Posts Tagged ‘love’

“What do you think about Obama’s Afghanistan plan?” That was the question posed by RELEVANT magazine. “Tonight, President Obama is giving a speech detailing his new Afghanistan strategy, which includes a surge of 30,000 troops. What do you think of his plan?”

Response of Travis Keller:

“Peace is love. Violence is not. Militarization brings death… either physically or by fear. What if Afghanistan sent 30,000 troops to the U.S.?”

To contextualize my comment I will disclose that I am neither anti- or pro-Obama. I did vote for him. I would also qualify RELEVANT’s question by noting that the plan is not “his” plan but rather a plan that was developed by a team of people which includes military strategists and advisors. Additionally, I have a brother-in-law who is in the United States Air Force. My wife and I love him. He has been to Afghanistan and currently is stationed in the U.S. where he controls mechanisms on the Predator Drone planes that fly in Afghanistan.

What is your response to my response (or the original question)?

“Teaching Little Kyla…”
A series on Travis and Sarah’s journey of parental flubs, flaws, failures and accidental^ fortune.

The Invisible Children and Remember Nhu Clubs at MVNU are hosting an Art and Poetry awareness and fundraising event tonight (Wednesday) in the student union. Kyla will be presenting her piece of art that she and I composed this weekend. Her piece is called “Red and Yellow, Black and White” in reference to the song, “Jesus Loves the Little Children.” As we talked about “all the children of the world” and our need to show and express love to all, Kyla used her hands and fingers to paint red, yellow, and black around a cut-out of Africa that I drew, cut out, and taped to the canvas board making a white silhouette of the country where the dehumanization of children continues through militarization and exploitation. Though I cannot talk with Kyla yet about child soldiers and sexual trafficking, she can begin to understand that love and kindness for all of humanity. Eventually, she’ll hear their stories.

We are incapable to loving absent from relationship. We are incapable of relationship absent from the context of story. We have to learn about each other. We have to be aware of the formative life experiences that make us who we are both individually and as a collective group of people in a global community.

The world is our canvas. May we cover it with strokes of love.

^ There is someone(s) greater than me/us (a divine being and a community of people) that intercede with grace and giving.

The Extended Melody Project benefit concert is tonight in just a half hour. Admission is a $5 donation (though you can give more) and all monetary income from admission, concessions, and shirt sales is donated to an orphanage in Cambodia through Asia’s Hope. Shirts cost $10 U.S. Dollars and are sweet as evidenced below. It is a new cut and fabric from Gildan that is very similar to American Apparel.

Do you like music? Do you like orphans? Admittedly, the second question is awkward. Awkward and real. Awkward even in three senses: 1.) Most people reading this blog probably do not like the fact that any child would be orphaned; 2) The term and idea of “orphan” is not the core identity of any child; and 3) Questioning one’s commitment or lack of commitment to acting on behalf of the fatherless may create some discomfort and/or conviction.

Two students at MVNU approached me last year with the idea to do a benefit concert as a social event in order to raise money for resources needed at an orphanage in Brasil. I said “do it.” The short version of the story is that they did do it and they are doing it again. Please visit the Extended Melody Project (EMP) page and become a Fan on Facebook. EMP will be held at Ibiza 33 in Mount Vernon, OH on Friday, October 30. (4) or (5) bands will be playing and all funds from admission and t-shirt / concession sales will be donated to an orphanage in Cambodia.

The church is being the church.

Anyone want to sponsor the event? Any creative ideas?

Informational video to be posted after editing and processing finalized. Updates to our adoption page will be posted soon as well.

God is not a man. Not a white man. Not an old man. Check out the video and comment your thoughts below. What made you chuckle and why? Ultimately is it because of not-love that you extend toward certain people for certain things? What is theologically good and what is theologically ridiculous?

I welcome and appreciate comments that question the intent or perspective of my posts. One particular comment, which may seem adversarial but I would suggest is written for constructive or at least clarifying purposes (tone and intent are largely lost in the blogosphere), reads as follows:

"im a little confused on your opinion of journey. i have been there a few times but not much scripture was used so i haven’t been back. may come again sometime though.

speaking of scripture…. i appreciate your writing but would like to see more scripture references.

i’m also curious to why you chose the name “subversive reformation”. a lot of post-modern movements (like rob bell, donald miller, shane claiborne kind of thing) make me wonder if we are too cynical and proud of our big words and creative artwork that we miss the point: LOVE."

Please note that I am not degrading this comment but rather continuing with the invitation for discussion. There are many directions in which to go but I want to begin by addressing only one small element of the comment. I may return to the ideas of postmodernism, movements, naming, and cynicism but first want to conisder "scripture references."

We have been conditioned to expect Scripture to be used in a certain way. Don’t get me wrong, I highly value the recitation of Scripture during church gatherings. I sometimes need to go to a Catholic or Episcopal gathering just to hear the public reading of God’s written communication with humanity. It is good for the soul of my recovering popular-evangelical self.  However, to quote Scripture doesn’t mean that one has to "quote" (pun intended) Scripture. Modernism has conditioned us to want references, bullet points, quotations, citations, enumerations and many other "ations." Our western, post-enlightenment minds that place an overly-high value on reason and logical processing have difficulty recognizing that Scripture is interlaced within our stories.

Here, I will draw a parallel using a specific reference from Scripture . The book of Esther found in the Hebrew Scriptures (TNK ) never uses the actual word "God" in any of its forms (YHWH, Elohim, etc.) Esther is the only book of the Bible that does not use the word "God." Does that mean that God is not present throughout the story? Should the book of Esther not have been included in the Bible? Should it be discluded from that which is considered in the Judeo-Christian tradtion to be "holy writing" simply because the word "God" isn’t quoted? Equally, should any writing that does not "quote" scripture be tossed out as though it is irrelevant and removed from the narrative of God with his people?

Many MVNU students have been attending the Sunday morning gathering of Christians who call themselves "Journey Church." Here is the sixth (6th) of six (6) reasons why MVN(azarene)U students have been so highly attracted to the non-Nazarene gathering place that is Journey.

That’s right. This is it. It’s been over a week. The moment you all… or at least some of you… have been waiting for (or not): The #1 reason why MVNU students go to the gathering place that calls itself Journey. But first… here is a quick rundown of numbers 1-5.

1. The perception that going to a Sunday morning gathering is still necessary.
2. The 20 minute drive from MVNU in Mount Vernon, OH to Howard, OH.
3. The music.
4. The teacher who is present in the lives of students.
5. The idea that everyone is doing it.

And finally presenting number…

6. The sexual lure.

Yes, the sexual lure.

Enter the Journey gathering and the lights go down. In the dimly lit room an ever-so-happy dating couple nuzzle and begin to sway together to Salvation is Here . OK… not really… but really. I have seen this beautiful picture of hormonal overload and still remain quite humored and/or disgusted with a more-than-slight inclination toward the latter.

Before I totally lose you (too late) I’ll get into the real idea:

Fascination. Romanticism. Intimacy. Connectedness.

God created humans (and most other mammals) as sexual creatures. Unfortunately, the church has done a rather insufficient to poor job at framing our sexuality in a healthy and fomative manner. The popular media has unveiled many "church leaders" from eccumenically diverse backgrounds who have illustrated the tragic nature of distorted sexuality. Few Christian parents have properly imaged a devoted and giving marriage relationship (the previous two sentences must be developed more in separate, dedicated posts). The church has inadequately taught the full beauty of sexuality and has ungraciously reacted against what it calls sinful sexual behavior. There has emerged a fascination with sexuality from students who have been impacted by the church’s improper communication about sexuality. Experimentation and cultural adaption consequently ensue. Timmy B and I are both quite comfortable journeying with students and others through the fascination and questions about sexuality.

There is a certain romanticism that accompanies the Journey gathering. One parallel that I may draw is with the idea of adoption. International adoption may sound more heroic when compared with domestic adoption. There is a type of romanticism that comes with rescuing a child from another country compared to a child who is abused by his/her parents who are your neighbors. Though I don’t buy into that idea of romanticsm (all forms of justice are equally justice) there is a certain romanticism with the Journey gathering. It is not Nazarene. It is not a huge organization. It most reflects the grassroots movements of church that may be trendy but are not associated with a larger institution. The current generation of 20-somethings are attraced to anti-institutional movements. We are romanticized by them.

A sexual relationship with one’s spouse is the most intimate and connected that two people may become so long as that practice of sex is within the context of a whole and loving marriage. Humans long for that intimacy and connection. The journey gathering is packaged with an intimate feel and the relationships external from the gathering itself are quite intimate. At the core of western human existence is the desire to fight against the individualism that defines our culture and seek to be connected with each other. Journey is just one more place to seek such connection within an intimate feel that fosters romanticism for minds fascinated with sex.

If you are finding yourself at all confused you may include your thoughts in a comment. I also may include a post that would further explain this idea. It would be an excert from a teaching and a piece of writing that I did about the Holy Kiss used in the liturgy.

Posts in response to comments during this series are ahead.

Many MVNU students have been attending the Sunday morning gathering of Christians who call themselves "Journey Church." Here is the fourth (4th) of six (6) reasons why MVN(azarene)U students have been so highly attracted to the non-Nazarene gathering place that is Journey.

From post #2 of 6…
[Les is not the only person who leads the church in worship. Students gravitate toward…]

4. The teacher who is present in the lives of students.

Tim Barensc heer is a graduate of MVNU (03) and Fuller Theological Seminary (M.Th.). He left southern California and returned to the middle of a not-as-luxurious central, rural Ohio to serve with the Journey community. Tim has focussed much of his ministry toward college students. He and his wife Brittany frequently have students into their home for conversations about faith and life [if the two are distinct and separable (I would suggest that they are not)]. They join students in the cafeteria as well in coffee shops and at other campus events.

I find it interesting that I have heard comments that Tim and "Journey Church" are "stealing students from the Nazarene churches" and/or "recruiting" student to attend. I can very confidently attest to the fact that there is no such "recruiting" occurring. Tim simply cares. He is present for the sake of being present. I cannot think of many people who do not appreciate another’s genuine love toward them – love that extends beyond teaching a biblical idea – love that desires to engage life enough to suffer through the pain and brokenness of others.

There is also…

TO BE CONTINUED.

Peace to you:
A series offering peace to those who have dramatically effected my thinking and life.

Miroslav Volf.

Your book Free of Charge and the excerpts that I have read from Exclusion and Embrace have allowed me to think more clearly and humanly about giving and receiving rightly. It was good to be with you at Princeton where your responses to some problematic questions were articulated patiently with immense thoughtfulness. Your words are not marked by an agenda for the self but rather with respect and value for the other. Peace to you, Miroslav Volf.

Director, Yale Center for Faith and Culture
Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology

B.A., Evangelical-Theological Faculty, Zagreb
M.A., Fuller Theological Seminary
Dr. Theol., University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

Professor Volf’s recent books include Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace(2006), Archbishop of Canterbury Lenten book for 2006; Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation (1996), a winner of the 2002 Grawemeyer Award; and After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity (1998), winner of the Christianity Today book award. A member of the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. and the Evangelical Church in Croatia, Professor Volf was involved in international ecumenical dialogues (for instance, with the Vatican Council for Promotion of Christian Unity) and interfaith dialogues (most recently in Christian-Muslim dialogue). A native of Croatia, he regularly teaches and lectures in Central and Eastern Europe.

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

BOOKS CLICK HERE FOR ORDERING INFORMATION

The Sun Is Not Afraid of the Darkness: Theological Meditations on the Poetry of Aleksa Santic, 1986

Zukunft der Arbeit — Arbeit der Zukunft. Der Arbeitsbegriff bei Karl Marx und seine theologische Wertung, 1988

Work in the Spirit: Toward a Theology of Work, 1991

Gerechtigkeit, Geist und Schöpfung: Die Oxford-Erklärung zur Frage von Glaube und Wirtschaft 
(ed. with Hermann Sautter, 1992)

The Future of Theology: Essays in Honor of Jürgen Moltmann
(ed. with T. Kucharz and C. Krieg, 1996)

Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation, 1996

After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity, 1998

A Spacious Heart: Essays on Identity and Belonging
(with Judith M. Gundry-Volf, 1997)

A Passion for God’s Reign: Theology, Christian Learning, and the Christian Self
(ed., 1998)

Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace, 2005

I found the amount of comments on my previous "Bantering and Battering" post much more intriguing than the content of the posts. I am not demeaning the value of anyone’s thoughts and contribution to the dialogue (they were quite insightful) but rather am expressing my observation that there are many and various opinions and stances that have generated much attention and use of time. Such popularity indicates that a post with political, governmental, and empire-ical themes unveils the value of Christian (or unChristian) involvement and engagment in the public square. Thank you for your thoughts and comments. I hope the virtual discussion will continue.

One question that I posed in the original post was, "Does my vote even really matter?" A comment indicated that the issues and implications contained within the decision of whether or not to vote "carry with them enormous weight and responsibility." Am I held responsible for the decisions of another person if I voted for that person? Since I (regretably) voted for George W. Bush am I guilty of killing thousands of people in a vengeance-initiated war? Am I responsible for irresponsibly spending billions of dollars that could have otherwise been used to feed and clothe people and provide education and clean water for our national enemies and/or neighbors? Did my vote provoke terrorism? If my vote really mattered then am I really an enactor of love representing the kingdom of God?