Brock Gill Show

Well, this is a bit later than I was hoping to post, but there are so many new and exciting ministries going on I was caught off-guard by some of the things God's having me do!! And, on second thought, I think it was good to give all those in attendance a chance to personally reflect...

Okay...about the Brock Gill Show. For those of you who went, you got to see a very enjoyable show, right?? It was a truly awesome illusioning performance (and for only $10)! There were illusions performed all the way from cards and cut-the-woman-in-half-in-the-box to riding a dirt bike around the auditorium with a blindfold (did Mount Vernon school officials know about this?) and even doing some "mentalist" tricks on unsuspecting audience members. Most of this was done with little to know overt "preaching." However, the last talk and final illusion is what I want to talk about in this entry.

I took as copious notes as possible in the dark. I captured phrases that stood out to me while Brock spoke (these are in quotation marks) and I also jottted down my own comments or questions (italicized). Here is that draft of notes:

• "Satan is real...as real as Jesus..."
• "There is evil..."
• "Romans 6....slave to righteousness or slave to sin..."
• "Jesus is master or satan is master..."
• "Devil has plan to ruin your life...Jesus' plan is to give you new life..."
• "Bondage...strings from a controlling satan..."
• Sin is separation from God.
• "Jesus as master..."
• "Who is your master?"
• "Ask God to show you your life tonight and to speak to you..."
• [a ton of statitistics were quoted about drug use, rape, divorce, suicide, etc...]
• So much of this is being delivered in a very warring/war-tone language. Is this attractive to today's youth - given the state of our world?
• "When will this ever end?"
• [Brock talked about a book, Fatal Sins]
  
• "WHO IS YOUR MASTER?"
• "Jesus died to set you free...Jesus wants to cut away the devil's strings..."
• "He was more than a miracle worker...more than a world leader...he was God's son...to set you free from sin...get to father in heaven...your eyes have been opened tonight..."
• "God drawing you into himself...turn your life over to him...let him be your master..."
• "There is no magical saving prayer....that notion is just absolutely wrong...only Jesus saves...you have to surrender your life to him..."
• "Just say yes...that's all that you have to do..."
• "It's difficult to live a true Christian life..."
• "I choose to follow Jesus no matter what..."
• "Jesus is going the opposite direction of everyone else..."
• "[Everyone else in society] is going left and you are going right."
• Isn't that an interesting way to put it...

I want to throw this out for comment and discussion, especially to those who attended that evening, but before doing so, I want to give you a few items for reflection...

• What would it look like if Christians simply practiced what they were called to do?
• Who has ever seen or met God, or "the devil", in order to give such an accurate description?
• How does any of this, if at all, change your faith?
• How would Jesus react to the message??
• How would Jesus react to the final performance (which was a dramatic re-enactment of "the devil" having "strings" attached to an individual that led them to drugs, etc...)?
• How is evil/"devil"-ish work portrayed in our society right now?

NOW! Let's discuss!!

Peace,
mp

Teen Brain: It's All About Me

In the desire to provide some interesting reads other than whatever thoughts I can conjure up, I found this article to be interesting...middle and senior highers in particular, do you have any opinions on this? Agree? Disagree?? Why or why not?

Logo and Verse Competition...

Due to few entries, this has been postponed to another time.

Muddling Paradox - the name...

I've had several people e-mail me in recent weeks about my blog name, so this post is dedicated to describing it's birth and evolution. Both words were introduced into my more regular vernacular as a result of "church" stuff. Muddling is a word that I came across when getting to know some Episcopalians and reading some writings from Episcopal priests and bishops. It is proudly used by many Episcopalians in the United States of America and really has to do with a degree of unclarity - when it isn't clear what should be done in any given situation. The muddling process is best described as a journey. I found this concept of muddling to be so incredibly aligned with how my understanding of Christianity has developed. It's been on my faith journey that I've been "black" and I've been "white", but I have since come to recognize the outstanding amounts of "gray" in almost everything that permeates our lives (and how wonderful it is to see the gray!). Now, this doesn't mean "fence-sitting." The word muddling, in fact, is often used to describe things in the political arena, but it's in the context that Jonathan Bendor would describe, that it deals more with an actual geographic location (right side, left side, middle-of-the-road). Muddling, on the other hand, speaks to me more differently. It's more about abstract than concrete. Our faith journey has moments of sunshine...moments of rain...moments of joy...moments of pain, BUT - if we're really paying attention, then we're sure to notice a perpetual fog that also exists. Less we choose to put ourselves in the place of God and pass judgment, there's really very little we actually know!! Christianity, then, is figuring out which way to muddle.

As for paradox, we learn about paradox in high school for the first time. A paradox is when an apparently true statement leads to a contradiction or a situation that defies logic or intuition. "Paradox Happens" was a phrase I became familiar with when studying Reinhold Neibuhr in seminary. For example, take the often quoted phrase "love thy neighbor as thy self." Is that not in contrast to an armed neighbor actively trying to kill you? If he/she succeeds, you would not be able to love him/her. BUT to preemptively attack them or restrain them is not usually understood as loving.....ah, a dilemma...a paradox. One final thought in trying to encapsulate paradox...The notion is that you lead with a moral God...that in turn leads to a moral theory of atonement...and that in turn leads to the moral life of believers. As individuals could be redeemed, the social order could also be redeemed, but CAN a social order be redeemed? Kierkegaard once wrote, "If you have a place where everyone is Christian, it's a place where no one is Christian."

In conclusion then, I support questioning. I support the journey. I support the notion that perhaps we don't have all the answers. I support the concept that BEING Christian is the most difficult thing - and it's the one thing all proclaimed Christians are called to. I'm a strong believer that muddling is necessary and 'paradox happens.'