Five Things That Are Definitely Huntsville

Hello, blogging world!

Much has changed since I last posted.  I have exchanged the rolling hills of the heart of Kentucky for the suburban sprawl and soybean patches of Madison, Alabama.  I have gone from being a full-time student to the associate pastor at CrossWinds Church.  I have left familiar roles, friendships, and surroundings for the new, the next step in the journey.  What deep, profound insights have I ascertained from being here for almost three months?

Well... I'll come down from the mountaintop and bring you these five things that I've noticed about the Huntsville area.

1. Mexican restaurants abound.  People argue about which one is the best.  Some say Casa Blanca, others say Rosie's.  Folks swear by Phil Sandoval's, while others muster up argument and counterargument for Las Trojas.  There's a Burritos-To-Go on 72, and you might even have the good fortune of spotting a taco truck.  Want to know the kind of restaurant my senior pastors took me to when I first visited Huntsville?  Yep.
2. Everyone loves karate.  Or at least that's the impression I get, because there are literally a bajillion martial arts studios around here.  Want pure, Okinawan Karate?  You got it.  Want Tae Kwon Do, the Korean classic?  Sign right up.  Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?  Check.  If you can't find it here, it probably doesn't exist.  I'm the peace-loving kind of Christian, but if I weren't, the plethora of dojos solely dedicated to making people better fighters would make me want to think twice about starting a brawl with the people of Hunts-vegas.
3. People like space.  In fact, they like it so much that Huntsville is known as Rocket City.  We have the U. S. Space and Rocket Center, which documents the history of America's relationship with space and showcases some of NASA's latest developments.  Not to mention kids can go to Space Camp there!  There's a planetarium on top of Monte Sano Mountain, and you never know when you'll bump into a rocket scientist/engineer.  
4. People from all over the nation live here.  Just at my church, people hail from California, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, New York, and even the bustling metropolis of Woodland, AL!  Talk about being multi-cultural.  Globalization also has left an imprint on Huntsville, and it seems to be particularly Indian in flavor.  There are signs for the services of Hindu priests, and the Hindu Cultural Center of North Alabama is located here.
5. There is a good outdoors culture.  You have the option to kayak down the Flint River or spend some quality time in Monte Sano State Park.  Madison has several greenways built around the area, where you are certain to find joggers and dogs galore.  There are clubs for running, hiking, and biking.  You'll find people who have hiked on the Appalachian Trail, done an Iron Man, or are training for their next marathon.  These are the kind of folks who will make you feel extra guilty about eating that tub of ice cream.  Sinner.

Huntsville sure is an interesting area, and I'm certain that I've neglected to report some of its idiosyncrasies.  I'm grateful that God has me in this place at this time, and that I've been blessed with such a wonderful church family in CrossWinds UMC.  Talk about people who go above and beyond in hospitality!  I've been surprised and humbled by the warm welcome I've received, and am looking forward to what God has in store for us in the future.

What do you think about my top five?  Do you agree?  Disagree?  What did I miss that is definitely a Huntsville thing?

Letting Go of the Old, Reaching Out for the New

There's something sad about leaving people you know and love.

I tend to hold on to people and places in my heart, not wanting to let them go.  At certain times in my life, I've felt like I've been dragged kicking and screaming into change.  Right now is no different as a major change is creeping ever closer to me, slowly but surely descending from the ethereal clouds of theory into the realm of reality.  In less than two months, I'll be packing up my bags and leaving Kentucky in order to serve as a pastor in Alabama.  Relationships that have been cultivated for over two and a half years are poised to undergo drastic change.  Activities that I have come to love, like going for a run down North Lexington Avenue, taking a walk around UK's Arboretum, and having a beer with friends in various Lexington homes will all soon fade into the mists of distance and nostalgia.  Old routines and opportunities, like Asbury's daily Eucharist, the wonderful international community, and the stimulation of formal theological education will be gone.  I'm trying, but it's not easy to let go.

Transition brings about quite an eclectic mix of emotions.  I have a sense of great gratitude for all the good friends, experiences, growth, and opportunities with which God has blessed me.  And yet the gratitude is tinged with the ache that comes from knowing that I will have to leave such gifts behind.  Then there is the excitement of the new, of possibilities, of friends yet to be made, of things yet to be tried, of all manner of people and places yet to be loved.  And yet from time to time the excitement is accompanied by the fear of the unknown, of failure, of struggle, and of isolation.  It's like being on a trapeze knowing that you're about to have to release one bar so that you can soar on to the next.

So many of my friends are in this same liminal space with me.  And I believe God is in this place with us.  It's my prayer that He helps us reflect on this chapter of life with gratitude, not regret and longing for times gone by.  I want Him to cast out all fear so we can look toward the future in expectancy and hope.  And I pray that in the time that remains, He helps us live to the fullest with the people who are such wonderful gifts along the journey.  And when the time comes, may we let go of the old in grace and reach out for the new in trust.

Spiritual Warfare: Important or Inexcusable?

What follows is a slightly modified paper from my Spiritual Warfare class in which I briefly addressed some areas related to the topic.  I haven't heard much serious discussion about this in my church context.  Most people I've met either think it's weird and best ignored or they are uncomfortably passionate about it.  Here are some of my thoughts.  What do you think about spiritual warfare?

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The Importance of Spiritual Warfare for Ministry Today

Contemporary Relevance

Spiritual warfare is a blind spot to the Western world and church today.  A large number of people go about their lives completely oblivious to the deeper spiritual reality that lies beneath the surface of their activities.  There can be good reasons behind this ignorance.  As Clinton Arnold notes, the idea of spiritual battle typically leads Westerners to think about the odd, sometimes macabre religious rituals of foreign, “primitive” people (think animal sacrifices), or the Hollywood depictions of demon possession in movies like The Exorcist or Paranormal Activity (17-18).  Then there are the fanatical religious types within Christianity, who seem to find demons under every rock and are more preoccupied with binding Satan than with loving and obeying the Triune God.  There is another factor that has had a major influence on the West: a materialistic philosophy combined with science as the only true epistemology has led many to believe that what people used to consider demonization was really misunderstood mental illness.  This has led to the demythologizing of the demonic, and truth be told, sometimes rightfully so.  The combination of these pieces can make spiritual warfare seem quite a bitter pill indeed to the modern Westerner, best to be avoided.

Yet, in spite of all these difficulties, people everywhere cannot avoid the spiritual dimension, for though some Westerners try to deny it, certain phenomena seem impossible to explain apart from it.  It is important to note that “reports of something like ‘demon-possession’ and ‘exorcism’ can be found in most cultures and religions throughout history” (Boyd 143).  More and more anthropologists are reporting the reality of the spiritual realm as they immerse themselves in the religious practices of the people groups they study and encounter things that do not fit their materialistic paradigm (Boyd 143-147, see famous example of anthropologist Edith Turner's encounter with shamanism here), not to mention the reports of the miraculous, curses, and power encounters that Christians bring from all over the world.  “To think that a Christian could avoid spiritual warfare is like imagining a gardener could avoid dealing with weeds.  Our goal should be rather to gain an accurate and sober-minded understanding of spiritual warfare–not a view tainted by frightening superstitions and odd practices” (Arnold 19).  Though uncomfortable to a Western mindset, this is an issue with which everyone, Christian or non-Christian, needs to grapple.  It is not going away.

Scriptural Foundations

What resources does a Christian have for understanding the spirit world?  Foundational to the Christian religion is that God is Spirit (John 4:24), that his existence is on a plane of reality we cannot see.  While the Old Testament does not have as developed a demonology as the New Testament does, YHWH still is depicted as battling cosmic powers represented in the waters of chaos (Job 38:8-11; Ps. 29:10), Behemoth and Leviathan (Job 40:15-41:34), and foreign deities like Baal (1 Kings 18).  YHWH  hedges in and limits the Satan (Job 1:10), and hostile spiritual forces seem to be signified in Daniel, with the Prince of Persia and the Prince of Greece (Daniel 10:12-13, 20-21) doing battle with God’s messenger (Boyd 132-134).  All throughout the New Testament there is the assumption that there are two kingdoms at war (Rev. 19:11-21): the Kingdom of God led by Christ, and the kingdom of this world led by Satan and his minions (Arnold 19-20).  Jesus’ acts of healing and deliverance were a sign of the advancement of the Kingdom of God (Matt. 12:28; Luke 11:20).  In fact, Jesus was incarnate in order to drive out Satan (John 12:31) and to destroy his works (1 John 3:8).  Jesus has already won the decisive victory over all hostile forces by his suffering and death on the cross (Col. 2:15), and soon he will put all his enemies under his feet at his return (1 Cor. 15:25).

So yes, there is a cosmic battle under way, but how does the average Christian fit inside this drama?  Christians are not to stand idly by, but have an important part to play in spiritual warfare.  In Ephesians 6:10-18, Paul says that we must stand against the machinations of the devil, and that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (NIV).  Satan desires to devour us (1 Pet. 5:8-9) and to establish footholds in us that tempt us toward disobeying God (Eph. 4:27).  We wage war by prayer and drawing near to God (Eph. 6:18; Jas. 4:7-10), taking a firm stand against the devil in the strength of the Spirit by deciding to live the holy lifestyle that God desires.  We also are empowered by the Spirit to be a means of deliverance to the demonized, just as Jesus was (Matt. 10:1; Acts 16:16-18). 

Not all temptations arise from the spiritual realm, however.  Scripture also reveals that there are other forces at work for evil.  James notes that we have foul desires that arise from within us (1:13-15), Peter writes about not living for evil human desires (1 Pet. 4:2) and Paul says that the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit (Gal. 5:17).  Other people can also entice us to sin, and the writers of biblical Wisdom Literature often warn about not going along with these tempters (Psalm 1; Prov. 1:10-19).  John writes of entire systems being at cross-purposes with God (Rev. 17-18), and the prophets write of nations being opposed to God (Amos 1-2).  So there seems to be an unholy triumvirate that leads people to sin: the world (wicked people and crooked systems), the flesh (our own inner leanings toward wrongdoing), and the devil (the spiritual forces of evil).

Helpful Approaches to Spiritual Warfare

There have been several approaches given on how the church should engage in spiritual warfare.  One position is that of Walter Wink and others like him, who demythologize Satan into a metaphor for “the symbolic repository of the entire complex of evil existing in the present order” (57).   Wink holds up a mirror, forcing us to realize that we ourselves are complicit in the evils we see today, and we have helped produce vile systems by our collective wrongdoing.  While this position has several important things to say about the nature of human evil and the corruption of structures, it is founded upon questionable exegesis and contradicts itself by holding a materialist paradigm when it comes to Satan and yet denying that materialist framework by affirming the spiritual reality of God.  Still, this approach is correct in asserting that how we live our lives ethically is part of how we wage spiritual warfare–any framework that is worth its weight in salt must have this component.

Approaches that affirm the reality of evil spiritual beings are most helpful for us today, and there are several important things that we should know as practitioners who encounter spiritual oppression.  When engaging in spiritual warfare, we are coming against forces that are stronger than us.  Fortunately, Christians are deeply connected to the omnipotent God of all existence!  We must acknowledge that apart from God, we have no chance of success, and we need him to fight for us.  Such a recognition of our own dependence and weakness drives us to God in prayer; in fact, Clinton Arnold notes that “prayer is the heart of spiritual warfare” (43).  Going forward means we must rely on the strength of the Spirit.  Tom White adds some further insight into spiritual warfare:

While many of the devil’s devices may appear complex, breaking them is scripturally quite simple.  Faith in the supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus’ name (see Mark 11:22-24; Matt. 18:18-20), confidence in the power of his atoning blood (see Rev. 12:11), courage to claim and use our authority in resisting evil (see Luke 10:19), and total trust in the immanent power of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 10:38) will break oppression (70).

When counseling a person who might be demon-possessed, do not rule out mental illness as a possible cause–“avoid the temptation to quickly [sic] attribute demonic activity to any given problem” (White 36).  Instead, it can be helpful to “shoot in both directions” when counseling people–simultaneously explore the possibilities of past emotional woundedness and demonization (Boyd 155).  There are times when both are present and are holding a person back from the fullness of life that God has for them, and ministry to both areas may be required.  If you do think demonization is occurring, boldly proceed in the faith and power of Christ, commanding the demon(s) to leave.  “You do not need to be oratorically correct and say things ‘just right.’  Just cry out to the Lord from your heart, as King David so often did, and ask Him to put your enemy to flight” (White 74).

Another aspect of spiritual warfare is what Paul refers to as the “demolishing of strongholds” in 2 Cor. 10:3-5.  Arnold argues that this involves “changing wrong ideas about Christ in the minds of believers who have been influenced by demonically inspired teaching” (55).  There is a pedagogical, Christological aspect to this passage when set in its original context.  The teaching and spread of right thinking about Jesus can be understood as engaging in spiritual warfare.

Additionally, several Christians are big proponents of engaging territorial spirits in the practice of spiritual warfare.  While there appears to be some support for the reality of territorial spirits in the Bible and there are some examples of early church members engaging in territorial warfare, “there is no example in Scripture of God’s people engaging in this type of spiritual warfare, and this must surely be considered relevant” (Boyd 156).  While some good may come from ministries that engage territorial spirits, I agree with Boyd–Jesus and the New Testament church do not seem to have their focus on such things.  We would be wise to follow in their footsteps.

Relevance for My Ministry

I see practicing spiritual warfare as very important for my ministry as a pastor.  It is an encouragement to me to pray for God’s grace to break into the lives of friends and family members who do not believe and are struggling, for there is more at play with them than innate human desires.  It gives me some more tools to use when I counsel others who are going through hard times, knowing that demonization may be a possibility as to what is ailing a person, even a Christian.  It helps me understand that living righteously in the power of the Spirit can shine Christ’s light on dark places and serve as an encouragement to other sisters and brothers in Christ.  It reminds me that teaching Christian orthodoxy is a way of demolishing devilish strongholds and demonically inspired heresies that lead people away from the true Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:2).  It helps me be on guard against attacks from the enemy and understand that sometimes there can be more to difficult emotional states and circumstances than appears on the surface, though I do not plan on looking for a demon under every rock.  I also feel more prepared to function as a global Christian, since Christians in the Global South have no problem with the spiritual realm and do deliverance ministry all the time.  For all of these reasons, I see spiritual warfare as a useful tool for how I desire to operate and minister in the future.

Works Cited

Arnold, Clinton E. 3 Crucial Questions about Spiritual Warfare. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker

Academic, 1997. Print.

Boyd, Gregory. “The Ground-Level Deliverance Model.” Understanding Spiritual Warfare:

Four Views. Eds. James Beilby and Paul Rhodes Eddy. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker

Academic, 2012. 129-157. Print.

White, Tom. The Believer’s Guide to Spiritual Warfare. Ventura, CA: Regal, 2011. Print.

Wink, Walter, Gareth Higgins, and Michael Hardin. “The World Systems Model.”

Understanding Spiritual Warfare: Four Views. Eds. James Beilby and Paul Rhodes Eddy.

Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012. 47-71. Print.

One with Christ:The God Who Shares in Our Hurts and Happiness

There haven't been many times when I've been genuinely angry, but the end of Fall 2012 was one of them.  For one of the first times in my life, I was consistently in over my head with schoolwork and I couldn't keep up.  I also had several volunteer responsibilities, personal frustrations, and demands on me without many rewards.  I was angry because I was hurting and there wasn't a way to change my circumstances for quite some time.

It is no mystery that life doles out its fair share of pain.  It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, strong or weak.  The ache of the world has a way of finding your heart as people die, relationships crumble, isolation grips you, dreams go deferred, and a whole laundry list of other bruising maladies creep their way into your soul.

In the midst of my troubles, I was asking an age old question that most every believer has asked at one time or another: where are you God?  I am perennially puzzling over this question.  I find myself in good company, however, when I read through the pages of Scripture.  The characters and authors of the Bible were no strangers to the sting of life, to feeling like God was absent.  Yet through reading the Scriptures, I have come to believe that God was right there experiencing my anguish with me, walking with me through my difficulties, even when I couldn't feel his presence.

The Old Testament often showcases the pathos of God.  God is deeply wounded when Israel commits idolatry against him, even likening it to adultery (Ezekiel 16; Hosea 2).  God is filled righteous anger toward those who abuse the marginalized (Isa. 58; Amos 2:6-16).  God  is mercifully present to those who are disappointed and depressed (Gen. 21:8-21; 30:31-35; 1 Kings 19).  Scripture further says that Jesus, God-in-flesh, was a man of sorrows, that he bore our sins and suffered for us for our salvation (Isa. 53; 1 Pet. 2:18-25).  Jesus has demonstrated to us that God is well acquainted with our suffering, that God is not afraid to go through suffering himself.  It is not as though God never suffered before Jesus came.  The cross, rather, is the ultimate revelation to humanity of who God has always been, and it shows us the unfathomable depths of God's unconditional, sacrificial, suffering love.  It is God's great show and tell to us that he knows pain and is willing to go through it so that we can be rescued from the evils that plague us and experientially know God's life, love, and light.

But did Jesus suffer only during his time on earth?  Is he done with pain, enjoying piña coladas at the sunny right hand of God, high-fiving angels Gabriel and Michael for all time?  I don't think he is, at least not yet.  In fact, I think Jesus, though now raised from death into eternal life, still experiences both joy and suffering, and through his church in particular, because he is deeply, personally, mystically a part of us.  He experiences those things with us, because Jesus is united to us and we are united to him.  I think this is part of what it means to be one with Christ, to have Christ "in you" (Col. 1:27) and to be "in Christ" (1:28)- -we share in the divine life and Christ shares in our lives.

Let's look at some pieces of the New Testament concerning this issue.  Consider the oft quoted Matthew 25:31-46, the separation of the sheep and the goats.  King Jesus says to the sheep that whatever they did for "one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me," (25:40, NIV), and to the goats he says that whatever they "did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me" (25:45, NIV).  I think that the identity of the "brothers" in this passage is not every poor and needy person in the world, but rather Christians.  My friend David Hull put it well in an e-newsletter he sent out this January:

Nowhere in the New Testament is such language [familial, brother/sister language] used to refer to all people in general.  In fact, earlier in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus asks the question, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" (Matt. 12:48)  He then progresses by "pointing to his disciples, (saying), 'Here are my mother and my brothers!  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.'"

I still think Christianity is a religion of mercy and justice for all, I just don't think that Matthew 25 is the best text to use to advocate for that (see Luke 10:25-37 for a better one).  If we're right in this interpretation that Jesus is referring to Christians specifically in Matthew 25, then the gospel-writer is saying that Jesus so identifies with his people that whatever love and grace we show or fail to show to each other in the church, we are doing that to Jesus himself.  We are one with Christ, and he is one with us.

Think also of what Jesus says to Saul when he throws him off his mount on the Damascus road: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" (Acts 9:4, NIV).  Now Paul didn't find the risen Christ out in a field somewhere and throw rocks at him.  Saul was "breathing murderous threats" (Acts 9:1) against followers of Jesus, trying to quell this new movement by throwing Christians in jail (Acts 9:2) and giving sanction to their deaths (Acts 7:58; 8:1).  Saul was persecuting Jesus because he was persecuting Jesus' church.  Jesus' inquiry to Saul shows that he is in such close solidarity with his church that their persecutions become his persecutions.

This same Saul had a drastic conversion experience with Christ and later became known as Paul, author of the majority of the New Testament.  In 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, Paul notes that every Christian has been baptized into Christ's body (a metaphor for the church) by the Spirit, so that now "If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it" (1 Cor. 12:26 NIV).  Does not Christ, who is the head of this mystical body (Eph. 1:22-23; 4:15-16), go through these experiences along with his church?  Does not the bridegroom (Jesus) and bride (the church) share each others' joys and tribulations, since they have been made one (Eph. 5:21-33)?  Does not the Father, who is perfect in love (Mat. 5:43-48), ache when his children suffer, especially when they reject him?

And then there's the enigmatic phrase that Paul writes in Colossians 1:24- -"Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church" (NIV).  In this passage, I do not think Paul is saying that there is a lack of efficacy in the atoning work of Jesus, which is complete.  Could it be that Paul is saying that Christ is still taking on the afflictions of his people, that our distress in some mysterious way falls on him?  Perhaps.

This line of interpretation also brings up questions about eschatology and the nature of Jesus' present resurrected and ascended state.  I contend that by his resurrection, Jesus personally defeated death and will never die again (1 Cor. 15:42-44), though he is still working to completely defeat death (15:23-26).  He has been highly honored and exalted (Eph. 1:18-23; Phil. 2:9-11; 1 Pet. 3:21b-22) in his resurrection and ascension.  However, I have not been able to find a text that says he is not currently suffering now that he is in his resurrection body.  I argue that Christ is rejoicing and suffering even now as people accept or reject him, as they live in the love of God or the pride of self, as they encounter sublime blessings or heart-wrenching wrongs.  In fact, the final judgment seems to be the critical moment when everything is set right and there is no more pain, death, or crying (Rev. 20:11-21:8), not necessarily Christ's resurrection and ascension.  For us also, it seems that we may not be through with pain even in our own resurrection (though it is closely paired with the final judgment) or in the intermediate state (which is the state of consciousness in-between our death our resurrection), although, as Paul notes in Phil. 1:23, it is "better by far" to depart this life and be with Christ.  How else could the martyrs cry out for justice if there was nothing to cry about in the presence of Jesus in paradise (Rev. 6:9-11)?  The final judgment is the gateway to the fullness of the New Creation breaking in, the final step in God restoring life to what he intends it to be.

In all of this, I am arguing that because of God's outreaching grace, we get to share the life of God in Christ by the Spirit, and God shares in our lives, the highs and the lows, because he has so deeply attached himself to us.  This adds a deeper dimension to Jesus' promise to be with us always.  Are you filled with joy and happiness?  God is the source of joy; he shares your elation and celebrates with you.  Are you confused and needing direction?  The Holy Spirit knows your needs and intercedes on your behalf to the Father.  Are you down in a dark valley?  Jesus experiences your hurt with you and yet is the means of transcending and moving beyond it.  We serve a God who is presently encountering our pain with us, and yet in love is working for the good of us and those around us, bringing about new life and transformation through Christ's resurrection power.  In God we have one who completely empathizes with us, gives us strength, and is our hope for victory and bliss.  To be one with Christ and one with the Body of Christ are great blessings.  The communion, joy, strength, and goodness of the Trinity flows through us, and we have the privilege of embodying this divine life in community as the church for the sake of the world.  God's "with-ness" with us is quite special indeed.