Survey Says

Inspired by our friends the Shelton's, I decided to post this question. Who do you think Roy looks more like? won't be offended by the results.

Caught

So this morning I was in my bedroom making the bed and I kept hearing this racket coming from the living room. I made my way out there and Roy tried to put his bottle on the table and with the other hand he quickly tried to put a Phillips screwdriver behind his back to hide it.

I asked him what he was doing with a screwdriver and he responded gleefully, "I'm going to shotgun this one dad!"

Kids these days.

pirates 3

This is not a movie review, because I’m a horrible critic. There isn’t much I see that I don’t enjoy. Especially films like Pirates 3. It would have taken an awful movie to get me to say I didn’t like it.

Call me overly evangelical, but I have this belief that as far as our culture tries to run from religion, the impact of the Bible and it’s themes on our culture are inescapable. Sometimes this seems a bit more intentional in movies like the Matrix which sought to simply communicate world thought.

Other times movies accidentally stumble onto theological themes. If you haven’t seen the movie and care about everything being a surprise then stop reading.

Here are two quick ones I noticed.

When Will’s dad “Bootstrap Bill” is freed by Will from his debt, he replies that he will stay with Will to endure his newly acquired task. (Rom 6:18)

Here another one. When they are returning from initially saving Jack from the world end, they pass from death to life through water.

But far and away the most interesting one to me was the scene where Jack is stranded at the worlds end with all the other Jack Sparrow’s. I suppose I have a special interests in doctrines about heaven, hell, soteriology, and post-mortem existence, hence my interest in this scene.

As many of you know one of my favorite books is C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce. I think Lewis gets a lot right including the way he presents salvation having to do with nature of one’s character’s initial encounter with the presence of God.

As good as C.S. Lewis is, his book is fiction as his introduction emphatically suggests not be systematized into our theologies. Someone who puts theological language to the direction Lewis is going is Greg Boyd in his chapter on Karl Barth’s das Nichtege and his subsequent understanding of hell. Boyd, who wants to avoid annihilationism proposes that we understand damned beings as eternally existing ontologically only unto themselves. Thus they have a place in eternity, but not a place in heaven.

I felt like that’s what this scene in the movie communicated. Sparrow, got his final wish at the world end. Himself as the only reality (Lewis’s neighborhoods moving further and further apart from one another). Here’s something else I thought was interesting. The real genius in the depiction of Sparrow was the actual Sparrow was the one who was barking orders out to all the other Sparrows and selfishly eating the last peanut. Thus, not the one who suffers the loss of something, but the loss of giving to someone and overcoming the problem of self.

security???

A quick thought before I go to bed.

You computer savvy people might be able to answer this. What is the deal with the squiggly letters that appear below the login name and password boxes when you want to sign into something. You know, the ones that I suppose are a sort of security device or something and usually read something like "vks89l" only in wavy, crazy font.

If this is a security deal, it seems like a poor one and a discriminant one at that. Who is it really keeping out besides the color blind and or those in need of bifocals?

looking for some intelligent responses

a tired Carney

Shane Part 5 (the problem with me)

For my last Shane post I really wanted to share about his demonic encounter. I believe we have lost a lot in the West when it comes to understanding the metaphysical, but I’m going to read God at War by Greg Boyd for my mentoring this summer, so maybe I’ll pipe in about it then.

Instead you get something that is mildly entertaining and after I post will either leave me on an island of embarrassment or I will get a lot of silent and honest nods of understanding form y’all as y’all read this.

So I first heard about Shane’s book a year ago from friend John, who I affectionately refer to as “The Machine” on the side of my blog in the “ubc folk” link section. As John told me about the book I thought to myself, “oh yeah, another social justice, I’m bad for being a White Western American book.”

I didn’t hear much about the book until this last fall when Shane came and spoke. At our Upsilon Beta Chi meeting Shane’s name came up and someone, I think Paola said, he didn’t really say anything in his talk, (or I think in his videos either) that she hadn’t already heard. I only mention this moment because I think it was at this juncture that I officially filed Shane’s book in my head as mediocre. All that for this story.

So a girl that I worked on staff with back at Bethel as a resident assistant made her way down to Texas during our spring break. They got here the first Saturday of the break and we met them at the World Cup Café for lunch. Jimmy Dorrell had just spoken to a group of her and her friends a couple weeks prior in MN. So she decided to stop by Waco to see what was happening.

We shared about what we knew about Mission Waco and the area. She talked about living in the ghetto in Minneapolis, and I talked about living in the ghetto on 14th street. We were having a good time being social progressives. At some point church came up. Of course this was one area I knew I could one up her in. No matter how cool you are there is no way your church is going to be cooler than ours for goodness sake. We have Dave freakin Crowder as our Rock n’ Roll pastor. So naturally the, “what do you read to substantiate your ideology” question came up.

I proudly told her some of the names that came and spoke to us. At this point she asked me if I had read anything by some people that were thinking about things differently, like Rob Bell and Shane Claiborne. “Wait a minute,” I thought to myself, “you can’t know our people, that would put us on the same page.” So I replied, “we’re actually a little post-that.”

She replied, “well, like who are some of the people you guys are into.”

Caught. I had to think of something, so I reached for a couple of names from academia that mildly addressed some of the things we think about at UBC and yet would be esoteric enough that she wouldn’t know who they were. In response I would only get the desired, “Oh,” from her.

Why do I do that? That is retarded. I guess since Craig admitted an insecurity of his own his blog I can follow suit.

P.S. if by some chance Laura you read this, I owe you an apology. We are not, well at least I am not post-Shane Claiborne and I found the book to be very helpful.

Grace for now, especially for me.

Shane part 4 (economics in the eschatological vision)

I used to think that heaven was about my spirit/soul joining Jesus somewhere in outer space and that everyone would be raptured out of here at the same time. Once we got to heaven there would be something like the Matrix’s version downloading information. We would all know and love God, because God would just bring everyone onto the same page so to speak. There would be no epistemic difference among any of us and we would all spend time worshiping God, with music of course, on our streets of gold occasionally taking time to go into our individually prepared mansions.

I think one of the most exciting chapters in the book is on finances or rather economics. Shane shares a story about a family that owned Josefina Minimart across the street from them. He shares that their kids would come over to do homework, to do their theatre camp and to wipe the floor with them in UNO. Shane and his gang helped rehab this family’s house and they taught Shane’s gang Spanish. Oftentimes this family would need transportation to either restock their shelves or to pick up kids from school and other places. Shane and friends gladly provided these services. They also found out that they could insure their kids under their policy at no extra charge, so they did that too.

They share cars. The family stopped taking money from them for groceries. And at the end of the paragraph Shane writes something great “money has lost its relevance.”

I used to think it might be cool to try and write a paper about kingdom economics. Here’s one thing that Shane’s story makes me think about. As N.T. Wright has shown me numerous times, there is a great deal of continuity between now and the Eschaton. So though we will be resurrected in glorified bodies, they will still reflect the human body in some sense. And though there will be a new earth, it will still reflect the beauty of this earth. Hence the importance on the Irenaic/Wright et. all theme of restoration and why Clark Pinnock argues, and I think rightly, that the same power behind creation is the one behind redemption.

All that to say if there is a good deal of continuity like Wright argues, I wonder if certain anthropological functions might also hang around in the eschatological vision. It would seem absurd for someone to be hungry in the kingdom, but I wonder if there won’t be something like the need to share as is shown above?

If so it strikes me that Shane really has found heaven on earth and given meaning to the already/not yet concept.

Shane part 3 (love and peace)

Maybe the most impressive thing Shane does is go to Iraq and live with the families as the country is about to be bombed. As you might guess he is a pacifist. It's not that Shane hates the military in fact he shares several stories about how convicted soldiers found a way to live the kingdom within the military. But he indisputably hates war or perhaps I would do him more justice if I said he loves peace.

Shane operates with a hermeneutic that says "love your enemies" is a literal love your enemies, and "blessed are the peacemakers" is a literal blessed are the peacemakers. And "take up your cross and follow me" is not about suffering through your white collar job for the chance to share Jesus, it is stand with the oppressed and in the process be ready to die for it.

Here are my struggles. I like a lot of people feel like I would like to whole heartedly embrace pacifism, but I bet like a lot of people draw the line somewhere along these lines. If I were a single guy, like Shane, Jesus, and Paul, I might be more o.k. with going and dying with the oppressed, but the truth is that I'm not and when I think about dying for Jesus I think about the agony that would put my wife and perhaps someday, child through. Maybe this is another chance for me to offer an excuse, if so you can pray for me. And unlike Shane if someone broke into my house I would hit them in the legs with a baseball bat to protect my wife and child.

Here is another thing that puzzles me about the faith. I struggle with a pair of motifs that seem to run through this faith we call Christianity. On the one hand there is the above motif that recognizes all the ugliness in the world and says go stand with the poor and oppressed and know that if it cost you everything, the God of the resurrection will vindicate you. On the other hand we have what I like to refer to as the Kyle Lake motif. It is the motif that says love God, embrace beauty and live life to the fullest. It recognizes that there is so much that is beautiful about life and challenges you to live every minute of it to the fullest.

Now let me anticipate a response from Shane. He has never seen so much beauty, lived so fully, and loved God so deeply as he has in Calcutta, Iraq, and on the streets of Philadelphia. I'm not denying that he is right. But I love my son, I love mountain biking, I find God in the beauty of scenic things like the Rockies, and I most certainly find God in the serene lakes in Northern Wisconsin on a beautiful evening.

All these things are far removed both fiscally and geographically from the world of Shane. So if I want to take my following Jesus as seriously as Shane, what do i do with this motif?

Grace for now.

Shane part 2 (children)

There is a lot I could say about Claiborne and probably more important things, but let me post this.

I tend to be the instigator in my family. Not because I’m wildly revolutionary or even smarter than anyone in my family, but perhaps, from time to time a bit more curious about why we ended up believing what we believe, which most of the time I’m complete agreement with.

During my last couple of visits home, I have tried to be this person in the political conversation. My family is almost entirely republican. So at the apex of one of our last discussion my dad, who tends to tease like I do half jokingly asked me, “Do you think Jesus would vote democrat or republican?”

I wanted to say democratic, but I didn’t and still don’t really know enough about politics to defend myself. I only know what we hear in the broad scope of things. I don’t actually look at voting records and political platforms.* So trying to think about how Jesus would overcome the abortion issue and cast a vote for the donkeys I realized I didn’t have a response.

I was pretty sure that Jesus would be disenchanted with the American political system and not be excited about voting at all, but I didn’t try and make that case. I just dropped it.

Here is one story Claiborne shares that hit me square in the face. He talks about a rally/convention…something that they had in the Bahamas. It was about low wages and working conditions for children in countries that supply products for some of our American multinationals. Instead of having the Bonos and the Oprahs speak they had the children that work in these factories. One of the children shared his story. In his speech he pointed to a scar on his face and shared that he got it when an armed guard hit him in the face for not working hard enough. The guard then torn between needing the child to work and not wanting the blood from the new cut on his face to get on the fabric pulled out a lighter and burned the cut shut. The child told that he got this scar from “making your stuff.”

Now again let me say that I’m not a political guy. So I don’t really know that by casting a republican vote if I empower mega corporations to continue this activity or if that is just a ploy that the left sells me. But regardless I think this should stop us in our tracks. I don’t mean to upset anybody, but let me personalize this and list some names of people who these children might be close to. Imagine if these people have their faces cut open and then burned shut to produce products so we could buy them cheap.

Roy
Calla
Jack
Sam et all.
Kerstin
Shane/Hannah
Jude Sutton
Soren
Etc.

I’m not trying to be graphic, but I am saying this. Casting a vote for a republican sometimes makes us feel justified as we think about all the babies that we are trying to save. And don’t get me wrong, I think this is noble and though my political leanings change, this issue has never been made easy for me. People, not just babies die when we abort. But it seems less and less clear to me that any one political party really wants to save all the children.

Shane reminds me that they are all God’s children and if I’m going to participate in God’s kingdom they are all my children too. The Iraqi children, the Afghani children, the Darfur children, the democratic children, the republican children, Caesar’s children and the bin Laden children.

So vote and vote with conviction, but can we be bold enough to admit that our political parties aren’t the end all and that they are probably killing some children somewhere.

Grace for now, and find time to vote for the kingdom with your life.

* I try and be intentional about asking when I feel like I've run into someone who is passionate about their politics. Assuming that this much passion results in a good deal of research I'm continually disappointed by few who actually know much about their candidates.

Shane part 1

I’ve been reading Shane Claiborne’s “Irresistible Revolution,” this week.(by the way frequent readers will notice I use quotations for books, that’s because I don’t know how to use the italics on blogger).

This is the best book I’ve read in a long time. Before I hear some of the groans from you literary types, really well read types or even super theological/philosophical types, let me add that it is the best book “I’ve” read in a long time. Maybe not even because it’s so fantastic, but maybe cause it hit me at just the right time.

I plan on posting a few things about this book over the next few days, but here is my first thought.

I’m really impulsive. Especially in the way I process data and the speed at which I sometimes do. So as you can imagine, I have this sudden need to be more socially justice minded because Claiborne has me, once again, believing that this is really what it means to follow Jesus.

It might be helpful to say what this does not mean then. This does not mean that my main concern is getting people saved or getting people to church or even being missional or emergent. It means that in whatever context I am in, I try to be Jesus.

So here’s the two teeny tiny steps I’ve taken. 1. I got rid of a lot of books and clothes for the garage sale. I tried not to be the guy that donates “used toothbrushes” and give something that might be really meaningful for someone. But lets be honest this will only raise another $5-10 for the church. I think this step was more me overcoming my need to hang onto my “stuff,” something which I see myself really guilty of.

Speaking of stuff, my second move. 2. I feel really guilty about having all my DVDs. No it’s not that I believe Jesus thinks my DVDs are ridiculous, though He may, but I guess it symbolizes this same problem in my life. I started by collecting a few DVDs that I liked, but eventually this grew to ones I kind of liked and before I knew it we have 200 DVDs.

So instead of throwing out my DVDs or selling them, something that would mimic the adolescent secular music cleansing ceremonies we all know about, I’ve decided that I’m going to try and make good use of them. I started by inviting the neighbors from across the street to come over and pick a few out. I hope to add more people from the neighborhood as a way to get to know them better.

Some of you may think this is an excuse for me to hang onto my possessions and you may be right, but if so I ask that you please pray for me. In a strange way I feel like Claiborne is inviting me to really follow Jesus for the first time in my life. This decision is more difficult than I thought.

That’s all for now.

dear cell phone

Dear cell phone,

612-747-2122. It was a good run. In fact we were together for some of the best years of my life. I remember I signed a contract to get you before I was married. It was like the first married thing I did. Lindsay was in her last year at River Falls student teaching and consequently poor. So I flipped the bill on our new contract. Our first joint account.

You were there for some really big moments. You sat in the car charging while I got married. You were there with me when I walked the stage back in ’04 when I graduated from Bethel.

You were there when I first moved into my apartment and used to call my brother for help. You were used to communicate to us that Lindsay’s Grandpa passed away. You were used when we called everyone with the news that Roy was on the way and when he arrived. You have been good cell phone. Thanks for all the memories. Thanks for being pivotal in helping me develop all my new and old friendships.

We’ve been through a lot. Happy retirement.

The Dark Side of Baseball

There is this legalized form of gambling. It is called off season decisions made by major league baseball owners. Some buy players like Soriano and pitchers from japan who aren't worth their weight in Sushi.

The flip side of painful coin is when you let players go who have great seasons elsewhere.

As of tonight Jeff Suppan is 5-2 with an ERA of 2.63. Jason Marquis just won his fifth game is now 5-1 with an ERA of 1.70.

The Cardinals are a slumping 14-18 and showing no signs of a world series ring.

life change

My sinks are constantly filled with poop stained onsies

My trash constantly smells like poop

I’m awoken three times a night with squawking and or crying

The highlight of my life is eliciting a smile from a 7 week old

I nightly get overly warm due to bouncing a unhappy baby for 20-30 min.

I don’t hear the details on Sports Center anymore

I eat with one hand

And each day I wake up feeling like I’ve won better than the lottery