belief
We Were Made For This… Advent 2012
Advent has led us to this moment; we are expectantly waiting the coming of the Christ Child. Our hearts and souls are filled with hope, peace, love and joy. Advent sets us on a trajectory toward the moment when we will encounter Christ a new. May we continue this journey not only during the season of Advent, but for the rest of our lives. The story of Christmas can not be contained into four, one hour long church services. The message is greater than that.
Throughout our lives we seek something greater than ourselves. We seek something that gives us completeness and wholeness. The message of Advent is that there is something worth waiting for; not just during December but for the rest of our lives. Darkness will be overcome, light will shine bright, hope will be restored, joy will fill our hearts, love will abound for all and peace will finally reign on Earth.
The Advent message is one that calls to wait and watch for the coming of Christ in our midst, for the coming of the Savior born to a unwed teenage mother 2000+ years ago. Wrapped up in those bans of cloth was a promise of life a new.
May we remember the message of Advent and the call of Christ to remember and reflect the love of Christ.
The power of God is felt and known more deeply when we wait for the coming of Christ and the hope we have in his coming. Darkness to light, chaos to peace, exclusivity to inclusivity, an outcast to the God bearer– All because of the indwelling of God; the movement of God, the incarnation in a baby born to a unwed teenage mother with zero status socially.
We were made for this… we were made for something greater than ourselves
“My soul magnifies the Lord My spirit rejoices in God my savior.”- Luke 1:46
In Christ,
Rev. Evan
(“A Row Of Tea Candles” available under the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0 at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tschiae/8213244223/)
Newtown, CT
Newton, Connecticut. Before today many of us had never heard of this little town. But now, due to a senseless act this town is now on the front page of every major news site and newspaper. In one senseless act, lives were ended, lives were cut short, peace was turned into chaos, stability turned into uncertainty. In an instant the world of so many children and families were turned upside down. It is a sad sad affair.
As I sit here, I type a sentence and then delete it, type a sentence and delete it… words can not express the sadness the hurt, the pain and anguish that comes from a tragic event of this magnitude.
What are we to do? Our hearts break and spirit cries out, but many of us are thousands of miles away…
I am reminded of a quote I heard once (not sure who or when): “I am convinced more and more each day that we live in a world in desperate need of a Savior.” In one act, the human condition showed its ugly head once more…
May we remember the words of Christ in Matthew 5:4
“Blessed are those are mourn, for they will be comforted.”
May it be so.
Below are some touching and thoughtful tweets I saw today
My heart and is broken, thinking of parents cancelling Christmas plans & planning funerals instead. I cannot imagine. #newtown
— David L Hansen (@rev_david) December 14, 2012
Theodicy is a struggle
https://twitter.com/meekamania/status/279690031696842752— OccupyAdvent (@OccupyAdvent) December 14, 2012
Theodicy is a struggle
— Michael Meek (@meekamania) December 14, 2012
6 Objections of the Church from “They Like Jesus But Not The Church”
I am currently reading “They Like Jesus But Not The Church” by Dan Kimball. It is an interesting book on how the church is seen by those in the “emerging generations.” The author does not hold back in calling out followers of Christ on both sides of the theological spectrum. In the book he list six objections people have to the church (they are listed below)
What do you think about these six? Would you add or take any way?
Objection #1: The church is an “organized religion” with a political agenda;
Objection #2: The church is judgmental and negative
Objection #3: The church is male dominated and oppresses females
Objection #4: The church is homophobic
Objection #5: The church feels Christianity is right and all other religions are wrong
Objection #6: The church is full of “fundamentalists” who take the Bible too literally.
Join The Conspiracy!
Think about Christmas differently this year! Turn your Christmas upside down!
When Intolerance/Difference of Theological Belief Leads To Unemployment
For starters, this post is not about me. I am not losing my job, but it is about a fellow minister who is currently in this unfortunate boat.
A minister colleague of mine posted on Facebook that his church had made the decision that they were going to withdraw from the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) denomination. On top of that, the governing body of the church had the right to terminate the minister, no congregational vote or anything.
The beginning of all of this started when the Kentucky Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) at their last assembly voted to remove the restriction that stated that open homosexuals could not be ordained in the Region. The measure passed by a wide margin and even church in the region had an opportunity to cast a vote and speak on the issue. For my colleague’s church this was not enough. They disagreed with the measure and thus have taken action.
The thing that I do not understand is that in the Disciples of Christ denomination, one our main tenets is the freedom of belief and the priesthood of all believers. Under the notion of the freedom of belief, there are not hard and fast interpretations of the Bible broad casted from on high at some national office. Each person is supposed to be lead by the Spirit to come up with an interpretation of themselves. Now this does not mean that they are devoid of conversation with others or that they can not draw upon the knowledge of ministers and leaders, but it does mean that the conversation can not be had. The Disciples are big proponents of local church authority and autonomy. It is so the church can find an expression of faith that fits the congregation at hand. No two Disciples churches look a like and that is a great thing. The Bible is meant to expressed in a different ways to different people. Gone are the days of cookie cutter religion and hello a place where questions are welcomed and discussions can be had.
Does this mean you can believe whatever you want? In a sense yes and no… I mean you believed God was a water buffalo, you have missed the point of the gospel. But for the most part, theologies are constantly in flux, they are growing and shaping over a course of a life time. This does not mean that once you chose one particular way of believing or understanding the Bible that you are stuck with it forever. This is where I believe this congregation might have jumped the gun. What is wrong with having differing theological opinions What is wrong with having a good discussion based on and around the notion that in the end we are still welcome and able to come around the Table of Grace under the common bond of Jesus Christ. I hate to tell this congregation but even though they differ on this issue, there are still people within the remnant that do not see eye to eye on every piece of theology, its quite impossible for that to happen.
I am saddened for my friend and colleague and pray that he will find a church that will accept him and his understanding of the gospel.
May it be so.
In Christ,
Rev. Evan
Christmas in October?
The Mayor of Houston has been receiving some “constructive criticism” regarding a tweet that she posted a few days ago. About 10 days or so before HALLOWEEN, I began to see some shops and stores put up their Christmas decorations. See the tweet below.
Stores here in Houston have stated that they have to do whatever is necessary to make sure they make their Christmas profits. That’s right… Christmas profits. I am all for businesses doing well so they can make a living, that is the American dream. But I am not for making a religious holiday into an opportunity to overspend. It is much more than about gifts and presents and overeating, it is a remembrance of the birth of Jesus Christ.
Personally I have no problems with her comments; having Christmas decorations up two months prior to the event is ridiculous. These decorations were up before Halloween and Thanksgiving and so called “Black Friday.” At this rate we should keep Christmas decorations up all year.
Here’s to Annise Parker and I hope you are looking forward to Thanksgiving, the forgotten holiday.
In Christ,
Rev. Evan
Just… Stop… Talking…
A friend of mine in ministry posted on her blog a wonderful post regarding the crazy political process we are in and the role of women in that process. Below is a portion from a post as well at the link.
As we draw nearer to November 6, maybe we can take a page out of this post and stop talking and start listening.
I understand that many different professionals have to come together in order to make policy surrounding issues such as abortion, rape, birth control, medical care for my uterus, etc. but you can also make sure you understand this clearly, and focus on YOUR profession, leaving those other professionals to do their jobs. I have never been pregnant, I have never been in the situation of needing to make a decision about an abortion, nor have I ever been raped. But I am a woman, I am a theologian, and I am a minister. Those three things alone make me qualified to tell you to STOP TALKING AND LISTEN.
I am not advocating that you have agree with my personal decisions, nor compromise your own personal beliefs. However, leave the job of professionals up to those professionals. Use them as guides and help along the way but actually LISTEN to them as you work together, doing YOUR job, not the job of others. — Peace Babe
Full post here.
In Christ,
Rev. Evan
Favorite Bible Passage (For Today)
As a minister I get asked a lot of questions. These questions range from “Where did Cain’s wife come from?” to “How can I forgive someone when I am hurting so bad?” and everything in between. A question that I get a lot is “what is your favorite Bible verse?” The Bible is a big book so as you can imagine I have a lot to choose from. The problem with answering this question is that the answer is never same day to day, month to month, year to year. Why? Well, things happen in our lives that change the way that we approach the scriptures. For example, my daughter and first child Violet was born on February 1. Before her birth, passages in the Bible that referred to a parent/child relationship or even the notion that God is a parent didn’t really mean much to me. But after her birth, those passages took on a whole new meaning. It was because my context had changed. My outlook on life and what was important to me was different. Those passages were something that I could relate to because I was a parent now.
Having a favorite Bible passage is something that evokes for us memories of a time when we felt close to God or maybe someone. For me today my favorite passage is 1 John 4:19- “We love because God first loved us.” (Common English Bible, 2011). This passage sums up my understanding of God, the ultimate source of all love. The only reason we have the capacity to love another human being is because God loved us first. I believe that this passage calls on all of the followers of Christ to remember the free gift of love and to share it willingly with others, just like it was given to us.
Does this mean that tomorrow I might change my mind? Maybe, the fact remains that our relationship with God and the Bible is a growing relationship, not a static one. I once heard pastor and author Brian McLaren once say that we should stop going to the Bible to only reinforce what we already know about God. If we heed these words, then we will have a mountain of favorite passages throughout our lives.
In Christ,
Rev. Evan M. Dolive
Football and the Bible
The tiny town of Kountze, Texas was placed on the national radar this past week. After a series of court cases and injunctions, the Kountze High School Cheerleaders are allowed to continue to use Bible scriptures as part of their pre-game, run though banner. (read here) Because of their actions it has caused a firestorm of press, debates and protests. The central issue (as I understand it) is whether or not it is appropriate for the cheerleaders to use Bible scriptures at a school event. The superintendent of Kountze ISD stated that he barred them because the banners violated school policy and so the debate started. Do the banners that the players run through before kickoff amount to school sanctioning of religion?
I am not a lawyer by profession but I believe there is a different issue at the forefront here. The cheerleaders in my opinion are walking a very fine line. Yes they are student lead and under the letter of the law they should be “ok” to continue, but what about doing it in uniform on the field of school sponsored football game? Does that change the context and thus change the nature of the event? I believe it does.
What this boils down to is that in a predominately Christian area of the state, Christianity can not be professed everywhere and this upsets people and any push back is seen as an attack of freedoms. The fact of the matter is that at Kountze ISD there is an amalgamation of people from various faith backgrounds, contexts and ideas. By having the cheerleaders promoting their brand of religion is stating that their way is more correct than the others. Since they have the platform to promote their voice to a wide audience, they have the opportunity to broadcast what ever they want. This is not fair or correct.
People have been arguing that this issue is centered on the notion of freedom of speech. While I agree with this, would the fine people of Kountze be ok with an uplifting passage from the Koran or from the Bhagavad Gita? If you open the door under the notion of freedom of speech then you open it to all. You have to give the same platform for Muslims, Jews, Atheist, Agnostics and even Satanist. It has been reported that the cheerleaders take turns choosing the uplifting message; would the parents who fought so hard to get a Philippians 4:13 banner, fight just a hard for a Hindu cheerleader to promote her religion? Maybe, but maybe not.
There is this idea that society is assaulting Christianity or that the world has some vendetta against Christianity. I do not believe this is the case. I believe that some people have an issue with religion being shoved down their throat. This has been an issue with Christianity for centuries. Some followers of Christ believe that they have a moral imperative to make sure that everyone believes their version of Christianity. I believe that Christianity is multi-faceted and complex; it is rich and layered with multiple ways to interpret and act upon the scriptures. Yes there will be those who will claim that their foundation is in the Bible and the Great Commission, but I think this is pushing it past the limits of its intent. The Great Commission calls on all who follow Christ to spread the message of love, hope, peace, joy and reconciliation. Christ had many enemies but it was his changing of social structures and acceptance of those who society had cast out that helped the movement to grow. No where in the Bible does Christ ever command his followers to many banners and have padded football players run through it.
Don’t the scriptures deserve better respect than to have a team of players tear it to shreds?
Faith is something that is inherently personal and for some Christianity has left a bad taste in their mouth. Maybe it was a bad experience with a minister or perhaps they were told that because of their life choices they were not accepted in the Kingdom of God. How would it feel to then see a banner proclaiming the best virtues of Christianity when those were not shown to you? Instead of making a situation worse, why not live your lives in a way that expresses the faith that you hold so dear? This will be the biggest witness that you can ever have. I understand that to many this is a ‘non-issue’ but for the church to be seen in a positive light, people must know that just because a banner is not raised does not mean that Christianity is dead.
I know that many of you do not share the same view as I do and that’s ok. Its not about who is right and who is wrong, rather it is about the conversation and the examination of widely held beliefs. Many people might consider me (like many do about the Superintendent of Kountze ISD) un-Christian or even anti-Christian, but that is off the mark. I am just expressing a theological opinion, the right of every person.
This situation is far from over, but the fact remains that Christ’s central message was love. Let’s remember that.
In Christ,
Rev. Evan
Rev. Dr. Evan M. Dolive 