Ron Cole : off the map...navigating life.

nailing down theology...

At one time I had my theology all nailed down. But, there is only one place where theology is " nailed down." Now, I don't attempt hammering any nails. Or, I nail my theology down in the one place where Jesus, the Christ got nailed down; on the cross. It is only at this intersection of greatest danger that I am mysteriously theologically safe, where certitude dies giving rise to paradox. Truth can be broken and renewed. I can have my beliefs, but here I am blind. Here I reach, waving my hand into a misty fog reaching for something beyond belief. Faith.

When I have doubts, God forgive me; when I don't have doubts God forgive me even more. After all, a God who is bound to confirm my conclusions is the god of me looking in the bathroom mirror. God forgive me.

This cross, is where I try to live in the intersection of life. Paul said, in Galatians,

Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ( Eugene Peterson's The Message ; Galatians 2 )

Here all the deep complexity of my theology vanishes into profound simplicity...it comes down to sacrifice, me, dying to everything I think I know. Here, love emerges, rising like the fragrant perfume from an exotic flower. And, from love, not my conditional anemic love. But, from the love of Jesus, that conquers all...comes the power to resurrect. 

This is all my theology, profoundly simple to say, but an immense challenge to live. But I know from this simple theology lies the redemptive, imaginative reality of the Kingdom. It is from living this out that I see, reveal, and can build his Kingdom on earth as in heaven.

My theology is living at the intersection of the cross. It's here my gods die, I die. Here, I'm not concerned with the condemnation of things, and people...only to love, and resurrect something new.

thoughts half baked Oct.03...dinner in God's Kingdom

( image courtesy of the incredible creative mind of David LaChapelle )

That triggered a response from one of the guests: "How fortunate the one who gets to eat dinner in God's kingdom!"

 Jesus followed up. "Yes. For there was once a man who threw a great dinner party and invited many. When it was time for dinner, he sent out his servant to the suburbs, the burbs with invitations, saying, 'Come on in; the food's on the table.'

"Then they all began to beg off, one after another making excuses. The first said, 'I bought a piece of investment property and need to look it over. Send my regrets.'

"Another said, 'I just made some plans for dinner with my friends, and I really like them . Send my regrets.'

"And yet another said, 'I don't know who your master is, and I'm not comfortable eating with a table full of strangers.' Send my regrets."

 "The servant went back with invitations still in hand and told the master what had happened. He was outraged and told the servant, 'Quickly, get out into the city streets, back alleys, skid row hotels, under bridges, crack houses, ditches and gutters. Collect all who look like they need a square meal, all the misfits and homeless and wretched you can lay your hands on, and bring them here.'

"The servant reported back, 'Master, I did what you asked— and there's still room.'

 "The master said, 'Then go to the country roads, scour the ditches, vacant lots and prisons. Whoever you find, drag them in. I want my house full! Let me tell you, not one of those originally invited is going to get so much as a bite at my dinner party.'"( Luke 14: 15-24 paraphrased )

Download 06 In My Father's House ( studio recording Dr Bones Blues Project )

From the beginnings of the Blues Project we always thought we'd find our niche' on the margins of society. " the house band for the homeless ", as one of our friends at The Mustard Seed Street Church and Food Bank called us. We also play the prison, more marginalization, chain link fence and barbed wire, them one side us on the other. Marginalization has the power to change your identity. Your worthless. You don't fit. You don't belong. In a sense, there is not much difference between the homeless person in abject poverty, the addict on the street, the mentally afflicted on the street and the inmate behind bars. There all prisoners to a false identity.

Some would frown upon my paraphrasing of scripture, that somehow I'm diluting the message reducing it's potency. Jesus told stories. I'm telling a story, that I believe is revealing the same underlying truth. All I'm trying to do is land the story in the context, into the lives of the people who are hearing it; people who are extremely marginalized, and excluded...those with no sense of belonging.

The thing that is challenging about the story is, that if you read it from one angle as already being invited, it's a nice warm fuzzy story that just makes you want to curl up in your church pew and wait for dinner to be served. But, can we see ourselves as the servant with invitations in hand. Or can we see ourselves as being invited, and filled with excuses as to why we can't go. Can we see ourselves as the extremely marginalized, the homeless, the addicted, mentally afflicted, and the inmates.

Reading the story from every angle should challenge everything about us. Just as the Kingdom of God is near, it's present; it is also coming a future reality. This story is a present truth, and a future truth. The challenge is, HOW DO WE LIVE THE STORY OUT FROM EVERY ANGLE, TODAY?

But what I love most about the story is that the marginalized are not on the fringe anymore, the excluded are included...they now have a new identity.

Dinner in God's Kingdom might be a real surprise. It is a dinner filled with the redemptive imagination of Jesus.

thoughts half baked...October.02

Jesus, grilled by the Pharisees on when the kingdom of God would come, answered, "The kingdom of God doesn't come by counting the days on the calendar. Nor when someone says, 'Look here!' or, 'There it is!' And why? Because God's kingdom is already among you." ( Luke 17: 21 ; Eugene Peterson's The Message )

Interesting, the " Kingdom " is the buzz word of the emerging-ent/ missional conversation. In John's gospel Jesus pitches his tent among us in the midst humanity, the incarnational presence of God with us. As we open the door crossing the threshold of Mark's gospel, Jesus announces the Kingdom is " Near."

The Kingdom cannot be marketed. The Kingdom is not in clever programs. The kingdom is beyond the wisdom and power of man.

The Kingdom is abiding in the beauty, the simplicity of Jesus' words, " God's Kingdom is already among you." It's in the simplicity of living. It's living in the moment, of knowing God dwells within through His Spirit. It is knowing the same Spirit that brooded over creation in the beginning, continues to brood over an embryonic beginning of a new creation.

Every moment of our day, is potentially a " Kingdom Moment ", in which we carry the incarnational presence of Jesus. As Paul would say, " Christ within." Every moment of the day, there are cracks, seams in simple conversations in which, if we are obedient the Spirit will give us the words of Jesus. These divine moments will surprise us. They won't be clever, pious or religious words. They will just be words where humanity and spirit merge, of where deep calls to deep. We will be surprised because it will be all " God ", and the profound discovery, " God's Kingdom is among us ."

It's also in having the eyes of Jesus, to have his mind, to have the redemptive imagination to see an alternative to the world. Its to see the injustice, the broken places and spaces of humanity as healed, restored, the upside down image of the world which is the Kingdom. It is communities, individuals bold enough to build what they see through the redemptive imagination of Jesus. Again we are surprised, because we begin to see God's Kingdom in places that we had never thought of.

thoughts half baked...October.01

Last evening at church you couldn't help notice, poinsettia's, Christmas trees, lights and the three wise men. The other thing you couldn't help noticing...it's October! So you're thinking has " The Place " wandered into a new dimension of time, put the church calendar in the re-cycle bin. Nope, we've just begun a journey. We've opened the door of Luke's gospel, and have barely crossed the threshold into what Luke saw, and heard.

Sherri Priestly picked up the Story from Luke 2:1-20. What I love about scripture, is it's like a gem. Each of us can hold it in our hands, and some how divine light can hit, refract, reflect, revealing different angles of God's incredible story. The reflection that seemed to catch Sherri's eye, was the overwhelming sense of humility. We often come to the story of the foot washing that preceded the last supper in the upper room. The image of God, humbling himself to wash the filth from the feet of humanity. But the image of God, as new born, absolutely dependent for nourishment, nursing from the breast of a marginalized young woman. That redemption, and the story of new creation could be dependent on a very young couple not really sure what the hell is going on, starting a family alone, in the filth of a barn. They had three things...a reality that they were part of God's story, faith, and willingness to enter into the story however bizarre it seemed.

Last night before I drifted off into the land of deep sleep I re-read the verses from Luke. As I held the gem, scripture in my mind, and the light hit it. These thoughts flashed brightly...

God is unorthodox.

That the Good News is an incarnational reality. God, through Mary birthed Jesus into the fringe, into a marginalized space of humanity. Mary and Joseph new what homelessness was.

The Good News was delivered out side the religious establishment of the day, outside the power of earthly empires. The Good News is not ours to keep, it has to be delivered, has to be birthed by us into every moment of our daily living.

These thoughts are half baked, in the oven of my mind. I invite you to add a few seconds in the comments to fully bake it. Lets see if it comes out of the oven fully cooked, with some wisdom we can all feast on.