Resurrection!

Greetings earthlings, worldlings and bretheren. This is a feeble/heroic attempt at resurrecting our blogsite! As you can see, the prior post was last fall. I feel like this whole blog phenominum is just so people can become more obsessed with themselves more so than for a communication tool. I feel like if more people would visit and comment that we would use this site more but it hasn't worked out that way. Maybe, we aren't as interesting as we might think we are. Maybe, people don't really care what we are doing or what songs we listen to, or what we have been thinking about, or our favorite movie. Does it really matter? I'm not so sure. I suppose the logical response is, "you'd think so if people really visited your blog." Maybe, we don't have friends? Or, friends who don't live in cyber land too often? Again, does it really matter? It doesn't. Well, looking forward to your comments. :D

Bruderhof again!

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Quote of the Day

peace be with you,

Andy

Bruderhof again...

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Quote'>http://dailydig.bruderhof.org/">Quote of the Day

peace be with you.

Andy

The Bruderhof communities

Hey friends..

Lisa and I's house church the past few weeks has been talking a lot about,"What is community?" Some from the group have visited the Bruderhof...along with a few of us who have seen their web site:

Quote of the Day

You should check it out...pretty interesting and appealing.

Going Deep

This was a post I made on another aquaintences blog site. I decided to resurrect the idea and see if any still visited my blog. :)

I have thought about that whole "going deep" thing with someone to some extent, as well. Actually, myself and some of my acquaintances here in Vienna...have even commented about the "levels of conversation". We just made it up one night. So, for instance, level one would be small talk, weather talk, etc. Level two would be on a more personal level (interests, what one does, etc.) Level three would be even more personal (faith, philosophies, political ideals, life aspirations, etc.) Level four is where you share the more difficult things like struggles, sin, anger, disapointment, / or, heart felt feelings towards another's friendship, love for someone, etc. Level 5 is when you share things that only you and a select few know about (lust issues, etc.)... And level 6 is a level that isn't often reached. That is where you share something or thoughts that only you and God have known about before that moment (most often carnal thought). So, there you have it. Move over Erickson, Piaget, Milton. Check out theory can come out of simple conversation between some average Joes?! Well, we have no study that supports this theory...and not a lot of thought was actually put into it.....your thought on "going deep" just reminded me of it.For the most part I agree with one of the other posts. I think it is rare moments when we dare to talk intimately with our fellow man. Many times, in Christian circles at least, it seems forced. We have vain attempts at accountability groups...that usually end with little to no transparency ( NO LEVEL 6! :)).

Henri Nouwen has some interesting thoughts on intimacy with our fellow man in, 'Reaching Out.' He talks in there about reaching a certain level of intimacy with our fellow man through solitude (of course! What else does Nouwen talk about?!). I really like his thoughts, though. In 'Reaching Out' he sites a dialog he has with a former student. The only catch is that it wasn't much of a dialog...of words anyways. He states that after a few minutes had passed they became silent..."Not an embarassing silence but a silence that could bring us closer together than the many small and big events of the last year." "The silence that grew between us was warm, gentle and vibrant." He goes on describing their nonverbal interactions. And then after a long period of silence his former student says, "When I look at you it is as if I am in the presence of Christ." Nouwen responds by saying he did not feel surprised or in need of protesting, but could only say, "It is the Christ in you, who recognizes the Christ in me." "Yes," his student said, "He indeed is in our midst."Nouwen then goes on to say that this former student spoke the most healing words he had heard in his many years..."From now on, wherever you go, or wherever I go, all the ground between us is holy ground."

That is deep.

-Andy

The Christian Freedom Party

Interesting.... Very interesting. Check this new party. Out of Minnesota??!! Anyways, I haven't had a whole lot of time to check this out...but, I am intrigued in politics for the first time in a long while.

http://www.christianfreedomparty.com/

peace,

Andy

John 3 

The Middle Road

Have you heard this mantra lately? "The Middle Road" This is in referrence to your position on a theological issue. Whether it be the Calvinism/Arminianism debate...or, infant as opposed to adult baptism...or, modern/postmodern church. In politics this would be refered to as the"Mainstream" Another theological referrence is "Balance" (actually a eastern-monistic influence) ~Not that it is a bad influnce, either~ Anyways, the idea is that rather than always taking a polar (polarizational) stance on a issue (in this case, theological)...one takes a more 'middle road' view.

We (VCS) had a well known European Christian Apologist, Udo Middleman, here visiting this past week. He spent 22 years working at Lebre (sp?) in Switzerland. For those of you that aren't aware Lebre is a place (mountain retreat), started by Francis Schaffer, where people were/are welcome to come and discuss theological issues in an open forum with a very program-less format. Basically, they just talk a lot over lunch, dinner, over coffee, in the library, etc.. People from all cultures and religious backgrounds are welcome. The whole purpose is to come to a closer realization of Truth and Reality. Sort of a Modern version of Ancient Greek think-tanks. Pretty cool huh?! (This is what I hope this site to be on a somewhat smaller level).

And, of course, because we have a somewhat wide, diverse pool of Christian theological perspectives here...a few of these debated issues came up. One thing that Udo mentioned a number of times was this idea of "staying on the horse" so to speak or finding the "middle ground" on these issues is the wisest position to take. Traditionally, I would tend to agree with this philosphy. However, one thing I and others have noticed is that not many of these theologians that call us to take this "middle road" explain just how that is done. Maybe, this is something that just can't be explained and needs to just be discovered on our own. Of that, I have no problem.

My friend, Dan Hanna (Dan is a new teacher this year @ VCS that has been a real blessing to me both spiritually and personally....and, I'm not just saying that cause, you did Dan!)...anyways, my friend Dan has brought some questions and thoughts that have really challenged me in these areas. Like the idea of "Objective Truth". He lent me an article to read written by a Christian writer in which the title was, "There is no such thing as Objective Truth, and that's a good thing" Now, as I'm sure some of your reactions may be the same as mine was initially...WHAT?! After reading the article it really made a lot of sense. I mean, it is all things I have thought of somewhat before...but, for some reason didn't allow myself to entertain. The article basically talked about being able to prove something "Objectively" is impossible. We aren't capable of doing this.

Now. This flies in the face of a 100 years of Christian Apologetics. Thus, it is either bold....or just plain crazy for a Christian to say. However, the more I look into it...the more it makes perfect sense and actually frees me in many areas of my Christian walk. Before I go further I should probable explain something. What the article was NOT saying was that Objective or Absolute Truth doesn't exist....it's just that we will never be able to prove it. Therefore, what ever convictions we have are FAITH convictions...not Objective observational Truths.

So, I believe...and that is Faith...not, absolute knowledge. So, I have faith in Jesus Christ based on a number of factors....my experience with Him, other people's experiences, historical evidence, the design of the world, creation, the reality of humanity and the messiness of this world, truth, etc. Yet, all those factors make-up "my" belief or Faith if you will. This is not to be confused with relativism. I do not believe that "All roads lead to God" nor, do I believe you can get to Heaven on 'good intentions'. Nonetheless, this is still what I believe.

This was one reason for Nietzsche's statement 'God is dead.' It was stated at a time when Scientific 'proof' was the next great thing...and held in such high regard. What ended up happening is many Christians at the time responded by trying to appease this popular demand...by attempting to prove Christianity through science, history, archeology, etc.. Now, this phenomena didn't start at this time...however, it was the appex moment of this movement. Thus, when Nietzsche said, 'God is Dead' he was saying that FAITH in God was dying....dying to Scientific Method towards an understanding of God.

If we define Faith from the Bible's perspective we have a definition that says, "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Heb. 11:1

So, when on makes a paradigm shift of this nature (from 'Objectivity' to faith) the need to land on one of the polar extremes of any arguement/debate/enigma, becomes less important.

Well, if you have read this far....I assume I struck something within you. Please, respond. I want to know your thoughts too.

Peace,

Andy

America's Pass-time

Go SOX!

Church

What is Church? I have been asking this question a lot lately...and getting a wide variety of answers. I would like to hear some of your thoughts? This question seems to be one of a number of questions that seem to be coming to the surface as the face of Christian is taking on a new look. Is that what we need? A new look. Sounds like following the fad of the time. Maybe, appearances have been our problem all along. Maybe, we need to stop being so concerned on how we look....and more on how we ARE (when no one is looking). Are we righteous and holy in those moments? Or, do we slide to default. If I am honest and transparent....I would say that I often slide to my carnal default. My prayer is to stop being about appearances...and just BE. Be the person that God created me to be....or, redeemed me to be. Maybe, stop talking about it, preaching about it, blogging about it, ;). I don't know.. Oh yeah! What is Church. Some ask the question...what was the original church like? We have some ideas based on scripture and other historical references. Some of those are the indication that the early Church always had communion. Communion=Community...Hmm?. They would remember what Christ did for them sometimes daily as a community...and then they would eat together. Often times they never had a speaker or teaching..they would just fellowship together. Many times women would be the leaders of the small gatherings...did I say small gatherings? Anyways, there are some that have shared with me that church is all the time...like Church is basically any time we are spending time with Christians...we are experiencing Church. Others believe Church to still be in the traditional sense....of a place (most often a large building) where fellow believers gather to Worship and be fed (spiritually). I 'm not sure where I land. I feel I am being stretched in this area of my Christianity. Hopefully in a fruitful direction.

Gratefulness

How great it is to be greatful. So, often we are left wanting. Or, at least, we think we ought to be wanting. The better car, house, look, etc. Bigger, better, faster. Or, for you tech-heads out there...More gigs, more ram, more pixels, 'higher tech'. My contention is that we should take a long hard look at Jed Clampet. Someone, in my community shared clip from one of the first episodes of the Beverly Hill Billies. This clip revealed something. Jed Clampet had the goods on us when it came to contentedness. When his cousin was asking about how much money he sold the land for....he didn't even know what 'millions' meant?! What a beautiful thought. :) Then he asked his cousin if he ought to move.....she responded quickly by saying, "Why Jed?! Think about it. You live in the middle of a swamp, with no running water, surrounded by wild life, miles from anyone, with a biffy 50 ft away from the house! His response was, "Yeah, I see your point. A man would be a dang fool to give all that up!" That's right Jed! Preach it! :)

-Andy

This is just a random picture from last year.. 

Fall

Nothing like the smell of leaves burning and the sound of football games to spark nostalgia in one's mind.