philosophy « man.of.depravity

Posts Tagged ‘philosophy

Jun

Cirque and Rock Band

By Tyler 0 Comments

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: philosophy

This morning Nancy Beach and Gilles Ste-Croix spoke. I also witnessed the fun that was a Rock Band competition and the excellence of a drumline (video to come on this). It is a pretty big place, Willow Creek that is, and I’ve been pretty impressed not only with their resources but their ability to use them well and use them to glorify God. Here are some of my notes from the morning sessions.

Nancy Beach spoke on Psalm 40:1-10. She is one of the key people in the arts department at Willow.

Ministry can feel like an uphill battle a lot of the time. Even in my short time in paid ministry, I can relate. I can also relate as a PK whose dad was never fully welcomed at his previous church.
Think about the times God has rescued you that you don’t even know about. Nancy started her talk on how easy it is to fall into temptation, how easy it is for us to lose sight of the most important reason we are in ministry.
After she started I had this thought: “Everything big (meaning outward sins) starts with something smaller than small that no one can see.” I have to constantly be fighting the worldly desires that my heart has every minute it seems.
Nancy outlined a 3 fold process for success: solitude, then community, then ministry. And then back again. Those words really stuck for me.
The best part of her talk was how she tied in solitude and confession of sins into creativity. In a room full of creative minds it was something that I’m sure stuck for a lot of people. Out of solitude we come away ready to express fresh things about God. If we aren’t careful we can begin doing ministry out of memory instead of imagination. Solitude changes all that.
Here is a picture of Nancy Beach with Gilles Ste Croix the creative programmer for Cirque de Soleil. Their interview was the 2nd half of the morning. It was somewhat uneventful for me so I won’t provide any thoughts on what he had to say, other than that he came up with the idea for Cirque’s production with The Beatles which is freakin awesome.

Feb

21st Century Problem

By Tyler 1 Comment

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: church, philosophy, theology

In my theology class today my professor talked about some of the issues facing the church (meaning the body of believers). In his opinion, the biggest obstacle in the 20th century was answering how God could allow such grievous suffering. With tragedies such as the Holocaust, and dictators such as Fidel Castro this was certainly not an easy question to answer.

He feels that now the biggest challenge to the church is the idea that there are many ways to get to heaven. Not only is this something held by several religions already but many Christians would even say that Jesus isn’t the only way. This could be called a form of universalism and it is very dangerous.

Dec

In God’s Name

By Tyler 3 Comments

UncategorizedCategories:
Tags: God, life, philosophy, theology

Last night on CBS there was a 2 hour special named “In God’s Name”. 12 worldwide leaders of various beliefs and religions are interviewed. The 2 men who made the documentary were in the Twin Towers on 9/11 and they had a desire to seek out answers to some of the tough questions about God from these people. Here is another blog on the documentary.

Anglican Church leader: Rowan Williams
Chief Rabbi of Israel: Yona Metzger
The 14th Dalai Lama: Tenzin Gyatso
Southern Baptist Convention President: Frank Page
Grand Shiekh Sunni Muslim: Muhammad Tantawi
Grand Ayatollah Shia Muslim: Mohammed Fadlallah
Hindu Leader: Sri Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma)
Supreme Sikh Authority: Sri Akal Takht
Russian Orthodox leader: Alexy II
Shinto High Priest: Michihisa Kitashirakawa
Roman Catholic Pope: Pope Benedict XVI
President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church: Mark Hanson

Key points:
The Dalai Lama wakes up at 3am every morning for prayer for 2 hours.
Amma spends her entire day, every day, hugging and praying with the sick in India.
Rowan talked about the importance of doing family and marriage well…if he can’t do that well, he doubts he can lead well.
Rowan looks exactly like Gandalf.
Alexy II believes thousands were killed for their faith in Jesus during the height of Communism.
There are 1 billion Catholics worldwide.
Buddhism believes that the Dalai Lama is Buddha incarnate and is therefore, God.
Frank Page believes there is a misconception that baptists are narrow-minded and unforgiving.
Page believes that the common link between all religions is human desire to touch the divine.
Metzger believes that a Rabbi must be knowledgeable in the law.
Grank Shiekh Imam Muhammad believes it is his job to show his followers what is right and what is wrong.
Metzger believes God does not permit killing to be done in god’s name.
Mark Hanson believes that the terrorism that has occurred in the name of religion is not a reflection of religious faith but of the wickedness of man.
Both Islamic leaders believe terrorists have misunderstood the premise of religion.
Metzger fought with the army of Israel.
Islam is based on compassion and only involves violence when self defense is needed according to Grand Ayatollah Fadlallah.
Hanson believes fundamentalism is attractive today because we are drawn towards structure in a world full of chaos.
Hanson believes that our focus on terrorism is deterring us from the millions that die of curable diseases.
There are 900 million Hindu believers worldwide.
During Sikh meals, everyone in the church eats together (rich and poor, young and old).
The Shinto religion has no scripture or doctrine.
Before he was High Priest of the Shinto religion, Kitashirakawa was an executive at Toshiba.
Amma beliefs death is not an ending, but a new beginning.
The Dalai Lama believes that if we have spent a good life there will be nothing to repent of at death.
Alexy II believes the meaning of life is to be a Christian, not just in name but in life.
Amma believes she has hugged 26 million people in her lifetime.
The Pope believes that religion cannot become a vehicle to hatred.

The producers came away from their journey around the world knowing that there is much more that unites us than divides us. “The search for truth is in itself a religious act.”

Hanson said, “I don’t think the way we are living today is how God designed it…and the greatest challenge today is the relationship between unity and diversity.”
According to Hanson we need a sense of what holds us together, or what divides us will conquer us. If we live through what unites us, then our diversity enriches life.

Nov

Things I’ve Learned about Leading Worship by Being a Janitor .2

By Tyler 4 Comments

UncategorizedCategories:
Tags: music, philosophy, worship

2. It is important for me to check in with people who have areas that I clean. I don’t do this on a regular basis but when I see them I try and make sure they are satisfied with the cleanliness of their area. I try and ask in a way that allows them to be honest. If they don’t think its clean then I want them to tell me. No sense in cleaning the same way if they don’t think its clean.

This is so huge for leading worship. People say its most important for the worship leader to first be worshiping God. Well yeah, but whats the point if the rest of the church is left behind and the leader is just doing their own thing. I think the best way to make sure this isn’t happening to is talk with some random people in the congregation that the leader trusts can be honest. A worship leader is leading others to a place of intimacy with God, not just a place of intimacy for them and God.

Nov

Ignorance is Bliss

By Tyler 3 Comments

UncategorizedCategories:
Tags: philosophy, random

I was thinking the other day about toilet seat covers. I know, I know, a pretty random thing to think about. Obviously I was in the bathroom when I thought about this. I guess I can come out and say that I do not use them…and I have never tried. I just don’t get them…its not like they’re keeping any body area clean that really needs to be kept clean. So I’m wondering if I’m just really weird or if everyone else sees how pointless they are.

Disclaimer: I do wipe around the toilet with toilet paper in public restrooms….just in case its sticky

Oct

How to Avoid God the Cop

By Tyler 1 Comment

UncategorizedCategories:
Tags: God, philosophy

I was at a meeting last night and a man gave his testimony. He started off saying he always felt God was a cop looking at him from above. I really like this analogy. God to most people is someone who is ready to condemn, arrest, punish…someone few people enjoy. For every person who says cops are here for our safety, there is the person who just flat out hates the police too. That is also true of God but probably more people view God as a cop than as a friend.

I began to think about this for me. There are times when I feel other Christians and God talking down to me for things I have or haven’t done. I.e. I didn’t read my Bible, I didn’t go to church, I haven’t prayed. Ironically when we get these “speeding tickets” they only piss us off more and rarely does our attitude change. I’ve gotten a ticket for rolling a stop sign…but I don’t drive any different today, and most people won’t live their spiritual lives different when they feel condemned by God and others.

Here are some ways that will allow us to view God less as a cop and more as a friend.

1. Read Brennan Manning. Probably Ragamuffin Gospel or Abba’s Child. No one does a better job of portraying a God full of grace than Brennan.

2. Listen to Delirious’ “What A Friend I’ve Found.” Let it sink in.

3. Read the story of David’s adult life in 1st and 2nd Samuel. David was not short on mistakes in his lifetime, but yet he always had what was portrayed as a strong relationship with God. I think this is because God looks at the heart. Saul was the tall, good looking leader that never had favor with God because of his heart. God isn’t out to condemn your mistakes, he’s out to forgive them. He wants to see your heart as wanting forgiveness and recognizing your fault.

4. Spend time with God. Its cliche I know…but I think of it like this: If you have a friend you don’t spend a lot of time with, odds are the friendship won’t be as a strong. Of course, the more time you spend together the more the friendship will grow. The biggest reason people view God as a cop is because they’ve never let go enough to allow God to come near and see Him for who He really is.

Oct

If Jesus Were Alive…Where Would He Live?

By Tyler 2 Comments

UncategorizedCategories:
Tags: Jesus, philosophy

I’ve often wondered if Jesus were alive and he had complete control (duh?) over where he could live…where would it be? Americans I’m sure will think somewhere within the US. Of course being from the Northwest, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t want to live in the Midwest (hot summers, cold winters). When he walked earth he was in the Middle East which is pretty hot, so it might seem logical for Death Valley to be his destination or Florida or Hawaii. Of course he could speak any language in the world, because he is all-knowing, so that wouldn’t hinder him. And he would probably use some more of his time on earth to reach more people with the Good News. Anyway, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

My opinion: He didn’t really have a place he called home, outside of heaven, according to the Bible. So I’m sure he would wander. A sojourner.

Oct

Mr Happy

By Tyler 3 Comments

UncategorizedCategories:
Tags: church, philosophy

On Sunday I took some time to watch the focus on Joel Osteen on 60 Minutes. I’m kind of torn with this guy. I already said that he is polarizing and 60 Minutes did a good job of portraying this.

Many theology buffs say his theology is distorted. This might be because he went to college for a semester and has no theological schooling. His positive message seems very self reliant which is a bad theology. It is saying that God has empowered me to take care of myself, instead of thinking that I need to rely on God to provide in my life. He himself says that he tries to give a positive message because people already deal with so much negative in life. I think Kurt is right when he said that better to be positive than negative. Joel also said he tries to avoid using Scripture until the end of his message to emphasize his point.

I talked with my dad about some of this and we both kind of agreed that only in the South could someone like Joel Osteen thrive. Is it ironic that in the Bible belt that the biggest church is trying to avoid the Bible except to emphasize a point? In his big building there are no crosses or other familiar references to Christianity. In the end, better for people to come to church than not come to church. But Osteen would not make it on the West Coast in just about any church here. My dad said churches that are successful on the left coast are either fundamental or relevant and Osteen is really neither. There is no way he could reach a postmodern audience and you certainly see an older crowd at his church which seems to confirm this.

I don’t see a lot of reason to banter about whether or not we like him, because there will always be some people who are attracted to a message no matter what it is, and clearly he is making a difference. But I won’t be going out and buying his new book on how to be positive, and his message certainly does not bring me closer to Jesus. If I were in Texas I would never think to go to Lakewood to see Joel…I’d rather see Chris Tomlin or David Crowder.

Oct

When it rains….

By Tyler 1 Comment

UncategorizedCategories:
Tags: philosophy, theology

I wrote a paper last week for my theology class on suffering. The question given: why does God allow suffering?

The events of Hurricane Katrina were focal point for me. How can I tell someone devastated from that event that God had their best in mind? Would that even register with them. And also how could a non Christian be comfortable with a Christian view of suffering?

There are many systems set up to answer this question in a myriad of ways. It was my goal to create an answer. Easy right? ha.

I guess you could say I followed the “greater good” system for answering this question. A common approach for why suffering exists is that God is either not almighty and powerful or God is not loving. I did my best to refute those opinions. A quote from CS Lewis really summed up why we can’t just put God in our human box.
“The problem of reconciling human suffering with the existence of a God who loves, is only insoluble so long as we attach a trivial meaning to the word ‘love,’ and look on things as if man were the centre of them. Man is not the centre. God does not exist for the sake of man. Man does not even exist for his own sake…To ask that God’s love should be content with us as we are is to ask that God should cease to be God.”

I came to the conclusion that God is both almighty and loving, so suffering must have a purpose in our world. From the story of Job I think that suffering is partly what we make of it. We can choose to let it knock us down or we can use it to make us stronger. Of course that is easier said than done. I also think we see in Romans 5:3-5 and Hebrews 5:8 that suffering is used by God to help become more Christlike and to experience some of the agony Jesus went through. Does any of this resonate with a non Christian? Not yet but Romans 5:3-5 talks about hope, hope that doesn’t disappoint. The Bible also talks about how they will know us by our love. I think these two verses work together with something that a non believer can come to grips with. Suffering can in some weird way produce hope and that hope is shown in our love for God and people. I certainly haven’t figured this one out because there is no perfect way to answer this. I ended with this quote from CS Lewis:
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

Oct

Fusion Rundown #2

By Tyler 3 Comments

UncategorizedCategories:
Tags: music, philosophy

I’ll keep this short because I’m tired and ready to hit the hay. Of course I have to mention the Yankees getting the heave ho from the playoffs. It will be weird to watch the Yankees if Torre gets fired, because he has been there since I can remember caring about pro baseball. That said….I couldn’t be happier to see the Yanks lose, they have the worst fans in the world. They’ve made the playoffs like 50 years in a row and still aren’t satisfied.

Music tonight:

Here is Our King: key of A
I Lift My Eyes: key of F
Message on Matthew 18
Hungry: key of C (Rose led)
Give us Clean Hands: key of G
From the Inside Out: key of E
Thank You for Loving Me: key of E

Band: me on acoustic and vox and Rose on vox

I thought musically Rose and I were right on tonight. Probably because we’ve been doing so much music lately that it just kind of fell into place. That was great for us. The overall service was just average. The response has been harder for me to deal with every week. As much as worship is just about me and God and allowing others to come into a place of being with Him, it is also important to see how people are responding to it. I feel like every week I put in all this effort and energy but people just stare at a screen with words and sing empty songs to Jesus I guess. I don’t want to be a pessimist but I also want to know that I’m creating an environment that is inviting for the Spirit and allowing others to experience God in a new and special way. So I struggle with this constantly…every time I lead worship but I guess I don’t think about it when I get compliments and see people raise their hands and sing with their eyes closed, even though I know its something that is in the heart. So as important as response is, it is also from the heart which is hard to gauge from outward signs. I do know that I was drawn into praising God for all he has provided in my life, and tonight that is reason enough to lead worshipers to Him.