Centurions Weekend: Dinner, First Session and Dessert

When we arrived at the conference center, after a long day of sightseeing, we were greeted by old friends and met some new friends. We began, as we always should, by breaking bread with one another. The conference center food always reminds me of college where I ate like a king. Over dinner we discussed how everyone has been since the last time we gathered in June. It had been more than six months and we had all been so busy with our teaching projects. My mom had also arrived and I introduced her to many of my Centurion colleagues…

January 27, 2006  |  Permalink   |  Comments (1)   |  TrackBack (0)

Breaking Bread: The Hardship

On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it. And he said, "Take, eat, this my body, which is given for you." After the eating of the bread and drinking of the cup in solemn communion with the lamb the disciples sang a hymn. Then they left for the Mount of Olives. This was the trial and hardship that came after the sweet communion. They were still with Jesus. Only a stone's throw away was the Lamb of God. He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation…

January 26, 2006  |  Permalink   |  TrackBack (0)

Beginning of the Centurions Commissioning Weekend

The weekend began with a beautiful drive on a sunny morning with the Shenadoah mountains on my left as I headed north through Virginia to our nation's capital. I was scheduled to meet my friend Josiah and his wife from California. Josiah is a good friend and fellow Centurion. After the drive and a train ride into the heart of D.C., I met Josiah and Brandy at their congressman's office. They had just finished a tour of the Capitol. We immediately headed to the Library of Congress. Brandy and Josiah had been flying all night on a red-eye from the…

January 25, 2006  |  Permalink   |  TrackBack (0)

Parable: A Man Without a Country

There was a man who moved away from his home country. He had mild concerns about the country where he had lived since his childhood but left them largely unspoken as he moved away to explore the rest of the world. As he moved away and settled into a new hometown in a new country he was exposed to new ideas. Left and right he saw people that were different from him. Some of the things disgusted him, others enlightened him and others were attracting to him. In this new environment he met new people, made some friends and, inevitably…

January 24, 2006  |  Permalink   |  Comments (2)   |  TrackBack (0)

The Text: The Story We Find Ourselves In

There are those that I have met who make claims like, "The Bible is the truth. It is a historical book for historical peoples. It is not meant for today's culture." When I think of those who have made statements like this they fail to realize the kind of truth that we find in the Text. The Text contains God's story throughout human history. If we have placed God on a shelf and forgotten about Him or believe that He has set the world in motion and left us to spin on this green earth without any interaction then I…

January 19, 2006  |  Permalink   |  Comments (3)   |  TrackBack (0)

Reflections on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

As is my tradition on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I spend time reading King's Letter from Birmingham Jail and reflecting on the work and impact of Dr. King. King was a great man who achieved so much in his own lifetime and even more after his untimely death. His following Jesus in his sacrifice and desire for justice is a challenging example. The reason and logic that King uses in the Letter from Birmingham Jail is persuasive and convincing. In this letter written to clergymen that opposed his direct action he demonstrates his understanding of his relationship to the…

January 16, 2006  |  Permalink   |  Comments (4)   |  TrackBack (0)

Basic Definitions :: Emerging Church Conversation

B.A.: John and Scot, Today I was discussing the recent posts on my blogs with a friend. He asked an obvious question that I stumbled to give a simple, succinct answer to. He asked, "What is the emerging church?" How would you answer this question to someone who has no prior experience with the emerging church and in general is pretty far removed from these types of conversations? In general, think of this person are your typical man on the street that is interested in what you are involved in and the discussions you are having. How would you explain…

January 12, 2006  |  Permalink   |  TrackBack (0)

Epistemology :: Emerging Church Conversation

Are there knowable truths that correspond with reality for all people, in all cultures over all of time? Why or why not? John: Yes, there are knowable truths that correspond with reality for all people all the time.Holding one's head under water for longer than 4 minutes, on every hemisphere and in every century, may cause brain damage and even death. Scot: Well, the question surprises me because I thought we were beyond this as the entry point for discussion about the emerging movement. I'm not quite sure what to say since I hear about this so rarely, and the…

January 11, 2006  |  Permalink   |  TrackBack (0)

Entering into Conversation with the Emerging Church

Jeff of The Dawn Treader, David of Through a Glass Darkly and I were having a recent discussion about our interests in the emerging church. We have each been reading quite a bit about and from the emerging church and wanted to engage in some discussion with some of those who are a bit closer to the emerging church. It was with this interest that we contacted a few fellow bloggers who are part of this emerging conversation. The group of bloggers that will be dialoguing with us include John Musick of Emerging God, Scot McKnight of Jesus Creed and…

January 11, 2006  |  Permalink   |  TrackBack (0)

Hospitality

Today at work I was getting surprisingly hungry around 2:30 pm. This was after eating a great lunch of a chicken breast, mac-and-cheese, corn and a soda. It was one of the heartiest lunches I have had in a while but nonetheless I was hungry at 2:30 pm. You would have to know me to understand what happens when I get hungry. I become like one of those bears you hear about that breaks into someone's home and eats all the food in their cupboard. The results can be devastating. I always convey this hunger to my co-workers mostly because…

January 10, 2006  |  Permalink   |  TrackBack (0)

Loneliness

Editorial Note: In an attempt to become more open on my blog, I am beginning to write more personal reflections about my own life. Over the past year, there has been a consistent theme of loneliness running through my life. Allow me to explain. This loneliness is not an experience without God but rather is a social loneliness in the place that I find myself in over the past year. I have experienced God nearer to me and walking with me, during this season, in a more real way than I have ever experienced in my life. In the midst…

January 07, 2006  |  Permalink   |  Comments (2)   |  TrackBack (0)

The Parsha: Genesis 44:18-47:27

And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years. And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said…

January 06, 2006  |  Permalink   |  TrackBack (0)

Review: The Lord and His Prayer

N.T. Wright, in a series that was originally a set of sermons preached at Lichfield Cathedral in 1995, reflects on the Lord's Prayer. More specifically he exegetes each phrase from the prayer and its implication for Jesus people. This short work serves as a introduction to Wright's larger framework emphasizing the Gospel of the Kingdom and Jesus as the victorious King. At only 89 pages it tips the scales as one of Wright's shorter works and is very accessible. Any parishioner would be able to read and greatly benefit from this work. Although it may not seem like it on…

January 06, 2006  |  Permalink   |  TrackBack (0)

Review: Awesome God

Full Disclosure: I received this CD for free from Sovereign Grace Ministries in exchange for reviewing it. I listened to this CD a couple of times through and was pleased with the arrangements of songs with more theological depth than the typical praise choruses that are common in much children's music. I have younger siblings including a sister who is 11 and a brother who is 9. After listening to this a couple of times through I gave it the true test: allow the kids to listen. They were not as receptive initailly to this new music. Some of the…

January 04, 2006  |  Permalink   |  TrackBack (0)

The Jesus Train

N.T. Wright uniquely handles eschatology in what I understand to be a much more Pauline sense of the word. In one particular handling of the eschatological story we find ourselves in, N.T. Wright explains how Paul sees the world around us. Paul understood in a radical way on the road to Damascus that God had brought the eschatological future into the present with Jesus. Wright uses the analogy of the train. The Jews, and hence Paul, living in the first century are on a train headed for an ultimate destination in time but suddenly they are met by another train…

January 03, 2006  |  Permalink   |  TrackBack (0)

Serenity and Sin

Last evening I attended a viewing of the film Serenity at a friend's house. It was an action packed film that had a fast-paced story. This film is a follow on to a failed TV series. Fox produced a series called Firefly. They botched the series by showing episodes out of order on different days of the week and even missed showing some of the episodes. Then they wondered why the viewership never picked up and canceled the show. In comes Universal who picked up rights to the film and produced a movie that continues with the story line. Don't…

January 02, 2006  |  Permalink   |  TrackBack (0)

Official Launch of VOS REGNUM DEI

Welcome to VOS REGNUM DEI What an interesting greeting... not only have I just welcomed you to my blog but I have welcomed you to the Kingdom. "The Kingdom?!," you say. Yes, the Kingdom of God. That is what I hope to accomplish through this site. I want to welcome you to the Kingdom of God. In the first century, there was a man named Jesus who came from a town called Nazareth of Galilee. He was God's only begotten son. When he was grown, he began to proclaim, "Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand!" Indeed, the…

January 01, 2006  |  Permalink   |  TrackBack (0)