jesus, bring us together

God –

My relationships are not the way I want them to be,
And are even less the way I think you want them to be.

I have too much resentment,
Too much pride,
And am holding too many things against too many people.

Please help me to love others
In the same way you have loved me
And loved them;
With the same grace and perspective
On both their failings and their worth.

Forgive me for elevating myself above them.
Forgive me for allowing myself to be distant from them,
And for thinking that such distance is somehow justified.

Teach me to be hospitable
And welcoming into my own little life
Even as you welcome us all into life in your true kingdom.

Amen

echurch - for church junkies

some of my friends in south africa have asked me to be a contributor to their new site - echurch.co.za.

it's a place for resources on being missional, relational, and incarnational...and they're looking for other contributors as well.

if you're curious, or if you think you've got a piece to offer, then click on this blog title and it will take you there.

cheers!

"images", pt.2

jesus makes us clean

the cross of consecration (as this particular cross is known) was first used by the carolingian empire as a sign of the purifying blood of jesus.

anytime i see a cross other than the (typical, protestant) roman cross i get excited...hence, we used this one











jesus makes us right

this is a cross made of several triquetas and a circle. it is a symbol made of several other symbols, demonstrating that we are made right with god, with one another, with the church, and with the world around us.













jesus brings us together

this is an icon of the vine and the branches. it was used to show that we find our commonality in jesus christ.














jesus makes us whole

this is a triqueta, an ancient symbol of the trinity. the pattern of the triqueta has often thought to be the "map" of steps for a dance of celebration. the dance, like the trinity, depends on mutuality and interdependence.

the "images" from images of atonement, pt.1

we're using some classical christian icons during this series in fusion to shore up our theology on the atonement. because we've left the icons un-examined during fusion i thought i'd explain them, quickly, here:




jesus makes us free

this image shows the eagle (a symbol of kingship) defeating the serpent (a symbol of evil)

early christians used this symbol as a reminder that the power of evil had been defeated












jesus restores our honor

this is a cross-anchor, used by early christians in the catacombs as a reminder to one another to stay-fixed to christ

it came into use after st.clement was tied to an anchor and thrown overboard for his refusal to renounce his christian convictions.

i like to think it was the early church's way of defiantly saying "what are you gonna do, kill us?"








jesus makes us new

this is the phoenix, a mythical bird that was said to be made of fire. eventually the phoenix burned itself out and fell into a heap of ashes in the desert. the same phoenix was reborn from the ashes of its former self and lived a new life.

this was the earliest symbol of the resurrection of jesus christ...and i love that it is "mythological."









jesus gives us purpose

the circle was a symbol of the unbroken wholeness of god.

this symbol represents the church as an unbroken circle orbiting the unbroken circle of god.

our purpose is to enter, maintain, and welcome others into the unbroken wholeness of god and his church

things that suck...being plagarized

one of the inherent dangers of blogging your thoughts is the risk of another person taking credit for your ideas.

this has happened to me several times and it feels bad

it feels even worse when they make money off of your ideas

...there are people making money off of my ideas right now, and it stings.

to be honest, i feel really petty even acknowledging this. any thoughts i've had other (smarter, cooler, brighter) people have had before me (you know, we all stand on the shoulders of giants); but the ways i've chosen to articulate those things and contextualize them in our world feel like "my" work.

which, btw, i don't profit from at all (other than my base salary from ww).

and i'm not even really concerned that i personally profit from this stuff...i think through this stuff because i love it, and i feel honored that jesus has permitted me to see things in a certain light, and i believe strongly in the potential for transformation resulting from this stuff

...but it feels really, really dirty for someone else to be making money off of my ideas.

and,
seeing as how "they" seem to be getting "my" ideas off of my blog (and possibly from the ww podcast) i thought i'd just let them know that the next idea they should borrow is "character."

do your own thinking, please; or, at least, acknowledge that phrases like "curious and disenfranchised", "shadowing god in the world", "theologian-bricoleur", "stormborn", etc... all come from the same blog.



i feel better. it will make no difference, but i feel better.


flame off.

God, give me back my honor

God –

I am so ashamed of myself.
I feel like an embarrassment to everyone around me,
Even you.

It feels impossible to look anyone in the eye
And when I stand in front of the mirror my head weighs a thousand pounds.

But I take heart in the knowledge that you, too, were shamed.

You were humiliated by the peers of power
And they branded you with the iron of suffering.

Yet - you didn’t deserve it
And they were exposed by you
As liars and frauds.

You triumphed over the ones who controlled you
And shamed you
And, in doing so,
You shamed them back.

You made them ashamed of the way they shamed you
And their pride was exhausted by your humility.

I do not feel humble now,
But I do feel low.

Please raise me up
And teach me humility from a place of confidence
In you.

Please help me hold my head up high
And look my own peers in the face
With the knowledge that I cannot be shamed any longer
Because you have depleted the power of shame.

Amen

Jesus, make me whole

God –

At times I have made too much of myself –
Arrogantly reaching beyond my station and defying you –
And, at time, I have made too little of myself –
Allowing self-pity and victimization to diminish your image in me.

Please forgive me.

Help me to be content
As merely a human being,
Created in your image and likeness
Destined and designed to shadow you in this world.

Make me whole.

Help me to find my true self in you
Even as you continue to grow inside of me,
And are birthed in me,
And are represented through me to the world.

Please put me back together again -
In the way you first made me -
And let me experience the pleasure
Of wholeness in you.

Amen