IPhone Sabbath Revisited

I should first say that I just learned how to turn my own IPhone off.

I should secondly say that I am not allowed to create a rule about the Sabbath. The reason is not that I am a hypocrite, but that Jesus said many things about the Sabbath and they involved less rules - not more.

The Sabbath command appears all over the Bible. And the heart of it is this: take a day off, rest, be with your family, learn that there is a different rhythm to life than the one you see at work and at Schnucks. (Genesis 1, Exodus 16, Exodus 20, etc.)

What does this have to do with your IPhone? If you are a stay at home mom, I can see using your IPhone twice as much as usual on your Sabbath. If texting breathes relational life into your heart, then you should text even more on the Sabbath. But, the way to know if it is a good Sabbath practice is to pay attention to your family. Does texting (or emailing, or using your favorite APP) give you renewed energy to be with your loved ones (the sabbath, of course, applies just as much to single people as married ones)? Are you more relaxed when using these 'time-savers', and genius pieces of technology?

I am on a couple of list serves with multiple men. Most of us have stressful jobs. Posting to the list serve on the weekend might breathe life into some of these men. I say 'might' because creating hard and fast rules on the Sabbath misses the point of Jesus' teachings on it (Matthew 12 for instance).

In Matthew 5-7 Jesus revisits many Old Testament laws and re-imagines them in a broad way. The Sabbath is not included. The Apostle Paul treats the Sabbath similarly in a couple of his letters. The point, then, is not to turn off your IPhone (especially if you don't know how), but to pay attention to what email, texting, the internet, video games, tv, books, food, etc. do to your heart and the rhythms of your life. You are supposed to take a break once/week. You are supposed to slow down, be present to your heart (which hurts if you are used to moving fast), be present to your family, eat, and to play. So, play with your IPhone frequently on the Sabbath. But, do it while paying attention to what it does to the rhythm of your day - which is supposed to be slow.

Disease as Art

As I wait on some posts from our more famous authors (Currently Josh Hogan and Dr. Eswine are fighting for the most hits/post), I will continue to steal compelling posts that I find from other sites.

The reason I am doing this is that I want to think more and better. I want to integrate my Christian Worldview into everything I see.

I came across the art of Luke Jerram through a series of other blogs. His medium is sculpture, his vision is to present disease in a beautiful medium. I encourage you to not only go and look at his work , but also to read the testimonials. It is very powerful to read a man with AIDS describe his reaction to the art that displays what is killing him. It is disorienting to say the least. I cannot fully imagine how disorienting it is for the men and women who see his work and are being affected by any of his diseases.

Our church sponsors an Art Gallery, and even though we already sponsor it, we continue to wrestle with why it is important. One of the many reasons is that: I think it is healthy and good for men and women to be exposed to art. As a cultural form it often deconstructs that which is evil and destructive, and constructs a vision for a world that is not quite as big of a mess as we currently occupy. Luke Jerram's art is an interesting hybrid of those two ideas - displaying the destruction (for whatever reason) and also offering that there is beauty even in these heinously evil diseases.

I hope you have the time to look at his work - even through the internet.

What does this map say about the US: Culture Exercise

This is a map of the United States with lights representing McDonalds franchises.

In the United States, the furthest you can get from a McDonalds is 141 miles.

What does this assume about our world (the fact that the furthest you can get, in America, is 141 miles away)?

What does it assume about the way the world should be?

What does it make possible (easy question) ?

What does it make impossible, or at least more difficult?

What new culture is created in response to this phenomenon?

Pop Poetry V4:

There's a song on the radio right now that for me is a total "toe-tapper" if you will. Rock & Roll has a great beat and a fun, easy to sing along with melody. After hearing the song a couple of times and wanting to sing more than, ah nah nah nah nah, I listened closely to the lyrics and was surprised. This upbeat song is packaged as a happy, go-lucky pop song, but to me the lyrics speak volumes about our culture and the emptiness so many of us have experienced looking for love and hope in the wrong places.

The American culture has reeled me in to the belief that I should always be on the look out for the next best thing. Live for experiences, for a feeling, for having what is good and fun and comfortable. Use people to get to a place or experience I want. If it doesn't work out, move on. Appearances are everything, don't miss a beat, even for a minute. I'm tempted to be cynical about love, cynical about hope, cynical that anything real and true and good exists in this world, especially when it comes to human beings.

This song reminds me that the only place I can find true love and hope, the only thing that can heal my cynicism, is God. This may sound too simple, or maybe I'm looking too deep here. You read the lyrics and tell me what impression they give you...

Rock & Roll by Eric Hutchinson

He’s been waiting
around for the weekend
Figuring which club to sneak in
Fancy drinks and fifty-dollar cover charge
Lately it’s been a big hassle
Heineken and New Castle
To make sure he’s fitting in and living large
Disregard the lies that he will tell
and what he’s probably like 'cause
It's not hard his charm is gonna
Get him through the night

If he wanna rock he rocks
If he wanna roll he rolls
He can roll with the punches
Long as he feels like he’s in control
If he wanna stay he stays
If he wanna go he goes
He doesn’t care how he gets there
Long as he gets somewhere he knows oh no
ah na na na na na na na na na na na
ah na na na na na na na na na na na

See her heavy make up and cut t-shirt
Every girl out wants to be her
But they look the same already why adjust
Reading the magazine secrets
Forget the topical regrets
'Cause If she comes home all alone the night's a
bust
It’s a must the swivel in her hips
And the look she gives
It’s all her trust
if only in the morning She knew where she lived

'Cause If she wanna rock she rocks
If she wanna roll she rolls
She can roll with the punches
Long as she feels like she’s in control
If she wanna stay she stays
If she wanna go she goes
She doesn’t care how she gets there
Long as she gets somewhere she knows oh no
ah na na na na na na na na na na na
ah na na na na na na na na na na na

And in a wink they’re on the brink
From drink to drink and at the bar
With cash to blow
From shot to shot it’s getting hot
Advance the plot to see how far
It’s gonna go
All depends so ditch the friends
And grab a cab
Another chance for cheap romance
Doesn’t count cause the room is spinning
Nothing to lose tonight they both are winning
And they fall in love as they fall in bed
They
sing

If they wanna rock they rock
If they wanna roll they roll
They can roll with the punches
Long as they feel like they're in control
If they wanna stay they stay
If they wanna go they go
They don’t care how they get there
Long as they get somewhere they know oh no
ah na na na na na na na na na na na...

-Natalie Wilson

The Cost of Neighbor-Hatred is Truth

When Jesus started treating Samaritans as neighbors, many of his own crowd turned on him. Why? Because at that time, "Jews had no dealings with Samaritans." (John 4:9) What was Jesus' problem? Jesus' dealings with Samaritans jolted everyone. Some Jews disowned Jesus, called him a sell-out, and declared him mentally unstable. (John 8:48). On the other side, some Samaritans refused basic kindness to Jesus and rejected him outright (Luke 9:51-56). Even the best of Jesus' followers justified their desire to call down fire from heaven and declare Jesus' neighbors as their enemies (Luke 9:54).

Many of his own people now doubted his patriotism and loyalty. Many Samaritans despised him with suspicion and cynicism. He was misunderstood by his own followers. Why then did Jesus persist? Why confront the walls dividing both cultures in this way? His answer? Because according to Jesus, to do otherwise would distort what is true about God. "I do not have a demon" he said. "But I honor my father . . ." (John 8:49).

Sometimes upholding the truth involves classrooms, bullet-points, creedal statements, and stating right content. But what if Jesus had said that Samaritans were worthy of neighbor-love in God's eyes, but then told the same Samaritan jokes as his friends, and made the same Samaritan despising choices as his colleagues in carpentry and his fellow-teachers and members of the Synagogue? To uphold the truth of God's convictions regarding who is a neighbor, Jesus was willing to make relational choices and endure relational hits. The result? Soon there were Jesus followers gathering in Samaria along with other Jewish regions and there was peace among these cross-cultural followers of Jesus (Acts 9).

I am wondering what this all means. It seems that to uphold the truth as a Jesus follower, one must have more than the ability to rightly recite his statements. To uphold the truth of Jesus, it seems, will require relational courage. It takes a savvy courage to recognize genuine differences of belief and practice while still affording the dignity of a neighbor.

I am seeking to hope that the One who turned sons of thunder into Apostles of love will show us this courage. He purchased it for us and will work it in us. Criticism awaits those whom He gives this courage. But so does faith, hope and love. According to Jesus, risking relationship for neighbors in this way honors God.

What does this mean for we who seek to follow Jesus in 63119 and beyond?

Meeting with your Phone

I would like to throw out a bit of encouragement as we begin our 'weekend'. Decide on a time when you are going to turn your phone off, and mean it. The 4th Commandment encourages us to rest from our work, with our family (and our livestock if you have any), and to enjoy the fact that God encourages us to rest - really oppressive this God... with his crazy rules, like "Take a day off"... :)

The first week I had my IPHONE (which I love, and you are allowed to judge me for not texting from) I let it ruin my day by checking my email as I walked back from the park with my girls. I got a bad email, and couldn't focus for the rest of the day thinking about how to reply (or not). Is it the phone's fault? No. It's my fault. So, I told my phone to stop "pushing" my email, and to only check it when I asked. The phone happily complied.

Yesterday at the zoo Caroline (Jasmine) said, "Is Aladdin on his phone?" We were at the zoo, and she was climbing on the enormous bug sculpture. So, I pulled my phone out to see if I had any emails. Caroline noticed I was no longer paying attention to her and mentioned it to me. I'm not calling this sin. I don't know if she cared at all. I am calling it a mistake. In 25 years I doubt I will think 'I wish I would have checked my email more' (insert texting for many of you). But I might regret not watching my strange, funny 3 year old, with her ever-present-tiara climbing on this enormous beetle, calling me Aladdin (Julia is Aboo the Monkey, Rachel is the non-existent Queen), forgetting she has to go to the bathroom, and talking non-stop about Rhinos.

Here is the part of the blog post where I could get into idols. I feel important when people email, it is a pleasant enough distraction to my anxiety and fear, I like having a small computer in my pocket...

But, the better reason to leave my phone in the house tomorrow (because for me Sunday is kind of a work day) is so that I am more intentional with my girls, so that I am less plugged into the Matrix, so that I can take deep breaths and not look for fulfillment in my job, friends, and list-serves. The better reason is to embrace a different rhythm to life than an IPHONE implies - one that includes a Sabbath.

Its just an encouragement: turn your phone off for a set amount of time this weekend. Decide not to check your email, or blogs, or facebook - for a set amount of time (The Jewish scholars would say 25 hours, beginning 18 minutes before sunset - 6:42 tonight - so turn the phone off at 6:24). If you have never done this before I would encourage you to plan your time without your phone, and just shoot for a few hours. Enjoy your weekend, see you Sunday.

-Matt Blazer

Movie Review: The Informant

Amid mediocre Rotten Tomato reviews (high 60’s), but with the hope that the movie would live up to its well crafted, but poorly representative (what else is new?) trailers, my dad and I went to see The Informant tonight. The Informant, (not to be confused with a similarly titled film The Insider, directed by Michael Mann and possibly one of the best films ever made), is director Steven Soderbergh’s most recent film, based on a true story, about Mark Whitacre, former Senior Exec at ADM who became both one of the greatest corporate whistle-blowers of all time, and also one of the biggest white collar criminals simultaneously. Though I knew little about the story, some quick Google fact checking supports most of the depiction of Mark’s life and his efforts to blow the lid on massive corporate theft (international market price fixing), while embezzling (during the time he aided the FBI mind you) more than 9 Million dollars. Regardless of how honest Matt Damon’s depiction of the character was, I will say, he, as usual, did an excellent job, breathing some life to the film. I wasn’t sure what the movie would be about, it just looked like it would be a comedy. The truth is, it really wasn’t very funny at all. Sure, there were a few funny moments, but most of the movie leaves you feeling awkward and even kind of a pity for this bizarre character who was so caught up in lies and deception that he ruined over a decade of his life, and will be, in many cases, somewhat villianized for the rest of his life.

While the film failed to meet expectations (though I’m starting to feel like this is what I can expect out of Soderbergh after all), it did do a great job of illustrating a captivating picture of the human condition. Whitacre, for instance, one of the brightest and most successful individuals of his time, was a thief, but he didn’t start out that way. In fact, if there is a theme in the movie, or rather, if there was a main character, it wasn’t actually Whitacre, but rather it was the amassed tangled web of his lies and deceitfulness that leave your mouth dropping. It’s in fact, hardly at all about the initial crime of his embezzlement, but rather his lie, which led to more lies, which led to a snowball of lies that almost seem delusional. (Remember Martha Stewart?) I guess why I felt pity, more than humor walking out of the theater, is because I’m not sure I, or any one of us are all that different than the man. Sure the magnitude of his failures are probably larger than each of ours, but the fact is, all of us lie. We lie in some way, shape or form often. Whether it’s an overt lie, a white lie (whatever that is) or a more subtle omission of information that might make us look bad… we all do it.

If you are like me, and wonder what scripture says about lying, you’ll find that it aint just one of the Ten Commandments, in fact, the bible is rife with examples of deceit and the disaster that ensues soon after. Just driving home from the Moolah, my dad and I rattled off probably a dozen different clear examples. If you have time, reference the stories of Laban and Isaac, Jacob and Esau, David and Uriah, Samson and Delilah, Cain and Able, Ananias and Sapphira, Peter, Judas, and the grand-daddy and grandma of all deceivers, Adam and Eve. After quick reflection, it’s evident that the bible is trying to tell us something about lying. Whenever God uses this many illustrations, which centralize around a single topic, we should probably take note.

Having wrestled earlier in my faith, and still sometimes today, with the feeling like God’s laws for us are somewhat legalistic, movies like The Informant do a great service in helping illustrate that God gave us his laws, not out of self-righteous piety, but to protect us, his children. For, the same reason that I grab my children sternly when they are about to run into the street, it’s clear that God loves us so much, He’s willing to create boundaries for us to ensure that we can know the true joy of living a life that he’s designed us for.

Having worked in the corporate sector for over a decade, and in fact in similar industries like ADM, it’s actually really easy to relate to the culture of greed and deceit. But we don’t escape it when we go home from work. My kids lie (not out of malice, but maybe out of a joke or even out of a little self-protection); then I think about how I lovingly can illustrate the harm they are causing to themselves and to others by doing that. I guess the best way to teach them is to model real, righteous, vulnerable honesty, even when it hurts.

It’s important to note that the bible gives us examples of amazing honesty as well. Paul for instance, was not afraid to be honest about his allegiance to Jesus, even in the wake of personal harm and eventually death. The most re-assuring example for me in scripture however, is David, because even “the man after God’s own heart” felt victim to lies and deceit. And even though he experienced a life-time of anquish and hardship as a penalty for his sin, He found redemption and renewal in his relationship with God. That’s the kind of thing that can really inspire hope.

From a movie perspective, I’d file this under “RENTER”. But be sure to do just that. It’s maybe not what you’ll expect, but it’s worth seeing, if you want to be reminded of the dangers of deceit, and see an overweight toupee-wearing version of Matt Damon.

PS – It will also give all of you free-range egg lovin, whole-foods grocery shopping, high fructose corn hatin people, just one more reason to hate the Food industry. Man… all of this writing is making me want a Big Mac and a Hostess Cherry Pie. Later!

-Josh Hogan