I Still Blog...From Time to Time

Hey all. Just a note to let you know I'm blogging elsewhere. The blog, Life With Richie Dee Stephens can be found at www.richiedeestephens.com.

Also, I am now podcasting. Give it time; the production value should get better. Both can be found on iTunes podcasts and Stitcher.

The A Guy and A Son Podcast can be found here. I do this with my son, Josh, who has grown quite a bit since I last blogged here. We discuss life experiences together.

The Faith and Doubt podcast can be found here. I do this alone and it is about, well, Faith, Doubt, and the relationship between the two.

Baptism is a Replay of Genesis

Baptism is a replay of Genesis. As Jesus is lifted out of the water, God breathes life into him... The same Spirit of God, so lavishly articulated in words that create out of formlessness, void, and darkness everything that is, "heavens and earth," fish and birds, stars and trees, plants and animals, man and woman, now descends on Jesus who will now speak salvation into reality in our death-ravished and sin-decimated world.
The God-breathed-into-life of Jesus, the God-blessed person of Jesus, at this moment begins to work out the consummation of salvation over death.

Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, by Eugene H. Peterson, pages 23 and 24.

(This blog post is about baptism. It's not about creation or evolution. I will mention evil, but it really isn't about evil. Nor is it about forgiveness of sins or the deity of Christ. It is simply about baptism. It is not meant to be comprehensive. Hey, it's just a blog.)

There are numerous opinions as to what exactly happens at the moment of one's baptism. Similarly, there are numerous opinions as to why Jesus was baptized. It is likely that each opinion carries with it the same amount of truth and error as any other. Arguments, ahem, excuse me, I meant to say discussions, have ensued for centuries, hopefully based on biblical principles, about which understanding of baptism is correct and which is not. I'm not really interested in discussing them here. Frankly, I'm not educated enough in any of the different views to even try. In this post I'd like to discuss one description of baptism that I've never heard before- or at least, I don't remember hearing it. In the book I'm reading now (after several starts and stops) Eugene Peterson describes the baptism experience as a "replay of Genesis," specifically the Creation story. I appreciate what he has to offer in these early pages of his book.

For some time I have not been all that concerned with the "how" of Creation. For every "discussion" about baptism, there are 100 "discussions" about creation versus evolution. Some time ago, this debate lost its importance for me as a Christian. I believe in God, I believe God created, and I believe God created with a purpose. I don't really care how God created. It doesn't change the fact that I am here. I do have opinions about each position- creation or evolution- but that's for a different post. A post that I probably won't ever write. I do however, think the Creation story is incredibly important for humanity when we consider it in terms of why we were created and what it was like when we were first created. I've come to believe that the story of the relationship that man has with God is the reason the Creation story is in the Bible. I don't really think it's supposed to be about how God created us, rather why we were created and what happened next. That how I look at it and it's made quite a difference in how I understand my relationship with God.

I don't think many people would argue that there isn't evil in the world. At some point something went wrong in our relationship to God. Things weren't like they were in the beginning, when things were first created. The creation story tells us that things were good. We had a good relationship with God. Then we decided to do things on our own. This is when we decided to do things differently than the good way. God's way no longer suited us. We decided to define good and evil for ourselves. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil wasn't just a fruit tree, it represented the authority that we submit to. When we are content to let God's understanding of good and evil guide us, the tree sits beautifully in the middle of the garden of our life and things are good. But when we decide that we want to make our own decisions about what is good for us and all of creation, when we eat the fruit of the tree, we find that our knowledge is lacking and self-serving. Evil ensues. We can no longer be trusted to have God's goodness at our center, as our motivation for life, thus cleaving our holy relationship with God. I'm not sure that God kicking Adam and Eve out of the garden was to punish them. I get the feeling that it was more to protect the goodness and purity of that which truly belonged to Him. I liken it to the only reason I would ever kick my son or daughter out of my home- because their very presence has become a threat to our life. That's a muddy comparison, I know, but it's the best I can do. So for me, the Creation story in Genesis is a short story about where we used to be in relationship to God and how it got messed up. The rest of the Bible is the story of God's plan to rescue us, to bring us back into a right relationship with Him. To bring us back to goodness. To bring his salvation to the world. Enter Jesus....

[...prophecy...yada, yada, yada...Christmas...yada, yada, yada...miracles...yada, yada, yada, death and resurrection...

This is the natural next step in the direction of this post. But it's not what the post is about. So I'm going to skip it for now, perhaps talking about it at another time and get back to what I started out to discuss- baptism.]

I believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the very embodiment of life as God intended for it to be- the way it was in the beginning, when Adam and Eve also lived in the way (of goodness) the truth (of goodness) and the life (of goodness.) His life and teachings are the example and descriptions of what the way, the truth, and the life look like in the Kingdom of God, or what they would have looked like in the Garden of Eden. In the Gospel of Mark, the very first part of Jesus's story begins with Baptism. The beginning point where, just like in the Creation story God breathed life into everything, God now breaths life into Jesus. "The God-breathed-into-life of Jesus, the God-blessed person of Jesus, at this moment begins to work out the consummation of salvation over death" (Peterson, 24).

I know it may seem over simplified. It is. But this is a blog post; it isn't the more detailed version. We already have that version, it's called the Bible. It's there to be read. But I really appreciate Peterson describing baptism as a replay of Genesis. It has helped me understand my own faith journey a bit more.

So what does this mean for me? I've been baptized so it must mean something. As I said earlier, people have argued (shoot, I did it again), I mean discussed for centuries just what baptism means. For me it means that I am now re-born into the garden where I once again have a choice. It is a choice to follow God's way or not. Each and every moment of every day I have the choice to live God's good way, or my way. My way may be a lot of things, but it isn't good. (Just ask the people I've hurt.) It's as if the tree is once again in the garden for me. I can see it and relish its beauty and trust the creator of the tree that the knowledge of good and evil is not for me to mess with. I'm simply to live by the Creator's guidance. I'm to submit to the way, the truth, and the life. Baptism is the moment I become a God-blessed person in Jesus. The moment I begin to live life not for myself, but for the Kingdom of God. To cultivate life as in any garden.

Baptism is a replay of Genesis. As Jesus is lifted out of the water, God breathes life into him...

Or into me...

The same Spirit of God, so lavishly articulated in words that create out of formlessness, void, and darkness everything that is, "heavens and earth," fish and birds, stars and trees, plants and animals, man and woman...

This description could have described my soul- formless, void, dark, mostly void of purpose.

...now descends on Jesus who will now speak salvation into reality in our death-ravished and sin-decimated world. The God-breathed-into-life of Jesus, the God-blessed person of Jesus, at this moment begins to work out the consummation of salvation over death.

Now descends on me bringing reality to my death-wish ways and self-absorbed, pleasure-seeking motivations. The God-breathed-into-life of me, now God-blessed, at this moment begins to live according to the way, the truth, and the life, as defined by the Word, for the life-cultivating work to which God has called us from the beginning.

This is one of the many things I'm thinking about right now. Right now, and well, all of the time.

Jesus Loves Me

I don't have a lot to say on this subject other than to say I wonder if some people have any clue what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. If not, here it is:

1) In a given situation, ask yourself, what would Jesus do if he were faced with this.
2) Read about Jesus, directly from the Bible, to learn about how Jesus acted in similar situations, or how he said we were to act in such situations.
3) Go and do likewise.

If you follow those three steps, I don't know how you could possibly arrive at a point where you would place Bible verses on gun sights as Trijicon has done. Watch the 6-minute video below for the story.

How appropriate does this sound?

Jesus loves me, this I know,

For your rifle tells me so.

Sure, I'll say that He's God's son,

I'm convinced 'cause of your gun.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

Your rifle tells me so.

I think I'll leave it at that.

A quick hello!

I understand that there likely isn't anyone waiting for my next blog, or wondering why I've been so quiet lately. But I can't believe I haven't posted anything in over 2 months. Actually, it's been longer than that for a "real" post. Let's just say I don't have the same time that I once had to blog like I did. I miss it.

My brother started a 12-week series that I think some of you will appreciate. The series is entitled "American Idols". No, it's not about the show. It is about how we as Americans can lose sight of the Kingdom of God and need to re-evaluate what is important. You probably get the gist...

I thought I'd take a second to provide the link for you. Here it is:

http://northst.org/podcasts/20090712.mp3

You can also access it and subscribe via iTunes.

Till next time!...

Laughter at the Graveside.

This will be a quick one. I'm hoping it'll bring you a laugh.

My grandma Nease died back in April and we all took a trip to Mt. Vernon, OH to bury her ashes with Grandpa and their son, David. (This is their first son David, who died in 1970. Their second son David is still alive and all too well. So don't worry if you thought I was talking about him.) The whole family had gathered around the gravestone and my family of 4 was just about the last to arrive. While we weren't all crying or anything, it was kind of a somber moment as you may imagine. Josh was walking a bit ahead of us and Joy and I were kind of watching to see how he reacted to everything. I was all ready to console him and explain carefully what was going to happen. I was concerned the he'd think it was weird.

Well Josh, ever the shy guy, walks right up to the 8-inch circular hole awaiting the ashes, peers down into the 3-foot chasm and exclaims, "That...hole...is...AWESOME!!!"

Somehow, I don't think grandma would have been all that upset.

Just had to post that story before I forgot it.

A Book Review: The Lost Letters of Pergamum

I am currently reading two books- Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, by Eugene Peterson and The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, by Timothy Keller, and have just finished two others- Prodigal God, by Timothy Keller and The Lost Letters of Pergamum, by Bruce W. Longenecker. My reading habits had waned in the past few months but are picking up steam again. The purpose of this post is to sing the praises for The Lost Letters of Pergamum. It is likely that you have never read a book exactly like Pergamum. It is historical fiction, but written as a series of ancient correspondences between the Biblical figure Antipas (Revelation 2:13) and Luke, the inspiration for- or as this book suggests, the author of- Luke and Acts. I was fascinated by the book and likely would have read it straight through if the details of life didn’t force me to take two breaks.

I’ve come to understand that as a white, relatively tall, extremely good-looking, blonde American living in the 21^st century, that I have very little in common with the Jesus of ancient Israel. This was a troublesome discovery. I grew up to believe that Jesus knows me better than I know myself, so it seemed only natural that I’d know Jesus pretty well too. The epiphanal notion that Jesus wasn’t from Massachusetts but Galilee, wasn’t middle-class but poorer than I’ll ever know, wasn’t college educated but an artisan, and most importantly wasn’t Christian but Jewish was somewhat unsettling for me. I didn’t lose faith, but began to realize that to really appreciate my faith, I needed to understand the cultures and belief systems from which my faith traditions were born. The more I thought about it, the more I began to understand that the ancient middle east is nothing like the modern US. As I set out to learn more about the foundation my faith, church, and traditions, I became deeply interested in learning about who Jesus was and how the world he lived in operated. But it wasn’t just Jesus’s culture that I was curious about. It was all of the cultures that influenced Jesus that began to interest me- Jewish or otherwise. And not just so I could understand a certain portion of scripture better. I want to know what my culture has in common with the ancient cultures. Or more adequately, ancient issues I've never experience in my culture. What was that culture like on a day to day basis? What were the things a Jew had to deal with in that day? Anybody who reads the Bible will see a clear culture war between the Jews and…well, everyone else. What exactly was going on? As I search for answers to questions such as these, I look for personal connections to an ancient world wherever I can find them. I look for ways to make a personal God more personal, if you will. Occasionally I find them in the most unexpected, even fabricated ways.

You will likely remember a few years back when The DaVinci Code caused all sorts of controversy for suggesting that Jesus might have been married. It’s likely that people were outraged by other things in the book too, but those issues are beside my point. I read the book, really enjoyed it, and didn’t understand why so many people were so upset by a fiction book. I was bothered by the fact that so many people cared whether Jesus was married or not, or simply that he may have been, GASP, attracted to women! When it came down to it, I didn’t care whether or not Jesus was married. I didn’t believe and still don’t believe that he was, but the simple idea that he may have had a desire inter-personal intimacy, perhaps to the level of a marriage relationship, made him more like me. You know how you can be having a conversation with someone in which they explain a challenging situation they’ve experienced and you exclaim, “ME TOO!!!!” You can really identify with their situation because you know what it feels like. The DaVinci Code didn’t accuse Jesus of sleeping around, it simply suggested that he had the same desires of any other human and got married like any other Jewish male would be expected to in ancient Israel. Listen, it’s hard enough for me to identify with a modern, American Jew living across the street from me, let alone one that lived in a 2000-year-old culture half-way around the globe. So, The DaVinci Code actually helped me to identify with Christ in a way that I hadn’t before- even if the book was fiction. It simply helped me think, in a different way, about the emotions Jesus might have had on a day to day basis. Don’t worry; I don’t pull out a copy of the book for my daily devotions. However, I might pull out a copy of The Lost Letters of Pergamum if my Bible reading will include anything from the New Testament.

The Lost Letters of Pergamum really has nothing in common with The DaVinci Code other than bringing additional realism to my faith. DaVinci is a fiction book based loosely on a couple pieces of historical information that might be true. It was written to make the author money. Pergamum is a fiction book based on several historical facts. It was written to take the reader back to the decades after Jesus’s life on earth in an effort to illustrate how Christianity began to take root in the Roman Empire. At no point did I exclaim “me too,” rather, the book helped me to understand just how different my world is from the world in which the writers of the New Testament were living. Instead of “me too,” there was an overall sense of “Ahhhh, now I get it!” In the Author’s Preface Longenecker states, “My hope is that readers of this narrative will not only enjoy the story line for its own sake…but will also profit from a better appreciation of the historical context of the early Christian writings and, thereby, develop sharper instincts for understanding the writings of the New Testament in the contexts.” The author hit his mark. I suppose he made a little money too. But not as much as Dan Brown.

Longenecker showed great skill and imagination by writing an entire work about a person that was only mentioned once in the Bible- and a passing reference at that. In Revelation 2:13, John mentions a man named Antipas who was martyred in the ancient city of Pergamum. The next couple of verses mention some of the circumstances that might have surrounded Antipas in Pergamum, but nothing more of Antipas. Longenecker creates a persona for Antipas- that of an ancient Roman nobleman- and creates a very compelling narrative about the life in ancient Rome and the stark contrast between the new atheist “Christians” and the Roman society of the day.

The lost letters, which are found by a fictional archeologist during a fictional excavation of the historical Pergamum, begin with a few letters between Antipas and Calpurnius, the son of Theophilus, for whom Luke wrote his monograph, which we know as the gospel according to Luke. Calpurnius introduces Antipas and Luke to each other and the letters discuss the subject of Luke’s writing, Jesus, and the empire of God. Through Antipas’s letters we begin to see, and feel like we are experiencing just what it meant to be a Christian living in the 1^st century Roman world. The following is an excerpt from a letter from Calpurnius to Antipas which I believe is a good representation of how the letters paint a picture of life in the Roman Empire during the 1^st century.

Since you [Antipas] are new to the area[Pergamum], you might be interested to know about a close associate of my household, an esteemed doctor and scholar named Luke. He is currently in Toras, where he has been instructing Eutychus, a friend. Since the shipping lanes have closed for the winter, he will return to Ephesus by land, passing through Pergamum on his return journey. He intends to stay as a guest in the house of Antonius, a city magistrate and man of great repute. Luke shares with you a keen interest in history. Before his death, my father, Theophilus, commissioned Luke to write a historical account of an intriguing man from Galilee and his followers. Luke finished this historical monograph about ten years ago. Despite its length (it extends to two sizable volumes), it remains in great demand. No doubt you and he would have much to discuss with regard to recent events in and around Galilee. Perhaps Antonius could let you now when Luke arrives in Pergamum, since you both would profit from each other’s interests.

There are historical references, and obviously many theological references throughout the book, some of which the reader may find challenge their understanding of the Bible or how they understood the Bible to have been composed. However, these new ideas do not get in the way of the flow of the book and are not faith shattering.

I highly recommend The Lost Letters of Pergamum, both for the confessed Christian and for the casual fan of historical fiction. I actually enjoyed the book so much I googled the author, emailed him, and told him how much I enjoyed it. He replied, stating that the book pretty much wrote itself. That was kinda cool. So, grab some coffee, a munchie, and let The Lost Letters of Pergamum take you back to an unfamiliar time. You won’t regret that you did.

Tweeting Isn't All That New

One of my favorite authors is Donald Miller, the author of Blue Like Jazz. I highly recommend it. One day when I was visiting his blog I noticed the invitation to send a text to a particular number so I could get a text each time he updated his blog. Seemed like a good idea to me, particularly since it promised that they wouldn't update me every time Miller is taking a shower. So I sent a text to the number and waited for the first update. Kinda wish I hadn't done that. I get about 8 texts a day from Miller. This is how I was introduced to Twittering. I was so annoyed at one point that I replied to one of the updates. The update read something like,

"Going to the movies tonight. Don't know what I'm going to see. Haven't been to the movies in months."

So I responded, "See 'Taken.' My wife and I loved it."

About 5 hours later I received a text that read, "Thanks for recommending 'Taken.' Neeson makes a great hero."

I thought that was kinda cool so I shared it with my brother, who also appreciates Miller's writing. Well, he decided to say that I have a bromance with Miller. My wife heard what he said and now every time my mobile phone chirps she says, "Who's that? Your bromance?" Usually it is. Now that I get his blog updates via RSS I can end the twittering relationship, but I don't know how. If you do, please leave me a comment below. Yes, I realize its probably easy, but techy stuff doesn't come easy to me. So shut it.

This twittering and social networking is neat. It took me a while to "sign on" so to speak, but I'm glad I did. I enjoy keeping in touch with people I wouldn't usually be calling or anything. But as much as I like it, I wonder if we have lost anything with the advance of such technologies. I was thinking about this as I was going through some old letters last night.

If you haven't heard, my grandmother on my mother's side passed away on April 7. She was 83 and had been in decline for several years. So while we were a little surprised when it happened, it's not like we were shocked. Grandpa passed away on April 6, 2006, so it kind of brought a joy to my heart to know that she wasn't living without him anymore.

In 1989 when my grandfather was voted into a new position within the Nazarene Church. As the Commissioner of Nazarene Higher Education he would be moving to Kansas City, MO to his new office at Nazarene Headquarters. We began to pack up grandma and grandpa's house. The basement and attic were full of what I thought was just old junk. TONS of old stuff. We didn't really go through it, but packed small boxes into larger boxes for the move. Well, with the passing of grandma, we're finally going through those old boxes. Actually, grandma and grandpa have moved at least three times since then, each time into a smaller residence so more of their stuff was packed away into boxes. My sister did a lot of sorting of their stuff when they moved into an assisted living community and tried to cut down on the amount of things. However, there was still a lot of really old stuff to go through when grandma died. So my mother, aunts, and uncles have begun to unpack those boxes, redistribute the various family items and get rid of the trash. It can be difficult at times. You know all those awards and plaques of appreciation people get though out their life? Apparently the saying is correct; you can't take them with you when you die. We have boxes full of awards and plaques my grandfather received. Some of them we're going to send to the archive departments at the institutions that gave them to him, but frankly, we're throwing some away if nobody in the family wants them. I was looking through them and thinking, "Awww...this is really great. Grandpa was so loved, but what the heck am I going to do with this 'Thanks for 15 years of service to Eastern Nazarene College' paperweight?" So we get rid of some "nice" things. There are so many things we're trying to figure out what to do with. Fortunately, our family is really good about sharing their trinkets and such. We're not really the type of family that argues about such things...yet, we'll see. But there are some things that are priceless.
I have sitting to the left of me an eight-inch stack of love-letters that were written between my great-grandfather Floyd Nease and his wife, my great-grandfather Madeline Nease. Most of the letters are double sided. It's really fascinating, because it's like I'm getting a look into the day-to-day lives of my ancestors. It's like they were twittering almost 90 years ago and I get to follow along. It seems different than today's communications. It makes me wonder how it'll be in 90 years when my great-grandson is going through my stuff. It probably won't take long.
I've decided to take it upon myself to type out all of these letters. I figure some other people in the family might like to read what they say. And besides, maybe at the end of the task I will have found the inspiration to write a novel that makes Nicolas Sparks look like an amature and makes The Notebook look like The Cat in the Hat. HA!
I'll be starting with a diary from great-grandma that begins before they're married and ends rather abruptly. I've had it for a few years, but I didn't know where the story went. Perhaps I'll find out now. This will be a daunting task for a few reasons.

1. It's a lot of letters even without the diary. Like I said, it's a stack about 8 inches high of two-sided, mostly hand-written (a couple are typed) letters spanning about a decade. (Great-grandpa died suddenly at the age of 35.)
   
2. They're not in order.
3. They're not all dated. And even if they're dated, I still need to figure out which letter was written first if there is more than one written on one date. For instance, on the morning of August 7, 1930 Madeline writes a letter so she can get it in the mail before the postman comes. Later that day, she writes another letter which begins,
   "Honey: This is one time where I'd be inclined to say you did not use good sense." This opening comment had nothing to do with the last letter, leading me to believe that she received a letter in the mail from Floyd and is writing a response. I haven't seen Floyd's letter yet. When I do, I'll need to fit in into the right spot- assuming the letter still exists.
4. Great-Grampa Floyd had terrible handwriting. It's often very difficult to read.
   
5. Old-speak. There are terms that they use that I'm not familiar with. It's difficult to know sometimes if I'm writing the correct words or if I just can't read the writing.
6. Did I mention there is a lot of letters?

I'm terribly worried that I'll damage these letters while I'm reading them. The paper is super dry and brittle. I'm going to have to be careful with them.

At any rate, I think this is going to be very meaningful for me, and hopefully for the rest of the family. The bag in which these notes were stored within the box had a note on it. The note read:

You may not understand all these but it will help you to know your Daddy + Mother better and to know we always loved each other.

Faded old love letters

For Stephen [my grandfather] when he is 21 then for Helen [my great-aunt] when she is 21.

I'm not sure they ever read these letters. Auntie Helen is still alive and well. She actually got married again last summer! So perhaps she'll get to read them if she hasn't. Here's to seeing how the task goes.

Still Tweeting, after all these years.