Category: Blog

Check out this link http://www.sirkenrobinson.com/

It’s a clip of Sir Ken Robinson, an “internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources”. He claims that we get educated out of our creative capacity, and that  “if we’re not prepared to be wrong, we will never come up with anything original.” Very interesting.

There are more clips of him on U Tube if you are interested.

What do you think about what he has to say as it relates to us being made in the image of an infinitely creative God?

Why do you think creativity is more and more being pushed out or undermined in our society and educational systems if it is indeed part of our core identity?

If you’ve read any of my recent blogs you know that this season for me at New Wine is one of coming to terms with some “loose ends” in my soul.  Just this past weekend a friend of mine, who happens to be a gifted therapist, offered me some help with one of those loose ends when he asked me a piercing question, “Chris, does Jesus understand your plight?” I’ll admit, I was caught a little off guard by the question. I didn’t see it coming and it certainly wasn’t on any of my mid-term exams.

Since my conversation with Guillermo I have taken that question to prayer two or three times now. Just yesterday I was feeling really pinned down, really discouraged and I eventually made it to “the closet” for some heavenly dialogue.

“Lord, do you understand my plight?  I feel so pinned down by my own ‘wrongness’ and there is no where to go?  I feel trapped!”

Just then I had this thought  that I needed to press further with my question – I needed to press the point until I had expelled every last bit of bile and angst from my soul.  I framed another question for God. 

“Lord, are you the one behind this?  Are you the one pinning me down?”

With each question I went deeper down into the chasm, the chasm which exposed the “badlands” of my soul but there was still yet one more question to be asked.  One more question before I reached the bottom  of the chasm . . .  

“Lord, will you be my ‘wrongness’?   Will you be my ‘rejection’?”  

With that final question I knew that I had put it all on the altar and this was my “bottom line” with God.  And though I didn’t see or hear heavenly “thunder and lightening”, there was an unmistakable sense that I was being heard. No sooner had I finished asking , “Lord, will you be my ‘wrongness’?” I immediately knew the answer to the question.   I knew it like the Slumdog kid knew the answer to those first eight questions.  The answer was so simple and yet so totally mind-blowing. 

“That’s who I am for you.”

Until that moment in the closet, I knew that Jesus was the one who “takes away the sin of the world” but I did not appreciate how he does it – and how he does it for me.  I have come to discover that Jesus doesn’t bear our burdens from a remote location as though he was operating some kind of ‘cosmic crane’.  Jesus Christ does not deal with us in the abstract.  Jesus deals with us personally and therefore,  when he “takes away” our sin and our sorrow he does it by “taking it on” himself.

“Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows.” Isa. 53:4 

My desire in sharing this experience with you wasn’t to provide you with a “sweet devotional” but rather toopen a dialogue, “Who is Christ for us today?”  Biblical scholarship is a gift to the community of faith but thankfully, you don’t need a theological degree to care about this topic or engage this thread (thank God!).  You no more have to be a theologian to care about God than you need to be a botanist to enjoy flowers.  So for you churched-unchurched-lapsed-devout-mystical-skeptical-biblical-W-loving-Obama adoring-politics-loathing-young-middle-age-seniors out there, jump in and extend the thread even if it’s just a short phrase.

Two fish are swimming in the ocean. One turns to the other and says, “The water feels good today.” The other turns and says, “What’s water?” The things we take the most for granted are often what surrounds us, what from our perspective seem so universal as to be unquestionable. That is one reason why it’s so crucial to foster an atmosphere of cooperation and dialogue between ethnicities, so that our unquestioned cultural assumptions can be challenged and so true community in diversity can develop.

New Wine will be hosting a series of “Fireside Chats” beginning November 20th in the A-Frame. Come for prayer, food, and honest dialogue as a panel of speakers involved in the less-than-glamorous work of multi-ethnic integration will answer your questions and address such topics as: What is a multi-ethnic church? How does one create an open space for other cultures and ethnicities? How can Multnomah improve in this crucial area?

In 1993 the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Algeria left many Christians confronted with a difficult choice: go into exile or stay knowing that conflict would arise if they continued to practice their faith openly. The following is from a letter written by a monk named Christian de Cherge who decided to stay and who was later arrested and executed. I came across it in the course of my personal reading, and would love to hear your thoughts on what I felt was an incredibly moving peek at this man’s heart for his “enemies,” a heart that seems to understand grace a lot better than I do.

“Obviously, my death will justify the opinion of all those who dismissed me as naïve or idealistic: ‘Let him tell us what he thinks now.’ But such people should know that my death will satisfy my most burning curiosity. At last, I will be able – if God pleases – to see the children of Islam as He sees them, illuminated in the glory of Christ, sharing in the gift of God’s passion and of the Spirit, whose secret joy will always be to bring forth our common humanity amidst our differences.

I give thanks to God for this life, completely mine yet completely theirs, too, to God, who wanted it for joy against, and in spite of, all odds. In this Thank You – which says everything about my life – I include you, my friends past and present…

And to you, too, my friend of the last moment, who will not know what you are doing. Yes, for you, too I wish this thank-you, this “A-Dieu,” whose image is in you also, that we may meet in heaven, like happy thieves, if it pleases God, our common Father. Amen! Insha Allah!”