It was 1455 when the first printed book came off of the newly invented "fixed-type" press --known to us as the Guttenberg Bible. Of course, it still took quite some time before printed Bibles found their way into the hands of everyday believers (a post-reformation reality). This got me thinking about how people have been coming to Christ and growing in their faith without the Bible for A FAR LONGER TIME than they have with the printed Word of God. I honestly wonder how Martin Luther and the other reformers might have responded to the bibliocentric model of worship so common in the modern evangelical church. Would they have been thrilled, or grieved?

Furthermore, how was the "ministry of the Word" different in the first 1500 years of the Church than it has been for the last 500 years? Do we have the courage to admit that perhaps we've lost some of the innocence and beauty of our ancient faith? Are we willing to really LISTEN to the scriptures -- allowing them to read us instead of our merely reading them?

I'm certainly not suggesting that we stop using our Bibles -- heavens, no! But I do have a hunch that there is much to learn and to gain from the Bibleless Christians who journeyed before us. What do you think?

Is the love of God tender or tough?
Is salvation an event or a process?
Is Satan the source of pain, or God?
Is God's kingdom a present reality or a future hope?

Questions. Important questions.

I think it's questions like these that highlight the fact that the Christian faith is full of paradoxes and tensions -- both/and realities that must not be reduced to either/or choices. We need to fully embrace such tensions in all their mystery and intrigue rather then denying or ignoring them. I've long believed it takes faith to embrace the theological tensions we encounter in scripture. It would be a whole lot easier to simply believe one side of the tension while dismissing the other (something I see most Christian doing). I think most people like their theology neat and orderly and systematic. God is much easier to conceive and relate to when He's in a box, right? I mean, we humans invented such "boxes" for a reason, right?

Don't get me wrong, I'm NOT contending for a disorderly theology, without a sense of continuity -- I just think its time that followers of Jesus got brutally honest about the both/and realities we discover throughout the scriptures. We don't need to be "tricky" anymore -- just filled with faith!

Well... I'm still thinking a LOT about the tensions of our faith, and would LOVE for you to email me with a favorite tension that YOU have.

My wife and I recently spent hours with dear friends who just found out that the wife may be facing the return of cancer (something she 'survived' about 20 years ago). A beautiful young mom in her thirties with two Middle school daughters -- WHY?!?

This is the same question that I and countless others have asked before. Why does God allow such pain and suffering in our lives? It's a difficult subject for many, many people -- including people of faith.

After the tragic loss of my 1-1/2 yr. old son, some 13 years ago, I discovered and then embraced a perspective that early church father, Irenaeus, articulated so very long ago. For reasons that we cannot fully understand, God allows suffering in our lives for the purpose of soul-making. And as my wife and I sat with this dear, dear friend last night, I have to say that I already sense a change in her. She's growing -- in ways far more profound than any cancer could! Yes, there's pain and fear and worry and a host of other things bombarding her mind right now. But I'm convinced that something else, something greater is also going on. The Other is at work!

I've written a good deal over the years about Theodicy, and why God allows suffering, and if you're interested you can read more here.

If God brings this mom to your mind in the weeks to come, I'd certainly covet your prayers for her and her family.

Come on! I know you've heard 'em! Those pesky, elusive bugs that make that distinctive "clicking" sound (not at all to be confused with the sound crickets make). And no matter how hard you look for them, you can never find them. Well, some people think the sounds are just a figment of people's imagination -- but I think it's gotta be some sort of conspiracy!

Well...if a recent Barna study is right, churches are probably already noticing the absence of twentysomethings in their congregations. The study reveals that twentysomethings are now the age group least likely to attend church services (22% of 25-29 yr. olds) -- even though 81% of them had attended a church service as a teenage and over 50% of them on a weekly basis! What's going on?

David Kinnaman, Vice President of the Barna Research Group, and the director of the study, pointed out that twentysomethings are one of the first age cohorts to widely embrace postmodern philosophy. “Since the postmodern viewpoint emphasizes that an individual’s experience and personal insight are the prime sources of determining what’s important in life,” Kinnaman said, “the decline in Bible usage is another sign that many twentysomethings are trying to make sense of life without traditional sources of Christian input.”

Despite this, the study indicates that 80% of twentysomethings believe their religious faith is very important in their life. This shouldn't be a surprise -- the emerging culture is perhaps the most "spiritual" one ever (not necessarily 'Christian' spirituality, but spiritual nonetheless). Kinnaman, a twentysomething himself, reflects on the findings:

“Although it may come across as unwarranted skepticism, young adults are questioning their church experience in some legitimate ways,” Kinnaman said. “Their disenchantment has raised questions for churches related to relevance, discipleship, authenticity, the use of art and technology in ministry, relationships, music, learning styles and teaching, teamwork, leadership hierarchy, stewardship, and much more.

It just may be that twentysomethings are the key to THE "something" the church desperately needs. What do you think?

By the way, you've gotta go and read this study in it's entirety -- it's fascinating!

I had the absolute treat this morning of sitting and listening to philosopher Steven Wilkens – a prolific writer and professor extraordinaire at Azusa Pacific University in California. It was early on in his presentation when he dropped a “thought bomb” that’s been going off in my mind all day! Wilkens drew attention to the fact that within the popular Christian culture we too often talk about using the Bible in ways that preclude thinking, and then we turn around and talk about thinking in ways that preclude the Bible – and this despite Jesus’ reaffirmation to love the Lord our God not simply with heart and soul but with all our mind (cf. Matt. 22:37-38).

This really got me wondering – why the discrepancy? What’s behind this obvious double-standard? Some sort of warped, dysfunctional case of being conflicted? A case of basic selfishness? The result of radical individualism? All of these, and THEN some? Is it related to Fowler’s stages of faith? Is this to be expected of the stage 3 majority (Synthetic-Conventional, or “The Loyalist” as Charles McCullough and Alan Jamieson label it) who “know what they know but are generally unable to tell you how they know something is true except by referring to an external authority outside of themselves” (Jamieson, A Churchless Faith, p. 114) – people who never have thought things through for themselves, never employed their minds to test, understand, and subsequently love God fully? Perhaps all of this is just one more “blind spot” in the way modernity has come to perceive reality.

If individualism eventually disappears as postmodernism begins to flourish (as many believe), then maybe there’s hope that, with God’s help, we can experience the return of the holistic self, free from the mind-heart dichotomy that prevents us from fully engaging our minds as part of our love-relationship with God.

For years I thought of icons more as "idols" than as powerful symbols or art which enhance our worship of Jesus rather than detract from it. I suppose this was due to my upbringing and the teaching I received within Evangelical churches. Like many people, I thought that Catholics and Eastern Orthodox believers prayed "to" icons rather than praying "through" them. This began to change about three years ago, in part due to my ongoing theological grad studies, and in part to my own fascination with the resurging importance of symbol and art within our postmodern world.

Here's a basic introduction to what praying with icons is all about, thanks to the people at The Upper Room:

Many of us were taught to close our eyes when we pray. Praying with icons is an ancient prayer practice that involves keeping our eyes wide open, taking into our heart what the image visually communicates. We focus not on what is seen in the icon, but rather on what is seen through it -- the love of God expressed through God's creatures.

This is prayer without words, with a focus on being in God's presence rather than performing in God's presence. It is a right-brain experience of touching and feeling what is holy -- a divine mystery. Icons are not simply art; they are a way into contemplative prayer, and are therefore one way to let God speak to us. They are doorways into stillness, into closeness with God. If we sit with them long enough, we too can enter into the stillness, into the communion . And if we listen to them closely enough, with our hearts, we just may discern the voice of God.

Most of us have heard it said that a picture is worth a thousand words -- and certainly this applies to the use of icons when we pray. For centuries upon centuries, the Holy Spirit has inspired men and women to paint some AMAZING representations of our Lord and his servants. When I go to the Smithsonian National Museum of Art every couple of years, I could spend HOURS just "soaking in" just one of the amazing masterpieces there. Well, in ways that go far beyond this, it is an amazing experience to allow the Lord to speak to me through an icon or other similar work of art. The Icon above is no exception. Is Jesus looking at us through the barbed wire fence that WE have erected around ourselves? Or does the picture communicate an entirely different message? Or both? What's on His mind? What would He like to tell me? What do I need to talk to Him about? A hurt? A bondage? A confession?

Well... if you're interested in learning more about praying with icons, go here -- and be sure to let me know what you think!

In Alan Jamieson’s A Churchless Faith: Faith Journeys Beyond the Churches, he stresses that “faith stages” not only apply to individuals (that’s how we commonly think of them) but to families, groups, and churches as well. Although the majority of church-goers are located within Fowler’s “third” stage of faith development (explained in more detail below), Jamieson draws attention to how Fowler viewed postmodernity as facilitating an increasing number of believers into the fourth stage and beyond, observing that for many people the internal desire to go beyond the comfort of the third stage of faith is sponsored by their involvement in the wider cultural context.

Fowler goes on to suggest that many aspects of the emerging postmodernist society act as sponsors encouraging people engaged in this emerging culture to the later stages of faith development. He points to the postmodern culture’s openness to doubt and questions, willingness to critique and ability to see truth as a complex paradox. Added to this is postmodernity’s focus on relational networks rather than impersonal institutions and the emerging culture’s emphasis on a desire to learn through participation, experiences and dialogue. The postmodern culture therefore provides an ideal environment to sponsor adults beyond the third stage of faith and into the stage of the Critic. Here Fowler is suggesting that adults who engage positively with the emerging postmodernist culture are therefore being exposed to a context that sponsors the move into the fourth and fifth stages of faith (Jamieson, p. 122)

It was about ten years ago that I first encountered the work of James Fowler and his Stages of Faith. I’ve become re-fascinated with Fowler’s insights on faith development as I’ve been reading and reflecting on Jamieson’s book. In this book, Jamieson does an extraordinary job of explaining why people are leaving pentecostal, charismatic, and evangelical churches – and it’s NOT because they’re “backsliding.” Rather, it is reflective of their journey of faith, moving out of the “stage” they’ve identified with and into a new stage of their journey. Jamieson re-labels Fowler’s six stages of faith in a way that’s both fascinating and easy-to-understand:

I've been thinking... if the 60's represent the birthing of postmodernity (which many people affirm), which was followed by the charimatic renewal movement (flowing out of the so-called "Jesus movement" of the 60's and 70's) -- then what will the outpouring of the Holy Spirit look like within the emerging, post-modern church? How might postmodern people of the Spirit (i.e. pomo pneumatics) differ from their prior modern counterparts (e.g. Azusa Street, charismatic renewal, third wave)? I wonder...

As our group met last night to talk about overcoming fear, the question surfaced about fearing God. It was an awesome opportunity for me to introduce the notion that by watering down our understanding of what it means to fear God, we are in fact, watering down our understanding of God himself. Of course, there are differences between fearing God and living with (various) fears. That's why Jesus tells his followers:

Matthew 10:28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (NRSV)

It was Rudolph Otto in his classic work, The Idea of the Holy, that has most helped me to solidify my understanding of what it means to fear God. An important part of that comes when we contemplate the overpoweringness of God. Being overpowered conjures immediate images in our mind, both evil and benign. Yet it is exactly such an overwhelming God that we need -- to bring hope to our hopelessness and to resolve the unresolvable.

Starting with me, I'm praying today that we all grow in our awareness of God's overpowering nature.