Let Justice Roll Down
Last night Quest had the opportunity to host Dr. John Perkins for an evening of worship and teaching. I had never heard Dr. Perkins speak, but I had heard of him, and was very excited about the evening. I was not prepared for how great it would be.
Wow.
Yeah, all I can say is wow. The entire evening was amazing-some of the best worship we have had in awhile, plus a chance to hear from the Royalty gospel choir (one of my favorite things). And then to listen to Dr. Perkins for an hour or so (it seemed like less) was a great privilege.
Every now and then I read an author or hear a speaker who puts into words what God has been speaking in my heart. Last night was just such an occasion. Everything he said about discipleship, reconciliation, and how the church should be living as the body of Christ was so good, so true. I've been looking over my notes this morning and marveling at how simple yet profound his words were.
Looking at it from the perspective of the Renovare Spiritual Traditions, Dr. Perkins perfectly merges the Evangelical, Word-centered life with the Social Justice tradition. He preaches an activism that comes from discipleship, from truly seeking after the heart of God for people. This focus on discipleship is a conviction I have had for a few years now, one that led me to Quest. While no one at Quest would claim we are perfect in how we do church, one of the things I love is that we have a foundation in Biblical, exegetical teaching, that does not serve merely to increase our knowledge, but spurs us into action.
Thanks to my friend Matt, who loaned me some cash (you would think a banker would have cash on hand) I was able to purchase Dr. Perkins' book, Let Justice Roll Down, which I have been devouring this morning. I highly recommend it. After I finish this, I think I might go on to read everything else he has written.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Thursday, February 08, 2007
What is it with the birthday fever?
I went to an impromptu birthday celebration tonight for someone from our sister branch who was turning 21. This makes 4 birthday celebrations in 2 months with 3 more currently planned in the coming weeks. 3 of the 7 are 21st birthday celebrations, involving a good quantity of libations. So I gotta wonder, what was going on in spring 1985?
Birthdays are a big deal in my family. When it's your birthday, you get to run the show. Your choice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Entertainment, movie choice, outing, gift list, all according to your whim. When we were little, we went to Chuck E. Cheese (Questers will recognize this as the actual place of sermon lore). I loved to go play skeeball and whack-the-monster (the monster changed every time we went) and save tickets for the ridiculous prizes (I think I still have a stuffed Chuck E. Cheese doll somewhere in a box). As I grew older, I graduated to Wild Waves, shopping trips, and most recently, a bonfire on the beach. My brothers still make trips to the Family Fun Center (that's the place by Southcenter Mall with the big Bulwinkle) and shopping sprees at Toys 'R' Us and Fred Meyer.
One would think that with this focus on birthdays, my 21st would have been a huge smash. I've heard tales of wild shindigs and have been witness to severe drunkenness in celebration of the legal drinking age. I, however, have no puking stories from my 21st year. Actually, my 21st was very quiet and simple, with the big production being a nice dinner out with my very best friend Tenae. She was a culinary student at the time, so she found a really nice restaurant in Wallingford to take me to, with a high quality three course dinner and a nice glass of merlot. No hangover, no day-after wretchedness, just a nice tingle on my tongue. It was great.
When I made the comment to my branch manager that I had no puking stories, she said, "I think you like it that way." She was slightly buzzed herself when she said it, but I think she's right. I've never been full-on drunk. A bit happy, yes, and I have learned not to drink your fourth drink sitting down and then stand up really fast afterwards. But nothing more than that.
I wonder if some people consider me a bit too self-righteous or straight-laced because of that. I mean, I can have a good time while still retaining my faculties. I don't see the appeal in worshipping the porcelain god. I've had the stomach flu, I don't need a self-induced case. And while I don't encourage drunkenness, I don't go around telling people they have had too much to drink. I just make sure they have a ride if they need one.
I suppose I've always had a bit of insecurity in regards to my goody-two-shoes-ness. (I'm such a goody-two-shoes, I was called that by a kid in my church youth group.) There's a little bit of temptation to be bad just to fit in. I've found that becoming a negative in my life recently, as my language has become increasingly coarse at work (not with customers, with my rather foul-mouthed coworkers). A new coworker, whom I have discovered is a Christian, convicted me the other day when he reminded me of the verse that says "let no foul thing proceed from your lips." I realized just how foul I can be sometimes, and even just the amount of negative that comes out of my mouth. We had a long discussion at C group recently about criticalness in our speech, and when we should speak up and when we should shut up. Reflecting on that discussion, I confess that I could shut up a lot more.
I'm rambling now, but I guess I'm trying to process the conflict between strong conviction about what is good and right behavior, and the desire to let people just have a good time. I mean, sin is sin, right? Drunkenness and foul language are both mentioned in the Bible as bad activities. My swearing is just as bad as someone getting plastered. Some people would say that neither is a big deal, but then I go back and read the verses in Colossians and I am totally convicted. And conflicted. Totally.
Sigh...This is how I respond to issues. One of our other discussions at C group was about personality types, and there was a frighteningly accurate statement about my personality:
An ESFJ at odds with self is a remarkable sight. When a decision must be made, especially one involving the risk of conflict (abhorrent to ESFJs), there ensues an in-house wrestling match between the aforementioned black-and-white Values and the Nemesis of Discord. The contender pits self against self, once firmly deciding with the Right, then switching to Prudence to forestall hostilities, countered by unswerving Values, ad exhaustium, winner take all.
Mental wrestling match. Ad exhaustium. Yeah.
So, this proved to be a post about more than birthdays. But it's a lot of stuff I have been thinking about lately. Maybe if I blogged more frequently, I wouldn't have so much to say in one post!
I went to an impromptu birthday celebration tonight for someone from our sister branch who was turning 21. This makes 4 birthday celebrations in 2 months with 3 more currently planned in the coming weeks. 3 of the 7 are 21st birthday celebrations, involving a good quantity of libations. So I gotta wonder, what was going on in spring 1985?
Birthdays are a big deal in my family. When it's your birthday, you get to run the show. Your choice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Entertainment, movie choice, outing, gift list, all according to your whim. When we were little, we went to Chuck E. Cheese (Questers will recognize this as the actual place of sermon lore). I loved to go play skeeball and whack-the-monster (the monster changed every time we went) and save tickets for the ridiculous prizes (I think I still have a stuffed Chuck E. Cheese doll somewhere in a box). As I grew older, I graduated to Wild Waves, shopping trips, and most recently, a bonfire on the beach. My brothers still make trips to the Family Fun Center (that's the place by Southcenter Mall with the big Bulwinkle) and shopping sprees at Toys 'R' Us and Fred Meyer.
One would think that with this focus on birthdays, my 21st would have been a huge smash. I've heard tales of wild shindigs and have been witness to severe drunkenness in celebration of the legal drinking age. I, however, have no puking stories from my 21st year. Actually, my 21st was very quiet and simple, with the big production being a nice dinner out with my very best friend Tenae. She was a culinary student at the time, so she found a really nice restaurant in Wallingford to take me to, with a high quality three course dinner and a nice glass of merlot. No hangover, no day-after wretchedness, just a nice tingle on my tongue. It was great.
When I made the comment to my branch manager that I had no puking stories, she said, "I think you like it that way." She was slightly buzzed herself when she said it, but I think she's right. I've never been full-on drunk. A bit happy, yes, and I have learned not to drink your fourth drink sitting down and then stand up really fast afterwards. But nothing more than that.
I wonder if some people consider me a bit too self-righteous or straight-laced because of that. I mean, I can have a good time while still retaining my faculties. I don't see the appeal in worshipping the porcelain god. I've had the stomach flu, I don't need a self-induced case. And while I don't encourage drunkenness, I don't go around telling people they have had too much to drink. I just make sure they have a ride if they need one.
I suppose I've always had a bit of insecurity in regards to my goody-two-shoes-ness. (I'm such a goody-two-shoes, I was called that by a kid in my church youth group.) There's a little bit of temptation to be bad just to fit in. I've found that becoming a negative in my life recently, as my language has become increasingly coarse at work (not with customers, with my rather foul-mouthed coworkers). A new coworker, whom I have discovered is a Christian, convicted me the other day when he reminded me of the verse that says "let no foul thing proceed from your lips." I realized just how foul I can be sometimes, and even just the amount of negative that comes out of my mouth. We had a long discussion at C group recently about criticalness in our speech, and when we should speak up and when we should shut up. Reflecting on that discussion, I confess that I could shut up a lot more.
I'm rambling now, but I guess I'm trying to process the conflict between strong conviction about what is good and right behavior, and the desire to let people just have a good time. I mean, sin is sin, right? Drunkenness and foul language are both mentioned in the Bible as bad activities. My swearing is just as bad as someone getting plastered. Some people would say that neither is a big deal, but then I go back and read the verses in Colossians and I am totally convicted. And conflicted. Totally.
Sigh...This is how I respond to issues. One of our other discussions at C group was about personality types, and there was a frighteningly accurate statement about my personality:
An ESFJ at odds with self is a remarkable sight. When a decision must be made, especially one involving the risk of conflict (abhorrent to ESFJs), there ensues an in-house wrestling match between the aforementioned black-and-white Values and the Nemesis of Discord. The contender pits self against self, once firmly deciding with the Right, then switching to Prudence to forestall hostilities, countered by unswerving Values, ad exhaustium, winner take all.
Mental wrestling match. Ad exhaustium. Yeah.
So, this proved to be a post about more than birthdays. But it's a lot of stuff I have been thinking about lately. Maybe if I blogged more frequently, I wouldn't have so much to say in one post!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
