I am making the switch to wordpress. So, please feel free to update links and come visit me at chrismpowell.wordpress.com.
Shalom,
Chris
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Stepping aside
I thought the hardest part of working at Asbury would be NOT putting together services and NOT teaching from the podium. Today, that misconception went out the window. As Holly and I attended our first Sunday at Asbury, something incredible happened: we found ourselves in a sacred space. I know that this may sound weird as I have worked in a Church for the past 7 years, but today I was aware of the sacredness of the worship gathering. As the Pastor and the staff on stage talked about the Church's mission, both in Huntsville and in upcoming mission trips, I found myself connecting to something bigger than me. As I was sitting there listen to the songs being sung about not needing anything that the world has to offer and surrendering all to Jesus, I found myself desiring nothing more than to be at work, behind the scenes if necessary, making sure that this eager group of believers accomplishes their mission of working with God in what God is doing in the World. I cherish the idea that I can join with this group of believers and do what I can to see that the Kingdom of God is at work in the life of the people of Asbury.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
I was destined to be Methodist?!
I am now officially Methodist...sort of. I recently took a job in the communications department of Asbury United Methodist in Madison, AL. Changes are always interesting, but this is one that I am excited about. Leaving College Park after seven years in youth ministry was a hard thing to do. I love the people and the youth, however, I could no longer work under the present leadership. In ministry you have to be able to trust those around you. When you can no longer do that, it's time to leave and thus our only reason for leaving. To my fellow staffers, Mike, Angie, and Carol, we love you and you are in our prayers. On a more positive note, my first day at Asbury was great! The people there were so friendly. I cannot even begin to tell you how refreshing it is to see a group of people that are so committed to mission! In my orientation, I was introduced to the values of the Church: prayer and mission. How incredibly simple and profound is that! My immediate supervisor in the department appears to be a great person to work for (not to mention she is a Mac person). I am excited about what lies ahead at Asbury.
Now, you may ask why I said I was destined to be Methodist? The last time that I was going to leave College Park, I was in talks with a Methodist Church in Florida regarding youth ministry. Apparently, upon leaving College Park, I was destined to be Methodist!
As a closing thought, I have been reciting a quote from Wesley in my head (this proves that I am Methodist right?). I would like to share it with you and pray it over my friends and family still at College Park, "I have been saved, I am being saved, I will be saved."
Shalom,
Chris
Monday, April 21, 2008
The Shadows Prove the Sun...
The following is a mirror post from the staff blog at College Park. I am going to try to use the idea of mirror posts to get started blogging again on blogger.
"The shadows prove the sun..."
I sat in Spraggins Hall at UAH last night and listened to these words sung by Switchfoot.* I usually think that the lyrics of contemporary Christian songs are, ummm…cheesy. That’s why it was such a refreshing surprise to hear songs dealing with topics like unbridled consumerism, and in this case, lament.
Walter Brueggemann in his work on the Psalms has brought to light the fact that lament was a regular part of the worship in Psalms. Why do we feel that we must “overcome” our lament? Can we not find God in the midst of our lament? Unfortunately many Christians, especially in Pentecostal circles, have adopted the “don’t speak it into existence” theology. I am fully aware that there are things around me right now that I need to lament. I will not try to run away from them, push them under the rug, or pretend like everything is always fine. I will choose to worship God by lamenting over the things that break the heart of God. I will also choose to lament each and every time that God’s will falls secondary to the wills of those who seem to know better.
To give up our ability to worship through lament, is to give up on the idea of a covenanting God. The covenant is a two-sided agreement. “I will be your God and YOU will be my people.” Lament is one thing that draws us into covenantal relationship with God, which is after all, the point. To refuse to lament is to believe that God is some type of cosmic Santa Claus that only hands out blessings to the people of God if they are good. We are not bystanders in the providential rule of God but, as much as we live in the kingdom of God, are co-workers with God in the great creation restoration project that finds its fulfillment in the resurrected Christ.
The question that I must ask myself now is this: “do I only focus only upon the ‘blessings’ of God and in so doing miss what God is doing in the shadows? Do I run away from the lament in my life and pretend that everything is great?”
Do I really believe that the shadows prove the Sun?
Shalom,
Chris
"The shadows prove the sun..."
I sat in Spraggins Hall at UAH last night and listened to these words sung by Switchfoot.* I usually think that the lyrics of contemporary Christian songs are, ummm…cheesy. That’s why it was such a refreshing surprise to hear songs dealing with topics like unbridled consumerism, and in this case, lament.
Walter Brueggemann in his work on the Psalms has brought to light the fact that lament was a regular part of the worship in Psalms. Why do we feel that we must “overcome” our lament? Can we not find God in the midst of our lament? Unfortunately many Christians, especially in Pentecostal circles, have adopted the “don’t speak it into existence” theology. I am fully aware that there are things around me right now that I need to lament. I will not try to run away from them, push them under the rug, or pretend like everything is always fine. I will choose to worship God by lamenting over the things that break the heart of God. I will also choose to lament each and every time that God’s will falls secondary to the wills of those who seem to know better.
To give up our ability to worship through lament, is to give up on the idea of a covenanting God. The covenant is a two-sided agreement. “I will be your God and YOU will be my people.” Lament is one thing that draws us into covenantal relationship with God, which is after all, the point. To refuse to lament is to believe that God is some type of cosmic Santa Claus that only hands out blessings to the people of God if they are good. We are not bystanders in the providential rule of God but, as much as we live in the kingdom of God, are co-workers with God in the great creation restoration project that finds its fulfillment in the resurrected Christ.
The question that I must ask myself now is this: “do I only focus only upon the ‘blessings’ of God and in so doing miss what God is doing in the shadows? Do I run away from the lament in my life and pretend that everything is great?”
Do I really believe that the shadows prove the Sun?
Shalom,
Chris
Friday, March 28, 2008
Pentecostal Pacifism
Just got an email from the great people at the PCPF (Pentecostal/Charismatic Peace Fellowship) about a new book that is out by Jay Beaman. The book is entitled "Pentecostal pacifism: The origin, development, and rejection of pacific belief among Pentecostals." I have not yet had a chance to read the book but I hope to order it this week! You can find it on Amazon.com by clicking here.
Shalom,
Chris
Shalom,
Chris
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Back with a Bang
After a long break, I thought I would break the blogging ice with a very thought provoking piece from Dick Cheney. This was sent to me today through a moveon.org email.
Also, if you are a friend of ours or are familiar with our adoption story, you should know that we are about to finally post some pictures of our new family!
Shalom,
Chris
Also, if you are a friend of ours or are familiar with our adoption story, you should know that we are about to finally post some pictures of our new family!
Shalom,
Chris
Thursday, May 17, 2007
The revelation of God in the Law
When questioned regarding his interpretation of the Torah, Jesus claimed that the two greatest commandments were as follows: "'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:29-31) Ok, keep this in mind. We'll come back to it in a minute.
Think back to the Hebrew Scriptures. What is the most famous revelation of God's self in these scriptures? "I am that I am." (Exodus 3:14) We are all very aware of this self-revelation of God if for no other reason than we have all heard no less than 50 bad sermons preached on this verse. The interpretation of this passage is tricky at best and consequently leads preachers all over the board as they are trying to preach it. What we can say of this verse is that it is inherently an ontological declaration. There is no need to go outside of God to find God. This is a statement of being and not doing. True, the declaration is given to Moses as a means of initiating his involvement in the Exodus. However, the true force behind the Exodus is the very nature of God that is constantly at work in the world setting people free and giving voice to the oppressed. The action of God, and consequently God's people, come out of who God is.
Now, jump ahead to the New Testament. What is the most famous revelation of God in the New Testament? "God is Love." There is no more straight-forward declaration of God that this. Except for the fact that no one can really define what love is! There are two things, however, that we do know about love: love cannot be mistaken when experience and love always seeks the good of the one being loved. Even if we cannot give a concise definition of what love is, we do know it when we experience it. There is no doubting this. Thomas Merton once wrote that love is only love when it seeks the good of the one being loved. The presupposition of this statement is that there is an other to be loved! One cannot love without being in relationship with another! So, love automatically, in seeking the good of the other, draws us into relationship with the other. Furthermore, as Levinas would state, it is our relationship to the other that both necessitates and defines justice.
What is the point of all of this? In Jesus' answer to the question regarding the greatest commandment, he simply restates the self-revelation of God given in the scriptures! "Love the Lord your God..." How can one do this unless one roots themselves in the God who is! Once we are rooted in the God who is, doing springs forth as an extension of our being. Because we are in God, now we experience love. This love drives us into relationship with our neighbor, with the other, and seeks the good of the other over ourselves. This may sound familiar, "the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many," "no greater love has any many than this, that he lay down his life for his friends," and the list goes on and on.
I realize that the implications of this entry are rather basic to the Christian faith. Still I need to be reminded that we find ourselves in God and then go and do the work of God. Paul says it best (actually the heathen poets of Crete say it best), "it is in Him we live and move and have our being."
Shalom.
Think back to the Hebrew Scriptures. What is the most famous revelation of God's self in these scriptures? "I am that I am." (Exodus 3:14) We are all very aware of this self-revelation of God if for no other reason than we have all heard no less than 50 bad sermons preached on this verse. The interpretation of this passage is tricky at best and consequently leads preachers all over the board as they are trying to preach it. What we can say of this verse is that it is inherently an ontological declaration. There is no need to go outside of God to find God. This is a statement of being and not doing. True, the declaration is given to Moses as a means of initiating his involvement in the Exodus. However, the true force behind the Exodus is the very nature of God that is constantly at work in the world setting people free and giving voice to the oppressed. The action of God, and consequently God's people, come out of who God is.
Now, jump ahead to the New Testament. What is the most famous revelation of God in the New Testament? "God is Love." There is no more straight-forward declaration of God that this. Except for the fact that no one can really define what love is! There are two things, however, that we do know about love: love cannot be mistaken when experience and love always seeks the good of the one being loved. Even if we cannot give a concise definition of what love is, we do know it when we experience it. There is no doubting this. Thomas Merton once wrote that love is only love when it seeks the good of the one being loved. The presupposition of this statement is that there is an other to be loved! One cannot love without being in relationship with another! So, love automatically, in seeking the good of the other, draws us into relationship with the other. Furthermore, as Levinas would state, it is our relationship to the other that both necessitates and defines justice.
What is the point of all of this? In Jesus' answer to the question regarding the greatest commandment, he simply restates the self-revelation of God given in the scriptures! "Love the Lord your God..." How can one do this unless one roots themselves in the God who is! Once we are rooted in the God who is, doing springs forth as an extension of our being. Because we are in God, now we experience love. This love drives us into relationship with our neighbor, with the other, and seeks the good of the other over ourselves. This may sound familiar, "the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many," "no greater love has any many than this, that he lay down his life for his friends," and the list goes on and on.
I realize that the implications of this entry are rather basic to the Christian faith. Still I need to be reminded that we find ourselves in God and then go and do the work of God. Paul says it best (actually the heathen poets of Crete say it best), "it is in Him we live and move and have our being."
Shalom.
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