The Next Reformation

"What today we call the hermeneutics of Scripture - the invocation of a precise theoretical method to decode the biblical text - was never really on the table during the Reformation. The Reformation - both the so-called Radical and Magisterial Reformations - adhere to the conviction that the Holy Spirit could guide each believer (or the church community as a whole, on Calvin's view) to a patent understanding of the meaning of Scripture.

From a theological vantage point, that really signified that there can be no "hermeneutical," or even "theological," skewing of Scripture in the late-modern sense. The power of God to reveal himself through his Word was taken as a given, not as a conundrum.

The Word had authority because it could speak directly to the heart of the justified sinner. The Word of God was intimate and divine communication, not an impersonal ontological benchmark reinforced by a secondary calculus that correlated between text and the order of existence. The latter "methodology" was elaborated by post-Enlightenment philosophers who happened to be enamored with experimental science. For the most part, it was an "inductive" version of Scholasticism, which the Reformers had repudiated. It was a stance totally foreign to those who staked their lives and careers on the authority of Scripture.

In their own way the Reformers maintained what we now term a "dialogical" reading of biblical authority. God does not simply speak through the Bible; God speaks to us. Just as Christ, as Luther put it, is always "pro me (for me)," so also is God's word." Amen.

Carl Rashcke The Next Reformation Why Evangelicals Must Embrace Postmodernity

Listen up!

Just thinking electronically this morning....what does Coach want from us? Reading on the Illini board that the team has finally started embracing coach Weber's system as opposed to "doing it the way I have always done it or doing it without committing to fundamentals such as defense, blocking out, playing hard every play etc".

Something apparently clicked because they started giving attention to these areas which recently resulted in knocking off a top ten team at home and a top 20 team on the road. Talent only takes a team so far...so what are the fundamentals in the Kingdom? Are we moving well on offense and attacking the basket? Are we looking for the open man and blocking out? Are the captains keeping the rest of the team accountable and leading by example?

It seems to me that the fundamentals of the Kingdom of God...the things that Coach wants to see are basic:

• acknowledge the superior wisdom / experience of Coach
• practice doing the stuff He says to do
• follow and learn from Him
• proclaim the gospel
• teach and make disciples of Him (not us)
• share "the story that we are living into" with potential recruits that visit with us

It seems to me that if Coach gets disciples, students, learners, apprentices that value learning Coaches way, strategies, style of play then where and who we play are less important.

John Wooden apparently never practiced with the next opponent in mind, but instead focused on how his team was practicing in light of his vision for their success on the floor.

What if we all decided to doggedly devote ourselves to the fundamentals and look for recruits to join our team? What if we were able to take our game to a new level?

No agenda here other than dialogue.

Cheers,

Scott

"Women on the loose" - Kjerringsleppet

The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd

During the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer, thirty five Norwegian women skied down the slope, opening the giant slalom competition. In Norway this group of bold women is known as the Kjerringsleppet, which roughly translates as "Women on the loose."

The group formed back in 1989 when only men were invited to participate in the opening ceremony of Norway's Alpine Center. The women felt insulted and excluded, so these thirty-five banded together, waited in the woods until the appropriate moment, then shocked everyone by swooping out of the trees on snow skis, clanging cow bells and crashing the ceremony. The country loved it, and the women became a fond symbol, so much so they were invited to the Olympics.

The Kjerringsleppet are a marvelous image for female empowerment and a "woman on the loose" is a woman who leaves the woods where she has been growing strong all these years. She swoops out of the trees, ringing her bell. She is saying, I am here now and I am not going away!

The motto the women on the loose adopted is translated as:

"To improvise, surprise, and come uninvited."

To improvise means to take whatever abilities and resources are available and to use them in whatever situations arises, often an unforseen one. These Norwegian women were presented with a situation in which they were excluded, so they improvised a way to challenge and circumvent it. As Sartre said, "Genius is the way one invents in desperate situations."

An empowered woman becomes a genius in desperate situations; she is an improvisational artist. Rather than bypassing or shrinking from situations where her consciousness is needed, she speaks and acts, relying on something insider herself. To improve you must trust your-self and value your own knowing.

The rest of the Kjerringsleppet motto is "to surprise and come uninvited," which means stepping out of the expected and becoming a daring and dissident presence. Powerful women are always surprising themselves, always getting a small gasp out of the world.

When women speak truly, they speak subversively," writes Ursula K. Le Guin. They refuse to be uninvited. They learn surprising ways to invite themselves.

Amen!

O'

International 'Fat Tuesday' Party Rieger Home

Who Dat?

Please join us for our global Fat Tuesday party - Mardi Gras attire - Rieger home at 7:00pm. Bring an ethnic appetizer or dessert from your country of origin and join in the fun - music, dance, drink, food and friends from around the world ! February 16th.....

O'

Open Hand faith community: "I want a church that..."

Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Psalm 124

I want a church that values all people, regards all people as gifted and talented, and encourages the talents of others to be realized to their maximum, empowering people to discover their deepest longing and realize their wildest dreams while meeting the needs of others both near and far.

I want a church that reflects community, encourages community, embraces community and solves its problems through community. I want to part of a village that raises all our children.

I want a church where all types of music, dance, and art are encouraged and accepted and where the art and expression of it are enjoyed both within the body and offered also to the world around it.

I want a church that has a high regard for humor; that values adventure and fun; that carries a mindset that believes God is Involved and God's Involvement brings God great pleasure.

I want a church where leadership doesn't know everything and lives like it doesn't; where questions can be debated, ideas shared; where arguments can be intense, where matters of faith are processed through a multitude of counselors and where no one person is seen as possessing all the answers, all the authority, all the power, but where the essence of the Gospel (reconciliation between people) carries the day.

I want a church where relationships (the mutual pursuit of knowledge, the arts, the offering of support to others in times of success and failure, times of need and in times of plenty) are more important than programs, the style of music, or the acquisition of buildings.

I want a church where the teaching is topical, relevant, Biblical, and addresses the everyday dilemmas of everyday people. I want preaching that promotes morality without moralizing, where truth is proclaimed without judgment, where Grace is expressed through the trust exercised among friends.

I want a church that serves communion with great regularity recognizing that the presentations of bread and wine celebrate the very gifts of life, forgiveness and renewal.

Adapted from My Kind of Church - by Rod E. Smith

(All in unison)

I want a church that has open windows into the Kingdom of God, that calls into existence a prophetic imagination, that has not lost its zeal for learning, for writing and reading, and has life giving passion for creating dynamic new ways of inviting people around the world to travel with one another on this journey of faith with our Lord Jesus.

Peace,

O'Steven

Open Hand International Christian Community - Worship Liturgy February 7, 2010

Open Hand Schedule of Events

GATHERINGS — monthly pitch-in at The Reynolds Home

• Sunday February 21st
• Sunday March 21st - Equinox Celebration
• Sunday April 25th
• All Gatherings at 6:30pm

WORSHIP - monthly locations to be announced

• Sunday February 7th (Starkey Home 6:00pm)
• Sunday March 7th
• Sunday April 11th
• Worship at 6:30pm

PRAYER - Crash Chapel (3174 N. Delaware Street)

• every Friday morning
• 6:45 - 8:45 am

SPECIAL OCCASIONS

Ash Wednesday - February 17th - Crash Chapel 6:45am - 8:45am

St. Patrick's Day - March 17th - Crash Pub - 12pm - 12am

For Silent Reflection

I purpose to pursue what is in my heart and live with the anxiety and adventure this requires. My focus will be on what is the right question rather than the right answer.

The priority in life is aim over speed, and creating meaningful action and momentum right now despite uncertainty. I will put aside safety and instead view life as a wonderful experiment in God's unfolding Kingdom that is more about learning, development and maturing than merely achieving.

A primary goal is for establishing relationship rather than power, speed or efficiency; for making the choice of a worthy destination rather than the limitation of engaging simply in what I know works. The key is living a meaningful life in the pursuit of what matters.

What matters creates a deeper purpose highlighted by my capacity to dream, reclaim my freedom and once again be idealistic. (The current culture is focused on getting things done, pragmatic, totalitarian, asking wrong questions, predictably with a focus on 'how').

Living into what matters gives my life to things that are hard to measure, invisible, important to me (not them), providing motivation to do what I do. Living with a priority of what matters, I am on a path of risk and adventure, a life of service and engagement; a life transformed by creating something together.

My primary concern becomes the world that I co-create within community. I long to tap into my deepest true self as I connect in refreshing ways of being together with others.

We define our dialogue and discussion via the questions we address. Valid expressions of healthy community help us create more effective workplaces, leading to insight over control, with vision, purpose, common goals, empowerment and flexible structures.

We encourage leadership styles and learning organizations where we are free to fail, while living out our spiritual and human callings. Finally, our accountability to one another must be chosen to ensure that it is not mere compliance or coercion.

Adapted from The Answer to How is Yes by Peter Block Highlighted by O'Steven