Letters to a Young Evangelical Quotes

I've been reading the book "Letters to a Young Evangelical" by Tony Campolo and in the last couple of chapters he's quoted other sources. I just wanted to share these quotes with you. I think they're cool.

"The Church is a whore, but she's my mother."
- St. Augustine (page 68 of "Letters to a Young Evangelical")

"Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish existentialist, once said there are those who tell lies in such a way that you think they are telling you the truth. He went on to suggest that far more dangerous are those who tell the truth in such a way that you think they are telling you a lie. When the Gospel is presented with little regard for the sensitivities of others, it may redily be rejected not because of its content but becuase of how it has been delivered."
- Tony Campolo referring to Soren Kierkegaard (page 56 of "Letters to a Young Evangelical")

If you want to learn more about Tony's book you can find all the info at TonyCampolo.org

Navigating the Grey Inport

I've imported a bunch of postings that I did on my previous blog, "Navigating the Grey." However, I didn't input the comments so if you want to read them you have to go to the original website: Navigating the Grey. Here's the new posts as they show up on this blog. They are posted with the original date so they don't show up at the top of the list.

Inspirational Keys

Why Can's I Own Canadians?

Repsponse: Jesus vs. The Church

Is Jesus' Salvation Just a Ticket to Heaven?

Why am I a Christian?

Act with Action

Alcohol-ism

The Power of the Dark Side

Absolutly Relative

Jessica gets engaged

Yesterday I was awaken to someone repeatedly calling my house at 12:45am. Annoyed I woke up on 6th time and answered the phone with an obviously condescending voice. After I say hello the voice on the other end says: "May I speak to Heather?"

I respond with the typical, "May I ask who's calling?" (Subtext: What is this man doing calling my wife at this time in the morning?)

"It's Kevin Reitema." (Heather's sister's boyfriend) Now I know. Jessica is engaged. Why else would he be calling at such a late hour. Although, they live in Saskatchewan and it wasn't 12:45am there.

Anyway, here's some pictures of the couple and of course... the ring.

The Good News

Awhile ago I did a sermon at my parent’s church called the “Good News.” The basic premiss is that the gospel (“the teachings of Jesus and his apostles - the Christian revelation,” as per dictionary.com) is only really the “good news” if it is two things: good, and news.

For the message of Christ, and thus the message of Christians, to be gospel it must first be good. “God hates fags,” would not fall under the title of good! Where as, “God loves you,” does. Jesus commanded us to love God and love others (Matt 22:34-40). He didn’t command us to love God and judge others. Although we tend to get love and judgement mixed up.

Not only must the gospel message be good, it must also be news. If it sounds stale and boring it is not news. Stanley Grenz says in the beginning of his book “Theology for the Community of God” that one major aspect of theology is that it is contextualized to the present time. The message of Christianity must be news. It must have urgency, be important, and be on the minds and mouths of everyone that knows it. It must break through into every conversation; not forced, but naturally included.

In our society and especially in our churches we need to make the gospel “Good News” again. We need to strip it of hatred and judgement and dress it in love. Clean it of cobwebs and dust-bunnies, and freshen it with urgency. Only when it’s “Good News” does it truly the gospel, the message of Jesus and his followers.

Apathy - Bastard Son of Safety and Security

As I think about the history of church people, or people in general for that matter, it's clear that when everything is going well, all the well seem to get going. That is, those who are dedicated to the ideology and community of the church begin to become a smaller and smaller percentage of the Christian population. When something is "easy" or "cool" it attracts all the wrong crowds.

Take for example the time in church history right after Constantine (Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire under emperor Theodosius (r. 379-395) not Constantine, though Constantine definitely contributed to it's popularity; as per Ask Me Now). Yes the popularity of Christianity provided many opportunities for theological reflection, but there was also a safety in being a Christian. In fact, there was more than safety; becoming a Christ follower was a good political move. The church became "cool" and popular, attracting those who were just in it for themselves. The cancer of apathy slowly took over and the commitment dwindled. Someone once said that the church grew more under persecution than it did under popularity.

We don't feel a need for God when we feel safe. We still need him; but we forget. It's our education that gets us the job, our job that pays for our house and food, and it's the house and food that fulfill our needs. We become apathetic because we can provide for ourselves, we aren't hiding in the catacombs struggling to stay alive. But the real need for spirituality remains, hidden under the satisfaction of physical safety and security. How, then, do we unveil this need and shake off our apathy? How do we learn to live and love with compassion and desire not blind to the truth?

Frozen H2O

The other day a friend and I had a disagreement about whether water expands or shrinks when it freezes. I said "expands" as per the how pop cans I left outside exploded. He said "shrinks" as per how the water he puts in the ice cube tray is more than the ice he gets out. We turned to the infamous Ask Me Now. And the first answer came back as follows:

"According to our reference site, Generally, water expands when it freezes because of its molecular structure, in tandem with the unusual elasticity of the hydrogen bond and the particular lowest energy hexagonal crystal conformation that it adopts under standard conditions."

Feeling this to be inadequate to finish the conversation I asked a more specific question and came up with this:

"According to our reference site: Water starts out behaving normally. As its temperature drops, water obediently shrinks together--until it reaches 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees F.). Then, amazingly, water reverses course, its volume slowly increasing as it chills. When water finally freezes, at 0 C (32 F.), it expands dramatically. Scientists say water's quirky behavior is caused by the shape of its molecule and by how its molecules bond to one another."

Now with a satisfying answer, I then turned to the issue of the shrinking water in the ice cube tray. Here Ask Me Now failed to understand my question and spat out this answer:

"Liquid water is most dense, essentially 1.00 g/cm³, at 4 °C and becomes less dense as the water molecules begin to form the hexagonal crystals of ice as the temperature drops to 0 °C. This is due to hydrogen bonds forming between the water molecules, which line up molecules less efficiently (in terms of volume) when water is frozen. The result of this is that ice floats on liquid water."

So as I thought about the mystery of the missing water I began to develop my own hypothesis. Maybe the water in the ice cube tray isn't shrinking at all? Maybe it's evaporating into the air in the freezer? Think about it; when is the air driest during the year? In the winter when it's the coldest, like in a freezer. Maybe the cold dry environment of the freezer caused the water in the ice cube tray to evaporate. This is my hypothesis. I'll leave you with that.

"Banking Can be This Comfortable"

I recently received my first mortgage statement from TD Canada Trust. Believe it or not, this is an actual quote from the statement in regards to future statements:

“At TD Canada Trust, we like to keep you informed about matters affecting your account. Starting in 2007, TD Canada Trust will no longer send you a semi-annual mortgage statement. Mortgage Statements will be provided once a year.”

So because TD wants to keep me informed they have decided to stop sending two statements a year and instead send one. Because somehow one statement provides me with more information? It’s just so blatantly, obviously, and oxy-moron. It’s like a Gas Bar saying they are committed to being available for their customers; and, thus, are no longer going to be open all night. It just doesn’t make sense. If you want to send me fewer mortgage statements, fine; but don’t preface it with how you want to keep me informed. Just don’t send as many.

A Good friend of mine, Tara (also a work colleague), advised me to invest in some Pink Floyd this last Christmas. She said that I should buy “Dark Side of the Moon” and that the first time I played it I had to listen the whole album straight through in one sitting. I did; and needless to say it was awesome. Though my favorite song is still “Money,” the rest just emphasized it. There are little snippets of “Money” through the whole album, along with pieces of “Us and Them” (I’m sure I’ll find more as I go on). I was also blown away by the song “The Great Gig in the Sky.” The woman’s vocals were haunting and emotionally inspiring. The more I listen to it the more it feels like she is singing what I am feeling at that time. Even though I feel something different every time I listen to it. I can’t wait to watch “The Wizard of Oz” to it.

Inspirational Keys

I know this key chain has gerat potential to diminish the respect that some of you may have for me but let me explain.

I recieved this as a gift from one of my friends who recently went to Cuba. Not knowingly they gave out key chains as a memorable trinket of their trip. This was the only one with such a profound message. I was the one who received it.

As I thought about the little saying I reflected on my upcoming house purchase. One week from today we get the keys to my new house. MY house. MY expletive house. Somehow our culture has this attitude: everything that is mine is mine. Makes sense. However, it goes against the teachings of Christ. Material possessions and the idea of owning things wasn't important to Jesus (Matt 16:24, Matt 19:21, Matt 8:20, to name a few). So why should it be important to me.

Moving into this house and owning something huge must not change me. I must remember that it is not my house but God's.

I know this issue doesn't seem grey; but, it was so strikeingly presented to me in this key chain I felt I had to share it. As I though I was receiving a perfect gift for someone moving, I was actually receiving a perfect illustration of what this moving must not produce in me.

Why Can't I Own Canadians

Here's a letter placed expertly inside a book I've been reading lately. The book is called "What Jesus Meant" by Garry Wills (Viking: 2006). Though though the book aligns with much of the "radical, irreligious, postmodern, postliberal/conservative, frankly posteverything" stream of thought I find his concise-ness and to-the-point-ness refreshing. This letter he recovered from an unknown internet source and described it as being written to a "protestant evangelical who believes in literal reading of the Bible:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's law. I have learned a great deal from you, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination - end of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's laws and how to follow them.
1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev 15:19-24). The problem is: how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor to the Lord (Lev 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there degrees of abomination?
7. Leviticus 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Leviticus 19:27. How should they die?
9. I know from Leviticus 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Leviticus 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. It is really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them (Lev 24:10-16)? Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws (Lev 20:14)?
I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging. "
P(33-35)