I was riding in a car with our Associate Pastor and our Director of Contemporary Arts and mentioned off the cuff that our church building sort of looked like Castle Grayskull. The more I thought about this I wondered if I was right and so today in a moment of distraction I did some image comparison and concluded that do indeed work in the Castle Grayskull.

Here is the wikipedia entry for Castle Grayskull, it has about the best image I can find of it.

Compare this with the image of the outside of my church found on our website (here).

If you envision the picture of our church taken from the same perspective the image of Grayskull is drawn I think it fits. Even if it doesn't, I don't care. I am going to continue to think that I work in Grayskull because it is stinking awesome!

On a more theological note:

Western Lent begins in 2 days are you ready? I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to eat all my leftovers in the fridge that have meat in them before Ash Wednesday. I hope to blog quite a bit during Lent since Kristy and I are planning on reading The Ladder of Divine Ascent together (if our copies ever get here). The book is written by a monk for other monks and is suppose to be full of wisdom on spiritual growth. We'll see how it goes.

- Ben

In preparation of Lent

Yes, Lent is right around the corner. For those of us who follow the Western church calendar this years lenten season begins with Ash Wednesday on February 25. This past week it was my turn to write a brief article for our church newsletter. Below is what I wrote to encourage our congregation to begin looking towards lent even though it is a week or two off.

"Acquire a peaceful spirit, and around you, thousands will be saved."
- St. Seraphim of Sarov


Though I didn’t discover the above quote until a few months ago, it has quickly risen to the top of my list of all-time favorites. It reminds me of the call placed upon us by our Savior and God when he told the expert in the law that the greatest commandment was to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37 NIV). But knowing full well that many would seek to find holiness without loving others, our Lord quickly reminded this teacher that the second greatest commandment is like the first, namely, “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39 NIV). John Wesley picked up on this concept when he described Christian Perfection as perfect love for God and neighbor. These two loves are inextricably bound together for those of us who are in Christ. It is, as we love God that we can do nothing other than love our neighbor.

With these words in mind we look forward ever so slightly to realize that the Lenten Spring is coming. In just a few weeks we cast aside that which clutters our vision so that we may clearly see our God and Savior Jesus Christ. That we may descend the way of the Cross so that we may come to a fuller and more true love of God – truly acquiring the peace of God within our hearts. And so my brothers and sisters let us begin our preparation for Lent, so that we may indeed as St. Seraphim of Sarov says; “acquire a peaceful spirit” so that, loving our neighbor as ourselves, thousands around us may be saved.

What?

My friend JD (here) recently posted a youtube video of a fashion show in Britain for church ministers. I watched the short video and it made me sad. Not only did the whole fashion show deal make me sad, but the comments made by the deaconess interviewed couldn't be any more contrary to what vestments and worship is all about.

If you watch the video (here) listen to the comments that the deaconess makes at the :35 mark and following. If my hearing is correct she says:

"I've always worn bright(?) clothes and I think the clothes I want to wear as a clergy person should really reflect that...should really reflect my personality and should also reflect the glory of God's creation."

In my understanding the goal of vestments is to not only hide the individual, but also to draw one's attention toward the things of God. She is placing herself and her personality at the center of leading worship. Nothing could be further from the goal of worship. Worship is about ascribing glory to a God that is holy and glorious. It is about asking our loving Father to have mercy on us through his Son. Worship is about laying aside all earthly cares so that we may receive the King who comes invisibly - namely Jesus Christ.

If we begin to desire to see ourselves in worship then we begin to become anthropocentric instead of theocentric. We will undoubtedly begin to worship ourselves and our preferences and as such we will surely lose our souls.

Lord Have Mercy!

Text Messaging: My arch-nemisis!

I hate text messaging, and may even go so far as to say it is the bane of my existence. Sure it has it's purposes and if you looked at my cell phone bills (or rather my parent's bills because ashamedly I was still on their plan in seminary) you would see a moderate usage of text messages.

But now I am thrust into the world of youth ministry and for my middle to upper-middle class kids text messaging is the chief means of communication. Apparently e-mail is too cumbersome and to my surprise Facebook and Myspace are even out for most of them. They text like there is no tomorrow and will often have full conversations via text messaging (one of my biggest pet peeves).

So in an effort to actually be able to encourage and communicate with my kids I've decided that I need to descend into the fiery pits of text messaging. As I contemplate this task I feel like the main character from Dante's Inferno, who, as he approaches the entrance into Hell, sees a sign that reads "Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here." I am that dreadful soul descending into the darkest abyss where I am forced to submit to my arch enemy the text message. Lucky for me my new work phone number is an unlimited text plan.

Really the scenario isn't as bad as it sounds since I've found some solutions to my texting incompetence. One solution I found was on the "Simply Youth Ministry" website (here). Here they offer what is brilliantly called "Simply TXT" (you can watch the video here). This neat little subscription program is really the impetus for the post, but I thought I would provide some interesting (and true) back story instead of just calling the post "Simply TXT: Ripping of Youth Ministers One Text at a Time." Though that may be a catchy title.

You see, while I'm not a technical savant like some of my friends, I am educated enough in the ways of technology to know that you can send text messages from an email account for free. I also realized that if I could figure out the same information that this program asks for (number and carrier) then I could create my own groups and send unlimited messages without paying the 10,20,30, or 40 dollars each month. Especially when my budget is already small.

So good job Doug Fields and Simply Youth Ministry, you have created a nice interface so that you can charge youth ministers and churches money so that they can open up another way of communicating to their parishioners. I understand that your websites subtitle is: "simplifying ministry...saving you time" but I doubt your program will save much time in the long run.

I understand that you don't charge much, but your program doesn't do much either and it seems to me that it would have been more beneficial for you to just offer a link to a website like "makeuseof.com" (here) and then told your readers to make a contact list of the various numbers in either outlook, mail, or some other client. Sure you wouldn't be able to fleece youth ministers and churches, and you wouldn't be able to make a quick buck in rough times. But your ministry helps are gobbled up by so many people that it baffles me why you wouldn't point them to a way to achieve the same goal while not costing their ministry a cent. (Ok, It really doesn't baffle me it just makes me sad and a little perturbed).

So Doug Fields and Simply Youth Ministry, I salute you for ripping off the masses of youth leaders who are using your product. Way to be capitalists first and Christians second.

Post Super-Bowl Thoughts

Contrary to what the title may convey, this post is more about theology and popular piety than it is about the Super Bowl.

For the past three years up until I moved to NC I attended an Orthodox church. In this church I've been fed and nourished in the faith. I have come to love Orthodoxy very much (even though I don't have any current plans to convert) and I believe that those of us who belong to the Western Church would greatly benefit from a strong dose of Eastern theology and piety.

As friends and family visited me and attended church with me one of the major points of questioning, curiosity, and ridicule (though very rare) was that things (in particular holy things) were venerated through kissing. For example: icons, the chalice, and other things of theological and liturgical significance are kissed as a sign of reverence.

As I watched the Super Bowl Trophy presentation the other day I couldn't help but notice that almost every player and coach anxiously awaited his chance to not only touch the trophy but to kiss it as well. As I watched these grown men kissing this small metallic trophy I recounted sport event after sport event where this same scenario has played itself out. Whether it be the World Series, the Stanley Cup, the NBA Finals, or the Super Bowl, each year I see grown men kiss a trophy and I have never heard a single individual remark how odd, weird, or creepy it is.

I'm not mentioning all this to condemn anyone, but rather just as an observation. It's interesting how some actions can cause us distress in one setting while in a completely different setting they seem perfectly normal. I especially think this whole concept is odd when you consider it from a Protestant perspective.

Conservative Protestants are typically the first group of people to criticize Catholics and Orthodox for their ritual movements and posturing. They criticize when they cross themselves, when they kiss holy objects, when they repeat written prayers, and when they kneel repeatedly during services. Yet these same conservative protestants are the first ones to salute the American flag, put their hand over their heart during the national anthem, say the pledge of allegiance, and kiss super bowl trophies and the like.

I find it very interesting that we can support and accept a set of actions when they are directed toward a nation-state or a championship trophy, but yet utterly reject them when they are directed toward the holy things of God.

I'm sure there are many more reasons for this disparity but I thought I'd begin the discussion here.

Long Time

It's been a long while since I last posted. Ashamedly I missed Christmas, well not really, but I had somethings that I was going to post and I neglected to post them in a timely fashion. Who knows, maybe I'll post them anyways.

This quick note is just to say that I'm still alive and although I've been absent from blogging for a little over a month I should be back soon. I've been busy with travel for the holidays, job interviews, and moving out of my temporary living place into a new more temporary place.

In a week or two I will be relocating to North Carolina where I will be taking a position at a United Methodist Church as a Youth Director. I hope to pick up my blogging soon-ish, but realistically it should be back into full swing in a month or so after I get moved and get adjusted.

But who knows, maybe there will just be undeniable blogging fodder that I have to post, like the unification of the Church or some amazing thing like that.

- Ben

A Small Bit of Humor From the Job Search

I was looking for jobs today and I came across something that made me laugh a little bit. I saw a posting for a "Spanish speaking pastor" and the mildly humorous part was that it was for a pentecostal church in California. My first thought was "huh? Don't Pentecostals believe in speaking in tongues anymore?"

I'm not intending to belittle Pentecostals or the gift of speaking in tongues. All I'm saying is that this job posting made me chuckle a little bit.

Ok, maybe it's only funny if you're a theology nerd like me... but I laughed. =)

Eccumenical Awesomeness!!!

His Eminence Bartholomew, ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, delivered the linked address to the synod of Catholic bishops at the Sistine Chapel on October 18, 2008. I love how the Catholics and Orthodox continue to dialogue about unification. Remember that they have been separated from each other since 1054 AD. (Some scholars debate the dating of this schism but we'll allow it to stand since it is fairly accepted.) This is very significant since it is, as Bishop Bartholomew states, "the first time in history that an Ecumenical Patriarch is offered the opportunity to address a Synod of the Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church, and thus be part of the life of this sister Church at such a high level."

It warms my heart that these two churches continue to seek unification after so many years and so many divergent issues. Let us continue to pray that one day all of the Christians may be unified under one banner.

Read the address here.

Thanks for Greg Sigountos who passed it along to me.


Some of my favorite quotes from the address:

We regard this as a manifestation of the work of the Holy Spirit leading our Churches to a closer and deeper relationship with each other, an important step towards the restoration of our full communion.

Mission and evangelization remain a permanent duty of the Church at all times and places; indeed they form part of the Church’s nature, since she is called “Apostolic” both in the sense of her faithfulness to the original teaching of the Apostles and in that of proclaiming the Word of God in every cultural context every time. The Church needs, therefore, to rediscover the Word of God in every generation and make it head with a renewed vigour and persuation also in our contemporary world, which deep in its heart thirsts for God’s message of peace, hope and charity.

This duty of evangelization would have been, of course, greatly enhanced and strengthened, if all Christians were in a position to perform it with one voice and as a fully united Church. In his prayer to the Father little before His passion our Lord has made it clear that the unity of the Church is unbreakably related with her mission “so that the world may believe” (John 17, 21)

For “hearing, beholding and handling the Word of life” (1 Jn 1.1) are not first and foremost our entitlement or birthright as human beings; they are our privilege and gift as children of the living God. The Christian Church is, above all, a scriptural Church. Although methods of interpretation may have varied from Church Father to Church Father, from “school” to “school,” and from East to West, nevertheless, Scripture was always received as a living reality and not a dead book.

In the context of a living faith, then, Scripture is the living testimony of a lived history about the relationship of a living God with a living people. The Word, “who spoke through the prophets” (Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed), spoke in order to be heard and take effect. It is primarily an oral and direct communication intended for human beneficiaries. The scriptural text is, therefore, derivative and secondary; the scriptural text always serves the spoken word. It is not conveyed mechanically, but communicated from generation to generation as a living word.

The entire world is a prologue to the Gospel of John. And when the Church fails to recognize the broader, cosmic dimensions of God’s Word, narrowing its concerns to purely spiritual matters, then it neglects its mission to implore God for the transformation – always and everywhere, “in all places of His dominion” – of the whole polluted cosmos.

Within the life of the Church, the unfathomable self-emptying (kénosis) and generous sharing (koinonía) of the divine Logos is reflected in the lives of the saints as the tangible experience and human expression of God’s Word in our community.

And within the communion of saints, each of us is called to “become like fire” (Sayings of the Desert Fathers), to touch the world with the mystical force of God’s Word, so that – as the extended Body of Christ – the world, too, might say: “Someone touched me!” (cf. Mt 9.20) Evil is only eradicated by holiness, not by harshness. And holiness introduces into society a seed that heals and transforms. Imbued with the life of the sacraments and the purity of prayer, we are able to enter the innermost mystery of God’s Word.

When the world does not share the joy of Christ’s Resurrection, this is an indictment of our own integrity and commitment to the living Word of God.

As we struggle – in ourselves and in our world – to recognize the power of the Cross, we begin to appreciate how every act of justice, every spark of beauty, every word of truth can gradually wear away the crust of evil. However, beyond our own frail efforts, we have the assurance of the Spirit, who “helps us in our weakness” (Rom. 8.26) and stands beside us as advocate and “comforter” (Jn 14-6), penetrating all things and “transforming us – as St. Symeon the New Theologian says – into everything that the Word of God says about the heavenly kingdom: pearl, grain of mustard seed, leaven, water, fire, bread, life and mystical wedding chamber.” Such is the power and grace of the Holy Spirit...

Glory to God! Amen.

More thoughts on the Celebration of All Saints Day

As I continued to think about my previous post on All Saints Day and why I think Protestants need to celebrate it, I started thinking through possible resistance to this idea that I assume many low-church/fundamentalist Protestants would have. What I'm speaking about is not those who are merely ignorant of the Christian practice of All Saints Day, but those who would oppose it as irreligious, unchristian, Catholic, or for various other reasons.

One thought in particular that I had in regard to this and the current political fervor surrounding almost everyone right now was that many of these same Protestants who object to celebrating All Saints Day are some of the very same Christians who will be the first to remember the fallen who gave their lives for this country on Memorial Day and Independence Day.

On Memorial Day and Independence Day many Americans will proudly remember the long heritage of this Country. They will tell stories of the fallen who have show themselves to be heroic in face of the enemy. These same fallen men and women will be celebrated because it is on their dream and dedication that America now stands. In essence these two American holidays (holy days) are nothing more than despiritualized political versions of All Saints Day for our nation-state.

So to those Christians who strongly object to celebrating All Saints Day and yet proudly celebrate Memorial Day and Independence day I ask you where your citizenship lies. Are we Christians and then Americans or are we Americans and then Christians? How dare we celebrate the heritage of this nation and celebrate the lives and deaths of the fallen for this country and yet neglect heritage of the Church and those who have been killed for Christ by the governments of this world. How dare we seek to follow the example of those who fell for this country and yet allow the example of the Martyrs to be void from our churches? In my opinion it is indefensible for us to claim citizenship in heaven and yet act as though we are Americans first and Christians second.

Before I get labeled Anti-American let me say that I'm not arguing that we shouldn't celebrate Memorial Day and Independence Day as Christians, but I am arguing that those who call themselves Christians and chose to celebrate these holidays while refusing to celebrate All Saints Day show by their actions that they consider themselves citizens of the world first and citizens of heaven second.

To those who proclaim Christ while refusing to remember his Church, his martyrs, and the saints before us and yet celebrate this nation's heritage I challenge you to start celebrating the heritage of your true home (the people of God) or cease celebrating the rising of this nation. There is no other Christian option.

Nations and political causes rise and fall but those who lived and died for Christ will reign with him in glory forever.

Let us take joy in the fact that we are Americans, but let us never forget that we are Christians first and everything is secondary to that. So celebrate and remember those fallen for our country if you feel so compelled, but as a Christian remember St. Stephen the first martyr, remember Sts. Peter and Paul who were killed by the Romans . Think also of those Christians who were imprisoned in the Gulag during the Soviet regime in Russia or those who die as I type in China at the hand of the Communists or the Philippines at the hand of militant Muslims. Follow Christ as Polycarp and Ignatius of Antioch followed him even to their deaths and allow Maximus the Confessor who had his tongue cut out and his right hand cut off for confessing the truth of Christ to be your role model. Remember them and the cloud of witnesses that surround them for it is their blood that is the seed of the Church by the power of the good and live-giving Holy Spirit!

Why Protestants Should Celebrate All Saints Day

This may be a day or two late, but I figured it was probably still something worth posting. Many protestant churches have their harvest parties, chili cook-offs, and other fun gatherings this time of year and yet ignore the explicitly Christian feast of All Saints Day. The reason for ignoring this holiday probably has many reasons including the extremes of mere ignorance and anti-Catholic bias. It is my contention that even within a Protestant theological structure All Saints can and should serve as a life-giving feast of the Church that edifies believes and draws them closer to God.

Here are a few reason why I think Protestants should celebrate All Saints Day.

- The great cloud of witnesses listed in Hebrews does not end with the closing of the Canon. There have been holy men and women through the centuries that are examples of how one can and should live in faith, holiness, and love for God. In fact All Saints Day is a celebration of the Saints of Scripture as well as those that have lived after.

- The Faith is passed from one generation of faithful Christians to another generation of faithful Christians. While we Protestants may think that we are a "bible only" people, we are not. Without the faithful witness of the Church preserving the teaching and the scriptures we would be lost.

- God has chosen to reveal himself and to pass down the Faith through these faithful witnesses and it is surely good that we remember them and thank him for the faithful that have lived before us.

- Many Protestant congregations and individuals act like the Christian calendar consists of Christmas and Easter while a few others would include Advent and Lent. The Christian calendar provides a life-giving standard of living for the whole year and Protestantism needs to grab a hold of this. We desperately need to orient our lives to God and we need to approach this holistically. In order to orient ourselves in both body and soul we need to take upon ourselves the practice of fasting and feasting with the Church. We need to allow the church to dictate our calendars, meals, and practices. Recapturing All Saints Day is just a part of this larger issue.

- Just as Paul exhorts his readers to imitate him as he imitates Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1) so we too should be imitators of the holy saints that have gone before us, for in their martyrdom and testimony they have shown us how to imitate Christ.

- It's part of the tradition of the Church. Yes, I know this statement strikes at the very heart of Protestantism, but it is nevertheless true. The faithful of the church saw it fitting to include the remembrance of the saints through a feast for our spiritual edification. We cannot be so arrogant to ignore this exhortation. I realize that this sounds odd coming from a Protestant but as Christians we cannot believe whatever we want. We must remember that Christ said the gates of hell would not overcome the Church and as such we must believe what the Church hands to us. We are separated by ages and Holy Spirit has chosen to use the Church as his method for handing the faith from generation to generation.



Those are just a few reasons why we as Protestants must celebrate All Saints Day. We need to remember the Saints, Martyrs, and Ascetics that have gone before us. We should celebrate the feast of All Saints and thank the Father for faithfully handing down the gospel of his Son through these faithful men and women by the power of the Spirit. We should allow their holy lives to inspire us and as we celebrate this feast we should beg the Father to help us live in such a way that all of our life we will inspire future generations into holiness.

Soup, Stews, and Chili - an Ontological Discussion

I went to a Wesleyan church this Sunday in order to hear a friend preach and I ended up staying for their annual Chili Cook-off. On the way back from church I mentioned to Kristy that I'm not a huge chili fan, but that I love the recipe I have for "White Chili" (courtesy of Jennifer Lucrezio). This began a discussion as to what makes a chili different from a stew and what separates a stew from a soup.

We never really resolved the discussion (hence my reason for posting this) but here are a few thoughts/questions we had.

- Could there have once been a distinction implied in the language but as with most things in language (correct me if I'm wrong Diercks) it has become blurred over time.

- Does a chili necessarily have to be "red" or tomato based? If so then what is "White Chili?"

- Does a stew have to be thicker than a soup and runnier than chili?

- I think stew has bigger hunks of things than soup, but then there is the obvious contradiction of Potato soup.

So with these thoughts in mind here are some dictionary definitions from the Oxford American Dictionary on my computer:

Soup:
- a liquid dish, typically made by boiling meat, fish, or vegetables, etc., in stock or water

Stew:
- a dish of meat and vegetables cooked slowly in liquid in a closed dish or pan

Chili:
- a small hot-tasting pod of a variety of capsicum, used chopped (and often dried) in sauces, relishes, and spice powders. There are various forms with pods of differing size, color, and strength of flavor, such as cascabels and jalapeños.

I know the Chili definition doesn't really fit the discussion, but it's the only definition it would give me.


So the question: What is exactly entailed for something to be called chili, soup, or stew? And what, if any is the ontological difference that separates the three?

Thoughts are much appreciated.

Singleness and Ministry

The first time it happened I shrugged it off, the second posting I saw I ignored, but the trend that I've noticed while browsing pastoral job postings online came to a head the other day when I called about a position and was told not to apply because I was single.

I can understand if these churches were looking seeking a pastor only for unwed mothers or for some other small microcosm of the church like that. But most of these positions have been for your average run-of-the-mill pastor. The most recent one was for a UM church in Covington, Indiana looking for an Associate Pastor who's "ministry areas would focus on youth and children's ministry." The posting for this job said that they were looking for a "couple with elementary kids" and so I decided to call to see if this was just a preference or if it was a definitive restriction. When I asked the question to the Pastor he said "that's what we need to have" and as soon as I got the words "I was wondering because I'm a recent seminary graduate and I'm single" out of my mouth he make a quick move to close the conversation and pretty much hung up on me.

While I am very frustrated at this paradigm I can't fault the pastor for openly stating that a married couple with children is what his congregation needs. I have to respect that he has the needs of his parish in mind while looking for an Associate Pastor, but I do have to fundamentally disagree with his assessment that his congregation NEEDS a married couple WITH children.

Maybe he is right that his congregation does need that sort of couple. But it really seems to me that this case and the many others are indicative of the lie that Protestantism has largely embraced, namely, that being married is better and more edifying than being single.

This view, which dominates Protestant Christianity, is not Christian in either a biblical or historical sense. While I don't want to spend the time laying out an exhaustive case let me lay a little bit of a foundation.

In 1st Corinthians Paul makes an argument to the unmarried that thy should remain unmarried as he is. If this wasn't enough we also can remember that our Lord himself was single. These seem to present a solid enough case but one might be tempted to raise the passages in which it lists one of the qualifications of an Elder as having a spouse. I think it is significant that the verse uses "of one" or "only one." Thus implying that marriage itself isn't a requirement but that not having more than one spouse is.

Historically Christians have always valued singleness and celibacy. This is evidenced by the vibrant monastic life through the church and the many saints who were unwed (both male and female). One can also see extremes in this; such as the push for continent marriage among some of the later fathers. While we would recognize this extreme as ridiculous I also think that we have gone just as far in our thinking that singleness makes one not able to fully minister.

I personally think that this misconstrual by the Protestant church has done more damage than good. Besides the obvious problems that this may bring; such as problem marriages, high divorce rates and the like, I think the biggest problem with this mindset is that it prohibits Protestantism from having monks and nuns.

Granted there are other factors (historical and ecclesial) that contribute to the complete absence of protestant monasteries. But with this diminished view of the single person and the single person in ministry Protestantism shoots itself in the foot by implicitly setting a stance that is contrary to the monastery.

You may be asking why the monastery is so important. It is my contention that monasteries are absolutely vital to the health of the Church. In fact, I would argue that one of the reasons why protestant theology is in such a mess right now is because we have not had a monastic presence to norm theological development. Not only do monasteries provide a place for spiritual retreats and pilgrimages with individuals who have committed themselves to be dead to the world, focus solely on God, and live by a strict rule of discipline. But they act as a vital place of piety and theology for the church and the individuals. Through history as the church has started to deviate from the apostolic faith one of the major factors that has kept the church on course has been the voice and call of the monastics. These men and women spend their lives breathing, praying, and living the faith out in its fullness and as such the Church in the trenches must rely on their holy advice in times of trial.

To come full circle, it seems to me that the attitudes exemplified by this pastor in Indiana and the countless others that I have seen that require a potential minister to be married are very dangerous to the Church as a whole. We, as Protestant Christians, need to learn from our Orthodox and Catholic brothers and sisters that have a strong theology of singleness and marriage. I'm not sure if or how one could develop a Protestant monastery for as I said the roadblocks are numerous, but we need to realize that singleness is not a plague and that single people may have more to offer the Church that just inexperience.

As an addendum it may be helpful in-case anyone stumbles across this post to know that while I am not married I don't feel that my call in life is to remain unmarried. And for my friends who read this: yes, I am still with Kristy.

I'm not dead yet....

Don't worry, even though it's been over a month since my last post I haven't disappeared. I would like to offer some wonderful excuse as to why I haven't blogged in a long time, but basically it comes down to me being lazy and having a super crappy internet connection at the apartment in which I'm living.

Some updates:

- Still no job. Yep, unemployed life is starting to suck real bad. Honestly, I'm baffled by this, I spend most of my day-time at the Seminary library trying to apply for as many jobs as I can find and nothing! I've applied for positions as a senior pastor, youth pastor, with para-church organizations, with private Christian schools... pretty much anything which involves some sort of ministry and will allow me to use my calling, skills, gifts, and my education. Still nothing! I've had a few interviews, but they usually boil down to not having enough experience or making it down to the last cut before they choose the other person. True I have had two offers but one was a real bad situation and the other one didn't pay enough for me to be able to pay back school loans and still eat.

- With that said, I'm still in KY until I find a job or run out of money and have to move home with the rents or live out of my car.

- I'm also still reading Canonical Theism. I haven't finished it yet because I'm lazy and haven't felt like reading much lately. I do pick it up occasionally and I am then reminded why I think it's such a great book. As I read this book I realize that they (it's a collection of essays) are articulating what I have come to believe, but could not coherently express. I think I've mentioned it before, but the subject matter of the book is how and why we need to recapture the entire canonical heritage of the church. It's a great book, go read it!

- I'm still occasionally running sound for the company I work for in Lexington. I really don't want to work for them full-time, but my bank account will soon be informing me that I will need to put pursuing ministry on hold and work for them for a year or pursue living in my car. But either way I don't have to work the dreaded Questapalooza show this year, as I'm on assignment at another show.

- The evil Brett Favre did not end up in Minnesota so now my football season has been saved. I also had my fantasy football draft (for my primary league) and I think my team looks OK, but it also has the potential to totally suck. For our 12 team league here is my team:

QB: Tony Romo; Kurt Warner
RB: Reggie Bush; Michael Turner; LenDale White; Kenny Watson; Ray Rice
WR/TE: Andre Johnson; Jerricho Cotchery; Calvin Johnson; Drew Bennett; Ted Ginn Jr. (despite the fact he played for OSU); Robert Meachem; Eddie Royal
K: Ryan Longwell
DST: Patriots


Nothing else is really new in life, but there are some basic updates. Hopefully I'll get a little more motivation soon and be able to finish off Canonical Theism which will give me something a little more substantial to post about.

Well I guess I should get back to applying for jobs.


- Ben