The Daily Office, Contemplative Spirituality, and Fixed Hour Prayer

For the past several weeks I have been reading from Day By Day by Peter Scazzero at the start of each of our Morning Blend sessions. This is a devotional or daily "office" book written by Scazzero to assist the reader in practicing contemplative spirituality in a rhythmic, twice-a-day manner. To hear more about the premise of this book, you can watch Scazzero's video introduction here:

If you like the idea of introducing this ancient Christian practice into your own life and want to check out more resources, you might take a look at some of the works of Phyllis Tickle, who was a speaker in the Animate: Bible series we studied a few years ago. You can read several excerpts from her book and read more about Daily Offices/Divine Hours by following this link: The Divine Hours.  Tickle includes an article on her own website, About Fixed Hour Prayer, where she also recommends a book by Shane Claiborne, who is part of the Animate: Practices series that we may be studying in the spring. On his website, you can find daily prayers online: Common Prayer.

Who are the folks behind Animate?

On the front pages of our journals, it tells us that the writers are Carla Barnhill and Tony Jones. Just who are these folks in the background of our spiritual journey?

WHO IS TONY JONES?

According to his web site, http://tonyj.net, Tony Jones is the author of The Church Is Flat: The Relational Ecclesiology of the Emerging Church Movement and is theologian-in-residence at Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis and teaches at Fuller Theological Seminary and St. Cloud State University. Tony serves as a senior acquisitions editor at sparkhouse. He’s developed an iPhone app called Ordain Thyself.

Tony is the author of many books on Christian ministry and spirituality, including The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier and The Sacred Way: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life, and he is a sought after speaker and consultant in the areas of emerging church, postmodernism, and Christian spirituality.

He co-owns a social media consulting and event planning company.  Tony is married, has three children, and lives in Edina, Minnesota. In his spare time, he trains his yellow lab, Albert, and takes Albert hunting for ducks, grouse, and pheasants.

He has a blog housed at Patheos: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/tonyjones/

WHO IS CARLA BARNHILL?

According to twincitieslive.com, Carla Barnhill has been a writer and editor for more than fifteen years, working in both magazine and book publishing. She is the author of numerous articles and several books, including The Myth of the Perfect Mother and Shaping Your Family's Future. She teaches College Writing at Bethel University in St. Paul and often speaks to women's groups about issues such as motherhood, spirituality, and keeping your sanity in the midst of family life. She was recently chosen as one of four finalists to be the Advice Guru on Good Morning America and is a regular guest on Twin Cities Live, where she gives advice on everything from wedding etiquette to friendship problems to workplace drama.

Carla is a native of Alexandria, MN, a graduate of Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, and a fan of all things Minnesota. Between writing projects, Carla loves to camp, hike, ski, or just sit on the end of a dock with a cold Diet Coke. She's a reader, a writer, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a talker, a listener, and a minivan driver.

She blogs with another woman at: http://themommyrevolution.com/.

According to her blog, Carla Barnhill has been in Christian publishing for 15 years. She is the former editor of Christian Parenting Today magazine. She also served as Associate Editor of Campus Life magazine. Carla now works as a freelance editor and writer, working for publishers such as Zondervan, WaterBrook, Baker, Tyndale, HarperOne, and Sparkhouse. She is the author of Blessings Every Day and The Myth of the Perfect Mother.

Carla has also spoken to thousands of mothers at MOPS conventions, women’s retreats, and churches around the country. She is a sought-after source of new ideas about motherhood, parenting, and the spiritual formation of children.

VIDEOS: Jay Bakker on Animate: Bible and an interview

Tony Jones and Jay Bakker on Animate: Bible

Popular theoblogger Tony Jones talks to author Jay Bakker about his role in the new Animate: Bible adult ed resource from Sparkhouse. Visit the Patheos Book Club for more on the Animate video series! http://www.patheos.com/Books/Book-Club



If you can't see the embedded video, go directly to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quj_0K7_1t0

Jay Bakker and Christian Piatt: The Interview

Published on Aug 15, 2013

Jay and I chat about Exodus International, radical theology, his latest book and his recent move to Minneapolis.

CLICK HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab0HLEdsXGU

Revolution Church

Revolution Minneapolis meets every Sunday at 4 pm at
Bryant-Lake Bowl
810 W. Lake St., Minneapolis, MN

More on Progressive Christianity courtesy of Brian McLaren

Throughout the Animate study, I’ve noticed that many of the speakers we’ve heard have been attached to the Progressive Christianity movement. I went looking for more information on the movement, and ran into an article by Bryan McLaren, the pastor who kicks off the Animate: Faith series.

The article is titled:
Not Conservative, Not Liberal: Progressive
Being a progressive Christian means more than being lax, lazy, fuzzy, flimsy, proud, and dying.

http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Not-Conservative-Not-Liberal-Progressive-Brian-McLaren-06-13-2011?offset=2&max=1

Consider this description of Progressive Christians:
“When it comes to fuzziness and flimsiness, the progressive Christians I know are making great strides beyond old liberalism. What initially seemed like a morass of complexity—the quest(s) for the historical Jesus, biblical criticism, revisioning the Bible's inspiration and authority—is turning out to be highly productive. The scholarly process just needed some time to mature. As a result, Progressive Christians aren't disregarding the Bible; they're studying it even more diligently than their conservative counterparts, and they're producing sparkling, challenging, inspiring theologies rooted in the Bible. Fueled by this renewed biblical engagement, they aren't simply functioning as the religious chaplains of the Democratic party (as their counterparts have often been for the Republican party); they're articulating a vital political theology and a vigorous theological politics that challenges everybody to seek the common good.”
McLaren’s article is part of the symposium, "What Is Progressive Christianity?" presented by the newly launched Patheos Progressive Christian Portal and in partnership with the Wild Goose Festival, which was held in 2011.

There’s a long list of articles about what Progressive Christianity is and isn’t on Patheos, including one by Phyllis Tickle comparing Progressive Versus Emergence Christianity. Check them out here: http://www.patheos.com/Topics/What-Is-Progressive-Christianity-06-13-2011.html

A large number of our speakers throughout the Animate: Bible series have used Patheos to host their blogs. So, what is Patheos?

“Founded in 2008, Patheos.com is the premier online destination to engage in the global dialogue about religion and spirituality and to explore and experience the world's beliefs. Patheos is the website of choice for the millions of people looking for credible and balanced information about religion. Patheos brings together faith communities, academics, and the broader public into a single environment, and is the place where many people turn on a regular basis for insight, inspiration, and stimulating discussion. Patheos is unlike any other religious and spiritual site on the Web today.

"As evidenced by the company founders' story, religion and spirituality continue to be an important part of American life, with more Americans today than ever before identifying themselves as spiritual. In fact, according to the Pew Internet Project, more than 82 million Americans (and 64 percent of all Internet users) utilize the Web for faith-related matters. The importance of religion and spirituality, coupled with the growing use of the Internet for religious matters, point to the ongoing need for an online resource for religious and spiritual engagement and dialogue. Patheos fills this need.”

From: http://www.patheos.com/About-Patheos/About.html

“Faith Channels” on Patheos include:
    Atheist
    Buddhist
    Catholic
    Evangelical
    Hindu
    Jewish
    Mormon
    Muslim
    Pagan
    Progressive Christian
    Spirituality

You can compare religions. You can read blogs. There are teacher resources, a religion library, and a book club.

Sound like a great resource for us all!

Wrap-Up Questions

Here are some wrap-up questions that come to mind for me as we come to the close of the Animate: Bible series.

Jay Bakker makes the comment that understanding love and grace and viewing scripture through the lenses of Jesus and Paul allows him to just "move past" some of the difficult passages of scripture. Should we do that? Is it ok to just gloss over the difficult passages? How, then, do we respond to people, who don't have that understanding of grace and love, and want to discuss those difficult passages? Should we just tell them that it's a mystery? Is it impossible to understand without an experience with God? Should we try to understand those passages using our tools of interpretation and study?

We have talked a lot about relying on prayer and relationship with God to guide us in our interpretation to scripture. How should we respond to the mis-use of scripture in the church community? What do we do when the collective community uses scripture as a weapon? or a fortune cookie? or a fairy tale? What do we do when people, who seem very honest and sincere in their prayer and relationship with God also seem to be using scripture wrongly?

Maybe some of my questions are answered by Starr's question! Here is what Starr had to say:

One of my questions I'd like to think about is, Are we asking the right question when we say is this right or wrong in God's eyes.  I struggle with wanting to clearly define things at times .  Honestly, to not be so preoccupied about right and wrong could be very freeing in some ways .. But a difficult path to walk.

Please feel free to send more thoughts and questions in the comments or in email, and I will continue to add them to THIS post as late as 10pm tonight...

*************************************

I wanted to add some quotes from C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, chapter 22, as I think they relate to the topic at hand. From the beginning of the chapter:

If this Chapter means nothing to you, if it seems to be trying to answer questions you never asked, drop it at once. Do not bother about it at all. There are certain things in Christianity that can be understood from the outside, before you have become a Christian. But there are a great many things that cannot be understood until after you have gone a certain distance along the Christian road. These things are purely practical, though they do not look as if they were. They are directions for dealing with particular cross-roads and obstacles on the journey and they do not make sense until a man has reached those places. When ever you find any statement in Christian writings which you can make nothing of, do not worry. Leave it alone. There will come a day, perhaps years later, when you suddenly see what it meant. If one could understand it now, it would only do one harm.

And from the end of the chapter:

I think all Christians would agree with me if I said that though Christianity seems at the first to be all about morality, all about duties and rules and guilt and virtue, yet it leads you on, out of all that, into something beyond. One has a glimpse of a country where they do not talk of those things, except perhaps as a joke. Every one there is filled full with what we should call goodness as a mirror is filled with light. But they do not call it goodness. They do not call it anything. They are not thinking of it. They are too busy looking at the source from which it comes. But this is near the stage where the road passes over the rim of our world. No one's eyes can see very far beyond that: lots of people's eyes can see further than mine.

 You can read the whole chapter here: http://readanybooks.net/fantasticfiction/Mere-Christianity/14792.html

A Poem - How Have I Judged You

Pat Clark shared with us this poem that she wrote. Thank you so much, Pat, for being willing to be so vulnerable and for sharing this part of your journey with us.

How Have I Judged You?

 Let Me Count the Ways:

I saw your sin but not the person within.

I saw your shame and said you were to blame.

I saw the pain in your face but didn’t take

      the time to listen or embrace.

I saw your joy but felt my envy instead.

I listened to the gossip but didn’t’ go to the source.

I heard of your need but held onto my greed.

I used the literal word of God to keep you

       in your place instead of offering

         God’s mercy and His grace.

But worst of all I saw only your difference,

      made many assumptions and

          failed to get to know YOU!

Will you and God please forgive me?


Pat Clark, October 23, 2013


James 2:13 (ESV)
13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

On accepting grace for ourselves

Not to make this blog all about me, but this morning's discussion about how we fail to accept grace for ourselves reminded me of a blog post from my own personal blog. I wanted to share these thoughts with all of you. I wrote this last year between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Rosh Hashanah. A new year. Also sometimes called the Feast of Trumpets or Yom Teruah. A time to make a joyful noise. This is the time when the Rabbis believe that the world was created. It is a celebration of God as King and Creator. We are reminded that God brought the world into being and continues to uphold the world, a continual outpouring of life and creativity.
These days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are days of Teshuvah, repentance. A time to reflect on our mistakes and make the conscious choice to turn toward the only one who can offer unconditional grace and forgiveness, toward the King and Creator, toward the only one who can heal our brokenness.

These words from John Parsons at Hebrew4Christians spoke to me today,

"God is both infinitely loving and infinitely just, and both of these "attributes" are inseparably a part of who he is. God is One. Nonetheless, the cross of Yeshua proves that "love is stronger than death, passion fiercer than the grave; its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame, the very flame of the Lord" (Song. 8:6). It is at the cross that "love and truth have met, righteousness and peace have kissed" (Psalm 85:10). This implies that we must drop our defenses – even those supposed objections and pretenses voiced by our shame – and "accept that we are accepted." It is God's great love for you that leads you to repent and to turn to him. Allow yourself to be embraced by his "everlasting arms."

It truly is a time of celebration. We, so often, wallow in our mistakes, grovel in our repentance. We view repentance as a time to hate ourselves. I think of self-flagellation and penance...something church history has taught us. This isn't it at all, though. Repentance is confession and turning away. It is starting fresh. It is acknowledging that we are loved enough to be forgiven.
I read in the book To Forgive is Human that people don't admit mistakes or ask forgiveness unless there is some possibility that they will be forgiven. This is the basis upon which relationships are built. You cannot be honest and truthful in your relationship, admitting mistakes & moving on to be a better person unless you can reasonably expect some grace.
The King and Creator offers us this kind of acceptance, love and grace. Repentance is impossible without this grand acceptance.  And self-hatred isn't necessary. In fact, it's contradictory. Possibly, it's even a defense mechanism. If we hate ourselves, we don't actually have to believe that we can change, be different, be loved, be forgiven. If we drop the defense of self-hatred, we can repent, turn, start fresh, walk new...right into a sweet new year. This is joyous, indeed!
Shanah Tovah!

The Cyrophoenician Woman

This week we are looking at some of the difficult passages of scripture:

There are so many passages in the Bible that are troubling...that can lead to a somewhat difficult relationship with the Bible, including this passage from the gospels: Mark 7:25-30. How can we understand this scripture in light of all the things we've learned in this series? In light of the message of grace and love offered by Jay Bakker in session 7? How about Deuteronomy 20:1-20?

 I thought I'd offer links to a few different discussions of the Mark 7 passage.

In Desperate Need is a somewhat traditional interpretation of the passage hosted on the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship Website.

Jesus Was Not Colorblind is an article posted on the Patheos website by David R. Henson. Patheos hosts the bio pages for the Animate: Bible presenters and a blog featuring articles by leaders of the progressive Christian community.

Preparing for Discussion - Grace: Love is the Bottom Line

Next Wednesday we will be discussing session 7 of Animate: Bible, Grace: Love is the Bottom Line , presented by Jay Bakker.

 The following are some scriptures and questions from the journal and facilitator guide to get us started:

We talked already this week about some of the things that keep people from the church, from scripture, and from God. Bakker experienced a much more public crisis of faith than most of us, but the fact remains that most of us have been tripped up by one thing or another in our faith journey. The journal book lists some things that might create hurdles and challenges in staying connected to the church and the Bible - science, shame, guilt, and bad theology... Are there things that have pushed you away from the church at different points in your life? How did you come back?

Turn to Galatians 3:26-29. How does this passage "help us reconsider the social, political, and theological boundaries" of our current culture?

How might we help ourselves and others heal from the the misuse of the scriptures? Bakker has been especially active in homosexual communities trying to bring healing from the wounds that have been inflicted by the use of scripture as a weapon. I have mentioned before that some of the places where I have seen the most wounding is in the treatment of women and children.

Are there other times when you have seen scripture used as a weapon? ....or as a fortune cookie? ...or a fairy tale? The journal book suggests looking at these scriptures in reference to those misuses of scripture:

Leviticus 19:28
Proverbs 10:10
Matthew 10:34

There are so many passages in the Bible that are troubling...that can lead to a somewhat difficult relationship with the Bible, including this passage from the gospels: Mark 7:25-30. How can we understand this scripture in light of all the things we've learned in this series? In light of the message of grace and love offered by Jay Bakker in session 7? How about Deuteronomy 20:1-20?

How can we see these difficult passages in the light of the message of love throughout the Bible? In light of 1 Corinthians 13?

Are there things that keep you from reading the Bible? Fears about what the Bible really says or of misunderstanding the Bible? Has your relationship with scripture changed over the course of this study? Are you more inclined to look away or to dig deeper?

I want to say that I think both responses - to look away for a time or to dig deeper - are equally valid. There is a time and a place for hanging on to what you DO know and leaving the rest alone. There have been many times in my life when I've clung blindly to a faith and a God I just can't even come close to understanding. The minute I claim to understand God, I've made it clear that I don't really understand.  I think the key is to hang on to the things you know to be true. God created you. God knows you. God is a God of love and grace.

Peace!

Who is Jay Bakker?

Jay Bakker is the presenter of the 7th and final session of Animate: Bible, Grace: Love is the Bottom Line.

Jay came into the public eye early, when his parents built and lost a Christian television network and entertainment complex. As a result, Jay dropped out of school and church, spending his teenage years rebelling against just about everything.

When he found his way to sobriety and back to faith, he founded a church called Revolution, which has branches in Phoenix, Atlanta, New York City, and Minneapolis. He’s written several books, his most recent is Faith, Doubt, and Other Lines I’ve Crossed: Walking with the Unknown God.

Five fast facts

1. Lives with his wife and their cat in Minnesota
2. Is a comic book aficionado, and he builds superhero dioramas
3. Known to consume massive quantities of Diet Coke
4. Won an award from GLAAD for his advocacy for gays and lesbians in the church
5. The podcast of his sermons is heard by thousands every week

(bio from:  http://wearesparkhouse.org/adults/animate/bible/voices/jay/)

Read more on Jay Bakker's website: http://jaybakker.com/

It appears that Bakker is, indeed, here in Minneapolis, though his website still lists him as living in Brooklyn and pastoring Revolution Church NYC. Several recent podcasts are listed as happening at Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis. A letter on his blog also references his move to Minneapolis.

Letting the Bible Speak

Last week, after I posted some of the discussion questions for this week's study, Shanna posted this comment:

I have to admit that I was a little discouraged when the speaker implied that "letting the bible speak to you" was ridiculous. No everyone has a source of spiritual support to help them navigate the bible in an intellectual manner. I remember being 14 and desperately seeking God with no one around me to act as a Shepard. I prayed about what I was about to read in the bible, asking God to guide me, and the passage I read turned my life around. This a situation where "letting the Bible speak to you" is far from ridiculous.

 (see here: Preparing For Discussion - Interpretation: Scripture Reads Us)

On Sunday, Pat sent me an email with a story that begins in this way:

A cab driver in the Philippines became radically saved. He was taught that he now had the power of God in his life to transform his community. Because he had not had any prior religious training to the contrary, he took a literal approach to believing what the Bible says about prayer and miracles.

Read the rest of the story here: Prime Time With God: Transforming A Workplace)

I am beginning to ask myself if it isn't so much "letting the Bible speak" that can be a problem sometimes, as putting our own interpretations on the Bible in the absence of relationship with and surrender to God. If we earnestly seek God while we are reading scripture, I believe that God will speak...BUT we have to be open to the possibility that what God will say with not fit within our current understanding of the world or even within our current understanding of God.

This always leaves me with such a feeling of responsibility, maybe even vulnerability. It's my responsibility to tend my relationship with God in such a way that I can hear the still, small voice amidst the clamoring of my experiences, the world around me, and my own misgivings and intellectual scruples.  I have to silence the clamor and be still. And trust. I have to trust that God will speak, that I won't have to chase God down the rabbit holes of scriptural interpretation, that God is right there with me while I chase after truth.

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

One of the passages we have been asked to consider this week is the parable of the workers in the vineyard from Matthew 20:1-16. I thought I would find some possible interpretations of this passage:

Fairly "standard" interpretation from Bible.org: Workers in the Vineyard

Strongly social justice oriented reading from the National Catholic Reporter: What the Parable of the Vineyard Workers Really Says

Sermon by Nadia Bolz-Weber including commentary on the Vineyard parable: Sermon from Sierra Pacific Synod Service

Rather radical interpretation by Boyd Collins in his blog, Jesus Radicals: The Power That Springs From Weakness

From the blog of Wycliffe Bible Translators missionaries, Mark & Laura Woodward: A Missional Reading of Matthew 20:1-16

If there are others you have found, feel free to post them in the comments!!

Preparing for Discussion - Interpretation: Scripture Reads Us

Next Wednesday we will be discussing session 6 of Animate: Bible, Interpretation: Scripture Reads Us, presented by Will Willimon.

The following are some scriptures and questions from the journal and facilitator guide to get us started:

Read the 10 Commandments (Deuteronomy 5:4-21), keeping in mind that scripture is all about God. How does it change your thinking to view scripture this way, rather than being all about us?

Read Colossians 3:18-4:1, remembering that this is a letter to the Colossians. What information might be helpful to put these words in context? Is it possible to make meaning of this passage without some sort of scholarly interpretation?

Read Matthew 20:1-16, and think about how you, personally, understand or interpret this passage. Have you heard other interpretations?

Check out:
Psalm 1
Isaiah 53:1-9
Matthew 9:11-13

How do we interpret the above passages in light of what we know of Jesus? Our context changes how we understand scripture that pre-dated Jesus.

How does this week's topic relate to earlier discussions about how the Bible has been made available to more and more people over the years...with translations into the language of the people, the invention of the printing press, and the development of the internet? Is it "dangerous" for the Bible to be in the hands of people, who have no knowledge of the cultural context of the Bible, no information about genres or history?

Will Willimon talks about people reading the Bible and "just letting it speak." Are there times when this is a good thing? Willimon seems to, first, be saying that it's not a good thing, that we always need to be aware of the context of the Bible and to be informed about where the text is coming from. But then he tells the story of the young man who said, "Did it ever occur to you to just do it?" That seems like a case of just letting the text speak.

Have there been times in your life when just the simple reading of the Bible has been important to your faith journey? Are there times when the simple reading has been detrimental? Can you think of examples of times when you've seen either of these things happen in the lives of others or the church as a whole?

Have the tools of  "community, context and prayer" ever changed your understanding of the Bible?  What do we do with the fact that there are divisions between communities of believers (think denominations) in the interpretation of scripture?

What does it mean to say that the Bible is "a book of imagination?" Are you comfortable or uncomfortable with that thought? Why?

How do we hold on to a childlike faith in the midst of such complex questions?


There are SO MANY questions to consider and so few definitive answers! I am so proud to know all of you and to see such honest wrestling with the questions! Thank you for being my community!

Who is Will Willimon?

The 6th presenter in the Animate: Bible study is Will Willimon. His topic is Interpretation: Scripture Reads Us.

Will is the professor of the practice of Christian ministry at Duke Divinity School. He is a former dean of the chapel at Duke and is regarded as one of America’s foremost preachers. He’s also a retired bishop in the United Methodist Church, formerly serving North Alabama.

He has written many books on preaching and the church, and he recently penned a novel, Incorporation, about a pastor in a small, struggling mainline congregation. His preaching is known for being humorous, insightful, and often having an unexpected hook.

Five fast facts

1. Lives with his wife in North Carolina
2. Has two grown children
3. Was named one of the 12 Best Preachers in the World by Baylor University
4. He doesn’t tweet, but someone runs a Twitter account with wise statements Will has said
5. Has degrees from Wofford College, Yale Divinity School, and Emory University 

(bio from: http://wearesparkhouse.org/adults/animate/bible/voices/will/)

Read more from Will Willimon's blog here: http://willwillimon.wordpress.com/

Visual Depictions - Genres of Scripture

From Credo House Ministries:

The book of Jonah...

I found this straightforward article in the Jewish Heritage Online Magazine: Jonah the Reluctant Prophet. The article highlights the fact that the story of Jonah has traditionally been understood as parable or allegory, as midrash in the Jewish tradition. The understanding of this book as allegory, rather than history, has not in any way diminished it's meaning. In fact, this book is such a poignant parable that it is recited as part of the services for Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the most holy day of the Jewish year.

From the article:

The underlying theology in the book of Jonah is two-fold:
1. God’s compassion extends to all nations of the earth; and
2. Israel is under responsibility to be the vehicle by which that compassion is made known.

The sages consciously chose this book to be read in the afternoon service, as the Sabbath of Sabbaths, the Day of Atonement, draws to an end. As we pray for forgiveness and for a year of life, we recall that God is the God of all mankind, of all the Ninevehs of the world, and man, created in God’s image, is obligated to embrace and extend that compassion.

I have begun to wonder if sometimes we resist the idea that a story from the Bible may not be literal and historical because we think that somehow diminishes the value of the story; that it is somehow less true. Is it possible that the story is still true but not literal and historical?

Preparing for Discussion - Genre: Rhythm of the Text

On Wednesday this week, we will be discussing session 5 of Animate: Bible, Genre: Rhythm of the Text, presented by José Morales.

First, I want to say that I anticipate that this will be a bit of an intense topic. I appreciate how willing this group has been to dig into the harder topics and work through what these things mean for ourselves and our lives in community together as Christian people. You are all so amazing!!

Here are some scriptures and questions to get our brains in motion for this week's discussion:

* What is your initial reaction to Morales' proposition that the book of Jonah ought to be read as an allegory?

* Read the story of the Tower of Babel from Genesis 11. Consider what difference it makes to your reading of the story if you think of it as history or as allegory. 

* Consider the the following passages and how genre informs your reading:

• 1 Kings 6:2-10 (history)
• Psalms 71:14-18 (poetry)
• Amos 7:1-9 (prophecy)
• Revelation 5:1-5 (apocalyptic)

* Are there scriptures you hear quoted often in conversations and arguments that could be understood differently if genre was considered?    What comes to mind most readily for me is Paul's letters, including mandates for how women should behave in church. These are letters, written within a cultural framework, most likely in response to questions that were culturally embedded.

* Is there a particular genre of scripture that you most drawn to? Are there those that you avoid? Why do you think that is? Does this match up with the type of reading you like to do in general?

Nadia Bolz-Weber interview, blog & sermon links

I found the interview of Nadia Bolz-Weber on Krista Tippett's show On Being here: podcast, video or transcript. THANK you so much, Beth, for mentioning this in your comments! I listened to the podcast on my drive to Rochester yesterday, AND I listened to it again with my husband last night.It was that good.

Intro from the transcript:

Ms. Tippett: The church Nadia Bolz-Weber founded is called the House for All Sinners and Saints. At six feet tall with spiky hair and a body covered in tattoos, she is an original voice in a loosely defined movement called the emerging church.   ...  She spent years as an addict and a stand-up comic before being surprised by what felt like a call to be a minister to people on the underside of life.   ...   These days, convicted felons and elected officials join teenagers with pink hair at this church and others like it redefining what church is and with a deep reverence for tradition.

I would recommend listening to the podcast, rather than reading the transcript, if you have the time. There is so much life and character in Nadia's voice that you miss a lot only reading her words.

A few gems from the interview:

Ms. Nadia Bolz-Weber: I really feel strongly that you have to be deeply rooted in tradition in order to innovate with integrity. So, for example, we celebrate the Easter vigil, where you start with a new fire and you light it and you have this paschal candle and you parade in chanting, and we have these baptisms and we have the Eucharist and it's like amazing.

And...

Ms. Nadia Bolz-Weber: I feel like the Christian life is a life of continual death and resurrection. Also, I think some sectors of Christianity think, well, you're saved and then you're good, right? And then you just lead a really nice life and you're a good person and you're redeemed and you sort of climbed this spiritual ladder so that you're close to God. And that's just not been my experience.

My experience is of that disruption, over and over again, of going along and tripping upon something that I think I know or that I think I'm certain about, and realizing I'm wrong. Or maybe fighting to think I'm right about something over and over and over again until I experience what I call the sort of divine heart transplant.

Also, Tesha mentioned that Nadia's blog seems like it has not been updated recently. I found more recent blog posts and links to sermons (both audio & transcript) here: Patheos.

Who is José Morales?

The 5th session of Animate: Bible, Genre: Rhythm of the Text, is presented by José Morales.

José grew up in Chicago, where his parents were pastors of a Hispanic Pentecostal Church. He attended Judson College and McCormick Theological Seminary before becoming a minister in the Disciples of Christ denomination.

He’s currently the regional minister in the Central Rocky Mountain Region of the Disciples and travels the region to support pastors and churches. He also speaks and preaches regularly, and serves as an adjunct professor at McCormick. Prior to this work, he was a pastor at Iglesia del Pueblo Church in Hammond, Indiana.

Five fast facts

1. Lives with his wife in Denver
2. Is a DJ and can be found working late into Saturday night at a club
3. Still gets up early on Sunday to preach at church
4. Was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico
5. Wishes he could speed-read

(bio from:http://wearesparkhouse.org/adults/animate/bible/voices/jose/)

The Gospel of Q

The journal notes for session 4 make brief mention of an additional gospel called Q, which is considered by many scholars to have been a source for pieces of the synoptic gospels Matthew & Luke. If you're interested in reading more about Q, this article is one of the best I've found. It's lengthy and dense, but readable:

What is the Q Gospel?