Theological Musings

’m going to do something out of the ordinary for this blog.  Instead of writing out a whole bunch of thoughts on a subject and then getting your responses, I’m going to open up a question and let the discussion run before I post my thoughts.

I may not be around much on the blog over the next few days, but will try to follow along as much as possible.  I’ll hopefully post my thoughts early next week.

The question: What is the unity that Jesus prayed for in John 17 and is it primarily (or even solely) eschatological in nature?  (In other words, is it a future promise of unity in eternity?)

Thoughts?

still don’t have time to write any of the substantive posts that are in my mind, but I must link to a post over at Emerging Grace called Embodiment.  It deals with some little-heard aspects of incarnational living that I think we all would do well to meditate on and mull over.  There is much about Christ in us that we don’t seem to understand, even though the very scriptures that so many hold so dear talk plainly about it!  Grace includes some passages of scripture that have been really stirring around in me for about a year or so.  So, go read it while you continue to wait for me to get my blogging act together!

es, I am still alive. Yes, I have lots I would like to write about! Yes, I still occasionally manage to read other blogs. Yes, I am extremely swamped with work, etc., and don’t know when I’ll get back to substantive posting. (And yes, Scott, I still owe you a return volley!)

Thank you to those who have checked in with me to see if I was ok. I apologize for the silence.

Having said that, I do want to take a few minutes to report on a wonderful ministry today. In nearby Vilas, NC (a “blink and you’ll miss it” portion of road between here and Tennessee!) sits Brushy Fork Baptist Church.

Christy and I know several people who fellowship there, and finally, after several years of talking about it, arrangements were made for me to minister in music.

I strive, whenever I do minister in music at a gathering anywhere, to be a blessing to the people who gather. And that was certainly my desire today.

We attended the morning service, where I shared two songs during the service. Then, this evening, they were kind enough to allow me to have the entire evening service at my disposal to minister in whatever way I felt led.

I’m not sure who got the bigger blessing, however — the people that gathered or me. I simply must say that the portion of the body of Christ that is Brushy Fork Baptist Church is a sweet and warm and welcoming group. And they can sing!

Anyway, it was a delightful evening where I definitely felt the Holy Spirit leading and shaping the service. And the responsiveness of the people there was very encouraging.

Thank you, Brushy Fork Baptist, for hosting our ministry tonight, and thank you to each person there (although I doubt any of them even know about this blog, much less read it!) for being a blessing to us.

Oh, and before I sign this off, let me share a really cool “God thing” that happened tonight…

We left the building, after saying goodbye to the few that were still there, and headed to Applebees for a much-needed meal (we had not eaten dinner before going to the service). Just as we pulled into the parking place at Applebees (about 10-15 minutes from the church building), Christy realized that she had left her purse at the church.

Even though we figured no one would be there at the church, we drove back out there. Sure enough, the building was all dark and closed up. But I said, “I’ll go up to the door anyway and see if maybe someone is still inside.”

I got to the double doors at the front of the church and saw that it was, indeed, dark everywhere within. I pulled on the right door — locked. Big surprise there!

For whatever reason (thank you, Holy Spirit!), I pulled on the left door…and it opened!

I walked into the lobby in the dark, hoping there wasn’t an alarm that would go off! Sure enough, in the shadows over where our CD table had been, I saw Christy’s purse on the floor.

I picked it up, carried it outside, and let the door shut behind me. Then, out of curiosity, I turned around and tried the door again. It was locked securely!

By the time I got back to the car, the pastor had come out of his house. He had recognized us from across the parking lot and came out to see if everything was ok. I explained the situation to him, and told him about how the door had been unlocked for me to walk in and retrieve the purse. What a cool way for God to help us out!

He thanked me “for locking up” for them and we headed back to Applebees again for real this time.

Anyway, isn’t that so neat how God kept that door from shutting tight when the church was “locked up” the first time, so that I could easily go back in and retrieve Christy’s purse? That’s the kind of God we worship!

Until next time,

steve

hil Hawkins has been doing some excellent commenting here on this blog of late. And sometimes comments are just too good to stay buried in the comments section of the blog. While I don’t seek to exalt any one person above another on this blog (save Jesus!), I just had to put this comment in its entirety up here on the front page for all to read.

To my dear brothers who are involved in the institutional church, please don’t read this so much as an “institutional vs. simple” dichotomy. But prayerfully weigh Phil’s words here and see what points of agreement might be had. Of course, dissenting opinions are welcome in the comments following this post, if one feels it necessary.

Without further ado, then, in my “Wish I Had Written This!” category comes this profound comment from (unwitting) guest blogger Phil on the recent “How (Not) to Judge Someone’s Orthodoxy” post:

Looking back at this whole discussion, I come back to this basic question–What is Christianity? Is it
(a) a set of activities in a sacred place on Sunday morning, with a list of tenets to be subscribed to as a condition of participation, coupled with rules for behavior, enforced by the official leadership

or

(b) a way of living, every day, 24/7, in relationship with Jesus Himself, and with others who also are in relationship with Him.

Going through the words of Jesus Himself in the Gospels, I cannot find anything that leads to (a); in fact, he often rebuked the leaders of the (a) system of the day. I grew up in churches, have been in churches all my life, and my conclusion now is that in most situations, the more of (a) you have, the less you have of (b); in fact, (a) tends to replace and eliminate (b)!

How did “Abide in me” come to mean “Be at the church building every time the doors are open”?

If you want to improve your relationship with someone, say your wife, do you go off to an auditorium and sit while someone who claims to know her better than you do lectures for half an hour? Or would the time be better spent going somewhere alone with your wife and conversing with her for half an hour? Which really builds the relationship with her?

I’m afraid most humans are too lazy for their own good. We’d rather have a list of rules to keep than try to walk in the Spirit. We want a doctrinal statement to assent to rather than trying to learn to hear His voice ourselves. The Hebrews started it at Mt. Sinai–they wanted Moses to hear God for them.

And for those who would say “It’s some of each, both (a) and (b)” my question is How can it be both, when (a) eliminates (b)? I think, and I suspect [frequent commenter] ded would agree (based on what he’s written here), that they are two different things, coming from two different sources. If God meant it to be a symbiosis, it would be a stable symbiosis, not constantly drifting in one direction.

To look at it another way: What has been the “fruit” of (a) in this country? Do we have a vibrant church that is transforming its culture? Are non-believers coming to Christ in droves? Are believers “turning the world upside down”?

Or is the picture more like this: “Our bookshelves are full of Christian books and videos. We have churches on every major street, more staff workers than ever before, large Sunday school departments, cell systems, mega- and meta-church seminars. We have Christian bumper stickers, political action groups, huge parachurch ministries–and in the midst of it all, we have lost every major city in North America.” Back in 1999, Wolfgang Simson included that quote from Ted Haggard in his book “Houses that Change the World”.

Maybe we do need to lay aside everything that’s been written since and go back to the New Testament for our original instructions.

Way to go, Phil! And a hearty “amen” to that.

Until next time,

steve