Re-blogging.

I’ve just brought over some very old blogs from a previous blog I used to maintain (salvokat.lifewithchrist.org), and I thought I’d draw your attention to them. There’s some gems in there – very surprising as I read over them!

Muscles
”Practicing Grace is like working your spiritual muscle. If you dont use it, then it’ll seize up and die. Ouch.”

…The Church will be found.
Alan Hirsch in The Forgotten Ways

New Words & Insights
…e tour d’horizon, antecedent, civilisatrice, deplorable, tautological, nascent…

In Other Words
“Through being a "peculiar people," the people of God can bear witness to the will of God, as well as bring about transformative change for the cities in which they dwell.”

Transparency
"It was like I was transparent, It was like you could see through me to something bigger."

Proleptic
“…that which represents or characterises something in the future as having already occurred, or already having been accomplished in the present.”

Enjoy!

Top Ten Reasons Why Men Shouldn’t Be Ordained.

The cut-out below can add good food for thought to the Women-in-Ministry debate that occurs to no end outside The Salvation Army, and is often avoided within The Salvation Army, because “we’ve had women in ministry from the beginning…” Yes we have, but…

So as Nathan Hobby says, few arguments are as engaging as humour. Maybe taking a look at the humour in it can help us to look at ourselves more closely! And btw, replace the word “Ordained” with “Commissioned”, or similar for the sake of the context; because ordination in The Salvation Army is a whole other issue!

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Top Ten Reasons Why Men Should Not Be Ordained

10. A man’s place is in the army.
9. For men who have children, their duties might distract them from the responsibilities of being a parent.
8. Their physical build indicates that men are more suited to tasks such as chopping down trees and wrestling mountain lions. It would be “unnatural” for them to do other forms of work.
7. Man was created before woman. It is therefore obvious that man was a prototype. Thus, they represent an experiment, rather than the crowning achievement of creation.
6. Men are too emotional to be priests or pastors. This is easily demonstrated by their conduct at football games and watching basketball tournaments.
5. Some men are handsome; they will distract women worshipers.
4. To be ordained pastor is to nurture the congregation. But this is not a traditional male role. Rather, throughout history, women have been considered to be not only more skilled than men at nurturing, but also more frequently attracted to it. This makes them the obvious choice for ordination.
3. Men are overly prone to violence. No really manly man wants to settle disputes by any means other than by fighting about it. Thus, they would be poor role models, as well as being dangerously unstable in positions of leadership.
2. Men can still be involved in church activities, even without being ordained. They can sweep paths, repair the church roof, and maybe even lead the singing on Father’s Day. By confining themselves to such traditional male roles, they can still be vitally important in the life of the Church.
1. In the New Testament account, the person who betrayed Jesus was a man. Thus, his lack of faith and ensuing punishment stands as a symbol of the subordinated position that all men should take.

…the Church will be found.

"Start with the Church and the mission will probably get lost. Start with mission and it is likely that the Church will be found."

- Alan Hirsch in The Forgotton Ways quoting Graham Cray in The Mission Shaped Church.

Proleptic

Word of the Day:

"Proleptic" is that which represents or characterises something in the future as having already occurred, or already having been accomplished in the present.

I read it today in a Chapter called "The Gospel; Repent, for the Kingdom Is at Hand" in a Section called "What Disciples Believe" in a book called "Mere Discipleship; Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World" by Lee C. Camp. I can’t recommend the book to you yet, because I’ve not yet read it in it’s entirety, nor understood much of what I’ve read, however it’s a challenging read, with some great "Ah huh!" moments so far!

Camp is using the adjective "Proleptic" here:

"Jesus’ life and ministry – and subsequently the life and ministry of the church – thus proleptically realizes that coming age, in which the enemies of God will be entirely defeated. So, Jesus "watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightening" (Luke 10:18). but Satan’s ultimate defeat still stands in the future".

Kinda like when I read the other day a conversation… "Why don’t you just give up?" "Well because I’ve read to the end of the book, and we win!"

The Victory has already been won! Hallelujah. We’ve just gotta live as though we believe it, and do our part to usher in the new kingdom.

"Moreover, if the gospel be true, then our fundamental identity will be wrapped up in the new kingdom. Full allegiance must be given, shared with no other. There is no dual citizenship, but only complete commitment and obedience… Indeed, it is as if we have called to a holy war. Everything must now be set aside for this one calling."