Comments for Consuming Jesus

Comment on Consuming Jesus Study Guide Now Available! by Beyth Hogue Greenetz

Beyth Hogue Greenetz — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 22:52:58 +0000

Hi Sara,

Thanks for your interest! The study guide is available to view online at the link above. Please let me know if you have any trouble with it.

Beyth

Comment on Consuming Jesus Study Guide Now Available! by Sara

Sara — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 14:19:40 +0000

Is the Study Guide, downloadable still available? I’d appreciate it. Thanks.

I have really appreciated finding your blog and have read a number of the posts. I will be back. Blessings…for your Emmaus journey to Pentecost!

Comment on One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism–One Church? by chris laird

chris laird — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 20:09:51 +0000

Hey Paul A.,

“We are all Children of God … we are called to model compassion for our fellow man by including them in the decision making, in our administration, as our instructors and as servants to each other. Without this true community … there is only a community of separation and self gratification which models the world far better then it models God’s.”

You and I are seminary students and I’m personally grateful for this experience but the vision you describe above where all are invited and encouraged to make a meaningful contribution to the life of the community well, that’s something that I have struggled with since I’ve been here. Some days I wonder if such values can ever take root in this cultural soil (one that is competitive, professional, and individualistic. Some days I think that I hear Jesus saying, “The ‘professors’ and ‘administrators’ sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do.” But then I engage Dr. Redman or Dr. Robertson and I discover that they have a personal commitment to the “Character” that we’re talking about; they even share our desire to see it shape our community.

So I think it’s good to challenge one another as well as challenge our institutions and if you’re like me, sometimes its easy to feel like Elijah, like we are the only ones who care any more. But then the Lord reminds us that we’re not alone. Will our vision become a reality, “Can these dead bones live?” I don’t know the answer to this but I suspect that our shared dream will involve the linking of arms and hearts with those who share our vision. That said, my concern for the New Wine Community is that we often talk a good deal about making room for “the other” but are we making room for each other? If it doesn’t work “in here,” why do we think it’s going to work “out there?”

Comment on One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism–One Church? by Paul Louis Metzger

Paul Louis Metzger — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 18:58:50 +0000

Hello Paul,

Indeed, we have a long way to go in terms of being the models to which your exhortation calls us. Whether it has been ten years or twenty or forty years since we have begun to take seriously these matters in the evangelical Christian community, we need to make sure that today we are taking steps to make this vision reality. Keep connecting with us and helping us move forward at New Wine, New Wineskins in seeking to live into this reality more and more. We need your help! Let’s see how others respond to your exhortation. Thanks for getting the conversation moving forward.

Comment on One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism–One Church? by Paul Andrews

Paul Andrews — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:31:12 +0000

There are many character traits of people in the Bible. Stories of how we should act, or respond in any given situation. Character is defined throughout Jesus’ parables … without it we wouldn’t have defined attributes to strive for. For this discussion, we need to define Character. Character is – conduct that conforms to an accepted standard of right and wrong, and overall quality as seen or judged by people in general.
One, of the many parables in the bible, that defines several character traits is titled the Good Samaritan. Most people are familiar with this passage in Luke 10:30-37. This parable describes a man who went from Jerusalem to Jericho. On this voyage he come upon some thieves who robbed, beat, and left him for dead. A priest, then a Levite walked upon this man on the trail and without helping him, walked away. A Samaritan man came across this man but felt compassion and bandaged his wounds. He took him along to a innkeeper and gave money to this innkeeper to care for him. He also vowed to take care of any additional costs if more was needed to provide him care.
From this story, it is simple to assess who’s character was an acceptable standard of right and wrong. The Priest and the Levite (who just walked by – a wrong standard = unacceptable standard of living), and the Samaritan whom had compassion on the man (a right standard = acceptable standard of living). This Character is easy to define … no strong message of conviction of conduct here (or is there)? When we look at our daily lives – what do we do that give us the character of any of the four people highlighted in this parable. Is our devotion to ourselves, our image, the world or is the devotion to God? How easy is it for us to look away from the plight of our fellow man/woman to insure our own comfort or perceived security? What does it say about our character (or acceptable standard of wrong and right)? Does our actions promote the love of others? Does our actions show the words of Jesus regarding the Samaritan man “Go and do likewise?”
I write this valuable lesson of Character on the race situation in Portland and the African American community (http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/issues/archives/articles/african-american-churches-north-portland-march-2012/1/ and http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/issues/archives/articles/black-in-portland-march-2012/ . What has the Christian community done to offset the dislocation, redlining, unwritten sundowner laws, and gentrification directed toward a specific group of God’s creation?
This parable was written in approximately AD 70 give or take ten years. This is way before the establishment of Seminaries whom self project themselves as Biblical. Why are they just addressing the issues toward equal advancement and treatment for everyone now (within the last ten years)? How would you label this character? Is it just as clear as the parable the Good Samaritan? Do we look toward our own slice of heaven here on earth while letting our brothers and sisters in Christ suffer? Why not give the opportunity of seminary to some of the people that need an occupation, need a job a resource, need to establish a safe haven?
Why do we have so many Christians that are hurting today? Not hurting because of the world’s intention of separation but due solely to the church community and its unwillingness to include social and civil justice into their message of Love. This message of compassion and love should marinate our daily lives in ministry, dealing with family, dealing with believers, and non-believers alike.
Is it our job as Christians to promote a right standard of acceptable conduct pertaining to others, YES! This means we are all models. Models of the Christian life within the world … this shinning light isn’t always white! It is our responsibility to insure the light is shinning through all of Gods creations in our Churches, our seminaries, and our communities … as a model of Christ’s community of believers. We are all Children of God … Children of Christ … we are called to model compassion for our fellow man by including them in the decision making, in our administration, as our instructors and as servants to each other. Without this true community … there is only a community of separation and self gratification which models the world far better then it models God’s.
How do we project our Character? Can we show Christ’s messages within our work space, within our lives, within our interaction with others? I ask this again … how do we project our Character? We project our character by doing what Jesus taught and lived … Go and do likewise by showing mercy and compassion. This model means we may have to insure things are formed outside of the typical requirements normally addressed at the start of a church, a seminary, a council of leaders, etc. If there is a problem of diversity, our Character should prompt us to insure, at the start, this situation is addressed. This would require hiring, appointing, establishing, and insuring equal representation has been achieved. The character of Jesus did not talk about the situation only – he would do it, then explain why this was done. He modeled it … he DID NOT display a model.
We can address this issue on a smaller scale. We can promote and sponsor organizations whom have gone through this extra step. Whom have modeled this in their being … not as a charity for reward but because they have love, compassion, and a character of conduct that projects positively toward our fellow man. Lets model this for the world … for the light is bright in those that live as Christ teaches, lets model this because it is right and it is a commandment of Jesus that we show our love of him by following His commandments. This is the Character of a Christian … this is the Character of Christ.

Comment on Go and Fix It vs. Go and Share Life by Paul Louis Metzger

Paul Louis Metzger — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:42:04 +0000

What a wonderful image, Pastor. Well-said. As iron sharpens iron, so you sharpen me.

Comment on Go and Fix It vs. Go and Share Life by Cliff Chappell

Cliff Chappell — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:02:16 +0000

When I was a little boy, my father showed me how to sharpen a knife when I did not have a sharpening stone. He said that as long as I had two knives, I never had an excuse to have a dull knife. He took two dull knives and began to rub the two knife edges together, as he did so the one knife edge sharpened the other knife edge and when he was done, both dull knives now had razor-sharp edges. Later in life when I read the passage in Prov. 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend” this example really brought that passage to life for me. To be effective in cross-cultural ministry, I think this passage and the example of the knife sharpening the other knife is a perfect example of collaborative ministry. It can’t be us and them, but just us sharing life together.

Comment on Producers, Consumers and Communers by theauthor

theauthor — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 06:19:57 +0000

Mitt Romney’s recent views about poverty in America have been boiled down by the press into one very simple statement: “I’m not concerned about the very poor.” Here we have the roles of the producers (is it the 1%??) contrasted with that of the consumers (some subset of the 99%).

Would this (admittedly simplified) synopsis of what Mitt had to say square with the views of one Jesus of Nazareth? The answer is not quite as straight-forward as one might think.

For more on this up-to-date skirmish on the roles of the haves and have-nots: http://jesustheheresy.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/jesus-on-mitt-romney-the-poor/

Comment on Producers, Consumers and Communers by johannes Lorin

johannes Lorin — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 01:48:31 +0000

I enjoyed this post alot! What spoke to me the most was the last paragraph in which you stated that “We do not exist because we think, produce, or consume. We exist ultimately because we are loved by God. ” It boils down, I guess to a question of identity, and the question of what constitutes human worth in the first place. One of the many ways in which this consumer attitude affect our ministries is that when we fall pray to it, and frame our identities by way of what we produce and not what we are, we are not going to be able to relate to the downtrodden, sick and weak, that the gospel urges us to. I we are what we procude, why bother spending time with those that have no market value? Ironically for me, it is when I realize that I am not loved because I produce, that I produce the most. Thanks for your insights as relating to this! And dont forget: “always be closing!” // johannes

Comment on Producers, Consumers and Communers by Paul Louis Metzger

Paul Louis Metzger — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:53:02 +0000

Joe, many thanks for your insightful comments. I am especially struck by your statement, “This consumeristic rhetoric is utilized from the very pulpits that preach freedom in Christ….” It leads me to make the following connection:

Alec Baldwin plays the character Blake in Glenngary Glenn Ross. In a discussion with John Lussier and others, John pointed out Baldwin’s character’s use of Christian imagery in his sales pitch propaganda. Could it be that our Christian witness is viewed by the movie’s maker and by many others as a Baldwinian sales pitch (albeit a more sanitized version)? A scary possibility. We must always be asking: What are we communicating in what we are saying and doing? We need to make sure that we are promoting communion with Christ, not the commodification of Christ and others.