Beauty isn’t mentioned very often within churches. Beauty is quite often pushed aside as being superficial, effeminate, fleeting, and purely aesthetic (which it can be).
But if you worship the Creator of heaven and earth, then beauty is inescapable. Christ himself is described as the ‘beautiful one’.
The word ‘glory’ is laced throughout the scriptures and carries with it the notion of the weight of beauty. Whenever the angels declare ‘glory’ to God they are proclaiming the overwhelming density and magnitude of the very source of beauty.
The scriptures go as far as saying that ‘the whole earth is filled with his glory’.
Our planet is chalked full of beauty.
If only we had eyes to see.
Coming soon: The next solarcrash event: broken-beautiful – Join our FB page, with details coming out this week. Let me know if you’d like to contribute.
Photo Credit: Runran
Have you ever opened the holy scriptures looking for wisdom and something just doesn’t sit right?
Sometimes it’s because it’s exposing some deep uncomfortable truth within ourselves.
Other times, the ‘holy word’ seems flat out wrong.
For example I’ve been preaching through Nehemiah verse by verse over the past year, and while it’s an extraordinary book, it ends on a disappointing thud. Not only because the people of God have abandoned all they worked so hard for, but the human hero of the story, Nehemiah, was a let down in the end as well.
Nehemiah is brash and violent in the last chapter. He attempts to restore order through tearing some families apart and literally giving some men a beating while pulling their hair out (Mark Driscoll calls it a ’scalping’ as if it was cool, but that’s another story). My NIV Men’s edition bible tries to redeem the end of this part of the story commenting on how Nehemiah was courageous in the end confronting sin.
I understand Nehemiah’s good intentions, but I disagree with how he handled the situation. You could call it sinful.
Are there passages in Scripture you personally disagree with? (I can think of plenty).
And what do you do about it?
Some folks like Brian Mclaren might argue we’re simply listening in on a collection of stories in human history, some emphasize Christ as hero, then there’s interpretative techniques like context, word analysis, descriptive vs prescriptive readings of the text… but still.
Are there particular moments where the Scriptures leave you hanging, unsatisfied, and shaking your head?
by Lon on February 10, 2010
I recently finished Brian Mclaren’s latest “A new kind of Christianity“.
I recall Mclaren’s earlier book that became a trilogy – a new kind of christian – being banned in many churches. I get the sense that a lot of concepts or challenges presented in that book have since shaped many churches, even if indirectly.
A new kind of Christianity will undoubtedly cause at least just as much of a stir, if not more.
Here’s a few of my quick thoughts.
People are going to love it or hate it. It’s hard not to be provoked and challenged by the questions he brings up.
McLaren’s often known for offering great questions and little in the way of answers. I got the feeling this was a bit of a ‘coming out’ book (though I think McLaren honestly puts where he’s at every time he writes, he’s just a bit further down that path now).
Hardcore/New Calvinists will hate much of the answers he provides.
The premise of most of his arguments is based on the framework in which we see things. Change the framework and everything within it changes. The new kind of christian focused more on the modernist mindset, he goes further back with this book showing how much of our theology is based on a Greco-Roman platonic worldview obsessed with either/or states and perfection.
Process theology and the general arc of the biblical storyline also shapes how we continue to evolve in our faith and humanity
I think many churches will have a hard time matching up what McLaren proposes and their current statement of faith (ie. his views presented on Scripture, the second coming, etc.) At the same time I think most statements of faith are profoundly lacking, incomplete, and rarely represent the actual practice of the church anyways.
McLaren usually does an impressive job with ignoring critics and smothering those who differ with kindness, so I was surprised when he took an unnamed swipe at Mark Driscoll (he’s going to have a field day with this one). There’s definitely some extra edge in this book (but none more than the fury his critics have heaped upon him)
I wonder if there will ever be healing between the different ‘camps’ in the future?
Overall, I’m glad McLaren does what he does, even if I don’t agree with all of his ideas and approaches. My guess is critics will continue to hate him, because he isn’t what they want him to be. He’s not a defender of the faith (as it is). He’s not someone who’s just proposing new methodologies to timeless truth (as we know it).
I find it odd that many of us will allow ourselves to consume and be shaped by music, media, technology, etc. that may have a radically different theological concepts from us, but vehemently not want someone like McLaren to be heard.
Our planet is in enough of a jam as it is, can’t we just let the guy feel his way forward and share what he’s learning with the rest of us?
There’s some extra chapters available on his website that people should also dig into.
by Lon on November 30, 2009
The Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters Group Blogging Project continues.
Chapter 8 – Teach her who God is – is brought to you by Juno Award winning recording engineer, photographer, and father of two girls Eugene Huo.
‘A parent’s main job is not to be a parent, but to be a person.’ The moment we understand this we realize that everything the Bible says about being a man or woman of God applies to being a parent.- Douglas Webster, SOULCRAFT
As I listened to the audiobook version of chapter 8 (thus allowing me to surf the web and check my twitter and facebook at the same time) I smiled at the irony of the title. “Show Her Who God Is”. As a seminary trained, serving in the church kind of guy, I thought, “Perfect. This should be easy. I know how to do that.” I have two girls, ages 5 and 6.83 years old. I recalled stunning theological discussions with my oldest when she was a 3 year old about “Where is God?” and “What happens when we die?” I thought about prayer time before bed, and making them go to Sunday school. I thought about all those little moments when I was able to squeeze in an object lesson about sharing, or about kindness. Mentally I gave myself an A+ for teaching my girls about God.
And then I heard the story of a daughter who was most deeply impacted by the memory of her father, sitting in his chair early in the morning, eyes closed in prayer, or reading his Bible. It was that image, she said, that led her to the faith that she now had as an adult. It was that image that changed her path. Just a simple, quiet act on her father’s part. No grand speeches or convincing arguments, just doing faith, sitting and praying and reading the Scripture. She watched him sit in his chair. He was real and so was his faith. That was all it took.
When I was 17 I was similarly impacted by a seemingly small action. I grew up attending church, but by that time I had given up on any kind of meaningful faith. I was adrift, having broken up a relationship with a girl, feeling completely empty and searching for something to fill the void. I happened to be having dinner with someone and as our food came, I picked up my fork and started to dig in. As I lifted the fork to my mouth I looked up and saw my friend* with her eyes closed, in prayer, giving thanks for her food. At that moment I was powerfully reminded of what I was looking for. That simple act of saying grace pushed me to seek out God again, and started my journey of faith that continues on now.
The title of this chapter is really shouldn’t be “Teach her about God” but “Show Her Who God Is”. I realized that showing is a lot different than teaching. Showing is different than talking, different than discussing or preaching, different than lecturing. Showing involves seeing something. Showing involves more than words. It involves being someone, doing something.
If we are to show our daughters who God is, then we need to be men of God. And don’t think that we have to have all the answers. A man of God is not someone who simply has answers, but is a person who earnestly seeks after God and desires to know Him. Meeker suggests that if you know nothing, but begin your faith journey at the same time as your daughter, she will be thrilled. And as you grow in your faith, she will grow in hers.
Meeker writes that as fathers we are often afraid to talk about spiritual matters. We don’t know what to say, and so we back out of saying anything at all. If you are in ministry, and a father, I feel the danger lies in thinking that we do have all the answers. Having all the right theology in the world doesn’t make up for what we fail to do, unfortunately. It doesn’t recover family time lost to committee meetings and message preparation. Work life balance is even more challenging as a minister, and we can easily send the message that our work is more important than our family. We can say that God is close and accessible, but if we are always busy and unapproachable, our daughters will wonder if God is like that too. If we are harsh or demanding with our daughters, or say things that are cruel or belittling, our daughters will wonder if God really is love. Our actions really do speak louder than words.
I have resolved never to preach at home. I will be and do, more than just talk. I will show my girls who God is, by the man I strive to be.
*Incidentally, this friend later became my girlfriend, and then she became my wife and the mother of our two girls. The moral of the story? Never be afraid to say grace, you never know where it might lead!
by Lon on October 13, 2009
This must be one of the top five most overplayed U2 songs ever. But it’s still worth mentioning.
I have climbed the highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you
I have run I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
Only to be with you
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for
I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her fingertips
It burned like fire
This burning desire
I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for
I believe in the Kingdom Come
Then all the colours will bleed into one
But yes I’m still running
You broke the bounds
You loosed the chains
You carried the cross
And my shame
And my shame
You know I believe it
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for
This song still resonates today because it connects with the struggle of the human spirit.
No matter how much you’ve steeped yourself in routine and the mundane, there’s something inside of us all that remains unsettled, longing for more.
We try everything we can to satisfy that craving. Relationships, children, love, significance, unique experiences, and yet something still gnaws at our souls.
Some of us even discover God. The last section of the lyrics speak of Christ, and not what we can accomplish, but what God has already done. Taking the chains and our shame away. Replacing it with freedom.
Yet we’re still running, searching. At least I am.
Because with all that freedom and grace, I still find myself rejecting it. If it’s true what the Scriptures say, that belief must lead to actions, then the truth is, I spend my days not really believing.
And so, I still haven’t found what I’m looking for. Though I sure hope to someday.
* btw, that lyric “I believe in the Kingdom Come, Then all the colours will bleed into one” I’ve got to say is sheer brilliance. But how much blood must first be shed? Or has it already been shed, but then why aren’t we ‘one’?
by Lon on September 7, 2009
For those of you who are new to the site, a bit on what Solar Crash is.
Some of you might know it as an event that occasionally emerges in Toronto, and others simply as “Lon’s blog”, but when I grabbed the domain solarcrash.com the name was loaded with meaning for me.
SOLAR refers to the sun. We hear of it most often in connection with solar panels. (I get tons of hits here on people looking into when there might be a solar energy stock market crash). I liked the solar panel reference because there’s a sense of not simply soaking and absorbing an endless supply of light but its energy is channeled for something useful.
Solar also invokes an image of the the stars or the heavenly realm. There is something infinite, mysterious, and divine that surrounds us even though we may not be able to tangibly touch it.
CRASH is an analogy I got from Erwin McManus six years ago. He talked about how a group of rhinos is called a crash. Even though rhinos can’t see very far with all their speed and weight they make a massive impact wherever they go together, much like the church ought to.
Crashes are never clean. The image of crash carries with it brokenness, sacrifice, and very intimate contact. A crash ruptures the status quo.
SOLARCRASH brings together the incoming reality of the heavens crashing down on earth. It’s not simply a joining or a handshake, but something much more chaotic, and I’d say more beautiful. It’s where uncontainable hope and oppression meet. It’s where the way things are, and the way things ought to be, find a way to become friends. It’s a glimpse of good news, everywhere you look.
My hope that this is a site that speaks to human beings at the deepest levels. Those of faith, without, and everyone in between.
I hope to continually blur the lines between the sacred and the secular (The only difference being that the secular doesn’t quite realize it’s sacred, yet).
Friends and other like-hearted individuals are also invited to share their thoughts here (let me know if you’re interested). For the most part right now, much of the content will be shaped by my own life and story, which has its limitations.
I am the son of an immigrant blue-collar chinese family, engineer by training, who went from working in the IT industry of corporate America to leading a local church. I’ve been blessed with a beautiful wife and child along the journey, and a growing passion for fresh expressions of church, community development, creativity, technology, and the city.
If you’re still interested you can continue following along on this website or get the latest by subscribing via the RSS feed or email to get the latest posts delivered to your inbox.
[Image from andreyphoto]
by Lon on August 22, 2009
Supposedly a tornado went through Minneapolis at the same time the Lutherans were trying to decide whether “practicing homosexuality is a behavior that should disqualify a person from the pastoral ministry”.
John Piper’s openly declared the tornado a warning from God.
Regardless of your take on the issue itself, what’s your take on the connection? How do you discern the relationship between what you do and the warnings of God?
John Piper’s original post
Greg Boyd’s public response
A couple weeks ago I preached a message working through Van Gogh’s art and the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God. It was a really fun one, partly inspired by this book.
My favorite bit was on Van Gogh’s famous Starry Night painting. Van Gogh was really intentional with his colors using blue for mystery and the infinite, and yellow for divine sacred love.
You can see how he had a real sense of earth being a reflection of heaven. The yellow holy light is laced across the fields and echoed in every little home, except one… the church.
It’s as if to say that hints of the divine are everywhere you look in all creation, but ironically Van Gogh didn’t feel that it was in the church (He was a pastor/missionary before seriously painting).
What do you think? Do you see truth in it today? How might the church regain it’s glow?
