Wednesday, May 24, 2006
limits of the possible.
My limit of the possible is different than yours. what do I mean? I mean the place where the end of your rope is, your wits end. There may be areas of my life that you look at and are amazed at how far i can go on my own and likewise i at different areas of your life.
God starts there. If there was another way He would use that, but because of our pride He will not. He is a gentleman. He would start at the beggining instead of our end. If we could learn to come to Him first, things would go smoother. But somewhere along the line pride and its bastard child self-pity hold us back whispering lies in the name of "logic and reason". The foundation or premise starts with thoughts like "you need to take responsibility for your life "you need to provide for your family". We believe "God helps those who help themselves". What a lie! God helps those who trust solely on Him alone and who lean not on our own understanding. Its the "be a man" syndrome. We need Him to tell us what a man is by telling us who He is. We are made in His image. If we want to know who we are we need to learn of Him from Him. Yes God gives us a mind and we should use it- that starts with correct premises presuppositions based on His character.
God is our "Provider". How could God provide for us, we won't let Him. Everything about our lives proves it. I am talking about culturally. World culture. If i was to look at it from the most positive point of view i would say we feel guilty that we are shirking our responsibility by depending on God. At worst, and I believe this is the truth unfortunately, we are trying to "make a name for ourselves" and build ourselves a tower of Babel to reach the skies (gen). Literally we dont have to look far. Skyscapers are totally impratical ego representations. God tries to nudge us in the right direction while protecting the gift (not right) of autonomy He gave us but we are still drinking spiritual milk struggling with the fact of whether He exists or not. Next we struggle with who is the head of the household. The implications are too important to just live our lives by default and not be thinking of the implications of what we believe and how we live. The burden of Provider is too heavy for mere mortals to carry. "do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?"(matt 6:25) the what choked out the Word? Like seed amoung thorns "the worries of this life, and the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful." (mark 4:19).
I hate to say it but our Christian walk is unfruitful. Certainly people who are not believers see it. Could this be a reason? We are slipping away one desire at a time. One worry about the small stuff in our lives. One day at a time. One non deliberate action or thought at a time. Could it be that simple? Are we at our end yet. Am i at mine?
God starts there. If there was another way He would use that, but because of our pride He will not. He is a gentleman. He would start at the beggining instead of our end. If we could learn to come to Him first, things would go smoother. But somewhere along the line pride and its bastard child self-pity hold us back whispering lies in the name of "logic and reason". The foundation or premise starts with thoughts like "you need to take responsibility for your life "you need to provide for your family". We believe "God helps those who help themselves". What a lie! God helps those who trust solely on Him alone and who lean not on our own understanding. Its the "be a man" syndrome. We need Him to tell us what a man is by telling us who He is. We are made in His image. If we want to know who we are we need to learn of Him from Him. Yes God gives us a mind and we should use it- that starts with correct premises presuppositions based on His character.
God is our "Provider". How could God provide for us, we won't let Him. Everything about our lives proves it. I am talking about culturally. World culture. If i was to look at it from the most positive point of view i would say we feel guilty that we are shirking our responsibility by depending on God. At worst, and I believe this is the truth unfortunately, we are trying to "make a name for ourselves" and build ourselves a tower of Babel to reach the skies (gen). Literally we dont have to look far. Skyscapers are totally impratical ego representations. God tries to nudge us in the right direction while protecting the gift (not right) of autonomy He gave us but we are still drinking spiritual milk struggling with the fact of whether He exists or not. Next we struggle with who is the head of the household. The implications are too important to just live our lives by default and not be thinking of the implications of what we believe and how we live. The burden of Provider is too heavy for mere mortals to carry. "do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?"(matt 6:25) the what choked out the Word? Like seed amoung thorns "the worries of this life, and the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful." (mark 4:19).
I hate to say it but our Christian walk is unfruitful. Certainly people who are not believers see it. Could this be a reason? We are slipping away one desire at a time. One worry about the small stuff in our lives. One day at a time. One non deliberate action or thought at a time. Could it be that simple? Are we at our end yet. Am i at mine?
Friday, May 12, 2006
christian links portal-
this site features a real variety of the different types of believers worldwide. http://zoecarnate.com/
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
from the article Japan's Faithful Judas
from the second half of this article http://www.baobab.or.jp/~stranger/mypage/endo.htm
"Why is Christianity virtually the only Western practice that has failed to
take root in Japan? Endo traces its failure to misunderstandings, especially
regarding the Western concept of the Fatherhood of God. Therapist Erich Fromm
says that a child from a balanced family receives two kinds of love. Mother
love tends to be unconditional, accepting the child no matter what,
regardless of behavior. Father love tends to be more provisional, bestowing
approval as the child meets certain standards of behavior. Ideally, says
Fromm, a child should receive and internalize both kinds of love.
According to Endo, Japan, a nation of authoritarian fathers, has understood
the father love of God but not the mother love. An old Japanese saying lists
the four most awful things on earth as "fires, earthquakes, thunderbolts, and
fathers." For Christianity to have any appeal to the Japanese, Endo
concludes, it must stress instead the mother love of God, the love that
forgives wrongs and binds wounds and draws, rather than forces, others to
itself. ("O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those
sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a
hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!") "
"Why is Christianity virtually the only Western practice that has failed to
take root in Japan? Endo traces its failure to misunderstandings, especially
regarding the Western concept of the Fatherhood of God. Therapist Erich Fromm
says that a child from a balanced family receives two kinds of love. Mother
love tends to be unconditional, accepting the child no matter what,
regardless of behavior. Father love tends to be more provisional, bestowing
approval as the child meets certain standards of behavior. Ideally, says
Fromm, a child should receive and internalize both kinds of love.
According to Endo, Japan, a nation of authoritarian fathers, has understood
the father love of God but not the mother love. An old Japanese saying lists
the four most awful things on earth as "fires, earthquakes, thunderbolts, and
fathers." For Christianity to have any appeal to the Japanese, Endo
concludes, it must stress instead the mother love of God, the love that
forgives wrongs and binds wounds and draws, rather than forces, others to
itself. ("O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those
sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a
hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!") "
new ethic of grace - Endo Shusaku
"new ethic of grace, irrational Christian love directed toward the least" read about this famous Japanese writer
deserving http://www.baobab.or.jp/~stranger/mypage/endo.htm
deserving http://www.baobab.or.jp/~stranger/mypage/endo.htm
little bit of Japanese Christian history
Kakure Kirishitan
From Kodansha's Encyclopedia of Japan
Christian beleivers of the Edo period (1600 - 1868) who survived the Anti-Christian edicts of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603 - 1867) and the period of national seclusion, whose descendents escaped detection during succeeding waves of persecution. In 1641, there were at most 300,000 baptized members of the Catholic church. The expulsion of the Catholic clergy that was decreed in 1614 and the general persecution of Christianity that followed were designed to eliminate the foreign faith from Japan. The response of some of the faithful to persecution was to declare their faith and embrace martyrdom, but most Christians concealed their belief and went underground. Some groups of Christians chose emigration of their entire communities to remote areas were it was relatively easier to remain hidden.
The shogunal Inquistion office (Kirishitan Shumon Aratame Yaku), established in 1640, aimed at total extermination of Christians. The practice of efumi (trampling on fumie, holy pictures), instituted in 1629 as a means of identifying beleivers, was well established by 1640. Small groups of priests secretly enter the country after 1636 but the were quickly detected and eliminated. Thus from 1637, in matters of faith and practice, Christian communities were wholly dependent of lay leadership. Because they were often forced to outwardly conform with Buddist and Shinto practice by the Tokugawa shogunate, hidden Chistians developed a double religious life in which they secretly preserved their Christian belief and practice. When Japan was opened to intenational communication in the mid-19th century more than 30,000 believers in the old faith came forward from various remote areas. In the absence of any priests or printed texts, the entire body of doctrine and litergy was passed on by worf of mouth. A related term, Hanare Kirishitan (seperated Christians), refers to the descvendents of Old Cristians whose faith survived the National Seclusion period but who refused reconciliation with the Roman Catholic church after the abolition of Cristian prohibition laws in the mid-19th century. Pockets of Hanare Kirishitan still exist in Japan.
No texts or priests and yet they carried on the tradions and the Word. I really like that. It probably meant everyone had to be involved and teach each other. It should be noted that their Christian beliefs were a bit twisted and it is said that they had some issues about the trinity and their religeon was an amalgamation of Shinto, Buddhism, Christianity, and Animism, but their faith remained and I believe God gave them much grace. But it could if we look at our traditions and religeon we will probably find some eerie parallels. I believe today we rely too heavily on the priestly office or pastoral role. I also believe we have created the outline of this role and not necessarily God. We have emphasized certain duties and points of focus which i beleive are purely cultural.
From Kodansha's Encyclopedia of Japan
Christian beleivers of the Edo period (1600 - 1868) who survived the Anti-Christian edicts of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603 - 1867) and the period of national seclusion, whose descendents escaped detection during succeeding waves of persecution. In 1641, there were at most 300,000 baptized members of the Catholic church. The expulsion of the Catholic clergy that was decreed in 1614 and the general persecution of Christianity that followed were designed to eliminate the foreign faith from Japan. The response of some of the faithful to persecution was to declare their faith and embrace martyrdom, but most Christians concealed their belief and went underground. Some groups of Christians chose emigration of their entire communities to remote areas were it was relatively easier to remain hidden.
The shogunal Inquistion office (Kirishitan Shumon Aratame Yaku), established in 1640, aimed at total extermination of Christians. The practice of efumi (trampling on fumie, holy pictures), instituted in 1629 as a means of identifying beleivers, was well established by 1640. Small groups of priests secretly enter the country after 1636 but the were quickly detected and eliminated. Thus from 1637, in matters of faith and practice, Christian communities were wholly dependent of lay leadership. Because they were often forced to outwardly conform with Buddist and Shinto practice by the Tokugawa shogunate, hidden Chistians developed a double religious life in which they secretly preserved their Christian belief and practice. When Japan was opened to intenational communication in the mid-19th century more than 30,000 believers in the old faith came forward from various remote areas. In the absence of any priests or printed texts, the entire body of doctrine and litergy was passed on by worf of mouth. A related term, Hanare Kirishitan (seperated Christians), refers to the descvendents of Old Cristians whose faith survived the National Seclusion period but who refused reconciliation with the Roman Catholic church after the abolition of Cristian prohibition laws in the mid-19th century. Pockets of Hanare Kirishitan still exist in Japan.
No texts or priests and yet they carried on the tradions and the Word. I really like that. It probably meant everyone had to be involved and teach each other. It should be noted that their Christian beliefs were a bit twisted and it is said that they had some issues about the trinity and their religeon was an amalgamation of Shinto, Buddhism, Christianity, and Animism, but their faith remained and I believe God gave them much grace. But it could if we look at our traditions and religeon we will probably find some eerie parallels. I believe today we rely too heavily on the priestly office or pastoral role. I also believe we have created the outline of this role and not necessarily God. We have emphasized certain duties and points of focus which i beleive are purely cultural.