affirmation vs information

What do you prefer, affirmation or information?
I would bet that most of us, because we are Americans, would think that we desire information over affirmation- but the opposite is actually true.  We watch certain news programs based off of our current political interests.  What do these programs do?  They do not inform, but rather they affirm our already given presuppositions.  People watch Rush not because he is 'informing' them of groundbreaking information, but because he is affirming their already given ideas about something.  The same is true for Rachel Maddow... not ground breaking stuff either.  Whether it is Rush or Rachel, CNN or FOX, we watch what we watch based on what we want to hear rather than what we want to learn.  Maybe this is too large of a 'blanket statement', but check yourself next time a piece of information actually informs you and it goes against the grain of your thought.  Is that person just a crazy liberal or a right-winged dinosaur?  Unfortunately we have gotten to the place in our country where we cannot learn anything from anyone, especially if they think differently than us.

Because I am a United Methodist... (shout out to my methoblog colleagues) this is an issue we need to address as well.  We are some of the most self-congratulatory people in the world.  I would bet that if at the beginning of each annual conference everyone would stand up and thank one another ONCE or give only one standing ovation for the entire group, then we would be able to cut DAYS off of our time in holy conferencing.  We like to affirm what we already know and already are.  We will affirm one another even if the information tells us that we shouldn't.  Now I am not saying that we shouldn't celebrate because we do far to little of this in our denomination to begin with.  We need to celebrate the areas of effectiveness and ministry.  However, I am also aware that again we have ignored the information at our hands describing the state of our church because certain people presented it to us.  Why did Call to Action fail?  What about Plan UMC?  How do we feel about the role of bishops now? How do the bishops feel about many who question their authority?  All of this struggle is found because we only want affirmation and if someone thinks differently than us - (remember this works both ways) - then we are blinded to the truth of the information.  "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.... well depending upon who says it."

In My Place.

Rev. Darryl Duer shares three stories related to finding our place with God -

Check out this episode!

my place.

I am fascinated with the word "place".  It seems so obscure yet at the same time so known.  I feel that a 'place' is where we all find ourselves, but how often do we desire to be in a different 'place'?

John Mayer says - "now and then, I pace my place.  I can't retrace how I got here."

On Sunday, Rev. Darryl Duer will be continuing in our Coldplay series looking at the song - In My Place.  He will be sharing about three different places from the perspective of Elijah, Zaccheus, and Jesus.  Join us in worship, find your place.  Tabernacle has a place for you.

  

Low.

"You see the world in black and white, not painted right."

We look to the prayer of Jesus in John 17 where he asks for unity to be among those who believe.  In a world of black and white we often miss this prayer.

Check out this episode!

I've always wanted to be a Tenenbaum.

We are invited into a relationship with God, we are adopted into God's family.  One of my favorite movies is The Royal Tenenbaum's.  It is a story about divorce, reconciliation, and family.  (It has an all-star cast and phenomenal soundtrack by the way.)  One of the story lines is about Margo Tenenbaum (played by Gweneth Paltrow). She is the adopted daughter of Royal Tenenbaum, and you know this because whenever her father would introduce his children, he would always introduce her as the adopted daughter.  It is not hard to see why she would develop troubles as an adult with such a self-image.  Her love interest in the movie is their next door neighbor Eli Cash, (played by Owen Wilson) who would always spend time at the Tenenbaum house.  He also longed for a place in the family.  One interesting point about his is that he would send his college transcripts home to the Tenenbaum house rather than his own parents.  You can see that he too comes from a troubled family situation.  

One of my favorite parts of the movie is when Eli says, "I've always wanted to be a Tenenbaum."  This is when he gets to the end of his rope and he sees that he is a person in need of help.  Right after he says this, Margo says, "Me too."  You may be saying to yourself... big deal its just a line in the movie.  In fact this is such an important theme and part of the movie that the composer, Mark Mothersbaugh (of Devo fame) wrote a separate piece of music with the same title.  I've always wanted to be a Tenenbaum."     

With God - you do not have to be on the outside any longer.  We must remember how we are invited into a relationship with God, in the Spirit, through the Son.  But God never introduces us as His adopted kids.  We are just the children of God- period.  

Romans 8: 14-17

"For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.  The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.  Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."

The Hardest Part

What's the hardest part of the Christian life?

In Romans 7 we see a struggle between the good we wish to do and the actual action that we wish we would not do.  

Are you a Romans 7 or Romans 8 person?  

We look contextually at what Paul is trying to say in Romans 7... 

Check out this episode!

perfect space

I believe that we all are trying to find a place to belong and a place to fit in.  Even the non-comfortists have their own place.  The time of extreme individuality is not so far removed from the categorical classification of our own subsets of community.  

Jesus invites us to share in community with Him, and with one another.  He not only invites us to share in His love, but to become his 'friends'.  Abraham and Moses are the only two in the Old Testament that are described in such an intimate way with God.  I wonder, do you feel close to God in such a way?  

We are created by and for community.  You have a place in God's family and there are brother and sisters in Christ that are waiting to connect with you.  I believe we have a longing for relationships... with God and with one another.  Take advantage of an opportunity to share your life with someone else.  

"I wanna have friends that I can trust,
that love me for the man I’ve become not the man I was.
I wanna have friends that will let me be
all alone when being alone is all that I need.
I wanna fit in to the perfect space,
feel natural and safe in a volatile place." - The Avett Brothers.

speak for me.

As much as we like to believe we have our own voice, where does our voice come from?  We do not live in a vacuum, so the influence of others is seen even in our own unique longing to communicate what we feel as individuals.  We rely on others to communicate for us.  Someone has to speak for me.  I cannot fully describe that which is in my heart.  As much as I would try, I seem to fail to convey that which is most important for me to express.  What is so wrong about relying on another to point to the truth we wish to speak?  If you were going to try and communicate what sin was, why would you leave out the distinct voice of David from Psalm 51?    I am thankful that there are others that God can use who are much more creative than myself to express great eternal truths that come from an individual, but speaks for a community.  Our voices are important but they are never just for us.  We need to perhaps speak for someone else who is not able to say what they wish to say.  We need to show others what we can be, play songs others can sings, and speak for those in need of a voice.

Well they're celebrating broken thingsI don't want a world of broken thingsYou can tell that something isn't rightWhen all your heroes are in black and white
What a drag to sayAt least I still have yesterday
Show me something I can beAnd play a song that I can singMake me feel as I am freeSomeone come speak for me