Been reading the work of Allen and Swick for a couple of days now. Chapter 1 refreshed my memory of The Connecting Church by Randy Frazee. I reviewed paragraph 1 at ch. 6. I'm convinced that the challenge or measure of a successful spiritual journey depends on how well we "mind the gap."The Spiritual gap being the chasm between where we are right now in our Spiritual journey and where we need to be as we seek to become more like Christ.(Frazee at pp.87)
Allen and Swicks' allusion to a modern day Spiritual desperation sheds light on the need a Christian has, to be conformed to the image of Christ in word and deed. If a Spiritual Tsunami has hit, many more may be saved as a result of the afformentioned conduct, not popular culturalism(porous boundaries)which allow mere show over the needed substance.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
The Role of the Bible and the Spirit
Reading the sections about what they called "Dirt Philosophy" or "Sensualistic Materialism" in regard to the Spirit and the Word reminds me of a song I have sung in different churches.
"Break Thou the Bread of Life, Dear Lord to Me, As Thou Dids't Break the Bread Beside the sea,
Within the Sacred Page, I seek the Lord, My Spirit pants for thee O living word"
That is what I grew up with. Then, as I moved around, I remember singing this from another song book as,
"BEYOND the Sacred Page I seek thee Lord . . ."
Different words! I didn't recognize how significantly different these words are. The first suggests that our Lord is contained within the sacred page, while the latter suggests that the sacred page is a witness to the Lord. He is beyond the sacred page. The sacred page points to him.
The first (within the sacred page), seems particularly Lockean, or Baconian. But, God does not exist in the sacred page. He does not depend on scripture for his existence, nor does he require the written word to change men's hearts. The spoken and written word are tools to bring people to God. I remember a term I heard several years ago, "bibliolatry." That term seems to fit here. Can you focus too much on the word that you miss the one that the word is supposed to bring you into communion with? Can you know the Bible and not really know God? Can you know and even obey the Bible and still miss the author of it?
I am thinking of passages such as 1 Corinthians 2 that talks about how, through the Spirit, we have the mind of Christ. Titus 3:5 says we have been renewed by the Spirit. This is another way of saying we have become a new person, the old person is put to death. The Spirit transforms us inwardly. It occurs to me that passages such as these do not say we read the word and we obey and are therefore changed. It seems to go much deeper than this. To have the mind of Christ is much deeper than memorizing scripture or some biblical doctrine. As important as these are, they are only related to knowing God. I know that knowing scripture and doctrine is not the same as knowing God.
"Break Thou the Bread of Life, Dear Lord to Me, As Thou Dids't Break the Bread Beside the sea,
Within the Sacred Page, I seek the Lord, My Spirit pants for thee O living word"
That is what I grew up with. Then, as I moved around, I remember singing this from another song book as,
"BEYOND the Sacred Page I seek thee Lord . . ."
Different words! I didn't recognize how significantly different these words are. The first suggests that our Lord is contained within the sacred page, while the latter suggests that the sacred page is a witness to the Lord. He is beyond the sacred page. The sacred page points to him.
The first (within the sacred page), seems particularly Lockean, or Baconian. But, God does not exist in the sacred page. He does not depend on scripture for his existence, nor does he require the written word to change men's hearts. The spoken and written word are tools to bring people to God. I remember a term I heard several years ago, "bibliolatry." That term seems to fit here. Can you focus too much on the word that you miss the one that the word is supposed to bring you into communion with? Can you know the Bible and not really know God? Can you know and even obey the Bible and still miss the author of it?
I am thinking of passages such as 1 Corinthians 2 that talks about how, through the Spirit, we have the mind of Christ. Titus 3:5 says we have been renewed by the Spirit. This is another way of saying we have become a new person, the old person is put to death. The Spirit transforms us inwardly. It occurs to me that passages such as these do not say we read the word and we obey and are therefore changed. It seems to go much deeper than this. To have the mind of Christ is much deeper than memorizing scripture or some biblical doctrine. As important as these are, they are only related to knowing God. I know that knowing scripture and doctrine is not the same as knowing God.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Little Known History
I found the bit of history concerning Richardson and Fanning rather interesting. I had heard of Richardson in the past because he had written Campbell's biography. In more recent years, someone published a collection of Richardson's communion mediations along with a chapter on the emphasis on spirituality that Richardson espoused. That was a very refreshing book. This is the most I have read about Richardson. I would like to see if I can find a copy of his book on the Spirit.
In my classes I have had on Restoration History, nothing was ever said about Richardson other than the fact that he was at Bethany and had written A. Campbell's biography. This, like the slavery issue in the Restoration Movement, was given no attention at all in the books and readings we were assigned.
If I remember right, it was Tom Clark, a former member here, who had recommended this book, saying it dealt with a subject that we have not given a lot of attention to. Restoration history books in the past were more like folk histories, celebrating the accomplishments of key leaders, often idealizing them. This is why I appreciate the critical histories that have been published over the last couple of decades which have included events and topics that fill in some historical gaps.
In my classes I have had on Restoration History, nothing was ever said about Richardson other than the fact that he was at Bethany and had written A. Campbell's biography. This, like the slavery issue in the Restoration Movement, was given no attention at all in the books and readings we were assigned.
If I remember right, it was Tom Clark, a former member here, who had recommended this book, saying it dealt with a subject that we have not given a lot of attention to. Restoration history books in the past were more like folk histories, celebrating the accomplishments of key leaders, often idealizing them. This is why I appreciate the critical histories that have been published over the last couple of decades which have included events and topics that fill in some historical gaps.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Ch 1: The Spiritual Journey Today
Hello, all! Well, I just typed up a bunch, and then accidentally deleted, so hope I can remember what I wrote.
I am a bit overwhelmed with life right now, so decided to put God first and read the first chapter of our book. I read page 32 several times, and these sentences jumped out at me.
"clash sharply with some of the theological tenets of the Churches of Christ...a tradition devoid both of language to talk about 'experiencing God' and a theological framework able to account for and discipline such experience."
"challenges of this new era can reopen doors to Christian truth and experience...awaken Christians to a more faithful and robust practice of their faith..."
I am not sure about the "theological tenets" referred to, but these sentences make me think how my mom always used to say that the Church of Christ did not teach or embrace the Holy Spirit the way that she understood from the Bible. From my five years in Europe, I participated in Bible groups with women of other faiths. There was a difference in the way those women spoke of their walk with God, more emotional, and seemingly with more faith and dependence, than the more legalistic and practical conversations with the ladies at the Church of Christ.
I guess that's it. I did have a few more sentences, but not really sure how it fits in anymore, so look forward to hearing what you are getting out of the book so far.
- Samantha
I am a bit overwhelmed with life right now, so decided to put God first and read the first chapter of our book. I read page 32 several times, and these sentences jumped out at me.
"clash sharply with some of the theological tenets of the Churches of Christ...a tradition devoid both of language to talk about 'experiencing God' and a theological framework able to account for and discipline such experience."
"challenges of this new era can reopen doors to Christian truth and experience...awaken Christians to a more faithful and robust practice of their faith..."
I am not sure about the "theological tenets" referred to, but these sentences make me think how my mom always used to say that the Church of Christ did not teach or embrace the Holy Spirit the way that she understood from the Bible. From my five years in Europe, I participated in Bible groups with women of other faiths. There was a difference in the way those women spoke of their walk with God, more emotional, and seemingly with more faith and dependence, than the more legalistic and practical conversations with the ladies at the Church of Christ.
I guess that's it. I did have a few more sentences, but not really sure how it fits in anymore, so look forward to hearing what you are getting out of the book so far.
- Samantha
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