That huge self-help section in the bookstore

And because we’re all too aware that our self needs help, we jump on this misery merry-go-round and buy book after book, hoping for better results. We know something is wrong. We even know what we want to change. Our diagnosis is spot-on, but no medication seems to do the trick.

So if you picked up this book because you are trying to help yourself make some significant changes, I want to tell you up front that this isn’t the book for you. If self could help, then we would all have been fixed a long time ago.

Let me be clear: AHA is not a self-help process. This is the antithesis of a self-help book. What Bizarro is to Superman, this book is to the self-help genre. This journey begins by rejecting self’s offer to help.—AHA Student Edition electronic edition

<idle musing>
Refreshing, isn't it? We all want to change ourselves, but we end up falling short. This book realigns our focus—putting it on Christ, where it should be in the first place! Let's see how this develops...
</idle musing>

Thought for the day

There is always a reasonable alternative to faith!—The Mystery of Godliness, page 28

Entertaining churches

The “entertainment” model of church was largely adopted in the 1980s and ‘90s, and while it alleviated some of our boredom for a couple of hours a week, it filled our churches with self-focused consumers rather than self-sacrificing servants attuned to the Holy Spirit.—Forgotten God, pages 15-16

Blind leading the blind

If he thinks his own theorizing and speculating are going to bring him to any right knowledge on the subject of religion, he knows nothing at all, as yet. His carnal, earthly heart, can no more study out the realities of religion so as to get any available knowledge of them than the heart of a beast.—Charles Finney

Loyalties

You are not committed to a church, or to a denomination, or to an organization; as a missionary you are not committed to a Mission Board nor even to a “field,” and least of all are you committed to a “need!” You are committed to Christ, and for all that to which Christ is committed in You, and again I say—exclusively.—The Mystery of Godliness, page 20

Work, work, and what for?

You have no doubt heard of the “Protestant work ethic.” Ephesians 4:28 is the “Christian work ethic.” We work not just to meet our own needs; we work to meet the needs of others. That’s a very different way of looking at work, isn’t it? The New Testament envisions the church as a family that takes care of its members. Not only spiritually, but physically and financially—in every way that a nuclear or extended family takes care of its own.—Frank Viola, Reimagining Church, electronic edition

But I'm right!

May God grant that I do not condemn anyone, nor say that I alone am saved. But I prefer to die rather than violate my conscience by defecting from what I believe about God.—Maximus the Confessor (d. 662)as quoted in 2000 Years of Christ’s Power, Part 1

<idle musing>
Would that we all had that humble an attitude! He didn't spout off with a bunch of anathemata, he just stated what he felt was true and decided to live by it—even to the point of exile, not just once, but twice. They also cut out his tongue and cut off his right hand.
</idle musing>

Thought for a windy Tuesday

O that I could convince the whole church that they need no other help but Christ, and that they would come at once to Christ for all they want, and receive him as their wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. How soon would all their wants be supplied from his infinite fullness.—Charles Finney

The current corporate model

In all of Paul’s letters to the churches, he speaks to the “brethren”—a term that includes both brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul uses this familial term more than 130 times in his epistles. So without question, the New Testament is filled with the language and imagery of family.

In stark contrast, the dominating metaphor that’s typically constructed for the church today is the business corporation. The pastor is the CEO. The clergy and/or staff is upper management. Evangelism is sales and marketing. The congregation is the clientele. And there is competition with other corporations (“churches”) in the same town.—Frank Viola, Reimagining Church, electronic edition

<idle musing>
I find this to be only too true. Would that it weren't!
</idle musing>

Wisdom from the past

The pastor must keep careful watch over himself, in case the craving to be popular assaults him. As he studies to understand spiritual things and as he ministers to his people, he must beware that he does not try to make the congregation love him more than they love the truth. He must take care in case his self-love puts him at a distance from his Creator, even if his good life seems to show that the does not belong to this world. For a man becomes and enemy of the Redeemer, if by his good works he covets being loved by the church instead of by Christ: just as a servant, sent by the bridegroom with gifts for the bride, is guilty of treacherous thoughts if he desires to attract the eyes of the bride to himself.—Gregory the Great (d. 604), Pastoral Care, chapter 8 as quoted in 2000 Years of Christ’s Power, Part 1

<idle musing>
If it was a problem then, with the limited exposure one had, just imagine the temptation now, with all the social media and American hero worship...this should be required reading for all seminarians!

Of course, we could short circuit some of this if we would return to the house church model. But even there we have the church planting gurus who command large crowds. I'll bet they have the same temptations...
</idle musing>

Finney for a Monday

When will you learn the first lesson in religion, that you have no help in yourselves without Christ, and that all your exertions without Christ, for sanctification, are just as fruitless as are those of the wretch who is in the horrible pit and miry clay, who is struggling to get himself out.—Charles Finney

Thought for the day

"I would much prefer the days of our beginnings to what we have now. There wasn't anybody clamoring to do what we did, or what 'Love Song' or any of the other early 'Jesus Music' groups did. There were no charts for us to be number one on. Contemporary Christian music charts didn't exist. I think it's sad that, today, Christian music has become an industry rather than a ministry. I don't really know the answer to this—We used to fight against it continually, and we got ourselves into a lot of hot water. We tried to avoid those things that, in our view, were not edifying to the Body of Christ. Now, we have so many magazines, music charts, and popularity contests, it all has the potential to put ministries in competition with each other, rather than coming alongside and working together for Jesus."—Buck Herring about 2nd Chapter of Acts

The mysteries

Contrary to what many moderns seem to think, there was no esoteric wisdom to be found in the ancient Mysteries, no Da Vinci Code to be deciphered.—Jan N. Bremmer, Initiation into the Mysteries of the Ancient World, electronic edition

The other ones

I almost forgot...here are the other three books:

Creation and Chaos
A Reconsideration of Hermann Gunkel's Chaoskampf Hypothesis

Edited by JoAnn Scurlock and Richard H. Beal
Eisenbrauns, 2013
Pp. xx + 322, English
Cloth, 6 x 9 inches
ISBN: 9781575062792
List Price: $54.50
Your Price: $49.05
www.eisenbrauns.com/item/SCUCREATI

I was at this conference. I'm really looking forward to reading the published versions of the papers.

Family and Household Religion
Toward a Synthesis of Old Testament Studies, Archaeology, Epigraphy, and Cultural Studies

Edited by Rainer Albertz, et al.
Eisenbrauns, 2014
Pp. viii + 324, English
Cloth, 7 x 10 inches
ISBN: 9781575062884
List Price: $54.50
Your Price: $49.05
www.eisenbrauns.com/item/ALBHOUSEH

I really enjoyed the first volume. The second one sounds just as interesting.

And, finally, the Peter Machinist Festschrift:

Literature as Politics, Politics as Literature
Essays on the Ancient Near East in Honor of Peter Machinist

Edited by David S. Vanderhooft and Abraham Winitzer
Eisenbrauns, 2013
pp. xxii + 562, English
Cloth, 6 x 9 inches
ISBN: 9781575062723
List Price: $64.50
Your Price: $58.05
www.eisenbrauns.com/item/VANLITERA

Curses in the ancient world

I just received a few books from Eisenbrauns (thanks, Jim!), including Cursed Are You!. I was still working at Eisenbrauns when I first heard about the title and was looking forward to reading it. As the foreword explains, it expanded in scope until it became a 500+ page book! That certainly explains why it is appearing 2 years after I left.

Anyway, here's a snippet from the Introduction:

For the ancient Near Easterners, curses had authentic meaning. Curses were part of their life and religion. In and of themselves, they were not magic or features of superstitions, nor were they mere curiosities or trifling antidotes. They were real and effective. They were employed to manage life’s many vicissitudes and maintain social harmony. (page 3)

<idle musing>
We don't understand that type of thinking very well, do we? We love to segment our world into a cause and effect, closed system, Newtonian world. Of course, we allow God in on special occasions, but other than that, we're practicing atheists (as I've stated many times before).

I just finished reading a history of the Jesus Movement (as I've mentioned) and one thing that he brings up repeatedly is that they believed God was real and imminent; the veil was down and God was active in our current world. That was unique in the world of the 60s and early 70s (I would argue it still is); Jesus People expected God to answer prayer. They expected God to supply in miraculous ways. And he did. Imagine that! You expect in faith and God answers...

That's the world that the ANE cultures (and Greeks and Romans, I might add) lived in. The gods were everywhere and curses were real. They could harm you.

The biblical world is a part of that, as seen in Proverbs 26:2: Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest (TNIV). Read Psalm 121 and remember that the sun and moon were gods...YHWH being your shield and protector wasn't just a metaphor to them. But I digress...I'm really looking forward to reading this book (as well as the other 3).

By the way, here's the full link to the book:

Cursed Are You!
The Phenomenology of Cursing in Cuneiform and Hebrew Texts

by Anne Marie Kitz
Eisenbrauns, 2014
Pp. xii + 524, English
Cloth, 6 x 9 inches
ISBN: 9781575062716
List Price: $59.50
Your Price: $53.55
www.eisenbrauns.com/item/KITCURSED
</idle musing>

Random thoughts on the Jesus Movement

Having just finished the book God's Forever Family put me in a reminiscent mood. You might find various snatches of memories popping up here over the next few weeks...

One of the things that the book stresses is the importance of music to the spread of the Jesus Movement. I found Jesus (better, was found by Jesus!) in June of 1972. I was also a DJ at the local college radio station which allowed high school kids an hour or so a day during school sessions and allowed us to run the whole programming schedule on college breaks. The station was only on from 5:00 until midnight, so that was doable.

I remember being in the record vault over Spring break and running across the first Jesus Music. Mind you, this is 1973 and the standard Christian music was pretty drab and boring. The album was Larry Norman's Only Visiting This Planet, which many consider the best album the Jesus Movement ever produced—I agree. Anyway, I played almost every one of the tracks on that album that night. And over the next few months, at least one track per night was on my little one hour segment. I can't tell you what it meant to run across a politically active—yet Jesus focused—album.

Shifting gears a bit, here's a link to what I consider one of the best worship songs ever produced, Come Into His Presence, by Paul Clark, a Jesus Music pioneer.

And while we're at it, here's a link to what I consider the second best one, Lion of Judah by Ted Sandquist, from Love Inn in New York. I first heard it in 1976, when I hitchhiked down to Florida over Spring Break for a Jesus festival called Jesus '76 in Orlando.

Miscellaneous thoughts

Some good thoughts on "Black" Friday from Brian Zahnd

Coming out of Thanksgiving we should be headed for the mystery of Advent— Not the checkout line at Best Buy.

Yeah, I buy Christmas gifts too. I get it. But when Black Friday becomes a “thing” — a shameless celebration of unbridled consumerism — I would rather sit it out. I’m pretty sure that Black Friday as a “thing” is not good for my soul.

When it comes to Black Friday I would rather be less American and more Christian.

Amen! I would expand that to include more than just Black Friday, but, at least it's a start...

And some good perspective on the primary responsibility of a pastor from Missio Alliance

Preaching is part of what a pastor does, but it is not the primary responsibility of a pastor. The primary responsibility of a pastor is to seek God. Period.

Preaching a sermon on Sunday is not the most important thing a pastor does every week. Praying between Sundays is far more important. Praying is the most important thing a pastor ever does. Ever.

And, finally, an interesting video posted by Robin Parry

Food for thought

The Lord Jesus Christ refused to be committed to the parochial needs of His own day and generation; He was not committed to the political situation in Palestine, or to the emancipation of the Jewish nation from the Roman yoke! He was not committed to the pressing social problems of His time, nor to one faction as opposed to another, any more than today His committed to the West against the East, or to the Republicans against the Democrats (as though either were less wicked than the other!). Christ was not even committed to the needs of a perishing world; He was neither unmindful nor unmoved by all these other issues, but as Perfect Man He was committed to His Father, and for that only to which His Father was committed in Him—exclusively!—The Mystery of Godliness, pages 18-19

<idle musing>
I'm tempted to brush this off as too simplistic. It levels the field too much. But, at the same time, he has a valid point. Perhaps my reticence is that far too often I've heard this argument used as an excuse for indifference to injustice.

But, if one is really committed to doing the will of God, how can it fail to overflow into social action? Unless one does a major editing job on the biblical text, there is no way one can escape the social ramifications of being a Christian.
</idle musing>

Thought for a Friday in November

The Christian Scriptures are so deep that, even if I studied them to the exclusion of all else, from early childhood to worn-out old age, with ample leisure and untiring zeal, and with greater capacity of mind than I possess, each day I would still discover new riches within them. The fundamental truths necessary for salvation are found with ease in the Scriptures. But even when a person has accepted these truths, and is both God-fearing and righteous in his actions, there are still so many things which lie under a vast veil of mystery. Through reading the Scriptures, we can pierce this veil, and find the deepest wisdom in the words which express these mysteries, and in the mysteries themselves. The oldest, the ablest, and the most ardent student of Scripture, will say at the end of each day: “I have finished, and yet my studies have only just begun.”—Augustine of Hippo, Letter 137 as quoted in 2000 Years of Christ’s Power, Part 1

A very good book

I've been reading a good history of the Jesus People Movement, God's Forever Family. Good stuff. I was saved through the Jesus Movement, so I have a special place in my heart for it. Eskridge does a good job of chasing the various strands and tying them all together.

I think this little excerpt, from an Atlanta Discipleship Training Center newsletter ca. 1970, sums up what the Jesus Movement was all about:

We suggest and encourage our new brothers and sisters who are somewhat freaky in dress, hair, and general appearance to ask the Lord in prayer for a balance. We do feel that the beads, bells, and various astrological signs along with the no-bra philosophy of the Hip Scene should be forsaken. We do not believe, however that a shave and a haircut make a you a Christian any more than long hair and sandals....We are not rehabilitating people to melt back into society as good, clean-shaven and well-spruced American citizens, but rather to learn to follow Jesus Christ and do the will of the Father. (Quoted on page 110)

I ran into a good bit of the "Jesus saves and shaves" mentality once I became a Christian. I remember once going with a straight-laced friend to a revival service at a local Nazarene church. There were 3 of us long-hairs with him. I think the evangelist was trying to get us saved the whole night. I'm not sure what he thought afterwards when we greeted him after the service with a "Praise the Lord, brother." : )