becoming

http://hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com/

Charles Kiser wrote about The Political Nature of Christianity based on ideas taken from Shane Claiborne’s book Jesus for President. Adapted from JFP, 67-69:

1. Basilea (“empire” or “kingdom”): a term used for the Roman Empire, ruled by Caesar. It was also Jesus’ most common subject of preaching—the kingdom of God, ruled by Yahweh, the one who delivered Israel from Egypt.
2. Gospel (evangelion: “good news”): in the Empire, “an imperial pronouncement, usually accompanied by flags and political ceremony, that an heir to the empire’s throne had been born or that a distant battle had been won”; for Jesus, this was the good news of the kingdom of God.
3. Son of God: A common title for kings and emperors, like Alexander the Great and Octavian (or Augustus, in the lineage of Julius Caesar); also a name given to Jesus in the New Testament.
4. Ekklesia: “A local public assembly within the greater Roman Empire, much like a town meeting. These assemblies bestowed citizenship, discussed local political concerns, assigned ‘elders,’ and offered prayer and worship to Caesar. There was no separation of religion (cultic sacrifices, etc.) and secular political business”; also the word used for the early church (translated “church”). The early church “bestowed alternative citizenship and assigned elders. Though it discussed its own political and religious concerns, it was understood as separate from, and in contrast to, the state and the other ekklesiai, their politics, and their religion.”
5. Savior: “Caesar Augustus, as Savior, was seen as the one who healed the chaos of Rome and brought it into a new golden age”; also a common title for Jesus in the New Testament.
6. Faith: “A term used for trust in, allegiance to, and hope in the Pax Romana”; also “a term used for trust in, allegiance to, and hope in Jesus.”

Read them all here.

And for a list of books on Christianity as sociopolitical rebuttal to Caesar’s system, click here.

After seeing our car made a detour, my daughter made a profound statement on her way to school this morning:

Why do we need go back?

Because we need to go home.

(Jocelyn, age 3 1/2)

The shortest definition of Love:

You, not me.

(Taken from Intelligent Church, p.168)

早前讀過Change Agent一書，留意書背推介同作者的Intelligent Church，於是好奇之下，也買來讀了。

不想多談作者之前關於Penal Substitution 所引起軒然大波。但作者所觀察，關於今日教會的形象在非信徒中已出現極大問題，卻是相當的認同（是類似UnChristian一書的觀點）。例如作者留意，今日的非信徒可以清楚告訴你一堆接一堆，教會所反對的事情，但若問「教會所持守、所力爭的（uphold and fight for what?）是甚麼？」，相信教外（甚至教內）的人也不一定能答得上幾個。

另一個有趣的觀察：耶穌在世的工作中，是以愛來推展祂的工作，而不是一味靠「嚇」、靠大聲罵人、指出罪惡來叫人悔改。改變是重要的，但改變之先，更重要的是先知道自己被愛。

這是耶穌的使命，也是教會的任務。

叫世人為罪、為義、為審判，自己責備自己的是聖靈，不是我們（p.166）。

當然，耶穌不是沒有以嚴厲之話指出對頭的錯誤來，

但是誰面對耶穌這樣的「指點」？

是當時的宗教領袖，就是那些自以為已經是站在神那邊的人（p.97）。

你認為，今日的耶穌，會向誰，以嚴厲之聲來責備呢？

—

書的用語淺白，是寫給一般信徒，作者本身經驗和例子，與經文範例貫穿每段。每章若15頁左右，相當好讀，是屬於我認為的「枕前書」一類。

每章最後都有一個叫”Yes, But How?”的小段，用意是好的，但細讀之下，發覺內容與標題並不一定相關；所說的，我不覺得屬「怎樣」的指引，或者似某人的讀後感想多一點；這算是書中敗筆的地方。反而每段的問題思考，更加踏實和可行。

看這類書常帶來有一個疑問：若我不再其位，可能（怎樣）帶出書中的改革嗎？或者更吊詭的情況可能是：看書者，不在其位而不能；在其位者，能（或曰：自認不能）而不看。這書也未能好好回應這點。

當然，問一些「作者為何沒有說？」的問題是不公平的，所說的，已經相當不錯，沒有說的，就留待讀者（我們）繼續寫下去吧！

目錄：

1. Intelligent Church
2. Inclusive Church
3. Messy Church
4. Honest Church
5. Purposeful Church
6. Generous Church
7. Vulnerable Church
8. Political Church
9. Diverse Church
10. Dependent Church
11. Transforming Church

[Intelligent Church | 推介 | 試閱 ]

What would it look like if God were running this show? NT Wright on the Public Meaning of the Gospels.

…That telling personal observation reflects a phenomenon about which I have been increasingly concerned: that much evangelical Christianity on both sides of the Atlantic has based itself on the epistles rather than the Gospels, though often misunderstanding the epistles themselves.

Indeed, in this respect evangelicalism has simply mirrored a much larger problem: the entire Western church, both Catholic and Protestant, evangelical and liberal, charismatic and social activist, has not actually known what the Gospels are there for.

Ecclesia reformata semper reformanda est.

Read it all here.

Palin在昨晚共和黨的大會上的表現，確實相當搶鏡。

這樣的大會，本來就不是談政綱的時候，而是挑起戰意和讓黨人亢奮的一刻。

從Giuliani 的演說開始，打的就是挖苦、揶揄牌：民主黨的候選人，是個笑話。

Palin 接上，除了牌照打之外，還加上另一張：

Don’t you mess with me.

她成功將average American Hockey Mom 的防彈衣，穿上了。

Don’t you mess with me.

除非你想和所有的Hockey Moms作對。

Don’t you mess with me.

除非你想話有殘障兒子的母親唔掂。

若Obama 的皇牌是Dream，Palin 的絕招是Real。

Palin 將會是個極危險的炸彈。而叫民主黨最頭痛的是：拆彈的，不是Obama，而是Biden。

Oct 2， Washington University，副總統的辯論戰。

除非有甚麼嚴重的個人失德行為，否則Palin這金鋼不壞之身，將會持續，甚至她家庭的問題，也將會轉化為對她夠Real 的同情分。

要Biden一邊打對面的VP女候選人，一邊保住來自Hilary的女性選票，談何容易？

哪一邊有這樣的政治智慧呢？

《智慧的尋覓——箴言詮釋》

錄自《智慧的尋覓——箴言詮釋》的「跋」：

這是一本在尋覓中完成的書。有位楊牧師所愛的姊妹，知悉他在世時還有一些釋經、解經的成果，並未發表出版，深盼這些文章能重見天日，以饗讀者。為回應她的期望，我努力搜尋，望能找出這方面的材料，完成她和楊牧師自己未竟的心願。

在尋找過程中，我發現了楊牧師在「更新資源」事奉期間，有一段日子在每天的早會上講解箴言，而講解的筆記，竟頗齊全地被保存；後更發現當日一位同工，湯廣豐弟兄，很用心地把楊牧師每天的講解錄製下來，不過，錄製後的資料存放在哪裡呢? 一時也摸不著頭腦。幸好，最後千里迢迢，終於從馬來西亞找回來！

由錄音帶及把筆記資料重組，並以文字編輯成書，期間經過相當繁複的工序：無論在人力、物力的需求及配合上，都比出版楊牧師過往的書籍更為吃力。而當稿件出來後，仔細披閱，彷彿再次聽倒楊牧師一聲聲的叮嚀……

在此，必須多謝編者梁淑儀姊妹為此書所擺上的一切勞苦，也要多謝昔日第一身的聽眾，給此書的贈言。

經上記著說：「敬畏耶和華是知識的開端、愚妄人藐視智慧和訓誨。」但願更多人能透過這書，明白及實踐箴言作者的訓誨。

願 榮耀歸予至高神！
楊伍秀嫻
2008年1月7日

[更新資源出版社 | 內容簡介]