Intentional Walk: July 2005

Friday, July 29, 2005

I Love Green Lantern

It's my blog, see? If I want to write about how much I love Green Lantern then that's what I'll do. Actually I'm just a little bleary from studying for Sunday's (mini) sermon and class. And I don't want to regurgitate here what I'm going to be saying there. I'll probably post class comments next week but for now I just want to talk about Green Lantern. Also, some of you guys have been addressing some really good, hard stuff in your own blogs...things like grace and unity...and I think for now we just need a good post about Green Lantern.

Lisa mentioned the other day that I haven't posted anything about baseball in a while. She's right. Yesterday the Angels played 18 innings and lost 2-1 to the Blue Jays. This completed a sweep by Toronto and continued a skid in which my team has scored 4 runs in the last 50 innings. That's not good. Now, with a completely depleted bullpen, we go to New York to face Randy Johnson and the Yankees. Meanwhile the A's, whom I HATE even more than the Evil Empire, have been playing great and are only 3 1/2 games behind us. So I think you can see why I want to write about Green Lantern.

Today I played golf for only the third time all summer. I still can't figure out my new clubs (which I had to get because my old ones were stolen along with my car) and so I once again shot in the 100's. Yes, that was the temperature, ha ha, but it was also my score so leave me alone. I think my need to write about Green Lantern is obvious.

Green Lantern is very cool. He has a power ring that operates on will power. It is vulnerable to the color yellow. This is, of course, because of a yellow impurity in the battery from which it charges up its power. It is mostly, of course, because of the need to have stories where Green Lantern could actually lose. His secret identity is Hal Jordan. Yes, I know, there are lots of others but I grew up with Hal Jordan so that's the only one I care about. His costume is very cool. For some reason I really dig the white gloves. I have an original John Byrne drawing of GL from 1975 framed and hanging above my computer. I am a total geek for Green Lantern. If you want to know anything more about him or have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Okay, back to my study of wisdom from Psalm 19, my lesson on King Joash, and my reading of "The Emerging Church" by Dan Kimball (who, by the way, loves comic book art and is probably cool enough to really appreciate Green Lantern).

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

The Prayer of Jehoshaphat

I despise "The Prayer of Jabez." Notice the quotes there. I'm not talking about the actual prayer. The actual prayer is fine. And maybe "despise" is a wee bit strong. But the book, and the philosophy/theology behind it drives me nuts. It paints a picture of a God in Heaven who has a big chest full of blessings that He would love to give us if only we'd ask. Except for a few short paragraphs, the entire book is about getting blessings for...guess who? US! Oh Lord, bless ME. Enlarge MY territory. Very little of the book is spent on interceding for others or on any other aspects of prayer: praise, confession, gratitude, recognition.

In II Chronicles 20 there is a different prayer, one prayed by King Jehoshaphat. It gives us a better idea of what prayer should be, what prayer CAN be when we put God in perspective, when we put Him on His throne.

Facing the threat of a vast army, "Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord." There are three lessons right away: 1) When need arises, inquire of God first. 2) Don't just pray. Fast. Meditate. Study. Force yourself to focus on God's will. 3) Come together. Pray in community. Lift each other up.

And then the Bible records Jehoshaphat's prayer. And it isn't three verses of bless ME (sorry, Jabez, I'm sure I have you all out of context but sheesh!). He spends some time recognizing God for who He is and what He's done. He shows gratitude. He respects God as the great Deliverer and not just a prescription filler. And after he makes his request -- a specific one by the way, not some rambling "please-help-us" generality -- he ends with a line that we could cut and paste into ALL of our prayers: "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."

Awesome. I love that.

One more thing. After they prayed, "all the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord." It's almost as though they were waiting for something. Oh wait. They were. An answer! How much more fulfilling would our prayer lives be if we actually stopped talking when we finished praying? What if we didn't start eating or sleeping or watching TV or any of the other thousand things we distract ourselves with and just stopped? Stood there. Waited. We might actually notice our prayers getting answered. Maybe we'd remember to say thank you. I think we'd make our Father happy...if we would just be still...and know that He is Lord.

Monday, July 25, 2005

Catching Up...Again

Last week was BUSY! I suppose that's obvious from the single blog entry. Lisa's sister was married on Saturday and there were many jobs to do and errands to run. Lisa was really the busy one, but when she's busy that means that I'm with James and, for some reason, it's hard to sit and write with a 4-year-old in the house. He looks awesome, by the way, in a tuxedo. As soon as we get pictures, I'm just sure that you'll see what I mean.

I also spent a good amount of time last week reading the new Harry Potter book. It's one of the best and I can't wait for Lisa to finish it so we can talk about it. You might have heard that there is a fairly significant event in this one. I finished it on Tuesday and spent most of the rest of the day walking around in a daze, wishing I could TELL SOMEONE!

The air conditioner is still not up and running at church and yesterday was hotter than ever. I actually don't think it was any hotter than it was last week, but there's something about expecting cool air that makes hot air seem hotter. I'm up on Sunday so I'm praying harder than usual that it's repaired by then. Class yesterday was pretty dead. I wasn't feeling good, we were all still pretty hot, and there just wasn't good discussion. Too bad since the topic was so rich. Maybe tomorrow I'll write a post about Jehoshaphat's prayer and I'll feel better about it.

Meanwhile, my days are numbered. Only three weeks left until school starts again and I am in full Where-the-heck-did-summer-go mode. It's time to actually start thinking about lesson plans again. Ack!

Monday, July 18, 2005

HARRY POTTER IS EVIL!!!

Okay, NO, He's not, but it cracks me up how many people think he is.

I'm well into "Half Blood Prince", the latest book in the Harry Potter series and it is every bit as good as the last five have been. The books are incredibly well-written and real page-turners. We are invested in the characters by now and Rowling keeps us all a little afraid that everyone but Harry may not make it to the end. What gets me though, is how every new release brings with it the same old stories of all the Christians who are pronouncing doom on everybody who reads them. This is, by the way, how we get such a lousy name. We invest our energies decrying Harry Potter for crying out loud! Meanwhile, the poor and the sick and the hungy go on being poor and sick and hungry. Sometimes I think we don't mind too much if a kid dies of starvation as long as he didn't read any Harry Potter before he died.

As always, the charges against the books are that they teach kids to love magic and they "blur the lines between good and evil." As to loving magic, well the truth is that fictional magic is pretty cool. And I don't think that kids are drawing pentagrams on their bedroom floors. I think they simply enjoy getting caught up in the same kind of world that Mallory, Twain, and Lewis have helped create. As to the whole "blurring the line" thing, I'm not sure how the line between good and evil could GET any blurrier. And, having read every word of these books, I'm not sure how they could try to make the line any clearer. Harry's good, Voldemort's evil. I get it. I wonder why others can't? Unless, of course, they've never bothered to read them. Yes, I think that's probably it.

My friend, Chris the Minister made a great comment about these books the other day. He said that he'll have to wait his turn in his family to read the new one, but then the whole family will enjoy discussing it. And then he said that if Christian parents REALLY need a series of books to be up in arms about, they should keep the "Left Behind" series out of their kids hands. Not only is the writing atrocious, but the theology is dangerously ridiculous. I love my friend, Chris the Minister.

Monday, July 11, 2005

Expectations of a King

Hi. I'm back. How's it going?

I'm reading "Mere Discipleship" by Lee Camp. I'm also in study for a series on Sunday mornings about kings in the Old Testament. Worlds collided this weekend when I was reading a section in the book about what we expect from a king.

The Bible says that King Asa was "fully committed to God all the days of his life." The first 34 years of his reign were largely spent in peace and prosperity. The one war mentioned was won by God after Asa and all the people fasted and prayed to Him for strength, guidance, and victory. Asa tore down idols and even deposed his grandma because she supported their worship. Yet after decades of peace and devotion, Asa failed one of his final tests. When the king of Israel threatened Asa's land of Judah, Asa turned to the king of Aram to bail him out. He gave him gold and silver from the temple. He never once asked God for help.

Years later, King Hezekiah fell into the same trap, calling on Egypt for help against Assyria. To him, Isaiah said:

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and who depend on horses! They trust in the number of chariots and in the great strength of charioteers. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel and they do not seek the Lord's help. (Isa. 31:1)

This is what we want from our kings. We want power. We want strength. We expect our leaders to wipe out those who stand against us. Indeed, this is why the Jews could not accept that Jesus was Messiah. Messiah, after all, was to be their king. And no king would allow himself or his people to suffer. If a king is challenged, he fights. If he's not strong enough, he makes treaties. He gets help. But he wins at any cost. It is for this reason that Paul calls the cross "offensive." The cross, at face value, means defeat. Why should we accept, root for, follow, pattern our very lives after a king who allows himself to die?

Lee Camp writes: "We might summarize Revelation this way: in the ring of human history, there's a bleeding Lamb in one corner and a dragon in the other. "Common sense" would tell us we should place our bet on the dragon -- but there's a new common sense, a new reality, in which the Lamb turns out victorious. It's the people of God, the church, who are supposed to know that secret, because the mystery has been revealed in Christ."

There's nothing wrong with expecting strength and victory in Christ. But don't be surprised if they don't come in the way you expect. And don't expect them at all if you don't look to the Holy One of Israel and seek His help.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Silent Running

This site is going deep under until Monday. I look forward to catching up with everyone next week. Feel free to fill your time making up mohawk-inspired nicknames for me until I return.

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

I'm Wireless, Baby!

I've achieved the dream. I'm posting this from my couch while watching a baseball game. The Angels already beat the Twins today and the Red Sox are clubbing the Rangers as we speak. That means another game's lead in the standings for my boys as we reach the halfway point of the season. Life is good.

Okay, so "Mere Discipleship" is meaty, but turning out to be required reading so far. I am so impressed with the guts of Lee Camp, the writer. Here's a southern C of C member, a teacher at Lipscomb for crying out loud, who has the guts to question things like: the attitude of Christians toward discipleship, the morality of the Vietnam War, certain quotes and stances of Reagan and the Bushes. The thing is, it's pretty hard to argue against him. Are we really meant to follow the teachings of Jesus only as long as they don't interfere with keeping our place in society? Should an army chaplain fall in line when his Commander-in-Chief says that everyone supports his actions? Is America the "city on the hill" referred to in the Bible and are we justified in seeing ourselves as the shining example while labeling others an "evil empire"? Good, troubling, valid, disturbing questions.

I'm learning about certain ways we perceive the world through eyes stained with traditions and preconceived notions. And I'm sure I'll be working through those lessons here. I look forward to comments and, hey, if nothing else, at least we can escape those horrible pictures for awhile.

Monday, July 04, 2005

One lesson my study of the Bible has taught me is: Be careful what you ask for.

For those of you who visit this site for theological discussion, I deeply apologize. VBS often makes participants braindead for some time. I promise that when I come back to my senses, I will present some ideas that are coming about from our Sunday study of Old Testament kings and from the book I am currently reading, "Mere Discipleship." Until such time, please enjoy an alternate pose.

I understand if none of you ever return.

Friday, July 01, 2005

Posting A Picture

Oh, okay. I'm not all that technologically incapable. I realize this isn't the "mohawk picture" of me. If you want that, fly over to Sandra's site...or wait a day or two for me to get the one that Lisa took of me after we got the red out. I promise, I'll try to get it up here.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this picture of me, pre-mohawk, flying over the earth.

I realize that picture doesn't really do me justice, but I kind of like the way the sun is gleaming off my cape.

In other news, VBS came to a successful end last night. The other "actors" and I had fun signing autographs for the kids in the playground afterwards. It was so sweet to see how shy and sincere they were about having us sign the backs of their nametags. I debated about whether to sign my real name or go with my first instinct and sign everything "Turd Furgeson." In the end, a semblance of sanity won out and I signed them all "Pvt. Davey" and added "Go, dude!" to many of them. I'm still having trouble shaking off the surfer accent after 4 straight days of it. It started out on Monday as Jeff Spicolli from "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" and by Thursday was just a straight Bill from "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure." Scary. I almost drove home to San Dimas last night. Whoa!

I'll look for that other picture. Surf's up. Rock on.

Hit Counters

Intentional Walk