Fighting in the Bookstore

I love bookstores. If I am in an unfamiliar city, and I spot a bookstore, I feel like have some sense of security. Because even if I were to get lost, I'll just be lost there. I don't own any type of e-reader, and I actually think they are one of the few things that technology got wrong. I think ink and paper tell better stories, they have a depth that technology can't hold. You may disagree, which in a completely random way, leads to the intent of this writing.

Why is there so much fighting in the bookstore? Not punch you in the face and break your nose, kind of fighting. Fighting as in, this book was written about that book, but more so about how that book is stupid and uninformed. Which means someone else is going to write a book to parody both of those books, and of course trumpet itself as even more enlightened. If you are wondering where I find all these books, it is in the "Christian" aisle of your local bookstore, or in "Christian" bookstores. Awesome. Better yet, these books are in the "Christian Inspiration" section, which is all the more eye-rolling for me. These authors were inspired to call that person dumb and uninformed, and highlight their own grand enlightenment? The God who created, well creation, who is infinitely wise and breathes innovation and creativity, inspired you to write a book about that person's stupid, inspiration?

With that, I am announcing my brand new book!! Be on the lookout for it in your local bookstore, "The Tool Shed: Why The Shack lacks the tools to communicate that Love came in third place because it didn't have 50 Purpose Driven Shades of Gray" It's better than that heretic's book!

You can find me, and my better than your book, over in the "Encouragement" aisle of the "Christian" bookstore, if you want me to sign a copy, or discredit that other author.

Sarcastic rant inspired by the Apostle Paul asking why the church in Corinth is divided :-)

You said what?

Describe the people you spend the most amount of time with?

Describe the people you have the most fun with?

Describe the people you most admire?

Describe the people you have a small slice of envy for? (It's a OK, we're just going to be a little honest)

Are there commonalities among the people? Are there places you could connect people, or is that idea completely insane to you? What are the major differences, if any?

Does any of the descriptions above describe your church? How so? How not? If church isn't a part of your life, does anything above shed light on why? OK, so why?

Obviously I'm interested in people, not describing services, because services are typically about style and church is about people. More accurately, people gathering around God, exploring, examining, listening and immersing.

Hits? Misses? Anything interesting?

Eyes to See

"Where is God?" "This is what happens when we take God out of the public school system." Was it in the t-shirt or Facebook post that said, "God, where were you? God: I am not allowed in the public school."?

Wow, how disempowering for the church. Does the government actually have that kind of power? Even if we cave to that dilapidated thinking, then we're the only people that lose, not God.

God is not directed by our government's laws, motions and rules.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Did the Roman Empire approve of this? Did any of the religious sects agree with this, or believe it to be true in Jesus? And yet the Christian faith says it is true, and it did happen, and it continues to happen, right?

The United States is not a "Christian Nation," and it never was, and I'm not waiting around for it to happen either. If we are going to draw our directives from our country and our government, then we're in bigger trouble than any of us can imagine.

The first of three short letters from John, towards the end of our Bible, says, "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him... No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

Among us and in us and that we might live through him. Love people, all people.

Pray wherever you want, read your Bible wherever you want, and sit and listen to God wherever you want. So we can't hang plaques and banners, pictures and religious paraphernalia in government buildings. Is that why there is darkness in our society? Really? Or maybe it's because we believe that crap and so we hand over our responsibility, our calling, willingly.

God among us, in us, and through us. Stand up church, be the church, and know that the Word desires to take on flesh in you and I. Let's not wait for the Empire to do something, because that would be abdicating the call to the church, Jesus' Bride, and handing it over to the Empire, which is at odds with God.

God is in us, so take Him to school, all schools. Take Him with you, because He is waiting for us to go! He desires to send us, He is hungry to move through us. It's time to giddy up, right?

May we have eyes to see God, everywhere. May we have ears to hear His voice, at all times. May we know that God is with us, so that we will go, and be light, and shine His light everywhere, to everyone.

Grace & Peace
Wally

Seasons

Summer is coming to a close, whether you or I like it or not. I think it's been an amazing summer and I know I've spent far more time outside this year than last year, which I am incredibly grateful for.

I can feel Fall approaching, not only in my knees (tendinitis), but also in my soul. Change, I feel change coming. I'm anxious for change because I love a good adventure and I can't stand it when things grow static.

It's time for a new season, in all of the ways that can be interpreted.

Those Who Have Ears...

I enjoy listening to teachings from across the spectrum of thought, and I often get stuck with pieces that just stay lodged in my heart. Here are a couple of quotes from two separate talks that I heard recently:

 South African pastor and bishop Peter Storey said, “American preachers have a task more difficult, perhaps, than those faced by us under South Africa’s apartheid, or Christians under Communism. We had obvious evils to engage; you have to unwrap your culture from years of red, white and blue myth. You have to expose, and confront, the great disconnection between the kindness, compassion and caring of most American people, and the ruthless way American power is experienced, directly and indirectly, by the poor of the earth. You have to help good -people see how they have let their institutions do their sinning for them. This is not easy among people who really believe that their country does nothing but good, but it is necessary, not only for their future, but for us all.”

 Bruxey Cavey said, "Every hour that you put into trying to get America to act more Christian as an earthly nation, is another hour that you're not working at just getting the church to act more Christian. And I think you could spend your whole life on the latter rather than the former. Rather than trying to legislate morality, we teach the church to be the church."

 Wow, both pretty striking.

Hearing the ticking of a clock

When was the last time you heard a clock ticking?

Of course you would have to be in the same room as a ticking clock, but beyond that, the key to hearing the ticking is silence. When was the last time the room was quiet enough for you to pick up on the ticking? When was the last time you were quiet enough to listen?

A friend of mine, who had been a missionary in Thailand for a few years, noted on his return to the States that the most common response to his question, "How are you doing?" was, "Busy!" He quickly grew weary of the response, frustrated even. People were not good, not bad, just really, really busy. He also noted that the answer was often given with a sense of pride, as if being busy earned them a certificate of achievement. He also had conversations with his family so that they would structure their new beginning in America in such a way that their answer to the question of how they are doing could be different. It could be about how they are doing, rather than what they are doing. Of course there are seasons, occasionally, from time to time. Not all the time. Not every day. It doesn't have to be THE way of life.

Slow down, stop even, and listen to the ticking of a clock. You may even hear the quiet whisper of your soul saying, "Thank you, I needed that."

Churched by Matthew Paul Turner

This book was a near perfect combination of hilarity and sincerity. Written through the eyes of his childhood, Mr. Turner reveals the absolute ridiculousness of how the church can work so hard and miss so badly in their approach to following God. I laughed out loud throughout the entire book, due to how well Mr. Turner tells the stories and because the stories captured perfectly the church I grew up in and the church I had my first full time ministry job in. It is obvious that the book was written from a good place, and not one of bitterness and disillusionment, which shined through and kept the laughs rolling. It is incredibly refreshing to see someone who experienced the full goofiness of the church, in its legalism and moral spankings, and still find Jesus to be the center of their life and more compelling than ever. I often felt like I was sitting at the dinner table with the Turner family as Matthew weaves through story upon story of how the church can create the wildest and most over the top bubble land you can imagine. The book felt like a Seinfeld episode for those in church world, everything exaggerated and completely ludicrous, and yet so full of humanity and honesty that leaves you thinking, "that's gotta be true, because you can't make stuff like that up!" The church needs writers like Matthew Paul Turner, and humanity needs them so as to see that Christians can laugh at themselves and recognize that, yes, we sometimes veer off course. This is where I would've liked a bit more from Mr. Turner, how did you turn the page in your faith? The last chapter, Benediction, let us know that he is doing OK, that he survived the holy mess, but we don't know what helped him get there. I would love to know how, who and what it looked like pushing through to the other side. You can laugh at your childhood, which is excellent, but tell me a little bit more about that small church where you found a beautiful, healthy community. Because Mr. Turner writes with such hilarity and humanity, I would've liked to hear that side of the story as well, and I can only hope it incoming in his next writing.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review