Holy Scripture?

With so many Christians today being taught to only believe in the authority of the Bible this leaves them open to be persuaded by any interpretation of it, therefore we must develop a system of interpretation that will allow the text to speak to us today in a way that is true to the God that inspired the writing of it in the first place. This will require effort on the part of the reader and a responsibility to not simply read the text as a modern day writing but to treat it as Holy and therefore demanding of extra care and skill in determining the meaning of the text.

One way that I propose we do this is called the particular, universal, particular method. What this method requires of us is to first start with the particularity of the text. To realize that it was written in a particular time, in a particular place, in a particular community, for a particular situation. From there we can move on to the universality of the text. That is the eternal or timeless truth communicated by the particular situation. This could be a method or a principal that transcends the culture and place where the text was written. After we have found this timeless truth, or perhaps after this timeless truth has found us, we then can move to our own particular time, because the text was not simply written for our own timeless abstract theories but for the application in our daily lives. We can see this in the fact that the text was not written in an abstract universal way but in a particular time in the daily lives of a community of people. Therefore once we know the timeless truth we must then apply this truth to our own particular time, in our particular place, in our particular community, for our particular situation.

The way we apply it might look very different then how it was lived out in the time it was written. This is a good thing. Humanity is constantly growing, changing and learning. The way we live now is different from the way we lived 4000 years ago and the way we live now will hopefully be different 4000 years from now. The particularity of daily life is constantly changing.

The wonder of scripture is that it tells the story of God entering into the particularity of life and giving us particular examples of how to live. Because we live in a different particular time and place the way we live may appear different but in actuality the timeless universal truths are the same. That is why it is so important to not be lazy in reading the text of scripture. We cannot simply directly apply what we find in the text to life today. We must first find the particularity of that time and place, then the universality of the timeless principle behind it, and then apply the universal principal to our life today in this place. When we take the time and effort to treat the text in this way we will be less likely to misuse the text and more likely the text will speak to us in such a way that will be beneficial to our daily lives and a blessing to us all.

Salvation: Magic, Science or Reality

As followers of Jesus our purpose is to serve the Living Lord.

How is it that we serve God?

By serving others. By meeting the needs of the people around us. By redeeming the world.

With all the nonsense going on in churches, conventions and universities this simple truth is being forgotten.

We serve God by serving others.

This is the very reason we are called to the way of Jesus. This is the very example Jesus gave us with his life. Why is it not taught in Church? More importantly why is this not demonstrated?

The whole reason the church exists is to serve others, but it only seems to want to serve itself.

Me too…

I exist to serve others but all I seem to do is serve myself.

How about you?

Do you believe that Jesus is the only way of salvation?

Then you must follow the example that Jesus showed us. Salvation is not a magical or scientific formula. It is real.

It is only when you serve others that you truly live yourself.

Also posted on Blairology 40 Days

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Jesus is Lord

Jesus is Lord

The Kingdom built on Love last forever

Jesus is Lord

Jesus is Lord

AMEN

God is a Girl

I think I just found my new favorite song ever!
(Although I am not quite sure what it means… I love it…)


God is a Girl, by Groove Coverage:

Remembering me, discover and see,
All over the world, she's known as a girl,
To those who are free, their minds shall be key,
Forgotten as the past, 'cause history will last.

God is a girl, wherever you are,
Do you believe it, can you receive it,
God is a girl, whatever you say,
Do you believe it, can you receive it,
God is a girl, however you live,
Do you believe it, can you receive it,
God is a girl, she's only a girl,
Do you believe it, can you receive it?

She wants to shine, forever in time,
She is so driven, she's always mine,
Clearly and free, she wants you to be,
A part of the future, a girl like me,
There is a sky, illuminating us,
Someone is out there, that we truly trust,
There is a rainbow, for you and me,
A beautiful sunrise, eternally.

To sin or not to sin?

I am not sure I like the word “sin” any more (not that I ever did). It seems that it has outlasted its usefulness with me.

We focus so much on sin, on what not to do, that we forget to do the things we should do.

In a typical youth group we spend 51 weeks a year speaking about how to avoid sin and then we spend one week on a mission trip.

That needs to be reversed.

We need to spend 51 weeks speaking on, learning about and doing mission and if necessary one week on how to avoid sin.

We forget that God left us here to do the work of Jesus in the world. Which brings me to another thing. We focus so much on what Jesus did not do “sin” that we spend no time on what Jesus did do “mission”.

In my view the only sin worth avoiding is the sin of not being on mission for God in the world.

Everything else is ultimately meaningless.

Also posted on Blairology 40 Days

An attitude of humble repentance

An attitude of humble repentance seems more important then ever today in light of the recent events that have taken place between my own school and church that I love. The Georgia Baptist Convention has voted to sever ties with Mercer University. I have grown up as part of the GBC, my father is a Baptist minister. I am a graduate of Mercer and a current graduate student at Mercer’s Theology School. No matter who is right or wrong in this situation just as in a divorce, the children are the ones who get hurt.

As a Georgia Baptist I would like to apologize to all the students who will ultimately be affected by this decision. All the money that the GBC gives to Mercer is used as scholarships for students from Georgia Baptist Churches. I could not have gone to Mercer if I had not been given this scholarship. As a Mercer student I would greatly appreciate to see an apology from the GBC for this sad and regretful situation. It seems that we will forever have something from which to repent. May we be ever thankful for the grace and love of God that provides us with the opportunity to do so.

Personality Types: INTP that’s the one for me.

What follows are excerpts from the “Fundamentals Report for the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator” by Charles Martin, Ph.D. they are a few of the things that I think describe me pretty well. Let me know what you think? (Although as an INTP I only care for the academic exercise, not for my own self image :)

“For INTP’s the driving force in their lives is to understand whatever phenomenon is the focus of their attention.”

“…they naturally question and critique ideas and events as they strive for understanding.”

“New ideas and new ways of doing things fascinate INTPs.”

“They want the freedom to pursue their ideas in their own way, and thus seek variety and independence in their lives.”

“INTPs are usually tolerant and adaptable and give other people wide leeway of behavior, feeling little need to control others.”

"INTPs are usually more interested in ideas and concepts than in people, though people may be the subject of their acute thinking and analysis.”

"INTPs my at times be weak on follow-though and self-direction, and they may even forget to attend to the details of everyday life."

"They may appear reserved and impersonal, though they do usually enjoy discussions with other people who share their own keen interest in ideas."


See also, Blairology: Holistic Health, Day 9

Passion for Dirtiness

We are not called to be pure.

Did God stay pure and clean up in heaven?

No.

God came to the earth and got dirty.

Therefore God calls use to get dirty.

“Be dirty as I am dirty”

That is what we are called to do.

Holiness does not equal purity.

Holiness requires messiness.

We need a passion to get dirty.

The good thing is God built this within everyone.

Find it and unleash it.

Have a Passion for Dirtiness.

40 Days of Holistic Health

Holistic Health consists of 7 aspects of being:

• Spiritual
• Physical
• Mental
• Emotional
• Relational
• Recreational
• Preparational

These aspects of being are not separate but interconnected and interwoven to make up who we are and what we do. I will use these seven aspects to plan the next 40 Days of life I am given by the Creator. As an overall tool I will use Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life to facilitate my listening to the voice of the Sustainer along the way. Knowing that it is only because of the action and invitation of the Redeemer, in the life of the world, that I am able to be on this journey at all.

Please see BLAIROLOGY: 40 DAYS OF HOLISTIC HEALTH if you wish to join me.

Prayer for the Day

Creator God,

Please allow the world to see Jesus in me,
By teaching me to see Jesus in the world.

Writing

Writing: sometimes I want to do it and other times I do not. Sometimes I am able to write clearly and at other times I do not make any sense at all. Sometimes I know exactly what to write and other times I ramble on with no clear purpose. (Now of course being one of those times, although I am writing about writing.) Sometimes I write because I have something to say and other times I write to work though an idea in my mind. That is the way I reason something through, by talking about it, either with someone or more often then not with myself.

I like to talk more then I like to write. Talking is easier for me. But at the same time I am a very visual person and I often wish that I had a written copy of what I talked about so I could go back over it and remember what I said and the conclusions that I reached. I have tried to do this by tape recording myself talking a few times, but I have not done it in a long time.

One of the reasons I like to talk more then I like to write is because I do not know how to type, so this slows me down and I do not get to think of as many things as when I am not trying to type. Another reason is that I do not know how to spell all that well, so when I write I have to either spell words wrong and spend time trying to remember how to spell them or I have to limit my vocabulary to only the small often used words that I know how to spell. I also do not understand the rules of grammar and punctuation as well as I should, so this limits my ability to write clearly the thoughts that are in my mind. In addition I tend to write in either very short sentences or very long sentences, they are either half a line or over three lines.

When I need to write I most often do not want to and when I have no reason to write I most often have an overwhelming desire to do so.

Life Changing Question of the Week #1

"What does sex mean to you?"

The word, the idea, the thought, ect.

For a good starting place vist: may the dust of your rabbi cover you.

Also see Blairology Relationship Guide: Sexual Intelligence

Blairism #4

"Be cautious of those who are eager to lead,
For those who recognize leadership’s responsibility,
Are therefore wary to accept it."

Have you ever felt like a secret agent Christian?

I felt that way most of my time in high school. I was a Christian when I was with my church friends but when I was at school I never really felt like I was making any difference. I felt like I was a secret agent Christian. I was the only one around, so I would have to sneak around enemy territory without anyone seeing me. I learned how to wear different masks that would camouflage who I was. I was like a secret agent on a secret mission. So secret in fact that not even I knew what it was.

After I went to college this all changed. Well, changed might not be the best word to describe it, because I was still a secret agent. Only this time instead of a secret agent Christian in the “world” I was a secret agent Christian in the “church”. I had a new way of understanding the world, life and God. But when I would go to church I would have to camouflage this understanding with my assorted array of masks so that I would blend in and not be seen. Out in the world I was free to take the masks off and explain my ideas as best that I could. But at church this freedom does not exist, at least not from what I perceived.

So now I continued my secret agent lifestyle but in a new view. I would justify my way of life by saying that is who I was. And it was true. I was a secret agent. I wore many masks. I was an actor playing a role. It would be a different role depending on who I was around. But the overall effect on my identity was that I became a very complex individual that was a secret agent. Always having different masks and different missions to accomplish. Most of the time I would play the role of one who just goes along with whatever, at least outwardly. I would not say anything to cause too much of a stir.

Some of you reading this will be like, “that’s not the Blair I know,” and you would be right. Because in some situations where I am comfortable enough to take off my mask you will find a Blair that almost never goes along with the majority. The fact remains however that I change the way that I act depending upon the people that I am around. To some extent this attitude might be necessary to live in our modern world and our modern church, but I have learned that this is not the most beneficial attitude for the betterment of the kingdom of God.

Being a secret agent Christian is not the best way to effect change in the church or in our world. It might be the best way to act if we do not want to cause trouble or to be placed in a vulnerable position. Because if we take off our masks, if we show everyone regardless of who they are, who we are, then we will be very vulnerable and we will cause quite the stir in our world and in our church.

But in the end I don’t think it will happen. I think that people will continue to wear masks and will continue to be secret agent Christians. In spite of this (or just maybe because of it) I am no longer going to be a secret agent. I am going to turn in my mask and show everyone who I truly am. This is the only way for me.

Blairology Movie Reviews

Announcing the grand opening of BLAIROLOGY MOVIE REVIEWS, a weekly movie review site from your friends at Blairology. Enjoy.

Postmodern Pluralistic Integration, Part 2

In our modern way of thinking we separate everything into smaller and smaller units. Until we get to the individual. (And we even break that down, which can lead to some of the problems we our facing today. Ok a lot of the problems.) Therefore the task that is ahead of us, which can be accomplished through the Postmodern Pluralistic Integration way of thinking, is to put the pieces back together. It is important to remember that the modern era was not evil in separating the parts and giving us the individual. It would be evil of us, however, if we did not take the next step along the way.

You have heard it said, “Don’t fix it if it ain’t broken.” Well I have always said, “Don’t break it if you can’t fix it.” Through the modern era we as humanity, particularly western humanity, have taken apart God’s creation piece by piece. We have gone from the overall picture of the universe in Newton and Einstein’s theory of gravity down to the very energy that we are made up of in Quantum Mechanics and String theory and everything in-between. (see The Elegant Universe )

We are like children who have taken apart their parent’s alarm clock. The parent will only get mad if we can’t put the clock back together again. We must now set about the task of putting God’s clock back together. We have learned many things by taking it apart. But what we learned will do us no good if we cannot put it back together. Integration now becomes the task. Instead of arguing whether the truth of the alarm clock is to be found in the spring or in the faceplate or maybe in the bell. The truth of the alarm clock can now be seen in the interrelationship between the parts. In this way interrelationships become the key to our understanding of truth.

With this in mind we must put back together the elements of spirituality that we have taken apart.

God's Garden Hose, Part 2

In Robert Mulholland’s book Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation I found a helpful thought on the inner posture one needs to be in a position for God’s grace to flow into our lives and begin to transform us into who God wants us to be. This goes along with my earlier post on God's Garden Hose .

In chapter 11, “The Inner Dynamics of the Spiritual Disciplines” Mulholland goes over the posture of being behind the classical spiritual disciplines. He gives three dynamics that compose this posture: silence, solitude and prayer.

• Silence is seen as the “radical reversal of our cultural tendencies.” “Silence is the inner act of letting go.”(p137)
• Solitude is “being who we are with God and acknowledging who we are to ourselves and God.”(p138) The story of Jacob is an example of this dynamic. See also Blairism #2 .
• Prayer is when we offer who we are to God. “This is a yearning, hungering, wrestling prayer that enters into the painful struggle between what we are and the crucifying desire to become what God wants us to be.”(p140)

First we must let go of control, through silence. Then we must acknowledge who we are, through solitude. Finally we must offer who we are to God in order for grace to flow. I find this view helpful in dealing with the tension of God’s Grace and our call to Work.

Please contribute to this conversation by leaving a comment and tell me what you think.

What is Your Faith Based On?

I just finished watching Thirteen a movie that I have wanted to see for many months now. It has made me see the importance of both filmmaking and youth ministry. Which happen to be my two fields of work.

It is a story about a young girl Tracy who is thirteen. This is her first year in the 7th grade. The plot follows her path as she changes herself to be friends with the popular girl in school. The themes of the film are shown flashing across the screen of the DVD menu: Family, Friends, Pressure, and Life.

In the movie the words ‘i love you’ are empty when they come from Tracy’s friend, but heart felt emotion and action when they come from her mom.

“What is your faith based on?” I asked myself this because I keep saying that my faith is not based on rules or morals or the ten commandments or doing the right thing in the church service. So in light of all this what IS my faith based on?

My Theology? At first I thought maybe but then my theology changes and develops all the time and is itself based on Scripture, Tradition, Experience and Reason, so no.

How about Ethics? Of course not I do not even consider myself to be an ethical person. So what is it?

Love, God. Now we are getting somewhere, my faith is based on my love relationship with God. To get here I asked myself what is my faith in my parents based on? There rules? No. There strength? No. The facts that I know about them? No. Then what? It is based on the love that they have for me and the relationship that this enables.

So how do I know that my parents love me? Well let’s see, they tell me but that could be just empty words like we find in the film. They feed me and take care of me, yeah but they have to do that. But do they have to take care of me by sacrificing there own wants and dreams. No they do not, but they do. Why? Because they love me.

Sacrifice is the sign of love. I know that God loves me because he sacrificed his child the Messiah for me.

My Faith is based on my love relationship with God the Creator, made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus the Redeemer, through the Holy Spirit the Sustainer who lives in me.

(My theology may not save me, but it sure rocks my world when it articulates what does).

Blairism #3

“Isn’t it funny how the very reason you are attracted to a person may
become the reason you grow annoyed by them.”

Postmodern Pluralistic Integration

This new phrase describes what I want to do. I do not like labels and this one will change overtime I am sure. For now, though, it best describes what I am trying to do. I view the world through this lens. It is too big and awkward to be a catchy phrase anyway.

• Postmodern in my post-linear, post-foundational thought pattern
• Pluralistic in my view that God reveals God’s self throughout all creation
• Integrationist in my attempt to bring points and strings of truth into relation with one another to form a four dimensional web

It is my hope that this way of being will cause us to rise above traditional modern patterns of debate and argumentation and allow us to see truth when it is presented even if it seemingly contradicts what we already hold to be true.

Footprints in Time

Blairism #2

“It’s only after you fully accept who you are,
that you can become who you were meant to be.”

Genius Paradox

Well a few more days have gone by, a few more pages read. I have had an opportunity to think about imagination and form in regards to creativity. I have always considered myself to be creative but I did not want to call myself that because that would not be creative. So I referred to myself as imaginative. I think that the precise meaning of these words has eluded me until I read Rollo May's book the Courage to Create. I now find it helpful to think about creativity and imagination not as synonyms but as two separate but connected ideas. Imagination is the vision of the mind, but this is not yet creativity. Creativity needs a limiting structure in the shape of form in order for the imagination to be understood. This is communication.

As an example: I see in my mind ideas, in order for these ideas to be expressed I need a form to apply them to. This form is the rules of the English language. I do not fully understand these rules so my computer helps me out, especially with the proper spelling. Contrary to what I have believed for all my life this Form is necessary. Before I read May I had come to a roadblock in my own creative endeavors that I call the Genius Paradox.

The Genius Paradox can be stated as this: a genius is someone who sees the world in a slightly different way then most people. This view allows him or her to come to different conclusion about life. They do not follow along with everyone else in the same old way. They question and actively seek answers but because of there view they have a hard time expressing themselves to others. Therefore their new look on life, that could help, cannot be shared. There in lines the paradox, the very circumstances that allow the genius to see prohibits them to speak.

I could not get passed this paradox until I found that form is the answer. Form is the link between the mind of the genius and the everyday world. The world can understand form and so can the genius although she my need some help at the details. Form most definitely is the way to maintain sanity and to keep oneself from being totally alone inside one’s head.

I am glad that I found form.

True Love

I believe in “The One”

Live as thou you are/ they are…
Because you never know when they will be gone…

True Love never waits…

Where My Lord Leads

“How many children in Sunday school learn that radical sense of Christian servant identity as opposed to Christians are nice people who know the truth and do good. Non-Christians are bad people who don’t. Therefore we need to avoid non-Christians or convert then as fast as possible or try to pass laws to keep them under control and to protect ourselves from them—until we can escape them forever in heaven?”

-Brian McLaren Generous Orthodoxy, p 85.

That is a very heartbreaking question because it is so true. I see it everyday. I see it on TV. I see it in my church. I see it in my country. Everywhere I look this seems to be the attitude of my fellow Christians. It is even sadder to me because I once held that same belief and I may hold it still. Only now I feel that way about Christians. I can’t wait to get to heaven to get away from all the Christians. I guess my question would be, what can we do about it?

I agree that we need to open up to the non-Christians and be the light unto the world that we are called to be. But also we need to redeem our fellow Christian brothers and sisters. Most of the Christians that I know are the way they are because they were taught to be that way. They follow what they are taught. Some of the people like me, who question everything even if it comes from a pastor, have found a growing discomfort in our churches. I grew up in church. I love God’s church. I almost gave up on the church.

We, who have questioned the actions or in-action of the church, do not need to give up on the church. The church is filled with people that can help. We need to redeem the church. We need leaders who are not afraid to ask tough questions of tradition and theology. Even questions about the very idea of who Jesus is. Where have we allowed the true message of Jesus to become used by the powerful to maintain power and control? What does Jesus have to tell us today? These are the questions that must be asked. Asked of the church. Asked in the church.

The road will not be easy. It will be a most difficult road to travel. There will be pain. There will be suffering. There will be persecution, from outside and from within. But ultimately it is the only road I can travel. All other paths are empty. Jesus is my Lord and I am compelled to follow where my Lord leads.

Focus on God: Only, Always and Forever

Right now I am reading A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren. It is really good. I feel as though I have found a kindred sprit in McLaren. The thoughts that he proposes and the questions he asks remind me fondly of myself. It has been a source of great comfort and a sign of hope as I begin my seminary training and start thinking more seriously about what God has in store for me as a ministry. There are, of course, areas in which we don’t think quite the same. Most of it has to do with the liberal side of the equation. But I think that is giving me a broader understanding of what most liberals think. It is challenging me to look above the conservative/liberal equation and focus on God: only, always and forever.

Looking back on my summer it seems… right. That is about the only way I know to describe the feeling that I get when I think about it. It just somehow seems right. I am glad that God gave me the opportunity to work again. I am not sure if I will again but I am thankful for the last five years. They have been instrumental in making me who I am today and I defiantly love myself. That is not to say that I want to stay exactly like I am, because then I would not grow anymore, but the overall person that I have become, that is who I love. I am pleased, and I hope God is too.

God's Garden Hose

Who has control? Do we control our own lives and formation or does God control our formation? I have a picture of how I deal with the issue of control in a larger since. How I deal with the fact that it is the work of God, yet God calls me and invites me to participate in the work.

The image I use is that of a garden water hose. By itself a water hose cannot do the work of nurturing the plants of a garden. There must be a source of the nurturing ‘living’ water. First the hose must be connected with the source. Then one must insure that there is nothing clogging the line, maybe some rocks or dirt or even a knot or kink. Once all obstacles are out of the way there is still one last thing to be done, the hose must be taken to the flowers. In this way we can see that it is God who gives the life changing water, but also God chooses to use us as the conduit through which the water flows.

Therefore, I like to view ministry as a water hose, God’s job is to be the source of water and our job is to take out all the kinks. The sprit will move whether or not we do our part, but with an unhindered hose, the sprit flows.

Blairology

Blairology is the study of Blair. It is a collection of my theories on subjects including: philosophy, theology and existence. To start out with I have a few Blairisms that I would like to share. They are:

"love is but a moment,
ever so brief,
that infects us for all eternity."
-blairism

"the valleys are what make
the mountains seem so high."
-blairism

"a rich soul may never become generous,
but a generous soul may in fact become rich."
-blairism

"through experiencing the complexities of life,
one discovers life's simplicity."
-blairism

These short sayings are an introduction to the way that I think. Stay tuned for more details to come.

Who am I?

I am a fellow explorer along the path of life. I do not have any answers only questions and thoughts. You are more then welcome to join me as I proceed through the course of existence.