All we need to know

A blog I like to read regularly is www.ragamuffinsoul.com  It's the blog of worship pastor Carlos Whittacker. He's funny, down to earth, seems to have a sound theology, and he approaches religion and faith matters from a very practical viewpoint. I dig that because I try to do the same. Los doesn't shy away from the world, he seems to realize that we're all a part of it and we have to figure out how to balance the world and our faith.

There have been two instances lately on his blog that have really got me thinking. Two statements made in comments on his posts have stirred up in me realization of things I don't like about the church. Now I'm not talking about the entire body of Christ, rather the people who profess faith and two things I hear regularly that really get under my skin.

The first one was a response to a comment I left under the post "I really hate when people say..." I said I had issue when people refer to a "personal relationship with Jesus" because it takes community out of church and without broad relationships then religion and faith were weak. Another commenter disagreed and we had a brief exchange about the nature of relationship. I'll write more about that later.

The second one, which occurred today, was in response to a post about Rob Bell's new book "Love Wins." Now, I've already talked a little bit about the book and if you're interested there are great reviews from all sides to read. This post isn't about Rob Bell. One of the comments made the following statement:

"The Bible holds all we need to know about God."

Read that again. I'm not sure I disagree but it seems like quite a bold statement. I automatically started questioning whether or not I believed the basis of that statement. I began to question my own understanding of the Bible.

In small group last night, one of our members made a point to say that no matter what style or delivery of worship a church chose, if they weren't grounded in the Bible then it would go awry. I agree with that statement. The Bible is a fantastic foundation for conversation, learning, faith development, and understanding of the Christian story. That being said, I wonder if we haven't fetishized the Bible a little too much. I don't have a literalistic understanding of Scripture, and I don't believe the Bible is infallible. I do believe that it is authoritative to understanding the nature of God and Christ, but the more I dig in the less I believe it is the only way we can come to understand God.

I have had countless experiences in this life that didn't include the Bible that showed me the nature of God. I have come to understand God's love through the love my family and friends have shown me. I have come to understand God's love as a father when I look at my son smiling at me. I understand God's life-changing Spirit by listening to others preach and share the gospel with me. Thats a very short list of the infinite ways I've experienced God. Yes, I've experienced God in Scripture. I think it's an invaluable resource to the church, but if all the Bibles in the world were to disappear, I can't imagine I'd stop believing what I believe or stop experiencing God active in the world.

Thats where I'm at. Where are you? Does the Bible hold all we need to know about God? Do you experience God elsewhere? I think this is a good conversation to have.

Cheers.

Why I'm barefoot today

You know Toms. They're the uber cool minimalist shoes that everybody that all the cool hipster kids are wearing nowadays. I have some, not because i'm a cool hipster kid, but because I'm jealous of the cool hipster kids. The reason I bought my first pair of Toms is because for every pair they sell, they send a free pair to a kid who wouldn't otherwise have shoes. Pretty cool. But enough of my Tom's commercial.

Today they are hosting One Day Without Shoes. All day long they are encouraging people to take off their shoes and go about their daily life. I'm taking part for the first time and there are already some amazing things I'm noticing. First off is how cold my feet have gotten. It's a mild day here in Houston so the usual blazing cement I would be walking on is nowhere to be found. The second is that there's a lot of crap on the ground to step on. I have already wiped or picked countless pointy objects off of my feet. This is, I believe, at the heart of the matter.

We don't take time, those of us with general access to shoes, to notice how much of a vital role they play in our day to day lives. Now I don't have all the statistics, but take a moment today and check out www.onedaywithoutshoes.com They have all the vitals and the resources if you feel so inclined to help out.

There's another organization that does work in this area so if you have a second moment check out www.shoesfororphansouls.org and see the amazing work they're doing. Thanks for listening, I think its our job as the church to not only spread the good news, but to spread the love. Happy Barefooting

Mike.