Off to the Wilderness!

This summer I will be working at Wilderness Canoe Base, a summer camp in Nothern Minnesota that guides kids on canoe trips into the wilderness and lets them experience a closer relationship with God. I have been extremely excited about going, serving, and exploring God's creation, but I was extremely saddened by the news that I received from the camp later today. I found out today that a fairly extensive fire broke out in the area east of the camp and some of the fire spread to the island where the camp is located. The fire went through the camp and destroyed 35 out of the 60 buildings in the camp. Thankfully, all of the staff were evacuated and no one was injured, but it is going to take some time to rebuild the parts of the camp that are now gone.

I have been informed that the summer schedule will go on as planned and I will still be serving on staff, but it will still be hard work guiding and working on the camp. At first I was very saddened and disappointed by this news, but later I received a huge feeling of peace and encouragement from God. Apparently God has sent me to be at this camp, this summer, at this particular time, and all I can do is have faith that God will do amazing things through me and this camp. Also, this will be an amazing oppurtunity to work with a team to rebuild and reform this camp. Also, I will be able to see nature in its rawest form, healing itself and renewing itself. The events that have happened are very sad and frustrating, but God's will will be in this and I have to believe that He will do amazing things this summer.

This may be the last post that I am able to do in a while, but I am confident that my eyes will be opened immensely this summer, hopefully giving me some good blogging material this fall when I come back. Have a great summer!

A History of Violence

Like the rest of the nation, I was saddened and shocked by shootings at Virginia Tech and joined the all college students and other Americans in prayer for the victims, their families, as well as the gunman. But as I continued to think and reflect on the events that have come to pass, I thought about how our change in worldview may contribute to these new manifestations of disturbing and publicized violence.

Shocking acts of violence have always been a part of history, but it seems we may be witnessing a new evolution in its manifestations. The Baby Boomer generartion (considered to be the last "modern" generation) also witnessed growing up terrible publicized acts of violence, but they seemed to witness high profile political assassinations as well as politically charged events (the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy, as well violence at civil rights rallies and Kent State University). All of the these events were terrible and shocking to the country and a connecting similarity between these acts is that they were all carried out because of what somebody believed and that they disagreed with something that the other person believed, in other words, they became violent because of something they valued and what they wanted to protect.

The postmodern generation has also witnessed violent acts growing up, but it appears that they have been of a different genre. Rather than seeing politically charged situations, we have witnessed violent acts of alienated individuals (John Hinckley Jr., the Columbine shootings, subsequent school shootings, and now recently Cho Seung-Hui). Rather than being motivated by political or ideological differences, it appears that violence has come from individuals frustrated by not being able to fit in and feel valued. Rather than violence being based on individual identity, it is being based on desiring to be part of a group identity and not finding it.

As we move into a postmodern world and ideology, we need to realize that publicized violent acts are going to change as well. I think that we are going to find that it is going to be more evident that people value being in a group rather than defending an ideology or political view. As a result, we may see a growing trend in violent acts from troubled, alienated people rather than political assassins. With this in mind, this makes the situation even more dire for Christians to bring people into a loving and healthy community, bringing them closer to the grace and healing that only Christ can give.

Once again, my prayers continue to be with the students of Virginia Tech and I pray that God will bring healing to the campus, the students, and the families.

Great Dismal Swamp

Today I had the privledge of going on a birding expedition with a Dr. Lytton Musselman, the head of the ODU biology department and possibly one of the coolest people I know, as well an ornithologist from the Smithsonian into the Great Dismal Swamp here in Virginia and had a blast. The Great Dismal Swamp is a huge tract of swampland in Eastern Virginia that has been abused for centuries by humans and is just recently recovering its wild status. It was only my second time into the swamp and I had a blast, especially since I was surrounded by people excited about nature and willing to listen about what is happening in this diverse area.

The weather was absolutely beautiful for the area (which typically means bugless) and I got to see some flora and fauna that I had never seen before or that I had not seen in many years. Some of these included the prothonotary warbler (a first sighting for me), wood ducks (birds I haven't seen since I was 6 years old), black gum, red maple, and bald cypress trees, as well as numerous traces of bear and otter. It was also very interesting going with several either former or current biology students because they were always turning up things like snakes or tadpoles, as well as being fascinated with some of the tiniest elements of creation.

I think the best part however was being able to spend more time with Dr. Musselman. I had already gotten to know him through my church as well as through the university, but I had never gotten to spend time with him in the field. It is so neat to see someone so interested in the world around us and willing to engage others in his fascination. "Take a look at those ferns! What type of tree is this? Everyone gather round! This flower only blooms for one week a year! Taste this! It tastes just like asparagus!" He was constantly engaging all of us in our surroundings and showing us the many intricacies of what appeared on the surface to be just a boring swamp. What a blessing to be able see creation in a brand new way!

I always enjoy going out into the creation and learning and experiencing new things, but today I really was challenged to learn and understand rather than just experience and soak in. I definately will still take time to simmer, soak, and experience creation, but who knows, maybe this will spark a new interest in me to pursue God and his creation in a new way.

Why Me?

To begin with, I am going to say that I will never understand the co-existence of the sovereign will of God and the free will of man (what a way to start a post!). However, recently I have been finding it more frustrating since I have been studying Christian leadership in the past few days. Little by little I have been growing and discovering more about what it means to be a leader, the gifts that God has given to me, as well as how the grace of God works through me as I learn more about these gifts. Over the past year or so I have been discovering that I do have some gifting in the area of leadership, and that I continually need to allow God to grow me into a better leader, but have also realized that most of the time I have assummed that everyone is gifted in the area of leadership as long as they are willing to submit to God. However, I have also noticed that many people are not leaders and do not appear to have those gifts. This has led me to ask God, "why me?"

I have had this conversation with my campus minister a couple of times about why God has chosen some people to have different gifts and to be more teachable than others. A lot of times, this seems very unfair in my mind and in the minds of many others, and it just doesn't make sense sometimes for God to make people unequally gifted. This where I really need to let my faith take over and to trust what God has planned for my life and the life of others. All I know is that God has given me a desire to be a leader and I need to continually pray to have God to continue to grow me into a better leader. I don't know why God makes some people more gifted and more receptive than others, but I know that I need to have faith in God that He knows the ultimate plan rather than me.

I can't say that I have come to the end of my thoughts on this and I still don't understand why God has given me the gifts that I have, but all I know is that faith and rest in the Lord is the only place I can go, no matter how confused or frustrated I am.

Balance in the Revolution in World Missions

Recently I finished the book Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan, a book that I got when I attended the Urbana Missions conference in January, and it really got me thinking about the constantly broadening global missions field and what role all of these cultures can play as we all reach out to the world.

The book had many good points in it, especially being extremely committed to presenting the gospel as well as giving an interesting "non-Western" view of American culture (the author is a native of India). However, some questions were raised when I thought about the main thesis of the book. In essence, the revolution in world missions that the author speaks of is that there is an explosion in native missionaries ministering to their own people groups and are having a profound effect on areas in the Two-Thirds world, especially in areas that are closed to traditional Western missionaries. I think that it is absolutely beautiful that the Gospel is spread faster than it ever has before and it is being done by people who can best reach out to those their own culture, and yet I also felt that the book also sent some negative messages about cross-cultural missions. It almost seemed that sometimes the book portrays the idea of Westerners going into foreign missions is outdated and that the best thing for Americans to send funding strictly for native missionaries. This may have not been the aim of the book's message, but it did get me thinking about what that may mean.

Obviously, strictly relying on native missionaries is essential in countries that are completely closed to outside missions. Also, I believe that it is essential that all missions organizations should be coordinated and directed by those who are native to the area and have an infinately better understanding of the culture rather than an outsider. However, I think that it would be disasterous if cross-cultural missions was completely shelved and labelled as a thing of the past. I believe that when Christians experience and work with other cultures we will gain a better perspective for the body of Christ and what he is doing with the world, something that will be invaluable as we move closer and closer into a global community. I still believe that native missionaries should be the decision-makers and organizers of missions in their areas, but I still believe that completely compartmentalize countries and not allow others to experience and work for the kingdom wherever it may be.

I sincerely hope that I have in no way taken any of the author's words or ideas out of context and that I was able to express my thoughts about this clearly. I just believe that now we are moving into a new paradigm in missions and what it means to integrate balance and listening to each other about each other's cultures as we continue to reach out to all with the Gospel. Different cultures are going to be reached out to and experienced, and we need to be ready to be flexible, change our thinking and ways, and be willing to listen to the Spirit as well as each other.

Sex, Drugs, and Going Home

While in deep conversation with my roommates last night (which happens fairly often), we came to question of whether or not sex, or at least the pleasure of sex, will be present in the everlasting kingdom of God. There really weren't many deep conclusions made (especially since none of us have actually experienced sex), it was just three guys casually talking about the undefined, but it did trigger some thoughts in my head about the pleasures and experiences of this world, including sex, and how that connects to the kingdom beyond.

I have heard many times that feelings that generate pleasure or a gratifying feeling, such as through sex, psychodelic drugs, or even after exercise, can often be connected to the same bodily release of chemicals, giving us either a feeling of pleasure, gratification, or a feeling of being "high". However, this feeling is often described as having a deeper feeling or meaning to it, sometimes described as being similar to the feeling of returning or going to your true home. What if this "going home" experience really is true? What if the release of this release of pleasure really is a gateway to something deeper, a gateway to the sense of belonging that we all long for?

This question has been asked many times and sometimes these feelings of pleasure are not only described as a gateway, but also an end in themself. Many have preached that psychodelic drugs bring us a step closer to a broader reality and should be embraced (Aldous Huxley, Dr. Timothy Leary, and Daniel Pinchbeck are a few names that come to mind). But perhaps we have found a clue, but we are looking down the wrong track. I sincerely believe that these experiences do have deeper significance rather than merely being pleasurable firings in our nerves and that God ordained them to be there, but perhaps we are straying from the real place where we can go home, the arms of Jesus Christ. Only Christ can fulfill our true longings to go home, infinately more than what we can obtain through a psychodelic experience or through sex outside of marriage. These experiences may be a clue to what we are missing but they are by no means the source. It all seems to be very human of us, searching for sincere truth in all the wrong places...

When we truly realize that the grace of God is our true home, I believe that the pleasure that realization will unlock will be even more than we can imagine, deeper than a limited sexual encounter or a hit of LSD.

War (Or What We Think It Is)

I really think war is one of the most difficult concepts to accurately portray because of it is so charged with different depictions through the media, current and ancient culture, as well as reality. Thoughts like this have come from my current study of the Vietnam war and its complicated nature, as well since it was experienced by people who were around my age when they were there (around 19-23 years old). In reality, on many levels, war is a manifestation of immense individual and structural sin of humanity, when people cannot agree so they resort to mass violence and destroy the lives and property of both combatants and innocents. On the other hand culture and the media can give a very different picture, especially when presented to young men.

I have especially felt this conflict within myself whenever I am presented with images and stories of war, conflict, and combat. In depths of my heart, I know that at its root war is a flaw of mankind and mass destroyer of life, but from time to time the idea of combat can still swell my heart with excitement and a hunger for adventure of danger. I still remember my days of being a cadet in high school and my year of ROTC and the excitement of learning combat formations and movements, crawling into mock ambushes in the tall grass during war games, my heart racing with excitement and my senses tuned to pinpoint precision. To some degree that promise of excitement and adventure was part of why I began training for the military. Later I left because I realized that I just was not meshing with the military culture and that I realized that I was ultimately being trained to kill people, but I still hate it so much whenever from time to time I long for the adventure of combat and "noble battle".

Let me just say that I in no way have experienced real combat do I claim to identify with those who have gone into and participated in hostilities during war. However, I can I identify somewhat with the "glamourous" side of combat and how we are shown that much more than the harsh and ugly realities. I know that there really is no "individual" that can be blamed for this, but I do know that it something that many people needed to healed from. I know that I do.

Dreams

Dreams have always fascinated me and made me wonder about their significance. Are they just our brains firing randomly about images and experiences from throughout the day or is there something deeper there to experience and interpret? I have been thinking about this recently because of a recent bout of very memorable dreams that I have had in the past couple of days (I don't know if the medication that I have been on has been a contributer to my experience, but that is hard to tell). One of these dreams in particular made me a little unsettled, mainly because it almost seemed prophetic, and have been making me wonder about the importance of dreams and how much we really should read in to them.

Part of what makes me wonder about my recent dreams is because I have experienced divinely inspired dreams, including one that affirmed that I would have more visions in the future, but one of the divine mysteries of our God is that He provides just enough for us to keep us on the right track, and maybe to some extent just enough to keep us wondering so that our only choice is to completely rely on Him. At the end of the day, I have to realize that if a dream is meant to be something more, I need to give God time to reveal its importance and significane. The least I can do is let God work in my life, and if a dream is meant to influence my actions or thoughts, I have to trust God to give me the right perception to act on that. In the meantime, it looks like I need to hang on and see what God will do with the things that he reveals to me, whether I am awake or in the weird medium we refer to as sleep......

Music of the Soul

Music has always been a part of most of my life, but it hasn't always been the most enjoyable part. I started playing piano when I was 9 because my parents told me to. I never really connected very much with it. I started playing guitar when I turned 14 and really enjoyed it, but I mainly picked up so that I would be cool. As I have grown older and played more I have come to enjoy music at a different level, but sometimes I still think that I want to learn new techniques and methods just so that I can get better and people will think that I am a better musician.

But something seems to be lacking in that way of thinking. When I think of truly great musicians, they made sure that what they played reflected themselves, their experiences, and their souls. They changed the genres around them and made the music conform to them, almost making the instruments and music extensions of themselves. What if I were to think of it that way with the way I play music? Not that I want to become famous, but I do have a desire to make music a true art form and form of expression in my life, not just a way to boost people's opinion of me. What will happen when playing becomes a mirror for my soul?

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

Recently I have become very interested in reading literary short stories and I came across a very interesting one. The story is The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin and and is a very interesting story about a Utopian society, their joys and flaws, and how we can relate to it in our own lives. In the process of telling the story of this society, she brings up some very interesting issues and makes some really good points. *Warning: if you plan to read the story before reading the rest, do not continue until you have read it!*

Essentially, the narrator describes a society that lives in perfect harmony and is always happy. The have the freedom to think, philosophize, create, and live in happiness. The countryside and all their people are beautiful, all their science is poiniant, their literature profound, and their music profound. The only condition they need to fill in order to maintain their perfect society is that a single has to live a wretched, lonely life, locked away in a cellar in one of the buildings. All of the citizens of Omelas know about the child and accept it as a necessary evil, but some are disgusted by it and decide to leave and live a life without this guilt. They are the ones who walk away from Omelas.

In my mind, Le Guin presents two very interesting points about these people and about us. First, she shows that if we lived in Omelas, we probably would not leave. If we had grown up in this society, we would probably accept it as part of life and not question what was wrong about living a life without guilt. We would simply file it away and move on with our lives and try to direct our anxiety elsewhere. In the same way, we often do this in our own society and lives, taking too much for granted and shufffling away the things that bother us so that we can continue to live complacent lives.

The second point that Le Guin makes, and one that I truly believe in, is that those that leave Omelast don't have the correct response either. By leaving Omelas, they are merely removing themselves from guilt and doing nothing to help the child. What good are they doing if they simply isolate themselves and don't respond to what they know is right? For us, it would be very easy to simply denounce our society and isolate ourselves from it and not seek to make things right.

So, what are we to do with the problems in our society? I believe that we are called to not only open our eyes to the problems around us that we may take for granted, but we should also seek out what God has planned to right these things, rather than either trying to be ignorant of them or run away and save only ourselves from that guilt. How can we see things around us, but not be tempted to merely walk away from Omelas?

The Leadership of Martin Luther King Jr.

As I continue to study the Civil Rights Movement in my history of the 1960's class, I am continually astounded and disturbed by not only violence and intolerance that occurred in the United States at that time, but also by the leadership and vision of the blacks and whites involved in the movement. One obvious stand-out of the movement was Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and the more that I see what he did and how he led, I am continuing to get a clearer picture of what it means to be a strong and Christian leader.

One key element about King was that he had profound vision. When he looked around he saw injustice and a world counter to what God invisioned. He realized that the segregation of white and black was wrong at its core and he had the courage to act. Also, through his actions, he was able to witness to the world the moral, not just the political, importance of the movement. By teaching and advocating non-violent protest, he encouraged those around him to rise above the actions of their persecutors and demonstrate that this was not a political movement, but that it was a just movement, a movement that would not be justified through the injustice of violence.

King also showed his strong leadership by acting on his vision, even when he wasn't clear on what he could do. One example of this comes from the demonstrations in Birmingham against discriminatory employment in 1963 (the Birmingham protests are where we get the images of protestors being attacked with dogs, cattle prods, and firehoses). When King arrived in Birmingham and didn't how to act in response to these obstacles, he was reported to have said, "I don't know what to do, but I know I need to do something." He then went out and protested with other demonstrators and was promptly arrested. This was perceived as one of his strongest demonstrations of leadership and he subsequently wrote the famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail" in solitary confinement.

But I think King's greatest leadership attribute was his pursuit of a greater vision. King specifically fought for injustice in the specific area of white/black equality and desegregation, but he also pursued a greater of vision. King did not just pursue a vision of whites and blacks having equal rights, but that all ethnicities would be reconciled to each other and live together in peace and harmony (it is actually believed that this idea, and not so much his stance on the civil rights movement, was what eventually led to his assassination in 1968). It was this greater vision that guided his actions and allowed him to lead effectively.

As I continue through my journey through learning about effective christian leadership I am learning more and more about the importance of having a greater vision and letting that dictate my actions rather than stabbing at leading others without any solid direction. Through learning more about other leaders, in this case the leadership of MLK, I am continuing to learn more about the leadership that God is placing me in now.

The Game of Monopoly (and What I am Learning From It)

Because of my classes and my involvement in my christian fellowship, I have been thinking a lot more about poverty in the world and about the processes and ideologies that go along with that. When it comes to poverty in the United States and in the western world, a lot of the processes that initiate poverty have to do with the system of capitalism and its tendency to degrade everything in to the values of money and profit. Consequently, whenever I think about capitalism I think of the game Monopoly, and what it has to teach us about the culture and ideology of the poor.

It seems to me that at sometime or another, those of us that have played Monopoly find ourselves extremely frustrated about the progress of the game (one of the reasons why I now can't stand playing it!). This often comes about two thirds of the way through the game and I realize that no matter what we do or no matter how much I mortgage, I will never be able to raise the funds I need to bring me out of the poorhouse and no matter how hard I work, I will ineviteably land on more squares occupied by the houses and hotels of my greedy opponents. It is a never ending cycle!

What happens to me is that I completely loose my sense of hope. I finally realize that the system is stacked against me and that no matter how hard I work, I will never advance without either seeking outside help or by breaking the rules (neither of which is allowed in the game). I also feel like this might be the similar to the situations of the working poor. No matter how hard they work and save, the system is stacked against them and they realize that there is no hope for them without help (aid) or by breaking the rules (crime). Because of the system, they are trapped in a culture of hopelessness (for a better picture of this "culture without hope", check out the book The Other America by Michael Harrington).

So, as a christian, I feel like when we are called to help and minister to the poor, we are not only meant to provide help, but we are also meant to provide hope, not only to give them a picture of hope for a better life, but also a picture of a completely new hope, the hope that they can receive through the beautiful and difficult decision to follow Christ. When we move through the Spirit and help others, we are showing them the hope that can eventually propel them from a dark and dismal spiral of hopelessness!

Results of the Barefoot Experiment (See Previous Post for the Setting)

My experiment on the challenge of social norms went very well and I was able to gather several interesting reactions and some conclusions. Here are some of the things that I discovered as I walked around.

First, let me set the scene. I walked around campus, outside, and around all the buildings for most of the day barefoot. In addition to this, it happened to be an exceptionally cold day that day as well, making my behaviour appear that much stranger. I got a variety of reactions from people as I walked by, including some strange looks, some smiles, and even some odd comments. However as I went through my day, I did notice some interesting patterns.

1. The people that didn't now me usually gave me interesting looks or smiles, but didn't ask me what I was doing. (When asked what I was doing, I would tell them the truth)

2. The some people that knew me thought my behaviour was strange, but thought I was probably doing it for a good reason and didn't ask. (One friend gave me some really good feedback about this through facebook)

3. Only the people that knew me very well made a point to ask me what I was doing. Many of the thought that what I was doing was strange, but they always made a point to ask me what the point was.

4. Last of all, I noticed I got a lot fewer strange looks when I was walking around inside as opposed to when I was outside. It even came to the point that I even forgot sometimes that I wasn't wearing shoes and that I was just like everyone else.

This experiment was just meant to explore the realm of social norms, but as I pondered these results I thought more about how this may relate to the relationships that we have with other people. Only the people that knew me were willing to really ask what was going on rather than just giving me strange looks and alienating me from them. In the same way, it kind of emphasized to me how important it is to be in a place where people really care about you and care to ask why things might not be right and wonder how they can help you. Without that, we are left to either be surrounded by strange looks, or forget that there is a problem unless we get negative reinforcement. Do a social experiement yourself and see what comes from it!

The Barefoot Experiement

Many of you know that I study sociology and I love the idea of going out and challenging very miniscule social norms and seeing what people's reactions will be. Well, tomorrow I am going to put it to the test. The key is to choose something very simple and small, but will seem very strange when it isn't present. So, for most of the day tomorrow, including all the time that I will spend walking to, from, and in class, I'm going to go barefoot. It seems really simple now, but I am really interested to see how a tiny change like that will affect people's opinion of me. Let's find out!

Seeking Shaloam

As you may be able to tell, the concept of healthy community and the kingdom of God have been on my mind recently. But now, after learning more and having wornderful things revealed to me, I almost feel my mind is going to explode with new ideas about the world that God has called us to change. While telling others about our faith and the kingdom is very necessary and important, it is merely a part of a bigger picture. God also gives us a desire to bring peace and his vision into the world, by not boycotting and abandoning the things that we dislike, but by entering in to those things and changing them from the inside out.

In Shane Claibourne's Book, The Irresistable Revolution, he retells the story of Jesus' parable of the mustard seed. In the time of Jesus, this was an extremely confusing image. Jesus talks about the kingdom of God being like a tiny mustard seed, sprouting into a plant that becomse huge. The problem is, the mustard plant is a dumpy shrub, usually growing no taller than a small bush. However, the plant is very similar to kudzu, a plant that is extremely resiliant, virtually impossible to kill, and takes over everything it touches, capable of even choking out entire forests. So rather than creating an image of the kingdom being like a mighty oak tree, Jesus talks about the kingdom being like a tiny idea that invades everything around it and changes everything for the better. Following this idea, when we seek the kingdom of God, it will invade everything that we do, even invading corrupt politics, social structures, and even warped worldviews.

When I went on an urban outreach project in St. Louis last spring, the leaders there spoke constantly about "seeking the shaloam (peace) of the city" and showed us all the ways that people were bringing the kingdom of God into everything that they did, whether it was sharing their faith, adopting inner-city orphans, or even just sharing groceries with a neighbor in need. This kind of thinking has led me to rethink where I am now, whether through my church or through my campus fellowship. How can I seek the shaloam of my community, my neighbors, my close community, even my place in student government? How will our fellowship and community bring the kingdom of God into ODU and change it closer to God's vision?

This by no means is a complete thought, but God is definately leading me somewhere, I know that it will be good and better for me.

The Church's Desire for Community

In the past few days, in the meetings that I have had with fellow IV leaders and in my personal reflections, the idea of the gathering of believers the importance of having healthy community has really been an important topic of thought for me. Recently we have been struggling with identifying the importance of believers gathering together and studying and worshiping together. Seen from the surface, this can really be a tough argument, since many aspects of a Christian lifestyle can be very personal, but when I thought about it more, it becomes very clear that the idea of believers gathering together is an extremely important component of Christian life, mainly because of its emphasis on caring for and about each other, as well as putting us in a larger context.

From the beginning of Christianity, the idea of gathering together and being in healthy community has been a very important part of a believers walk. During Jesus' ministry, he was not only constantly teaching and stretching the minds of his followers, but he was also intentionally spending time with them, listening to them, and directing them in the direction of the Father and Himself. Also, He constantly emphasized the importance of loving and serving each other, showing how important it was to serve and respond to each other's needs. This is most easily seen in the gathering of both small groups of people, as well as in the gathering of larger groups. Some theologians, somewhat misinterpreting the idea that Jesus presented pertaining to the "Kingdom of Heaven," have argued that Jesus spoke strictly of a non-earthly community of believers and that He really did not intend for there to be a "Church" on earth as we see it now at all, but somehow there is a disconnect here. If that were true, the present day Church would not have survived as long as it has. Jesus specifically speaks of an earthly gathering of believers in order to teach, encourage, and care about one another and it is this fundamental idea that is still going strong 2,000 years after His death and resurrection.

Without a local and global community of believers, it would be possible to still lead a Christian lifestyle, but it probably would not be the same as the lifestyle that Jesus taught. Without the guidance and encouragement of other believers, the gospel of grace would probably be easily distorted and manipulated. However, thanks to the Scriptures, the divine guidance of God, and the belief of Christians through the centuries, the idea of believers gathering together has survived and people have fought desperately to preserve it. The early Christians would rather gather together in the Catacombs and risk persecution rather than believe secretly. The Puritans would rather sail thousands of miles away and risk death for the right to gather together than to be persecuted for it. Chinese Christians would rather meet together in secret and risk torture and death rather than to stifle their religious fire and obey an oppressive government. That desire for community is fundamental to a Christian lifestyle and the recognition of this important element of gathering together to worship and learn is basic to our understanding of grace, our developing sense of service and love for one another, as well as our encouragement to reach out to the rest of the world.

Joan of Arc

In my last History of Medieval England class this morning we spent a good portion of time discussing Joan of Arc, her role in the Hundred Years War, as well as the impact that she made on the Catholic Church. I thought the discussion was very interesting, especially since it dealt with many of the ideas that I have been thinking about and what I have been talking about in my last post.

Joan came from very humble beginnings and was the daughter of a peasant family in France born in 1412. Her life drastically changed when she began hearing voices, voices that she stated were those of the saints directing her to do things. At first the voices directed her to do everything that a good Catholic would do, such as praying regularly and obeying her parents, but later the instructions became much more political and drastic, such as directing the French heir to the throne to take over the country and to expel the English invaders that had captured a good portion of France. Joan acted promptly, helping the the Dauphine (French heir to the throne) to raise an army and, unheard of during that time, leading the French army into a series of victories and eventually expelling the English from France.

However, in 1421 Joan was captured by Burgundian troops and sent to England. There she was put on trial in England, not for leading troops or helping the French, but for claiming that the voices she heard were truly divinely revealed. These charges were so serious that when Joan was convicted she was labeled a heretic and burned at the stake, even though she never directly questioned or challenged the authority of the Church.

What interested me the most about the story of Joan of Arc is the response to her revelations throughout time. Interpreted back then, Joan's revelations were seen as a direct attack on the sovereignty of the clergy, them being the only ones capable of interpreting and distributing biblical truth. This seems odd today, mainly because of our protestant background as well as the fact that none of Joan's revelations appeared to be counter-scriptural. But perhaps the most interesting interpretation is that of the modern day. In most contemporary circles, Joan is labeled as a schizophrenic, an individual haunted by strange voices in her mind which ultimately gave her a distorted sense of reality. But this view also seems out of balance, considering the fact that Joan was not unstable, most of her revelations were true, and she had remarkable leadership skills, skills that normally would almost certainly not be present in an 18 year old girl. Once again, we also need to weight the fact that none of Joan's revelations were counter to scripture and did have truth to them from a more balanced point of view.

Whether or not the revelations of Joan of Arc were truly divinely revealed or not is still unclear and is still being debated, but it does bring up an interesting point regarding how cultures respond to direct revelation. When I heard that story, I suppose I just wondered how we would respond to a Joan of Arc in our time and place and, if her revelations were indeed supported by scripture and biblical truth, if we respond to it in the same way that others have in the past.

Truth Blended

Truth is quite possibly one of the easiest and one of the most difficult concepts to understand. In one respect, it can be very easy to pick out and to understand, and on the other hand, it can be very deep, even deeper than we can possibly imagine. One can say that truth is one of the biggest things that Christians seek: truth about God, the Universe, and even just their relationship with their creator. However, especially pertaining to the Christian's search for truth, it is very important to have a well rounded, or "blended" search and concept of truth.

One interesting and valuable concept that comes from Chinese philosophy is the idea of balance. The Chinese believe that the whole universe is built upon a balance of forces, harmonizing and balancing. Although some aspects of this concept can be dangerous for Christians, I really believe that there are some good aspects of it as a well and can be applied to our relentless search for truth. Truth can not just be about searching for facts or just "having a gut feeling," but should be a balance between the two, harmonizing to give us a well rounded, good scale in which to weight truth and falsehood.

One aspect of searching for truth has really been affecting me in the past few weeks as I look at scripture and how it applies to the beliefs that I hold as truth. Staying true to my postmodern worldview, I tend to have beliefs based on my feelings and on the personal emotions I have, with some small aspects of weighing them based on facts. However, I found my faith being strengthened immensely when I saw over and over again the things that I believed to be true to be written blatantly in scripture. The old philosophes of the 18th century did teach us some solid things, like basing truth on observation and logic and physical facts, and often times truth can be revealed in leaps and bounds based on the observations and interpretations that we can make on the concrete facts that we have around us.

However, the element of feeling and emotions can not be pushed out of the picture by observation of facts when seeking truth. The wind whispering through a cold forest, a refreshing drink in a mountain stream, or the feeling of a divine presence can not be derived into a mathematical equation or a scientific theorem. But they are also real and awesome, and must also be taken into account to weighing the truth. But, as always, these feelings also have to be weighed against revealed truth in scripture and other sources. It is this perfect blend of truth that I think really brings us to a deeper understanding of truth and a deeper relationship with God. In order to have a truly deep understanding of truth, a Christian must be a mathematician, a historian, a scientist, and a poet, four aspects that all strive for truth, but all see it from radically different perspectives. However, how does this perfect blend come from a flawed member of mankind.

This is where I believe grace of God and gospel come crashing in to save the day. It is God's perfect power of revelation and Jesus' reunification with God and man that allows Him to penetrate the wall between the soul and the mind. Without this saving grace, not only would we be eternally separated from our loving Creator, but we would eternally flounder in our search for truth, hopelessly tipped from one side of the scale to the other, either being buried in a desperate search for arbitrary facts or floating in a dream world clouded with misguided feelings. This balance of truth, I believe, can only come from the only truly balanced being and without that, life would be hopeless and a pointless search for nothing.

However, one of the most profound things that brings me to worship about truth and God is that the search is never really over and there is always more to discover as I grow older and more and more is revealed to me. I believe that ultimate truth is much bigger than we can imagine and can only perfectly be understood if it is seen from the perspective of God. However, truth is not a hopeless search, and I also believe that God will give us just enough revelation in our studies, and our physical and emotional feelings in order to equip us for the world around us, as well as bringing us closer to a better relationship with Him. He is a God of truth, peace, revelation, joy, and authentic emotion, and every aspect of Him draws us closer and closer to Him.

The Greatest Story In the Universe

Ever since I was little I have always enjoyed listening to stories and now that I am older I still find myself being fascinated by tales of adventure discovery. Recently, however, I found myself being very suprised at myself by being interested with stories of different kinds. For this semester and the following semester I will be taking a couple of courses in geology for a science requirement and over the past couple of weeks I have been finding myself getting really excited about the content. Most of it has been about identifying minerals and rocks, but recently we have begun studying the forces that form volcanoes, valleys, mountains, and the landscape of the earth in general. I just find myself getting more and more intrigued by the content, because it almost feels like a huge story is being unfolded before me and I am getting to discover a story that has been and is being written for millions of years.

These feelings and ideas are actually not new to me. I actually began developing these thoughts over the past summer, when I spent about three months living in Yosemite National Park. Yosemite Valley and the surrounding terrain is a biological and geological wonderland and many elements of the surroundings can be very thought provoking. I remember one hike that I took deep into the Merced Lake Trail, a trail that follows the Merced river deep into the remote high country of the park, and as I walked along and saw the changing landscape, I had the feeling of almost reading a book with many chapters as the river bended and twisted and carved out the Merced Canyon, a trend that has been going on seemingly since the beginning of time. As pondered this, I was amazed by how much it felt like the story of the world was stretching out before me in profound and striking ways. As a history student, I am used to analyzing and deciphering the story of human progress and evolution, but it took on a very different context when contemplated the earth and the universe as well.

Too many times I think we try to describe the progress and passage of time within a strictly human point of view. Within that context, the insect world is considered incidental, any thing beyond our small solar system is unconsequential, and a million years sounds like an eternity. How would our perspective change if we started to understand the world and universe with a less earthly point of view, with our spiritual lives included. Perhaps we would stop seeing the work of God being centered solely around the salvation of human beings alone, but perhaps a plan for God save and perfect His creation as a whole, making everything have the ability to enjoy and desire Himself as he had intended it. With this point of view, perhaps we would see even the creation around us in a different way, more in touch with how God had originally planned it.

In everything around us, whether it is a complicated leaf, a tropical fish, a grinding iceberg, a towering mountain, a distant galaxy, or a fellow human, God is continuing to send us messages about Himself, His nature, and giving us a desire to continue to seek and know Him better in a strong and personal way, weaving together the greatest story in ever told. So, in one of thinking, through the eyes of Creator, the greatest story ever told in the universe is exactly that: the universe.