intersections

Fear, Freedom and the Problem with Certainty

Cross-posted at the Spectrum Blog.

I am increasingly aware that behind so many of the debates that happen on this blog (and most others) and behind most of the theological and administrative hand-wringing that is, I guess, an irreducible part of Adventist life, is fear. Fear of the other, fear of a loss of identity, fear of a loss of “ground” that has been gained over many years through difficult debates. This fear is not the exclusive provenance of the conservative part of the church, though, by definition, conservatives are “conserving” the past and by their own admission are fearful or anxious that the traditional ways are being lost. Believe it or not, I am sympathetic with their concern. Liberals or progressives or [insert favorite euphemism here] are also fearful; fearful of a new inquisition or retrenching, or being excluded or whatever. Suffice it to say, there is enough fear to go around.

Summer Reading Group :: What Would Jesus Deconstruct?

It’s hard to believe…but, summer is here. And with summer comes time spent with great books. So, re-church is announcing a Summer Reading Group. We will be blogging through What Would Jesus Deconstruct?, by John D. Caputo. This is an enjoyable and challenge jaunt into postmodernism, Derridian deconstruction and the gospel. Caputo has a playful, sharp and ironic style that is sure to rub us the wrong way and spark some great conversation.
There are 6 chapters and we will blog one chapter a week for six weeks, starting July 13, so you have time to get the book and start reading. Our bloggers will be:

::Ryan Bell, Senior Pastor of the Hollywood Adventist Church
::Samir Selmanovic, founder of Faith House Manhattan and Pastor of City Lights
::Zane Yi, Ph.D. candidate in Philosophy at Fordham University in New York City.

Please drop a comment at the re-church blog if you plan to read along with us. The blogs will be posted there and we invite your comments, questions, challenges and insights. This will be a much more enjoyable experience if you participate in the comments.

Please invite anyone you know that might be interested in this group and lets have some fun this summer reading together.

Jean Vanier: The lonely task of leadership

I'm quickly reading through Becoming Human, by Jean Vanier's founder of the L'Arche communities around the world. In the first chapter entitled "Loneliness." I ran across this amazing statement. He is talking about the movement of our lives from order to chaos and back to order again as a necessary and inevitably movement of human evolution or maturity. He is describing the unhealthy tendency to resist this movement and preserve order because we don't want to go to that uncertain place. This change always engenders loneliness but we try to stop this process at our peril.
This statement contains vital lessons for anyone who leads or aspires to be a leader.

To be human is to create sufficient order so that we can move on into insecurity and seeming disorder. In this way, we discover the new.

Those who have the eyes to see this new order, as it arises, will often be considered too revolutionary, too modern, too liberal. Dictators everywhere have clamped down on movements for liberation; those who lead are always so certain that anarchy will arise if they do not govern with a firm hand. In reality, leaders are frightened of sharing or losing power. They too are frightened of change. They want to control everything. Those who see the coming of a new order will frequently be alone, persecuted (13-14).

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For more about Jean Vanier and the L'Arche communities check out these resources:

L'Arche: A Community of Brokenness and Beauty (Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett, August 2, 2007)
The Wisdom of Tenderness (Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett, December 20, 2007)
Adam, by Henri Nouwen

NEW BOOK: The Promise of Peace

There's a new book out from Pacific Press that I highly recommend. I had the chance to review the manuscript before it was published and write a blurb for it. Here's what I wrote:

Charles Scriven's The Promise of Peace will give hope to a new generation of Adventists who desperately long to re-appropriate their faith and traditions in a way that gives meaning to their lives and helps them shape a more peaceful and just world. I will be using this book with all my new members.

I just got my copy in the mail, but I plan to order a bunch more. After all, I have to make good on my promise!

Order yours here!

apocalypse: the revealing of GOD

Join us this Summer for a journey into popular culture as we search for glimpses of God's kingdom. Click here for more info. Download poster here.

Beyond Evandalism DVDs available now

We had some delays in producing the DVDs from Beyond Evandalism with Peter Rollins, but they are now shipping. As proof of that see photos here and below.

Here’s how to order:

This set of 5 DVDs costs $45 + $5 shipping.
Please make checks out to: “Hollywood SDA Church” and mail to:

Hollywood Adventist Church
1711 N Van Ness Ave
Hollywood, CA  90028

The set includes 3 DVDs of Peter Rollins’ main sessions, plus 2 DVDs containing the 4 responses.

Please help us spread the word!

Video: Holy Saturday worship

The video includes excerpts of our Holy Saturday worship service which I have written about here and here.

All of our Holy Week resources, including sermons and the program and liturgy we used for Friday, Sabbath and Sunday, are compiled at the Hollywood Adventist Church website.
Easter 2009: Holy Saturday on Vimeo.

Holy Saturday and the Death of God

"Cross"-posted at the Spectrum Blog

In Hollywood, our Lenten journey is nearly over. Today is Holy Saturday. For Adventists, every Saturday is Holy because we remember those words in the very beginning of the story, "So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation" (Gen 2:3). Each Sabbath is a wonderful pause in the creative work of God. Indeed, the pause itself is creative, like a musical rest or dramatic pause in theater. The absence of speech or activity is, itself, creative and moving.

But this Sabbath is different. As Eric Severson has said, "The gaping silence between Good Friday and Easter Sunday cannot be explained as a welcome pause or an artistic hiatus.... Holy Saturday is blunt and bleak and uncomfortable."

Holy Week Readings and Prayers | Monday

This week I'll be tweeting and emailing the texts for Holy Week and acompanying prayers. If you'd like to follow along with our congregation, please follow @adventhollywood on Twitter or subscribe to our church's email list. (NOTE: if you subscribe to our email, check your junk mail. This has been a problem in the past).

Here's today's readings...

Stories of Failure

My friend Yaroslav, who lives in Moscow and was our patient and attentive host while we were in Moscow last October, recently entered a context for the most embarrassing outreach stories. His short story was chosen as one of the winners. Congrats, Yaroslav, on being one of the biggest losers! (Sorry, American TV show humor - I'll explain later). Here is an excerpt...

I was on an outreach errand with a fellow believer, doing colporteur evangelism (carrying literature) in an apartment house. We had sold several Bibles and Christian books. All was going great. At the following door, we rang the bell. After several minutes of waiting, we heard someone approach the door quietly and then retreat. We rang the bell once more. Nothing.
We looked at each other for a moment, and then it hit us!

You can read the whole thing here, along with the other winners.

This reminds me so much of something profound we did at the re-church conference in 2002 entitled, Loving Babylon, in which we invited several pastors to come up to the front and tell their stories of failure. At most pastor's conference I've ever been to, tremendous success stories are told. We wanted to share our weakness. At the end we were blessed by an amazing prayer of an unbeliever. You can read that story in Samir Selmanovics forthcoming book, It's Really All About God.