Friday, December 4, 2009

A Book Review: To Know As We Are Known by Parker Palmer

I just finished reading this book by Parker Palmer and thought I would post my review because I love the book so much!!! I hope that my responses to the questions below will lead you to pick up this book for yourself.

1. What could I share with my church from this book?

University Presbyterian Church has been called the “Flagship” Church of the PC(USA). Some of the reasons for this might be our continued line up of quality pastors, our stability as a church older than one hundred years, or our location right on the campus of the University of Washington. Whatever it may be, the church is defiantly “Known” as a church that “Knows;” we are a wordy church. I was having a conversation with the pastor of worship Dave Rohrer a few days ago and we were talking about sermons that were pitched as something you could apply to your life. I asked if he thought the majority of the people really want to do anything about it or just come and listen in the warm pew. He agreed with the latter.

Dave often says he is tired with words. That is why the story that Palmer tells about Abba Felix caught my ear. The illustration that God does not speak to the old men any longer because the young men do not carry out their words struck a cord with me. After I finished this book, I emailed Dave and shared this book with him as a resource for us to continue the discussion between services that merely use words and services that, to use Dave’s phrase, “Wake us up to the presence of God.” Really the discussion is about listening and doing. Another person in the discussion, Jon Epps, pushes back and asks, “What do we do when we wake up?” Dave believes this is evident where Jon believes that the church should show the way. Either way, both are getting at the same issue and one that Palmer talks about so well and that is, what do we do with our knowledge of Truth in Jesus Christ? Palmer suggests that we create a space in which obedience to Truth is practiced. If Palmer was a part of this discussion I think he would say that both Dave and Jon are right. We need to create a space (our work as a Church) in which obedience to Truth (God’s work) is practiced. The applications that Palmer uses are mostly in a classroom setting but I think that they could be used for the church as a whole. For it is the Church’s job to be the light of Jesus Christ in this world.

2. How would I summarize to a friend the key points this book is making?

Palmer argues that the epistemological foundation for knowing and truth are found in a person, Jesus Christ; therefore, learning, education, and knowing are not objective but subjective and relational; we only know because God himself knows us. Palmer is trying to open the reader’s eyes to the fact that knowledge is about relatedness not about wining or finding the exact right answer. He makes this plain right off the bat by telling the story of the scientists who created the atomic bomb. He summarizes a documentary called, The Day after Trinity. Palmer says, “It was not until the day after the first explosion that the scientists stopped to analyze and agonize over the outcome of their work.” (1) Palmers point is this; knowledge carries us toward ends we renounce, toward evil. Palmer’s main concern in this book is to present a way of knowing that will counteract the kind of knowing that produces the horrors such as the atomic bomb.

That way of knowing, for Palmer, is Jesus Christ. The image of knowledge is John 1:14 “The word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth.” Palmer argues that Truth is not something Christ possessed but that he himself was truth incarnate. He uses the words Germanic root “troth” to get at his point, troth means, “ . . . One enters into a covenant with another, a pledge to engage in a mutually accountable and transforming relationship, a relationship forged of trust and faith in the face of unknowable risk.” He also uses the story of Abba Felix, a monk who would not speak a word from God to the younger monks that requested it of him because obedience to the words were not carried out; therefore, God dried up the old men’s words. Out of this story Palmer defines teaching as, “ . . . creating space in which obedience to truth is practiced.”(67) In expanding upon this definition throughout the last two chapters he focuses in on Space and boundaries as the fast wordless time that Abba Felix had the courage to create, as well as obedience. Palmer says, “Obedience does not mean slavish, mechanical adherence to whatever one hears; it means making a personal response that acknowledges that one is in troth with the speaker and with the word he or she speaks.” (89). Palmer wants his readers to “know” in relationship.

3. How does this book build its practices in a way that opens me up to live more fully in a rich God-human relationship and to be transformed in my human relationships?

This book is all about living in a richer God-human relationship in order to transform our human relationships. When Palmer locates Truth as a person, Jesus Christ, he takes truth out of the concept world and into the relational world. This means that one is able to experience their relationship to truth in a tangible sense. Learning, then, is about our relationship to one another. Palmer wants his readers to see that the classroom should be a relational place. It should be a place of prayer. He means this not is the prayer in school sense but in the sense that prayer is the act of living in relatedness. The end of this book does a great job at giving examples of how the classroom can be this place of community where troth is practiced. The practices of this book are shown even in the intentionality of the words Palmer uses. Palmer seems to use only the world that help the reader feel he or she is in conversational relationship to the subject itself, knowledge and truth.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Christian Obedience: Beginning the Discussion

Obedience, freedom, and freewill are topics I believe Christians must begin to dialog about more. What does a Christ-centered worldview teach us about these difficult topics? I have written some opening comments as to how I see the topic in hopes that we might discuss these things further.

Obedience is compliance to someone else’s will even though it may not align with one’s own. Whatever the nature of Christ’s power as God was while he was on earth, one thing we can say is that his freedom was limited, at the very least, to temporal and spatial realities of the world. The Gospels show us that he limited his freedom in another way, to the will of his Father. In the garden of Gethsemane, the night before he was to die, Jesus, God incarnate, prayed this prayer, "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." (Mark 14:36) The Gospel of Mark tells us that Jesus, in order to follow through with the events that were to follow, had to surrender his own will to the will of his Father.

In our American culture, freedom has become our god. We want to be free to do what we want, when we want, how we want, and no one should be able to tell us differently. If the ideology of freedom is pushed a bit further, one will see that, at the core is idolatry. We have all become little gods doing as we wish. Christianity suffers from the same idolatry and has even applied it to our theology of freewill. My question is simply this, If Jesus Christ, God incarnate, limited his freedom to the will of his father, should we, his followers, not do the same by limiting our own freedom, in obedience to Christ? The author of 1 Peter puts it brilliantly, “live as free persons, yet not using your freedom as a cover up for wrongdoing, live as slaves to God.” (1 Peter 2:16) Christians are called to used their freewill to live as slaves to the will of God. This is the message of the Gospel, when we become slaves to God’s will, then and only then is true freedom found.

Your thoughts ? ? ?

Monday, May 25, 2009

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem

The busyness of life, consumes the day-to-day:
Things to do, People to see, Places to go.
There is never time, to stop and get away:
Responsibility, Duty, Obligation.
Happiness in these, is only sinking sand:
Work, Progress, Profession.
Life may be found at the strand:
No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Story Time: Sorry Utz

This is a story of true friendship. . . 

Once upon today, my good ol' pal Mike was kind enough to get up at 5:00am to take Jess and I to the airport for a flight that was to leave at 8:00am.  Bright eyed and bushy tailed, he arrived ten minuets early.  After a quick pit stop at Starbucks, we were on our way and arrived at the airport around 6:25am; we said our good byes and parted ways. Jess and I walked up to the kiosk to check in; the machine printed a receipt that said, "Two early for check in."  Turns out, I had booked a 11:30am flight and gotten it mistaken for the time of our return flight.  

Now, most friends are be willing to take their friends to the airport.  It may be the only sense of duty that our culture has retained.  But, Mike was willing to go above and beyond for the sake of friendship . . . 

At this point, I thought it would be funny to send a sarcastic text message to my good friend Mike to tell him the humorous mistake that I had make.  This is what I sent: "Could you come back and pick us up so we can go home and take a nap?  Turns out I was mistaken and our flight doesn't leave til 11:30. Oops ;)"  In my mind, the sarcasm would come though just from the sadistic nature of the the request.  When he responded, "Okay" I quickly jumped to remedy any confusion by replying back, "Joke" and then a second message that said, "But seriously, it doesn't leave til 11:30."  Shortly following this text message, I got a phone call, it was Mike.  He wanted to know if I really did need him to come back and pick us up.  Thinking he was continuing on the joke, because this is what we usually do, I laughed and said, "No."  He then informed me that he had already turned around and was heading back for the airport.  All I could do was start laughing in the middle of the Airport.  Through loud belly laughs I tried to tell him about what I had meant by the text messages.  He was quite relieved and I felt terrible but could not stop laughing!  Mike, laughing as well at this point said, "I was going to do it but knew I was going to have to deal with being angry at you for awhile."  

But on a more serious note, what kind of friend would be willing to just turn around and fulfill such a ridiculous request?  Turns out Mike would, with out even challenging it.  To Mike I say, "Thanks brother and sorry about the confusion."  To the rest reading this I say, "Sarcasm + Text + 7am = Sardisticism."    

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Worship in Service: The Way of Christ, the Suffering Servant.

For a full PDF version of this essay including footnotes and citations click here.

Comments and discussion welcome!

Worship God’s Way or Man’s Way?

Human worship of God is an innovation of God’s own will. The Westminster Confession puts it this way, “The acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited to his own revealed will . . .” Today, the term worship has become a cliché term, which Christ followers flippantly throw around to describe their own subjective preference. It is not uncommon for a Christian to speak of worship as an event, such as, worship services, worship concerts, worship meetings, or worship festivals. The word is also used to speak of the style with which the Christian chooses to worship. There is rock and roll worship or acoustic worship, traditional worship or contemporary worship, liturgical worship or free worship. In another way, worship has also come to be expressed as the feeling one receives after attending one of these worships events. It would not be uncommon to hear a conversation that might go something like this: “Man, worship was good today!” “Sure was, Mike! I could really feel the presence of God.” “I totally know what you mean; it was just what I needed to get me through this tough week.” In summary, worship has become focused on the worshiper rather than on that which the worshiper should be worshiping. Christians’ understanding of what worship is and what it means to enter into worship is ever increasingly diluted, both in terms of the weakening of its content, as well as the mistaken belief of its function. The individual Christian’s worship has suffered from the American cultural milieu that promotes the individual as most important and unwavering service to God as closed-mindedness. Therefore, the term worship, which holds a great weight for human relationship to God, has become anemic and cliché.

The issues Christ followers find themselves dealing with today are not new. Only a brief look at scripture is needed to see that God’s people have been struggling to give their worship to him alone since the fall in Genesis 2. Thankfully, Christians are not left to their own devices to understand how God desires to be worshiped; he gives his Word. There are two terms in scripture that are translated as worship; they are the Hebrew word histahwa usually translated by proskynein in the Greek Bible and ‘abad translated in the LXX as latreuein. The first term literally means “to bend one’s self over at the waist” and the second word means “to serve.” Both are needed for a holistic understanding of how the Christian is to enter into worship. Specifically, the latter term holds a strong theme throughout scripture that can help the Christian and the Church rediscover that worship is much more than songs, styles, and events that are subject to individual tastes; instead, it is the divine call to live a faithful life of service to the Lord, which Scripture shows, is objectively unified to God’s will. In order to address the problem of true worship, we will enter into discussion on three points: First, we will survey and trace the theme of worship as service throughout scripture; second, we will compare our findings to the worldview which we hold today; and thirdly we will discuss a way forward into a more faithful, Christ-centered expression of worship.

Service & Worship in Scripture
The concept of service is first established in Genesis 2:5 when it is noted that there is, “ . . . no man to work the ground.” Eugene Carpenter, in his article on the Greek word abad, notices the term for work used here is the root of what later becomes the Hebrew term for service. To this end, he notices that when man serves Yahweh, his purpose of working the ground is an inherently worshipful act. This act of work is corrupted at the point of the fall. Gen 3:5 describes the disintegration of the terms “work” and “ground,” and describes man’s relation to them as being toilsome. Therefore, God’s people struggle to fulfill their intended purpose, to serve the Lord. Eugene Carpenter also notices this point by describing that after the fall the term work is used in a profane sense, which has profound theological significance within the broader scope of the whole canonical context. He says specifically that, “The response of the ground itself is ultimately dependent on humankind’s spiritual relation to God and, hence, to the ground.” Human’s relationship to God was broken at the point of the fall, and consequently, their relationship to the ground was as well. Thus, man fails to correctly worship by serving themselves rather than Yahweh. When self-service is introduced, work becomes exploited for personal gain. In Exodus, we find God’s people being victimized and exploited, forced to serve and work for Pharaoh rather than God.

At the end of Genesis, there is a famine in the land and Joseph takes refuge in Egypt (Gen 47:13-31). His descendents become slaves, forced to labor in unjust and inhuman ways. The profane use of the term “service” becomes the normality for the Israelite people. They are lorded over and forced to labor in order to build monuments for the gods of Egypt (Exod 1:11-14). The Israelites cry out to Yahweh because of the inhuman situation they have found themselves in, and Yahweh is moved in Exodus 2:25, which says, “God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” Throughout the narrative God liberates his people from the Egyptian oppression and states the reason for his intervention: so that Israel may worship Yahweh (Exod 3:12, 4:23, 8:1, 9:1). Here again we find the use of the Hebrew term ‘abad, this time translated as worship. It becomes clear that Yahweh frees Israel from the profane sense of the term to restore to them the proper sense of the term, namely, worshipful service to Yahweh.

Israel’s purpose of service to Yahweh is fully realized when God gives them his law at Sinai in order that they may serve him truly; thus, Israel’s cultic worship is established. The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery describes Israel’s cultic worship in terms of “actions of worship” denoting that everything from festivals, dancing and singing, to sacrifices were done in order to show unwavering obedience and commitment to the Lord. Therefore, the law is the means by which Israel enters into service of Yahweh. God gives Israel three tangible devices to aid them in keeping the law and consequently, serving him alone. These are the Priests and Levites, the temple, and sacrifices.

The Priests and Levites were a specific form of servanthood, which had two general tasks to fulfill: teaching the law of Yahweh to his people and providing them with a means of atonement for their sins. In short, they were to oversee the correct worship of Yahweh. The nation of Israel is also called a priesthood; Christopher Wright points out that in the same way the Priests are to teach and atone, the nation of Israel is responsible to teach the nations how to rightly serve Yahweh and offer a way to atone for their sins. In this way, the priestly service is both a means and an end; it is a means by which Israel rightly serves Yahweh and an end because it is in itself a worshipful service to Yahweh.

The Temple was the place where the presence of Yahweh dwelt in Israel. The term used for the work done in regards to the temple is bodah and refers to the care and construction (Num. 4:47), as well as the religious services performed inside the temple (Ex. 30:16). Here we can see that it was not just the religious services that were worshipful acts but also the physical tasks of caring for the temple itself. The physical construction and maintenance of the temple echoes Israel’s work building in Egypt, but here it is done without oppression and in service and worship to the one true God rather than the false gods of Egypt.

The sacrificial system was set in place in order to provide substitution for the penalty of unfaithful service to Yahweh. Unfaithful service to Yahweh is a breach of the Sinai covenant with Yahweh and punishable by death. Therefore, sacrifices are a means of God’s mercy though the substitution of an animal to take one’s place. Alec Motyer notices what he calls the “cumulative principle” at work in the sacrificial system. The cumulative principle explains that some Old Testament (abbreviated as OT hereafter) statements require later amplification where the cumulative of the two equals the fulfillment. In this way, the OT sacrificial system, unlike the priestly system, is only a means. It is a means to mend the broken relationship caused by rebellion but without the cumulative principle can only be a means.

What, then, is required to bring about the end and restore right worshipful service to Yahweh? The answer can be found in the Hebrew term ebed, which is translated as “servant.” In its most significant usage, the term, coined by the phrase “servant of Yahweh” describes specific people such as Moses (Deut 34:5), Joshua (24:29), and David (Ps 18). Carpenter points out that this usage is especially significant in Isaiah 40-55 where it describes the servant whose identity is somewhat mysterious. Isaiah tells of a servant who is wholly obedient, submits to God’s will, is free of sin, and yet willing to substitute himself for those onlookers who have sinned; not just Israel, but now for all nations. Motyer explains this point, making the distinction that the heart of sinfulness lies in the will, which makes sin its master rather than God. Until the will says, “Yes”, no sin is committed; therefore, it cannot find it’s true substitute in an animal because the beast is an unknowing victim not consenting to the transaction. However, this is the point of Isaiah 53:1-7, and only here does substitution reach its completeness. The New Testament (abbreviated NT hereafter) clearly recognizes that the suffering servant is none other than Jesus Christ. Although Moses, Joshua, David, and others were called God’s servants, none of them were able to fulfill what God requires of his servants. Christ is the only truly obedient, sinless servant who could provide true substitution. In this way, Christ is the only true worshiper, because he is the only true servant. At this point, Motyer’s cumulative principle has reached its completion; Christ is the end and the means, the servant and the sacrifice, and thus true servanthood is only found through his sacrifice, once for all.

In the same way that Isaiah looks forward to the servant Jesus Christ, Hebrews looks back to him establishing his centrality. Hebrews uses the Greek term latreuein to describe worship as service. By using the terminology of the OT, the writer of Hebrews shows how Christ is the fulfillment of the priesthood, the temple, and sacrifices. Hebrews 9:11-12 says, “When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made . . . He did not enter by the means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood.” Again, we see Motyer’s “cumulative principle” at work here; Christ is the culmination of the OT religious service establishing him as the central character of redemption.

The early Christians were called to be Christ’s disciples and, therefore, are servants though the mediator Christ. Specifically, as they serve Christ, they serve Yahweh. Paul communicated this to his churches many times in his epistles. The two most significant letters for understanding how the early Church was mobilized to worship through service to Christ is Romans and 2 Corinthians. Paul calls to his followers in Romans 12:1 to offer their bodies as living sacrifices and then states that this is their spiritual act of worship. Yet again, the Greek term translated worship here is literally translated, “service”. R.P. Martin, in his book on the early church’s worship, explains that, “at this point duty and privilege meet and collide.” Because they had known the mercies of God, it was their duty to offer their lives in service to God. But, this was no bothersome task; rather, it was a delight to offer themselves in response to Christ’s sacrifice. This life of worshipful service to Christ took shape in many tangible forms, one of which was though serving one another in community. The Church of Corinth is admonished to serve Christ serving the needs of others (2 Cor 9:12-13). Paul calls this act of obedience an expression of thanksgiving to God. The same principle that was applied to the temple is applied here; both the religious service of offering one’s life and the physical service of taking care of the Church, namely the people of God, are both expressions of worshiping God though service. As a result, the Church worships as Jesus commanded, in spirit and in truth (John 4:23).

The motif of worship as service reaches its completion in Rev. 7:15 & 22:3 when though the blood of the Lamb God’s servants live in his unceasing presence and, like Christ, serve God unceasingly. Upon the fulfillment of this motif, it is appropriate to say that God’s servants will worship him unceasingly!

The Present Context of Servanthood
The present world we live in is much different from that of the people of Scripture. Therefore, we must briefly look at our own cultural context to relate how we can learn what scripture teaches us about worshiping as God’s servants. To do this, we will look at the four worldview questions: where are we, who are we, what is wrong, and what is the remedy? Finally, I will offer a way forward to help our present church worship in service to Christ.

As we reside in our postmodern context, the word servant has taken on less than positive connotations. It draws up images of African American’s slavery in early America or the current day epidemic of sex slaves that are being bought and sold around the world. In our context, the word represents evil rather than the goodness of worshiping God through serving him alone. Our society tells us that we are our own masters and need no others outside our autonomous selves.

As followers of Christ, Paul tells us that we are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, classifying the sacrifice as our spiritual act of worship to God (Rom 12:1). As seen above, the term Paul uses literally means, “to serve.” This is counter-cultural to what the world teaches. As we serve the Lord we are called into the world to serve as citizens, family members, churchmen, and friends. We are also called out of the world to protest its ungodliness, all the while pointing to Christ for our successes and strengths. Dietrich Bonhoeffer called this, “the obligation of discipleship.”

We are unable to be autonomous people who can live by our own rule. We must worship something, and that takes the form of either God or ourselves. Bono, the lead singer of U2, illustrates this saying, “Showbiz is shamanism, music is worship. Whether it's worship of women or their designer, the world or its destroyer, whether it comes from that ancient place we call soul or simply the spinal cortex, whether the prayers are on fire with a dumb rage or dove-like desire, the smoke goes upwards, to God or something you replace God with--usually yourself.” We are servants whether we like it or not; the only question is, whom will we serve?

Therefore, the remedy for our problem of self-seeking worship can only come through the way of Christ, the Suffering Servant. In the way of Christ, the Suffering Servant, we are freed from our bondage to sin like the Israelites were freed from the grip of Pharaoh. In the way of Christ, the Suffering Servant, we become co-operators with God’s will in the same way Israel was invited to when they received the Sinai Covenant. In the way of Christ, the Suffering Servant, we enter into the New Covenant by which all people are invited to die to the service of themselves and be raised with Christ becoming his suffering servants though the means of his death and resurrection.

Worship in the way of Christ is not cheap; rather, it is quite costly because it cost Christ his life and will cost his worshipers theirs. Bonhoeffer used the terms “cheap grace” and “costly grace” when calling out to the German church to avoid becoming acquiescent to the Nazi government. Bonhoeffer distinguished that, “Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our church . . . grace as a doctrine or system without a cost or a price . . . Costly grace is the doctrine that must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.” Bonhoeffer’s reminder is one that our current Church must hear and respond to when seeking to worship in the way of Christ. We could say it this way, cheap worship is merely empty words and songs, and costly worship is the worship which acts upon words by daily offerings of one’s life in service to the living God.

The only way forward then must be a reform in the Church’s understanding of worship. Namely, worship must be freed from the church building, which is marked by institution, individuals, and entertainment, and given back to the body of Christ which is marked by community, relationships, and service. The wrong way to go about this is through promoting the abolition of the church building. Rather, the correct way is through discipleship, teaching, and demonstrating. Therefore, I see three active reforms to our worship that will help the Church worship as Christ’s community of servants rather than an institution of individuals.

First, Christ’s sacrifice must be central to worship. The Catholic Church gets this correct by structuring their worship services in such a way that the purpose is literally the service of the Eucharist. When the Church loses sight of Christ’s sacrifice, then the gospel is no longer costly; and therefore, worship becomes diluted. The remembrance of Christ’s death and resurrection should be a weekly occurrence, calling the Church back to costly worship of death to one’s self and rebirth in Christ. Second, scripture must be our guide. The entirety of scripture bears witness to God’s redemptive plan made complete only in Christ Jesus. Therefore, we as descendants of that redemptive linage must look to scripture to learn how to structure our worship in service to God. Christ founded everything he did in the OT, not as an abolishment of it, but as a fulfillment. He worshiped with the psalms, remembered the servants that came before him, and recalled the teachings of the prophets. We too must look to this redemptive narrative in order to worship in the way of Christ. Third, community must be our context. When Christians are raised again with Christ, we become a part of his body comprised of others who have died to themselves and have been raised again with Christ. This community is our context and spurs us on to service; service in caring for each other, service in caring for all of God’s creation, and service in preaching the Gospel of Christ which calls others to die to themselves and ascribe Christ’s worth-ship by serving him alone. These three things are the worship that Paul preaches in Philippians 2, calling his people to have the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus (5). We too must imitate the humility of Christ as we worship in his way, obedient service, even to death on a cross.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

An Easter Hymn

Oh, Risen Lord, what love divine,
That you would conquer death and time.
Not even grave could hold you down,
Not even hell could win this round.

For as you promised days before,
The broken temple was restored.
Your glorious presence dwells in me,
And now all nations join to sing.

Amazing grace how sweet the sound,
Amazing love, now us, surround.
Your risen body raised for me,
Bids all creation, return to thee.

Friday, April 10, 2009

A Good Friday Hymn

Oh, my pierced Lord, what love divine?
That you would give Your life for mine.
Lord, in my place You placed your life,
To pay for Grace at such high price.

For now the law has been fulfilled,
All sacrifices been revealed.
Your covenant has been made new,
and now all nations sing for You.

Amazing grace how sweet the sound,
Amazing blood now pouring down.
Your broken body, broke for me
Bids all creation, return to thee!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Around (A New Song)

I don’t feel you tonight
The mood just don’t seem right
I wish your were around.
I don’t even think you’re
Here with me, all alone in fear
I know you’re not around.

You’re not around, you’re not around;
You are nowhere to be found
You cannot be around, you’re not around.

The moon seems darker than
Before you promised me,
That you would always be around.
Now I’m sitting here just doubting
All you said and hoping
You’ll come back around.

Come back around, Come back around;
I’m wondering where you are right now
And hoping you’ll come back around, come back around.

I remember now, you said
I won’t always feel
But still you’ll be closer than around.
You promised me you’d make your home
Inside me, and always you will guide me
Reminding you’re around.

You’re all around, you’re all around;
You are everywhere I look
You are closer than around, your all around

© 2009 Kyle Turver

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The Fall of Progress

Build the tower toward the Heavens,
Upward progress is our goal.
Brick by brick with our two hands,
The tower'll be unbreakable!
Higher! Higher! No rest aloud,
Rest is for the weak in mind.
Crumble! Crumble! down it comes,
Who forgot the foundation?


The tower ebbed down brick by brick,
and progress was defeated.
Our home was pried from calloused hands,
Which left us cold and naked.
We were once a mighty city,
With one great tale of glory.
But now were strewn about the world,
Enslaved to our own stories.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Vocation : The Way I See It

The two book that I refer to in this post are:
Vocation -- Discerning our Callings in Life by Douglas J. Schuurman
The Way of Life by Gary D Badcock

This is an introductory personal essay a wrote for my class on Theology of Vocation. I would love to hear your thoughts!!!


Thinking about vocation is, for me, a new topic. I had always considered it one of those topics which were not in need of discussion. I believed vocation was what one chose to do to provide for their family. My dad, an engineer for Boeing and my mom, a nurse at our local hospital, taught me about vocation; not through words but thought their actions. They were extraordinary providers. I always had food on the table, a roof over my head, as well as, most the amenities a boy could want. This was, for my parents, vocation – A way to do something you enjoy and turn it into financial support for your family.

My understanding of vocation has changed since I was a boy. Up to reading Badcock and Schuurman I had never thought about vocation and calling as being the same thing. To me they were related concepts from different fields, secular and religious. When I was in high school I led a worship team at church. Though this experience I began to sense God’s calling to study music and seek a career as a worship pastor. Previously, I had believed I would be a firefighter and provide for my family that way. In my understanding, the former choice was calling and the latter was vocation. My call was not an over spiritualized experience. It came mostly in the form of a thought that went, “I could do this for the rest of my life.”

Since I began to pursue what I believed to be my calling I have changed my understanding again this time though experience and knowledge. My present understanding of calling is pulled somewhere between the middle of Schuurman and Badcock. On the side of Schuurman, I see my decisions to follow my “calling” to be a product of need, gifting, opportunity, and community discernment. I saw a need for better forms of worship the church; I was a gifted vocalist, guitar player, and leader; I had opportunities to travel with a worship band and attend a Christian music school; and my family and friends affirmed that to be my calling and direction in life. On the other hand, as I have read and interpreted the bible more diligently, I have found scriptures use of the terms calling and vocation more along the lines in which Badcock describes, to love. Christ’s command to, “Love as I have loved you” seems to be the context for most uses of calling in the New Testament. In the New Testament Christ called people to have faith in him and to love as he did. Therefore, my present understanding of vocation is a free choice founded on God’s call to faith and love. In this way, one uses his own perceptions of need, personal gifting, opportunities, and community to show the Love of Christ to all people and have faith in his transforming power.

My faith in God has been the most important factor in bringing me to this point of my life. When I say “faith” I do not mean having faith that God will bring the one and only girl for me or that he will make life smooth and easy. Instead, my faith in God is that He is good. This means He is who he says he is and he will do what he said he would do. This faith has given me the ability to understand my shortcomings as I seek to follow my calling. There have been times in life where I wondered; if I make a wrong choice will I miss my calling? My faith brings me back to the same answer. No, because God is good and this good God’s plan is above my ability to screw it up. That plan seems to me, to be closer aligned with Badcock’s description of “call” as less of a life blueprint and more of a leading to a “reorientation though repentance, faith, and obedience.” (9) I have found that when I truly put this kind of faith in God I no longer have to worry about petty issues of right or wrong decisions but instead I am free to love God and people in all sectors of my life and walk though the doors that are open for me in my career.

Social location, family, and friends have been the largest influences in my vocational decisions. My dad told me from an early age, “No amount of pay is worth doing a job you hate so find something you love to do.” This was a huge factor in my own sense of calling to music. I had been called to be a follower of Christ since the earliest I can remember and had always wanted to serve him in any capacity I could. Those factors combined with my gifting and love for music helped me realize there is nothing else I would rather do than play music for the Glory of God.

Growing up in the Lutheran church my understanding of “call” took a very Lutheran tone of life station as describe by both Badcock and Schuurman. Looking back, my own decisions toward music were out of understanding it as my life station though the gifts and opportunities I had.

After graduating from college with a music degree, I ended up making a lot of decisions to turn down high paying worship ministry jobs due to a change in my understand of God’s call for my life. Through influences within my community of friends I understood God’s calling to be more toward love and less toward music or even a specific ministry. Instead, I desired to use my passion to love God and love God’s people. Because of this I am working as an assistant coordinator at a coffee shop and joining a church plant that is beginning in Ballard, Washington that will find ways to love and care for the people of Seattle though the arts. In this way, I am able to fulfill my calling to love within our community and in the city of Seattle, as well as, use my gifts to play music and lead people to worship God in all spheres of life.
In using the arts to enter a conversation with the city of Seattle we begin to speak their language. When we speak the cultures language we are able to build relationship and love them in real tangible ways. By entering this vocation I believe that I will have more opportunities to love and care for those who believe God’s only aim is to tell them what they cannot do. This advances God’s purpose, to bring all people to himself. By putting faith in him to be the judge and transformer we then are free to be ambassadors for his purpose: calling people to a reorientation of life though faith in him.

Choosing this career path has been a difficult choice because as Badcock describes it is a risky venture. It does not pay and it does not bring with it any prestige. What it does do is afford me the opportunity to use my gifting of music, my vocation of living for God’s glory, and my call to Love, in service to God and his world. This is an understanding of vocation that I believe both Schuurman and Badcock could agree on.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Holiday Adventures (My Favorite Pics)

Here are some of our favorite pics from our Holiday Vacations


I snapped this pic while Jess was admiring the storm!


Me and haystack rock! Yup! That is the one from the Goonies!


Jess in front of haystack rock!


I Love this picture. The water from the hills washed away some of the sand on the beach making a little stream.


Having fun with the new camera!


We used a cell phone and kept the shutter open for 8 seconds and I drew a heart with the light. Pretty fun!


She so pretty!


Ecola State park. One of the most beautiful places on earth!


Taking pictures and this bald eagle flew out of nowhere! So majestic.



Freaking windy.


Playing with shutter speed again. So fun.


We were walking down the street and someone had nailed this shoe to the telephone pole and I had to take this picture.

Haystack rock again.


Family picture from when we were at Jess' parents place in Redmond, OR.


Our niece! She is growing up so fast and is turning into a little cutie!!!



She is a blast to take pictures of.



She wanted to blow bubble on daddies truck. I really enjoy this shot.


Once again ... So cute.

Jess and I spent a week in Oregon traveling between Redmond, which is on the east side and Cannon Beach, which is on the west coast. We had a fun time and got to take our new Nikon D90 for a test run. Very nice camera! You can see more at gallery.me.com/kyle.turver