SEND REV TO PIPE SCHOOL!!! I am going to Nashville to study with Grant Batson with your help http://igg.me/at/revspipes/x/3019926
As
some of you know my wife and I live simply, and spend much of our time
and money on our community. We are involved with local charities and
have done some of our own work with homeless folk in our park. But that
means I need a bit of help to do my "schooling" Grant Batson,
an incredible pipe maker from Nashville, who's work really resonates
with me on a creative level has agreed to take me on as a student for a
few days, in which I will learn how to make pipes more perfectly, more
efficiently and more creatively. I am very excited to take advantage of
this one on one instruction, and you can help. Please follow the link
and help as you are able.
john
Monday, April 29, 2013
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
started a new blog about pipes and pipe making
Please check it out, follow me, blah blah blah
I am now trying to get a new business started making custom pipes. This blog will be a small part of that, but I hope you enjoy some of the crazy pipes that I will be putting up. Today I posted some pictures of Christian Wolfsteiner's work, and man do I love it
revspipes
rev
I am now trying to get a new business started making custom pipes. This blog will be a small part of that, but I hope you enjoy some of the crazy pipes that I will be putting up. Today I posted some pictures of Christian Wolfsteiner's work, and man do I love it
revspipes
rev
Friday, November 30, 2012
My interview on Christian Anarchy with Whiskey Preacher
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/whiskeypreacher/2012/11/the-christian-anarchy-edition/
rev
rev
Thursday, July 05, 2012
What is best in life
Genghis Khan
The greatest pleasure is to vanquish your enemies and chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth and see those dear to them bathed in tears, to ride their horses and clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters.
This man conquered much of the world of his time. His dna is scattered very wide. But I think, of course that this statement is not only wrong, it is horrible and inhuman.
I am asking myself this question, What is best in Life? and I find that what is truly best in life is actually pretty simple. The love of friends and family, security and met needs. The best in life includes the ability to practice creativity, to do good work, to practice real rest, and to feel needed.
What is disturbing to me is that much of the world does not have this. That much of the world actually has all it needs to have this, but creates desires and problems that keep it from experiencing this in order to sell things. That we manufacture insecurity, needs, and problems to keep us from good work, and creativity and proper rest. And in living in this way we continue a cycle, and a structure that insures the unhappiness of billions of people.
I pray that we may learn to live differently, and to truly enjoy life, while providing for others liberation from a system, that prevents them from living differently and enjoying this precious gift.
rev
The greatest pleasure is to vanquish your enemies and chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth and see those dear to them bathed in tears, to ride their horses and clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters.
This man conquered much of the world of his time. His dna is scattered very wide. But I think, of course that this statement is not only wrong, it is horrible and inhuman.
I am asking myself this question, What is best in Life? and I find that what is truly best in life is actually pretty simple. The love of friends and family, security and met needs. The best in life includes the ability to practice creativity, to do good work, to practice real rest, and to feel needed.
What is disturbing to me is that much of the world does not have this. That much of the world actually has all it needs to have this, but creates desires and problems that keep it from experiencing this in order to sell things. That we manufacture insecurity, needs, and problems to keep us from good work, and creativity and proper rest. And in living in this way we continue a cycle, and a structure that insures the unhappiness of billions of people.
I pray that we may learn to live differently, and to truly enjoy life, while providing for others liberation from a system, that prevents them from living differently and enjoying this precious gift.
rev
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
The problems with the church (an arrogant series of cynical genius) the upside down kingdom
The church as we have been taught is an organization. It is modeled after all of the organizations that we see in the world. Whether we are talking about the CEO on top of the international corporation, or the boards that run similar ones. Whether you are talking about Governments that run based on democratic rule, or despotic dictators, our church has been modeled after these worldly organizations.
This is not as it should be. The church of God should not be a pyramid of power, with Jesus at the top and the great "leadership" just under him. What we have there is the mimicry of a system of oppression. Oh sure, as long as the "leaders" are benevolent, this might work ok. In fact, it might even be more expedient, and less chaotic that the alternatives. But it is not God's revealed way.
Now as this is a blog, not a treatise on the issues of leadership and structure, we will be approaching this subject with a bit of simplicity. I have found that of all my "weird" ideas, this one seems to get the most resistance. I believe this is because the structure of our entire life is based around the idea of top down, oppressive leadership and ministry. We are so stuck into this system that anything else seems incredibly subversive and wrong. That our deep involvement with the culture and structures of our day not only hold our imaginations hostage, but they seductively inspire our treatment of the scriptures. We do not see the truth, even though God lays it out before us so powerfully.
In order to grasp what I am talking about there must be a breaking of supernatural power upon our minds. We must be able to see how the powers that be use our marriage to these structures of hierarchy to not only keep us bound up, but to keep us supporting those structures that are outside of the church. We become upholders of evil, as we practice systems and structures that are in themselves the tools for the oppression of the entire world.
Like I said, I am going to keep it simple, I could go through the entirety of scriptures, and tear our systems to shreds, but I will instead just share two scriptures here, and if you need more, we can speak of that in the comments.
The first scripture I would share with you comes from the 1 book of Samuel chapter 8 7 The Lord told him, "Listen to everything the people are saying to you. You are not the one they have turned their backs on. I am the one they do not want as their king. 8 They are doing just as they have always done. They have deserted me and served other gods. They have done that from the time I brought them up out of Egypt until this very day. Now they are deserting you too.
The Lord goes on to explain how a king will tax them, take their sons and daughters into service and slavery, rule over them with an iron fist and make his own house great. Yet the people wanted a king so they could be like other nations. Now please hear this, to God this was rejection of Him. The rest of the scriptures speak of the horrible atrocities that accompany kingship, even a "good" king like David winds up in the midst of civil war, murdering a man and taking his wife, and practically destroying the nation all the while building up a huge monument to himself. The fact that God loved David, does not take away from the fact that God did not desire a king, in fact it shows that even with a man as good hearted as David, power corrupts.
The next scripture is repeated in the gospels, but lets look at Mark 10
37 They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right hand in your glorious kingdom. Let the other one sit at your left hand."
38 "You don't know what you're asking for," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup of suffering I drink? Or can you go through the baptism of suffering I must go through?"
39 "We can," they answered.
Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink. And you will go through the baptism I go through. 40 But it is not for me to say who will sit at my right or left hand. These places belong to those they are prepared for."
41 The other ten disciples heard about it. They became angry at James and John.
42 Jesus called them together. He said, "You know about those who are rulers of the nations. They hold power over their people. Their high officials order them around. 43 Don't be like that. Instead, anyone who wants to be important among you must be your servant. 44 And anyone who wants to be first must be the slave of everyone. 45 Even the Son of Man did not come to be served. Instead, he came to serve others. He came to give his life as the price for setting many people free."
The disciples John and James want to be at the top of the pyramid. The other disciples get mad, probably because they didn't think of it sooner. They understand the way leadership and power work in the world, and they would like to be at the top end of the pyramid. But Jesus explains that in his kingdom, things are not as they are in the world. The leaders are those that give up everything and serve others, not those that have authority. We in the church are called to a different understanding of structure and leadership. We are not to be a hierarchy, but a place that truly practices "the first shall be last and the last first"
Another problem with the church is our refusal to abandon the ways of empire in our structure. To elevate people, usually professionals into places of authority. For the incredible majority of people to give away their own power, their own responsibility to someone else. And what is very disturbing to me in this culture of consumerism, people pay others to live out their discipleship. One of the problems with the church is we have a structure that allows a dereliction of discipleship by the majority, and an acceptance of power and authority that is unbiblical by the leadership.
How this is remedied is by the first relinquishing their thrones and serving the last. By smaller groups, allowing, in fact requiring, that all share their gifts, their talents, their thoughts and practices. That once again all of the church becomes the reflection of God, and the dazzling presence of Jesus is found not at a service where the hierarchy is in full effect, but in the everyday life, where every single joint supplies.
rev
This is not as it should be. The church of God should not be a pyramid of power, with Jesus at the top and the great "leadership" just under him. What we have there is the mimicry of a system of oppression. Oh sure, as long as the "leaders" are benevolent, this might work ok. In fact, it might even be more expedient, and less chaotic that the alternatives. But it is not God's revealed way.
Now as this is a blog, not a treatise on the issues of leadership and structure, we will be approaching this subject with a bit of simplicity. I have found that of all my "weird" ideas, this one seems to get the most resistance. I believe this is because the structure of our entire life is based around the idea of top down, oppressive leadership and ministry. We are so stuck into this system that anything else seems incredibly subversive and wrong. That our deep involvement with the culture and structures of our day not only hold our imaginations hostage, but they seductively inspire our treatment of the scriptures. We do not see the truth, even though God lays it out before us so powerfully.
In order to grasp what I am talking about there must be a breaking of supernatural power upon our minds. We must be able to see how the powers that be use our marriage to these structures of hierarchy to not only keep us bound up, but to keep us supporting those structures that are outside of the church. We become upholders of evil, as we practice systems and structures that are in themselves the tools for the oppression of the entire world.
Like I said, I am going to keep it simple, I could go through the entirety of scriptures, and tear our systems to shreds, but I will instead just share two scriptures here, and if you need more, we can speak of that in the comments.
The first scripture I would share with you comes from the 1 book of Samuel chapter 8 7 The Lord told him, "Listen to everything the people are saying to you. You are not the one they have turned their backs on. I am the one they do not want as their king. 8 They are doing just as they have always done. They have deserted me and served other gods. They have done that from the time I brought them up out of Egypt until this very day. Now they are deserting you too.
The Lord goes on to explain how a king will tax them, take their sons and daughters into service and slavery, rule over them with an iron fist and make his own house great. Yet the people wanted a king so they could be like other nations. Now please hear this, to God this was rejection of Him. The rest of the scriptures speak of the horrible atrocities that accompany kingship, even a "good" king like David winds up in the midst of civil war, murdering a man and taking his wife, and practically destroying the nation all the while building up a huge monument to himself. The fact that God loved David, does not take away from the fact that God did not desire a king, in fact it shows that even with a man as good hearted as David, power corrupts.
The next scripture is repeated in the gospels, but lets look at Mark 10
James and John Ask a Favor of Jesus
35 James and John came to Jesus. They were the sons of Zebedee. "Teacher," they said, "we would like to ask a favor of you." 36 "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.37 They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right hand in your glorious kingdom. Let the other one sit at your left hand."
38 "You don't know what you're asking for," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup of suffering I drink? Or can you go through the baptism of suffering I must go through?"
39 "We can," they answered.
Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink. And you will go through the baptism I go through. 40 But it is not for me to say who will sit at my right or left hand. These places belong to those they are prepared for."
41 The other ten disciples heard about it. They became angry at James and John.
42 Jesus called them together. He said, "You know about those who are rulers of the nations. They hold power over their people. Their high officials order them around. 43 Don't be like that. Instead, anyone who wants to be important among you must be your servant. 44 And anyone who wants to be first must be the slave of everyone. 45 Even the Son of Man did not come to be served. Instead, he came to serve others. He came to give his life as the price for setting many people free."
The disciples John and James want to be at the top of the pyramid. The other disciples get mad, probably because they didn't think of it sooner. They understand the way leadership and power work in the world, and they would like to be at the top end of the pyramid. But Jesus explains that in his kingdom, things are not as they are in the world. The leaders are those that give up everything and serve others, not those that have authority. We in the church are called to a different understanding of structure and leadership. We are not to be a hierarchy, but a place that truly practices "the first shall be last and the last first"
Another problem with the church is our refusal to abandon the ways of empire in our structure. To elevate people, usually professionals into places of authority. For the incredible majority of people to give away their own power, their own responsibility to someone else. And what is very disturbing to me in this culture of consumerism, people pay others to live out their discipleship. One of the problems with the church is we have a structure that allows a dereliction of discipleship by the majority, and an acceptance of power and authority that is unbiblical by the leadership.
How this is remedied is by the first relinquishing their thrones and serving the last. By smaller groups, allowing, in fact requiring, that all share their gifts, their talents, their thoughts and practices. That once again all of the church becomes the reflection of God, and the dazzling presence of Jesus is found not at a service where the hierarchy is in full effect, but in the everyday life, where every single joint supplies.
rev
Monday, June 18, 2012
Thursday, June 07, 2012
Tomorrow live streaming video from my backyard
The stream will be on Justin.tv on channel rev3j please join us if possible, and share this with whomever you can.
Dave has been an incredible influence on my life and ministry. In fact he has profoundly shaped the way we understand and do "church" Here is a quote about him:
"There is one thing you need to know about Dave Andrews. He is dangerous. For example, after Indira Gandhi was shot, two or three thousand people were killed in twenty-four hours in the riots that followed. Mobs rampaged through streets looking for Sikhs to murder. Dave convinced Tony, a friend , that it was their job to go out and save these Sikhs. Finding a besieged house, they put themselves between an armed mob and a Sikh family and saved them from certain death. That's why Dave Andrews is dangerous. He is ordinary, yet believes ordinary people should take extraordinary risks to confront the cruelty in our world."
so be afraid, be very afraid :)
rev
Friday, May 25, 2012
An Alternative to singing songs for worship
In our group we have people from many points of view, some are not even theistic. This makes worship time a bit difficult, but we have tried to be creative. When seeking for a common ground we have found that appreciation, awareness and thankfulness are all ways that we can take part in an activity that is meaningful for everyone.
As is our tradition everyone takes turns with things. So each night we have a dinner, and a discussion around the scriptures. We all take turns with this. But then we have four traditions that we do monthly, one per week. Those are confession, prayer, worship and communion. Since we take turns these can turn out to be very different from one week to the next. This week one of our members, Ted, wanted us to focus our understanding of worship on being present in the now, of seeing the wonder of God's good creation. So we wrote haiku and shared. This exercise was a great way to allow everyone to participate, and is not exclusive.
Here are a few of the them:
Eclipse
Blinding afternoon
Dark moon slides quietly in
Corona extreme
Dean
bye bye, Hi, bye bye
Joy and innocence and fun
run for the kitchen
Untitled
Days swarm the sweet sage
life is trapped sun energy
they store and prosper
Papyrus
Papyrus for us
hidden treasure fierwork top
beneath your green skin
Church
With love all around
laughter sits at the center
acceptance abounds
Community
easy, hard, noisy
exhausting and wonderful
love becomes alive
rev
As is our tradition everyone takes turns with things. So each night we have a dinner, and a discussion around the scriptures. We all take turns with this. But then we have four traditions that we do monthly, one per week. Those are confession, prayer, worship and communion. Since we take turns these can turn out to be very different from one week to the next. This week one of our members, Ted, wanted us to focus our understanding of worship on being present in the now, of seeing the wonder of God's good creation. So we wrote haiku and shared. This exercise was a great way to allow everyone to participate, and is not exclusive.
Here are a few of the them:
Eclipse
Blinding afternoon
Dark moon slides quietly in
Corona extreme
Dean
bye bye, Hi, bye bye
Joy and innocence and fun
run for the kitchen
Untitled
Days swarm the sweet sage
life is trapped sun energy
they store and prosper
Papyrus
Papyrus for us
hidden treasure fierwork top
beneath your green skin
Church
With love all around
laughter sits at the center
acceptance abounds
Community
easy, hard, noisy
exhausting and wonderful
love becomes alive
rev
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
Problems With the Church 3 (an arrogant series of cynical genius)
The church has handled truth in a number of ways. In the older traditions the church hierarchy was called the holder of truth. In the extremes the church did not even let the scriptures be in a common language so that unskilled, uneducated people would not even have access to them, but the scriptures would only be explained to them by the church. The Waldensian's died because they began to teach outside of the authority of the church. In many newer church groups everyone can interpret scripture as an individual, which some point out as the reason for so many denominations, or the quote "you have made every man a pope". I think at the heart of much of the problems with the church stands an inadequate way in which we might process truth.
Truth, and specifically scriptural truth tends to be addressed in between these extremes. There are some notable distinctions in some groups however. In some Quaker groups they highly value the idea of a communal interpretation. In other words as the church silently waits for the leading of the Spirit, they are lead to an understanding of truth. In the liberation theology camp they talk about action reflection. In other words, as you are part of the struggle for liberation, and freedom from poverty and oppression in real life activities, you are then able to reflect upon the scriptures from a proper alignment.
Let me say that I believe there is much that we can learn from all of these traditions particularly the last two. But the problem I see with the church today, is they miss a very important principle. In fact, I would say that all of these traditional methods have merit, and should be combined to give us the best understanding of scripture, yet if we did this well we would still miss the most important aspect of our faith, and what it means to be the church.
What is this little secret? It is that Jesus, is actually the center of our knowledge, not the bible. Now I am well aware that without the bible we don't have a Jesus. But lets look at how we approach scripture. In most cases we do not approach it as a narrative, though that is what it is. And we take it in pieces, using all pieces equally, (unless they disagree with out lifestyle or dogma in which case they are just figurative, or not in proper context). But this is a problem, because the bible is not THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. The bible is not the EXACT REPRESENTATION OF GOD'S BEING, nor is it THE LOGOS BECOME FLESH. Nor are we known as biblians. We are called Christians, which means we are to be followers of Christ.
This radically effects the way in which we view truth, or interpret scripture. If we are to be true to our name, and discipleship, then first and foremost we must acknowledge Christ. So in order to understand all of scripture, we must first understand Christ. What Christ did, what He said, and how He died and rose again, is the pinnacle of our understanding of God, and scripture. Far from meaning the other scriptures don't matter, or even that they matter less, it means that all scripture comes alive when viewed through the lens of Jesus.
The problem has been that we have not followed Jesus. In fact, most of the time we elevate Jesus so high into the clouds that we forget he actually asked real live men, to follow him in the real live earth, and entrusted the real live church into their hands. We do not read Paul in light of Jesus, but we read Jesus in light of Paul. We do not take the Jesus of the gospels as the one true God, but we say, "well he was just a nice guy back then but in Revelations he is gonna wreck shit" We say, "well look at Joshua, God is not just love He is just". But the thing is Jesus shows us what God's justice looks like "neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more". God is revealed truly, and perfectly in the actions, and teachings of Jesus, and the scriptures bow to Him, not the other way around. This is the actual meaning of Jesus statement in the sermon on the mount, "not one tiny little morsel of the law will be done away with until it is all PERFECTED" Jesus comes to make the understandings of God, and scripture perfect.
A problem with the church is we look every way we can besides the actual example of Jesus life, the powerful teachings he gave us, and the invitation to join in His death and resurrection. If Jesus is the Way, Truth and Life, then we should be about that. Isn't it funny that the only people Jesus really tore into were those that already figured it out, had all their doctrines and dogmas straight, and used them all as currency to buy and sell power and influence over others. What He spoke of was the kingdom, a way of acting, and living, a way of being the community of God, and in the midst of this community His very presence lives. Truth is not a book, nor a method, it is a person, the person of Christ.
All of our interpretive methods must be engaged, but more importantly, we must set our sight firmly on Christ the man, and His call to follow Him.
rev
Truth, and specifically scriptural truth tends to be addressed in between these extremes. There are some notable distinctions in some groups however. In some Quaker groups they highly value the idea of a communal interpretation. In other words as the church silently waits for the leading of the Spirit, they are lead to an understanding of truth. In the liberation theology camp they talk about action reflection. In other words, as you are part of the struggle for liberation, and freedom from poverty and oppression in real life activities, you are then able to reflect upon the scriptures from a proper alignment.
Let me say that I believe there is much that we can learn from all of these traditions particularly the last two. But the problem I see with the church today, is they miss a very important principle. In fact, I would say that all of these traditional methods have merit, and should be combined to give us the best understanding of scripture, yet if we did this well we would still miss the most important aspect of our faith, and what it means to be the church.
What is this little secret? It is that Jesus, is actually the center of our knowledge, not the bible. Now I am well aware that without the bible we don't have a Jesus. But lets look at how we approach scripture. In most cases we do not approach it as a narrative, though that is what it is. And we take it in pieces, using all pieces equally, (unless they disagree with out lifestyle or dogma in which case they are just figurative, or not in proper context). But this is a problem, because the bible is not THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. The bible is not the EXACT REPRESENTATION OF GOD'S BEING, nor is it THE LOGOS BECOME FLESH. Nor are we known as biblians. We are called Christians, which means we are to be followers of Christ.
This radically effects the way in which we view truth, or interpret scripture. If we are to be true to our name, and discipleship, then first and foremost we must acknowledge Christ. So in order to understand all of scripture, we must first understand Christ. What Christ did, what He said, and how He died and rose again, is the pinnacle of our understanding of God, and scripture. Far from meaning the other scriptures don't matter, or even that they matter less, it means that all scripture comes alive when viewed through the lens of Jesus.
The problem has been that we have not followed Jesus. In fact, most of the time we elevate Jesus so high into the clouds that we forget he actually asked real live men, to follow him in the real live earth, and entrusted the real live church into their hands. We do not read Paul in light of Jesus, but we read Jesus in light of Paul. We do not take the Jesus of the gospels as the one true God, but we say, "well he was just a nice guy back then but in Revelations he is gonna wreck shit" We say, "well look at Joshua, God is not just love He is just". But the thing is Jesus shows us what God's justice looks like "neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more". God is revealed truly, and perfectly in the actions, and teachings of Jesus, and the scriptures bow to Him, not the other way around. This is the actual meaning of Jesus statement in the sermon on the mount, "not one tiny little morsel of the law will be done away with until it is all PERFECTED" Jesus comes to make the understandings of God, and scripture perfect.
A problem with the church is we look every way we can besides the actual example of Jesus life, the powerful teachings he gave us, and the invitation to join in His death and resurrection. If Jesus is the Way, Truth and Life, then we should be about that. Isn't it funny that the only people Jesus really tore into were those that already figured it out, had all their doctrines and dogmas straight, and used them all as currency to buy and sell power and influence over others. What He spoke of was the kingdom, a way of acting, and living, a way of being the community of God, and in the midst of this community His very presence lives. Truth is not a book, nor a method, it is a person, the person of Christ.
All of our interpretive methods must be engaged, but more importantly, we must set our sight firmly on Christ the man, and His call to follow Him.
rev
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