Sunday, January 22, 2006
Weekend's Over
The Chumscrubber is a bizarre, original movie. Not excellent, but certainly much better than critics made it out to be. It seemed very Donnie Darko-esque to me, for some reason. Don't know why.
Tomorrow I start my computing class, which means on Mondays I'm going to have 6 hours of classes straight. I don't know what I'm going to do about lunch. I'm not looking forward to it...it's gonna be a killer.
Church was awesome today. Vintage21 reminds me a whole lot of Seguidores - they even seem to do the same series. Right now we're in Revelation; the refreshing thing is that Vintage approaches it differently. For example, Kenneth took the letter to Ephesus and used it to show how we need to remember to make Christ our first love. Tyler took that same letter, completely ignored that, and used Ephesus as an example of how churches should be today. Today the sermon was similar, since Smyrna was the only church God didn't find a fault with. There were a whole lot of elements to the sermon, such as how true Christianity involves real suffering, and the USA is not persecuting Christians as much as some would have us believe. He also focused a lot on how American Christianity is probably the biggest problem with the country. It's not biblical. It's safe. Christians these days find it easy to pick and choose what they want, and leave out the challenging, world-changing stuff, like giving and serving and suffering. We're supposed to work for the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of the USA, or the kingdom of *insert your name here*. Tyler is blunt, and I like that. He pretty much said: "Lots of pastors say that God wants you to be rich and prosperous and successful. That is not biblical. And this is the kind of thing we need to remember, and change our lives for. Some of us need to stop looking inwards, and start looking outwards. Others of us will need to change our jobs because we work for large corporations that make us rich, but do so by harming others." Etc. etc.
Ah, his name is Tyler and he's preaching against materialism and consumerism. I love movie-related irony.
After the service, I stayed for a session about "ownership" and becoming an "owner." Basically, an "owner" is the Vintage21 term for "member." They don't use the word "member," and I like that. "Membership" in a church is non-Biblical. You become a member of a gym, or Blockbuster, in exchange for a product. The Christian Church isn't like that. We are the body of Christ. Membership implies exclusiveness - "authorized personnel only." Christ is not exclusive. To steal a quote from the Vintage21 official doctrine: "Vintage21 believes that membership, with our culture's understanding of the word, is not the most appropriate role for us in Christ's body. Being a part of a church is better comprehended with the word ownership. Throughout the New Testament, followers of Christ are called heirs or co-heirs to God's kingdom (Titus 3:7, Romans 8:17, 1 Peter 3:7). The Greek definition of heir is to possess or own. therefore, each follower of Christ co-owns the church with Jesus Christ."
I like that.
So yeah. We had a 45-minute session in which Tyler handed out copies of the official Vintage21 doctrine. We discussed half of it, and we'll cover the second half next week. Today we got through why they're called Vintage21 (I get it now!), the vision, the mission, core values and basic beliefs. We covered the goals of the church, as well as their stance on the Bible, baptism, communion, etc. So far I'm loving it, because I agree with all of it. For example, a few interesting things are:
1) They believe that the Bible is inspired by God, but written by men, and therefore subject to translation and clerical errors. However, this does not alter the central message of it at all. Finally, a church that doesn't freak out at the suggestion that the Bible isn't 100% perfect, which it isn't. Tyler is very big on "exogesis", and takes the historical and cultural elements into consideration. He often goes into details about the Greek words in certain passages, so we understand what was originally implied, rather than what has been slightly altered in modern versions and translations.
2) They believe that baptism is not a requisite for salvation, but a symbol of faith in Christ. Submersion and sprinkling are both fine.
3) Communion is viewed both as an act of rememberance and an act of celebration. Communion is offered every week in the back of the church. You do it whenever you feel it's time for you to do it, and they recommend doing it with friends. It's more casual and "celebratory" that way.
Next week we'll get into the details about church leadership, roles of men and women, etc. So far I'm digging it. As long as something doesn't completely offend me, I'm becoming an owner, and getting involved in all that entails (like joining a "Home Group", which I have a feeling is basically the Vintage21 version of a small group or Grupo de 12). And on Tuesday night they have a meeting for all the owners where they read the Bible and discuss what exactly the church is biblically supposed to be, its methods, its goals, etc. So I'm going to that.
Tomorrow night I have a Technician meeting and IV small group. On Thursdays I have IV large group. I record podcasts on Monday and Friday nights, as well as sometimes on the weekends. Between class, Christian-related activities, and movie stuff, I have my hands full. If this computing class turns out to be total crap, I might drop it and just take 15 hours this semester. I can always study the material over the summer and place out anyway.
Life keeps alternating between bad and good. A few days last week sucked. Today was great. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: 2006 is going to be a year of struggle. I keep realizing more and more that life isn't black-and-white. Life is very, very gray. I'm the kind of guy who approaches issues with his head. I think about things. A lot. There are so many variables and unknown things to take into account...it's hard to figure out for sure what's right, what's wrong, what God likes and what God hates. I think God is a flexible dude. But I also think He has boundaries. The trouble is finding out where those boundaries are.
Lots of Christians approach the world like it's black-and-white, right-and-wrong, with no room for in between. I don't see it that way at all. Life isn't that easy, and I think it's easy to get caught up in blanket statements without really thinking about all the elements. Examples of gray things:
1) All things sexual. That's just the way it is. Whether it be about sexual orientation, gender variances, sexual behaviour, etc. There's stuff the Bible isn't clear about. Are all forms of homosexuality a sin? I have no idea. What about intersexuals? I'm clueless. How far is too far? That's a bogus question to begin with.
2) Religion vs. Christianity. Sometimes it's hard to see clearly what Christ is really all about, as opposed to what we, the church and society want to hear. Let's not forget all the effects background and culture can have on how we view an issue.
3) Morality in general. There's gray stuff between the extremes of right and wrong. The Bible says, "Thou shalt not lie." Surely there are situations in which lying wouldn't be wrong, and dare I say beneficial. That's what I mean by a "blanket statement." I think God looks at each individual situation differently. The problem is figuring out which ones he approves of and which ones He's against.
Those are my thought-provoking ramblings of the day. That's all I can think to say. Oh yeah, and today I hung out with some cool homeless people. I'd go into details, but it's 12:30 and I need some serious sleep.
Quote of Da Moment:
"One morning, I awoke to find my head was no longer attached to my body. I'm not dead, but who could call this a life? So I do what I can, in this city of freaks and subhuman creatures. I became... The Chumscrubber."
--The Chumscrubber
Tomorrow I start my computing class, which means on Mondays I'm going to have 6 hours of classes straight. I don't know what I'm going to do about lunch. I'm not looking forward to it...it's gonna be a killer.
Church was awesome today. Vintage21 reminds me a whole lot of Seguidores - they even seem to do the same series. Right now we're in Revelation; the refreshing thing is that Vintage approaches it differently. For example, Kenneth took the letter to Ephesus and used it to show how we need to remember to make Christ our first love. Tyler took that same letter, completely ignored that, and used Ephesus as an example of how churches should be today. Today the sermon was similar, since Smyrna was the only church God didn't find a fault with. There were a whole lot of elements to the sermon, such as how true Christianity involves real suffering, and the USA is not persecuting Christians as much as some would have us believe. He also focused a lot on how American Christianity is probably the biggest problem with the country. It's not biblical. It's safe. Christians these days find it easy to pick and choose what they want, and leave out the challenging, world-changing stuff, like giving and serving and suffering. We're supposed to work for the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of the USA, or the kingdom of *insert your name here*. Tyler is blunt, and I like that. He pretty much said: "Lots of pastors say that God wants you to be rich and prosperous and successful. That is not biblical. And this is the kind of thing we need to remember, and change our lives for. Some of us need to stop looking inwards, and start looking outwards. Others of us will need to change our jobs because we work for large corporations that make us rich, but do so by harming others." Etc. etc.
Ah, his name is Tyler and he's preaching against materialism and consumerism. I love movie-related irony.
After the service, I stayed for a session about "ownership" and becoming an "owner." Basically, an "owner" is the Vintage21 term for "member." They don't use the word "member," and I like that. "Membership" in a church is non-Biblical. You become a member of a gym, or Blockbuster, in exchange for a product. The Christian Church isn't like that. We are the body of Christ. Membership implies exclusiveness - "authorized personnel only." Christ is not exclusive. To steal a quote from the Vintage21 official doctrine: "Vintage21 believes that membership, with our culture's understanding of the word, is not the most appropriate role for us in Christ's body. Being a part of a church is better comprehended with the word ownership. Throughout the New Testament, followers of Christ are called heirs or co-heirs to God's kingdom (Titus 3:7, Romans 8:17, 1 Peter 3:7). The Greek definition of heir is to possess or own. therefore, each follower of Christ co-owns the church with Jesus Christ."
I like that.
So yeah. We had a 45-minute session in which Tyler handed out copies of the official Vintage21 doctrine. We discussed half of it, and we'll cover the second half next week. Today we got through why they're called Vintage21 (I get it now!), the vision, the mission, core values and basic beliefs. We covered the goals of the church, as well as their stance on the Bible, baptism, communion, etc. So far I'm loving it, because I agree with all of it. For example, a few interesting things are:
1) They believe that the Bible is inspired by God, but written by men, and therefore subject to translation and clerical errors. However, this does not alter the central message of it at all. Finally, a church that doesn't freak out at the suggestion that the Bible isn't 100% perfect, which it isn't. Tyler is very big on "exogesis", and takes the historical and cultural elements into consideration. He often goes into details about the Greek words in certain passages, so we understand what was originally implied, rather than what has been slightly altered in modern versions and translations.
2) They believe that baptism is not a requisite for salvation, but a symbol of faith in Christ. Submersion and sprinkling are both fine.
3) Communion is viewed both as an act of rememberance and an act of celebration. Communion is offered every week in the back of the church. You do it whenever you feel it's time for you to do it, and they recommend doing it with friends. It's more casual and "celebratory" that way.
Next week we'll get into the details about church leadership, roles of men and women, etc. So far I'm digging it. As long as something doesn't completely offend me, I'm becoming an owner, and getting involved in all that entails (like joining a "Home Group", which I have a feeling is basically the Vintage21 version of a small group or Grupo de 12). And on Tuesday night they have a meeting for all the owners where they read the Bible and discuss what exactly the church is biblically supposed to be, its methods, its goals, etc. So I'm going to that.
Tomorrow night I have a Technician meeting and IV small group. On Thursdays I have IV large group. I record podcasts on Monday and Friday nights, as well as sometimes on the weekends. Between class, Christian-related activities, and movie stuff, I have my hands full. If this computing class turns out to be total crap, I might drop it and just take 15 hours this semester. I can always study the material over the summer and place out anyway.
Life keeps alternating between bad and good. A few days last week sucked. Today was great. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: 2006 is going to be a year of struggle. I keep realizing more and more that life isn't black-and-white. Life is very, very gray. I'm the kind of guy who approaches issues with his head. I think about things. A lot. There are so many variables and unknown things to take into account...it's hard to figure out for sure what's right, what's wrong, what God likes and what God hates. I think God is a flexible dude. But I also think He has boundaries. The trouble is finding out where those boundaries are.
Lots of Christians approach the world like it's black-and-white, right-and-wrong, with no room for in between. I don't see it that way at all. Life isn't that easy, and I think it's easy to get caught up in blanket statements without really thinking about all the elements. Examples of gray things:
1) All things sexual. That's just the way it is. Whether it be about sexual orientation, gender variances, sexual behaviour, etc. There's stuff the Bible isn't clear about. Are all forms of homosexuality a sin? I have no idea. What about intersexuals? I'm clueless. How far is too far? That's a bogus question to begin with.
2) Religion vs. Christianity. Sometimes it's hard to see clearly what Christ is really all about, as opposed to what we, the church and society want to hear. Let's not forget all the effects background and culture can have on how we view an issue.
3) Morality in general. There's gray stuff between the extremes of right and wrong. The Bible says, "Thou shalt not lie." Surely there are situations in which lying wouldn't be wrong, and dare I say beneficial. That's what I mean by a "blanket statement." I think God looks at each individual situation differently. The problem is figuring out which ones he approves of and which ones He's against.
Those are my thought-provoking ramblings of the day. That's all I can think to say. Oh yeah, and today I hung out with some cool homeless people. I'd go into details, but it's 12:30 and I need some serious sleep.
Quote of Da Moment:
"One morning, I awoke to find my head was no longer attached to my body. I'm not dead, but who could call this a life? So I do what I can, in this city of freaks and subhuman creatures. I became... The Chumscrubber."
--The Chumscrubber
# posted by Andrew Johnson : 1/22/2006 11:55:00 PM 
