Discerning Gods will is tough. Its one of the hardest things in the whole world.
I makes a human who is sinful by nature and requires him to put aside there wants and desires and makes them think outside there boundaries and let randomness take over.
This randomness isn't really random humans only think it is this way.
A friend said this too me and it got me thinking this is the message he left me
Seems like you're workin' against some pretty hard stuff right now, broseph. Remember what I said tonight about the way we respond to the call of God. Just like Jesus, it's alright to be afraid and scared (and terrified!) of what is to come in the future, but if we walk on a pathway laid by the Father, fear has no place. I will pray for you. - E.T.
Right now I'm again in a place where I'm not sure of Gods call and really have been afraid of it but thats ok Im being like Jesus in being scared I'm definitely not in as scary a situation but this is a turning point in my life. Doing Gods will and Gods will is an idea called The Kingdom of God or Basileia tou Theou in Greek. The problem is most humans don't understand this is not a physical kingdom or nation but rather its a idea its a set of ethics that are generally counter cultural and what I call the third way usually a debate has two sides most of the time God makes his own option. Just another thought of mine.
"God has spoken the rest is commentary right?"-Rev. Rob Bell
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Credo in unum Deum Credo in quae Credo
or I believe in One God, I believe What I believe
Everyone believes something this is what i believe. I wanna hear where you agree and disagree and what you believe in whole
I believe in One God Yahweh Almighty
Creator, Author, Perfecter, Poet of Ground and Sky
I believe in Yeshoua the Messiah the only Son of God
Who in his very Nature is both fully God yet fully Human
Conceived in the flesh by the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit
Sent to Earth to usher in the return of Eden.
In so restoring The Kingdom of God.
In order to do so Gods only Son lived a perfect life,
Was forced to die the Death of A Murderer
He was hung on a cross in order to fulfill the scripture,
In doing so he defeated Death and the power of the Devil.
Upon Death he Descended to Sheol
To tell The Dead the Good news
On the third day he left sheol and ascended to Earth
To pour out the holy spirit on all who believe
He then ascended into Heaven where He is seated at Gods right hand
Interceding for all of humanity until the day he comes again
To restore perfect Justice and finally restore Heaven to Earth
I believe in One Holy Church
made up of many denominations in many locations
Whose job is to restore Heaven to Earth
One random act of kindness at a time
I Believe In One God Who Is Three
Father, Son ,Holy Sprit
Three in One, One in Three
This is What I Believe
Everyone believes something this is what i believe. I wanna hear where you agree and disagree and what you believe in whole
I believe in One God Yahweh Almighty
Creator, Author, Perfecter, Poet of Ground and Sky
I believe in Yeshoua the Messiah the only Son of God
Who in his very Nature is both fully God yet fully Human
Conceived in the flesh by the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit
Sent to Earth to usher in the return of Eden.
In so restoring The Kingdom of God.
In order to do so Gods only Son lived a perfect life,
Was forced to die the Death of A Murderer
He was hung on a cross in order to fulfill the scripture,
In doing so he defeated Death and the power of the Devil.
Upon Death he Descended to Sheol
To tell The Dead the Good news
On the third day he left sheol and ascended to Earth
To pour out the holy spirit on all who believe
He then ascended into Heaven where He is seated at Gods right hand
Interceding for all of humanity until the day he comes again
To restore perfect Justice and finally restore Heaven to Earth
I believe in One Holy Church
made up of many denominations in many locations
Whose job is to restore Heaven to Earth
One random act of kindness at a time
I Believe In One God Who Is Three
Father, Son ,Holy Sprit
Three in One, One in Three
This is What I Believe
Monday, November 26, 2007
BOSSA NOVA INDIE ROCK EXPLOSION
So today a friend of mind told be about too indie rock bands the first being Vampire Weekend who describe there sound as Punk / New Wave / Classical there sound is similar to The Shins with a classical twist there sound is quite impressive. The Next Band is the one that really stands out Nouvelle Vague Nouvelle Vague is a band from France that does 1960's style bossa nova covers of 80's Punk Rock and New Wave songs. Check out there cover of too dunk to fuck by the dead kennedys it will totally blow your mind. There Influences Include the following and the diversity in there Influences really shows
POST PUNK BANDS: Joy Division, the Cure, Human League...
60's BOSSA NOVA: Jobim, Sergio Mendes, Gilberto...
60's & 70's JAZZ: Miles Davis, Hancock, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Don Cherry...
AVANT GARDE ARTISTS: Luc Ferrari, Parmegiani, Stockhausen, Xenakis, Cage...
SOUNDTRACKS COMPOSERS: J Barry, F. de Roubaix, Shiffrin, Morricone, Lgrand, Roy Budd...
FANTASTIC FEMALE SINGERS: Julie London, Dusty Springfield, Nancy Sinatra, Bobby Gentry...
AND Jamaican Roots Music, Mento, Ska, Rocksteady, Dub
Electronica, Autechre, Jackson, Matmos, Curtis Road...
POST PUNK BANDS: Joy Division, the Cure, Human League...
60's BOSSA NOVA: Jobim, Sergio Mendes, Gilberto...
60's & 70's JAZZ: Miles Davis, Hancock, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Don Cherry...
AVANT GARDE ARTISTS: Luc Ferrari, Parmegiani, Stockhausen, Xenakis, Cage...
SOUNDTRACKS COMPOSERS: J Barry, F. de Roubaix, Shiffrin, Morricone, Lgrand, Roy Budd...
FANTASTIC FEMALE SINGERS: Julie London, Dusty Springfield, Nancy Sinatra, Bobby Gentry...
AND Jamaican Roots Music, Mento, Ska, Rocksteady, Dub
Electronica, Autechre, Jackson, Matmos, Curtis Road...
Gravity Rides Everythings
Today was relatively uneventful. I saw my family, got some food at chilies and watched Accepted as far as main stream movies goes it was pretty good. I noticed again a trend with modern movies incorporating underground concepts or ideas, music, and art into there films. Modest Mouse's song Gravity Rides Everything was featured along with a poster of a European rock band who at the time of writing this i cant remember. Also behind the films front as a teenage comedy it is really about alternative education and the imperfections in the college system. I feel the church needs to embrace this idea and not make everything good have the "Christian" title cant something be good with out saying Jesus 10 times. Another thought that keeps me on the verge of insanity
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Dailyish Blog One
Today I came back to school. Started Pre-recording a song I wrote. I'm reviewing my life now and trying to use the Reform, Reclaim, Renew stuff to make my life better Im working on self improvement so I can better serve the Kingdom.
This is the first of many daily or so blogs in my life
This is the first of many daily or so blogs in my life
Reform, Reclaim, Renew
The following is a copy of in essay I did for class about a new concept I have I'm going to edit the essay into a more blog friendly format soon but until then I want to know what people think of the idea
Raymond “R.C.” Makris
Dr. Dave Ellingson
FOYM “Contemplative Youth Ministry”
November 5th 2007
Reform, Reclaim, Renew
After FOYM was over I tried to come up with a topic that really captured the topic of the event and what affect the conference had on me but I struggled to do so to no avail. One thing did stand out to me and I have chosen to write about it because its the FOYM event that really got me thinking about this. While Attending the FOYM I was struck by something Mark Yaconelli said but strangely when It came time to write this reflection I cant remember what he said exactly or even a summery of what his point was, what I can remember were the thoughts that followed. In-fact Mark’s words have had me thinking for days now. In the notes I was taking this is what I said For the church to be a Counter culture it must be ever Reforming, Reclaiming, and Renewing. This Idea struck me it made a lot of sense and I have been exploring it ever since. Over the length of this essay I will look at what each of these means and why there important to the church not just in the area of youth ministry but the church from top to bottom.
The first step in this top to bottom change is reformation, as Lutherans we know all about this our denomination was the first to reform and break away from the Roman Catholic Church and it all started with an essay nailed to a door in 1517 but since then the Lutheran Church has not really reformed all that much. This needs to change reformation has been a key element of the church since the beginning. We shouldn't even call this Reform because really the church is always reforming because the job is never done. Rob bell puts it like this in his book Velvet Elvis Protestants are always reforming because No-one can put God in a box. Throughout the scriptures humans try to put God in a box but then there is reform because God is always stirring up new ways for people to live, breaking down barriers, smashing the box till its nothing. It starts with Abraham and the new concept that there is only one God. Then God giving Moses the law, a law that creates a system designed to have people treated better but the people under this law decide to use it as a way to marginalize large groups of people and treat those people unfairly. In response to this God decides to take this a step further finally he gives the world the greatest of all reformations this time coming in the form-of a Rabbi named Jesus who calls for a new community, one that acts differently then the old. This community is counter cultural its all about reform and loving all peoples. New Oxford American Dictionary describes reform in this way Reform (rĭ-fôrm') verb 1.Make changes in (something) in-order to improve it. The key phrase they use in the dictionary is in-order to improve it. In a world that loves solid foundations how ever false the solidness may be the idea of change and reform scares many especially in the Church but it is necessary to remain relevant. Remaining the same holds comfort while reform causes struggles but my understanding is you never change everything and reforming is nothing without reclaiming the good things of the past.
Reclaiming is the next step in the process of making the Church counter cultural again. Reclaiming is the act of taking back the lost good things from the past. In the context of Church this could be a ritual that has stopped being used like the Passover meal or an old song that hasn’t been played in many years. The key to reclaiming is to only bring back things of value for example if you started singing a song that lyrics are in a style of English with wording that doesn’t make sense in the way we speak now the song wont be edifying. So in-order to reclaim we must discern if this thing should be restored by deciding if it will help the community understand God. Reclaiming may be as easy as explaining the meanings of rituals the still do but the people no longer know the meanings of such as the ritual of Advent each candle has a meaning and the colors all have significance but most members of the church do not know this. The Idea of Reclaiming is not new and has existed in biblical history from the very beginning. The whole biblical narrative is about God restoring humans back to what there intended to be after original sin bringing us back to Eden. Jesus preached about the Kingdom of God being near and what he meant by this was that Gods going to restore us to Eden and we can help to do this. God reclaims his people the Jews after there forced out of Israel several times throughout the old testament but goes a step forward and with Jesus’ death reclaims all people as his children and forgives there sins. We as the church have the duty and honor to aid God in good works reclaiming the kingdom for God and this needs to be done in the Church as well as outside. The Church cant only be about the past though it needs to be relevant in todays world.
For the church to remain relevant in todays world it must renew or update. If you heard someone talking in Old-English your reaction would most likely be something along the lines of what’s wrong with them? Then why does the church continue to act this way? Only in the last few decades has the church started to use modern translations of the bible even though the modern translations were more accurate and were written in todays language. Churches instead used the outdated King James Version because it had been the standard and the language sounded more “Holy” but the “Holy” language was just outdated speech patterns of the past. The Church not only needs to renew by using better translations but needs to think about renewing everything and discern what to keep and what to update. This update can be technological, architectural, and textual. Renewal and update is also a biblical concept one major example of this is Jesus’ death it gets rid of the old outdated ritual of animal sacrifice. I would go as far to say that this ritual that quickly grew outdated was in the old testament law was purely to make things right between humans that God doesnt require the shedding of blood. The author of Hebrews says it this way The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, O God.' " First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. The author of Hebrews is talking about both reform and renewal here getting rid of a ritual that wasn't helpful and making the Church more reasonable to modern people. Imagine going into church and bringing an animal and killing it on the alter seems a little extreme I know i would personally come back to a Church that killed animals as part of the service. This is an extreme example but the Church needs to remain cultural up to-date.
This conference has inspired me to think about how to remain counter cultural and up to date as a member of a Church this should be done on a personal level as well as a systematic one. I was greatly surprised how much this event has changed me and made me think. It has changed me in ways far from the direct topic as you can tell from the past few pages. I would like to thank Mark and Trinity’s Youth and Family Ministry Department for this opportunity to learn a lot about the Church and myself.
Raymond “R.C.” Makris
Dr. Dave Ellingson
FOYM “Contemplative Youth Ministry”
November 5th 2007
Reform, Reclaim, Renew
After FOYM was over I tried to come up with a topic that really captured the topic of the event and what affect the conference had on me but I struggled to do so to no avail. One thing did stand out to me and I have chosen to write about it because its the FOYM event that really got me thinking about this. While Attending the FOYM I was struck by something Mark Yaconelli said but strangely when It came time to write this reflection I cant remember what he said exactly or even a summery of what his point was, what I can remember were the thoughts that followed. In-fact Mark’s words have had me thinking for days now. In the notes I was taking this is what I said For the church to be a Counter culture it must be ever Reforming, Reclaiming, and Renewing. This Idea struck me it made a lot of sense and I have been exploring it ever since. Over the length of this essay I will look at what each of these means and why there important to the church not just in the area of youth ministry but the church from top to bottom.
The first step in this top to bottom change is reformation, as Lutherans we know all about this our denomination was the first to reform and break away from the Roman Catholic Church and it all started with an essay nailed to a door in 1517 but since then the Lutheran Church has not really reformed all that much. This needs to change reformation has been a key element of the church since the beginning. We shouldn't even call this Reform because really the church is always reforming because the job is never done. Rob bell puts it like this in his book Velvet Elvis Protestants are always reforming because No-one can put God in a box. Throughout the scriptures humans try to put God in a box but then there is reform because God is always stirring up new ways for people to live, breaking down barriers, smashing the box till its nothing. It starts with Abraham and the new concept that there is only one God. Then God giving Moses the law, a law that creates a system designed to have people treated better but the people under this law decide to use it as a way to marginalize large groups of people and treat those people unfairly. In response to this God decides to take this a step further finally he gives the world the greatest of all reformations this time coming in the form-of a Rabbi named Jesus who calls for a new community, one that acts differently then the old. This community is counter cultural its all about reform and loving all peoples. New Oxford American Dictionary describes reform in this way Reform (rĭ-fôrm') verb 1.Make changes in (something) in-order to improve it. The key phrase they use in the dictionary is in-order to improve it. In a world that loves solid foundations how ever false the solidness may be the idea of change and reform scares many especially in the Church but it is necessary to remain relevant. Remaining the same holds comfort while reform causes struggles but my understanding is you never change everything and reforming is nothing without reclaiming the good things of the past.
Reclaiming is the next step in the process of making the Church counter cultural again. Reclaiming is the act of taking back the lost good things from the past. In the context of Church this could be a ritual that has stopped being used like the Passover meal or an old song that hasn’t been played in many years. The key to reclaiming is to only bring back things of value for example if you started singing a song that lyrics are in a style of English with wording that doesn’t make sense in the way we speak now the song wont be edifying. So in-order to reclaim we must discern if this thing should be restored by deciding if it will help the community understand God. Reclaiming may be as easy as explaining the meanings of rituals the still do but the people no longer know the meanings of such as the ritual of Advent each candle has a meaning and the colors all have significance but most members of the church do not know this. The Idea of Reclaiming is not new and has existed in biblical history from the very beginning. The whole biblical narrative is about God restoring humans back to what there intended to be after original sin bringing us back to Eden. Jesus preached about the Kingdom of God being near and what he meant by this was that Gods going to restore us to Eden and we can help to do this. God reclaims his people the Jews after there forced out of Israel several times throughout the old testament but goes a step forward and with Jesus’ death reclaims all people as his children and forgives there sins. We as the church have the duty and honor to aid God in good works reclaiming the kingdom for God and this needs to be done in the Church as well as outside. The Church cant only be about the past though it needs to be relevant in todays world.
For the church to remain relevant in todays world it must renew or update. If you heard someone talking in Old-English your reaction would most likely be something along the lines of what’s wrong with them? Then why does the church continue to act this way? Only in the last few decades has the church started to use modern translations of the bible even though the modern translations were more accurate and were written in todays language. Churches instead used the outdated King James Version because it had been the standard and the language sounded more “Holy” but the “Holy” language was just outdated speech patterns of the past. The Church not only needs to renew by using better translations but needs to think about renewing everything and discern what to keep and what to update. This update can be technological, architectural, and textual. Renewal and update is also a biblical concept one major example of this is Jesus’ death it gets rid of the old outdated ritual of animal sacrifice. I would go as far to say that this ritual that quickly grew outdated was in the old testament law was purely to make things right between humans that God doesnt require the shedding of blood. The author of Hebrews says it this way The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, O God.' " First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. The author of Hebrews is talking about both reform and renewal here getting rid of a ritual that wasn't helpful and making the Church more reasonable to modern people. Imagine going into church and bringing an animal and killing it on the alter seems a little extreme I know i would personally come back to a Church that killed animals as part of the service. This is an extreme example but the Church needs to remain cultural up to-date.
This conference has inspired me to think about how to remain counter cultural and up to date as a member of a Church this should be done on a personal level as well as a systematic one. I was greatly surprised how much this event has changed me and made me think. It has changed me in ways far from the direct topic as you can tell from the past few pages. I would like to thank Mark and Trinity’s Youth and Family Ministry Department for this opportunity to learn a lot about the Church and myself.
My Blog
All the posts before are a collection of blog posts from my myspace over the last year theres alot of emotion from alot of different things in there. The Grammar and spelling in these posts and most of my work is not good if your a grammar buff and find errors and want to correct it correct it and send me a edited copy and ill be sure to post it.
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