The First Great End: Proclaim the Gospel

Kicking around the Net this afternoon and discovered this interesting story.

I read this week about an abbot of a monastery who called a novice into his office and instructed him to give the homily at the next morning’s chapel.
Well, the novice was struck with fear – but the abbot insisted.

So the next morning at chapel he stood in the pulpit with his hands trembling — his knees knocking – and his voice was quivering. There was a long pause before he first spoke – and then he asked a question: “Do you know what I’m going to say?” They had no idea, so all of their heads shook “no” almost in unison, as if it were choreographed. The novice said, “Neither do I. Let’s stand for the benediction.”

Well, the abbot did not appreciate this. He called the young novice into his office and said, “You must do this. It’s for your own good. Tomorrow is your day again. Be prepared, and this time do it right.”

The next day was almost an exact repeat of the day before. All the brothers sat there before him. His hands shook — his knees knocked – and his voice trembled. After a long pause he again asked: “Do you know what I’m going to say?”

Well, after the previous day’s experience, they had a pretty good idea. All of their heads went up and down – “Yes” – they thought they knew what he was going to say.
“Then there’s no need for me to tell you” the novice said. “Let’s stand for the benediction.”

The abbot was now very angry. He brought the young novice into his office and said, “If you do that again, you are going to be in solitary confinement, bread and water for thirty days and any other punishment that I can think of. Tomorrow morning give the homily; do it right.”

Well, the third day, all the monks were there to hear what he would say, and it was, again, almost an exact repeat. He stood, trembled, voice quivered; and after the long silence, he asked, “Do you know what I’m going to say?”

After three days of this, about half of them had a pretty good idea and they nodded their heads up and down. Yes, we know. But the other half noticed the switch from day to day, and they really weren’t sure what was going to happen; and so they shook their heads back and forth. No, we don’t.

The novice observed this, then said, “Let those who know tell those who don’t. Let us stand for the benediction.”

Friends – that is a simple definition of evangelism. It’s a simple definition of this first “Great End” of the Church – the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind.

Pastor Hayes also has a wonderful quote from Henri Nouwen on spiritual dryness. But go check it out yourselves.

Dumbledore is Not Dead

For the devoted readers of the Harry Potter series, Dumbledore's death at the end of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (volume 6 in the series) was one of the saddest and most jarring events of the whole series. I, along with many others, entered into prolonged debate about whether Dumbledore was actually dead, or as in the Princess Bride, "mostly dead." Or whether some sort of resurrection was in store.

Well, have no fear. This website, www.dumbeldoreisnotdead.com is dedicated to just such debate, and I think the conclusions are satisfying to this reader.

If nothing else, this site should help keep the debate going until the release of the last Harry Potter book in the series, whenever that is. But then, what will there be to look forward to? No more Lord of the Rings. No more Harry Potter. Perhaps the Narnia series will all become big screen hits. That's something to anticipate eagerly.

Complete Blog Commenting Guidelines

Anyone who has looked at blogs, (and I assume you have, or you wouldn't be reading this!), has also been attracted to the "comments" often left for blog posts. On smaller blogs, these comments are usually from friends, "Hi Pastor Jim, I liked your comments on this issue." But on larger, and especially more political blogs, the comments can be like a trip through Dante's circles of hell.

Comments can be kind, and cruel. Comments can be perceptive, or naive. Comments can be appropriate, or not. Comments can be cool, or on fire. Comments can be pertinent, or personal. Some comments argue the issue, some just call names. It is fascinating, and disheartening, to watch how we respond to one another in commenting on blog posts.

I was led, strangely, to this post by a couple of teenagers, who have developed eight rules of leaving comments. I think their list is very well done, and is worth a read. I will post their eight points here, but please check out the link to see their explanation of each point. You might learn something, I did. From teenagers! Wow!

1) Understand the ‘classical’ view of tolerance.
2) “No ‘ad hominem’ attacks, you moron!”
3) Eschew Obscenity & Prohibit Profanity
4) He who asserts must prove.
5) Respond to the argument, not to the spelling.
6) Debating When Less Is More.
7) Do your own research.
8) The fallacy of the majority.

It can be pretty fun to leave a comment on a blog, or on a message board. Sometimes what we have to say is drivel, but sometimes it is important. Sometimes our views add to the discussion, and clarity gets closer. All too often, we repeat the tried and tired old mantras that we are used to. This does not help provide clarity, it just adds to the dissonance of discourse, and satisfies our own sense of moral superiority over those with whom we disagree.

What do you think? Feel free to leave a comment here! Oh, and thanks, Alex and Brett, for your thoughtful post.

Cyber Community

It is common knowledge among those under 30 that there can be a profound sense of community in online chatrooms and forums. I have sensed some of that on ESPN's San Francisco Giants' Message Board. My friend, Bob Ramsey, has discovered this with the online message board for the Los Angeles Galaxy, and the Riot Squad.

I was stunned today to hear that one of the Giants' Message Board posters, DFaninWisc, has passed away. Even though he was a die-hard Dodger fan, he was welcomed on the Giants' board for his wit, wisdom, insight, sense of humor, impeccable comedic timing, and just being an all-around good guy. Here is the trail of tributes to him, if you don't believe me. (I am Stokes1931.) His signature tagline was, "Back off or I'll snap". Whatever that means. DFan was much beloved by Giants fans and Dodger fans, no small task. Someone on the Dodger board found a link to DFan's passing, here.

The following was on the Wisconsin Rapids Community Theater home page.

In Memory of Al Davis

It is with deep regret that we share some sad news. WRCT regular Dennis "Al" Davis passed away Friday, June 23, after suffering a heart attack.

Al became a beloved part of WRCT when he made his stage debut in Damn Yankees. He performed in The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, and was last seen in Gypsy. He also helped backstage for The Rainmaker.

Al worked as a Senior Copywriter in the Marketing department at Renaissance Learning, Inc., where he was a friend and valued employee. Al is survived by his wife Sue and their three children Kyle, Christina, and Luke. Al was tremendously devoted to his family and his faith. He enjoyed biking and participating in WRCT productions, and he was a great fan of major league baseball—especially his beloved Los Angeles Dodgers. His talent and wonderful sense of humor will be greatly missed.

You know, I have been sharing this with church people at every chance I get, but they do not believe me. One of Thom Hopler's insights is that there are essentially two ways to view the world: rural and urban. If I remember correctly, Hopler says that the rural world view is oriented to geography, to proximity. So someone with a rural view will know their neighbors, shop at the nearest stores, go to church at the nearest church, etc. The neighborhood is primary.

The urban worldview is based on networking, relationships, what people have in common. So engineers will know other engineers better than their neighbors. Why? Because they spend more time with them.

Neither is better or worse than the other. They describe how some people see reality. And in an urban environment, where people are known in and through networks, it is the church's job to penetrate those networks, and follow where the gospel leads relationally.

Take this post from Ram9198, a Giants' poster from Western Pennsylvania, who works in the educational computer field. I asked him how he found out that DFan had passed away, here was his response.

his brother emailed me.
We both played in a simulated baseball league and started corresponding frequently about the league.
We also shared a passion for fitness (ironically) and worked in related fields.

Look at the networks. Ram knew DFan's brother from a simulated baseball league, they had a shared passion for fitness, and worked in related fields.

Some will respond that true "community" takes "presence", and that is true. But the doorway, the entry for many people into a real, live community is through cyberspace. It is an observable fact that some of the guys on the Giants' board go on vacation together, go to games together, go drinking together, know one another's families, etc. For the church to not be aware of this, or to not be a presence in cyberspace, is an opportunity wasted.

Anyway, RIP, DFan. May you already be in heaven by the time the Devil knows you are dead.

Casa Bianca

Several months ago, my good friend, Bob Ramsey, posted a review of Casa Bianca. Casa Bianca is a neighborhood pizza place in Eagle Rock, that is well known regionally.

Last night, for the first time, we ate there. Beth and the kids and I met with Mark and Karen, a couple we recently married. We had originally planned to do one of our pre-marital sessions there, but ran out of time before the wedding. So last night we did a post-marital session!

Whatever anyone has written positively about Casa Bianca is absolutely true. Mark and Karen got there around 6:45, and were told to expect to wait until 8:15. We were halfway there, they called us, so we went home for another hour. We arrived around 8:00, and our table was waiting. There was little parking, so we parked about three blocks away. And there were about 30 people waiting outside the restaurant, even at 8:00.

We entered the restaurant, and went back through a hallway past the kitchen. to a back room. We ordered the Hawaiian pizza, and one of sausage, pepperoni, and mushrooms. Think crust. We also ordered some dinner salads, and a half plate of spaghetti with meat sauce, just to sample it.

The pizzas were great! My only complaint is that the mushrooms appeared to be the canned variety, and not fresh. I was slightly disappointed, and soon realized that the sausage and pepperoni was sufficient, the mushrooms added next to nothing to the pizza. Still, the pizzas were great. We will definitely be back. Why it took us 20 years of living in the area before visiting Casa Bianca I do not know.

Casa Bianca reminds me of Vescio's, another Italian restaurant in Dinkytown, by the University of Minnesota. I wrote about Vescio's here. My first pizza was at Vescio's, and it was square. I fondly recall the sausage pizza having one sausage per square! I guess this appealed to my dad, who was a Math professor and certainly liked order.