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Northsider – Thoughts from the Edge
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I grew up on the north side of Oklahoma City. Today that same description would draw objection. Areas much further north have developed since those days. But, the address would still signal north.
Those of you who have lived in areas of geographical divide may immediately get the reference to "northsider." Maybe the layout of your particular town or city required more of an East/West distinction. If this is foreign, think American history and the Civil War.
Certain perceptions come when we associate people with where they grew up. Maybe the more wealthily lived on the north side. There are far more Country Clubs on the north side of Oklahoma City than on the south side.
What thoughts would come to mind if you considered Jesus a northsider who visited a southside revival? Maybe that is one way to think about Mark 1:4-11.
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1/5/12
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2
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Cities and Gardens – Thoughts from the Edge
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What would it look like to rebuild cities and plant new gardens. The imagery is at work in the Isaiah text for the third Sunday in the Season of Advent. Jerusalem lay desolate and in ruins. How would it be made new again? Often we think of rebuilding and planting as it materially relates to cities and to gardens. But, what about the condition and shape of human lives in need of rebuilding and planting? How are people any less materially represented when stories about of neglect, abuse, tragedy, and disease?
This week's edition of Thoughts from the Edge stem from Toni sharing her experiences working with orphaned girls and boys in Guatemala. Is it possible to think of the work with those brokenhearted, bound, and captive as the very work of Jesus? If so, then last week at Snow Hill, we heard the same words uttered by Jesus in Luke 4, quoting Isaiah 61, and also heard, "Today these words are being fulfilled in your hearing."
What do you think? This may well be what gets at the heart of Scot McKnight's book, The King Jesus Gospel and represents an understanding of N.T. Wright's Simply Jesus wrapped in the package of a life that affirms what Scot McKnight has written, Junia Is Not Alone.
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12/8/11
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3
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Blurring Others – Thoughts from the Edge
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I enjoy photography. Some photos come out to my liking. Others not so much. On those occasions when the subject appears blurred, I know that my focus was poor, I moved as I clicked the shutter button, or the subject itself moved. Yes, there are lenses which are designed for soft focus. But, I am referring to standard lenses where the hope of the photographer is clarity.
Reading the Matthew 25 text for this coming Sunday, Christ the King Sunday, I wondered how it is that those described as goats failed to see those in need. Maybe things were blurred. Maybe the way in which they ordered their lives kept others our of focus. Interestingly it seems they were so accustomed to the way they saw the world, it was a surprise to learn there were indeed people in need they could help.
Sometimes we read these types of passages for self-consolation. "Glad I am not a goat." But, what if every time you read this particular text you paid more attention to how you blurred others. Rather than be overly concerned with who is a goat and who is not, it may come down to asking ourselves, have we behaved like goats? Have we blurred others and become accustomed to missing those in need?
What are your thoughts?
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11/17/11
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4
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Generosity and Fear – Thoughts from the Edge
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How do you respond to generosity? What about when someone demonstrates generous trust in you? The Gospel text for Sunday seems to create an interesting tension between generosity and fear. And, there should be tension.
Rather than read the parable to mine the identity of the master and the slaves, what if we considered the words of servant number 3 and how the master turns those words back onto the servant revealing what we might refer to as "suspended belief." Only, in this occasion what servant number 3 believes does not prompt a consistent response.
What would it mean for the parable to provoke in us the question of how we respond to the generosity of God in Jesus? What would it mean for the church were Jesus people to live out of their conviction that God is generous rather than somehow become fearful such generosity might be abused. It seems to be in this parable.
What are your thoughts?
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11/10/11
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5
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Listen to “Them”?! – Thoughts From the Edge
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Who do you listen to? Just when you get the idea the scribes and Pharisees cannot possibly offer any spiritual guidance for those who would listen Jesus tells the crowd and his disciples to "do what they say." Yes, you read that correctly.
I have to admit when I read and re-read the opening of Matthew 23 I found the flow of Matthew's Gospel interesting. On the heels of what is described the last question Jesus' opponents pitch in order to trap, test, and discredit Jesus, we find Jesus telling the crowds to listen to his adversaries.
Jesus does tell the same crowd and his disciples "not to do what they do." But, in our normal course, once someone betrays their words we rarely listen.
What do you make of Jesus' words?
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10/27/11
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6
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Our Very Lives – Thoughts from the Edge
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The Thoughts from the Edge podcast returns. Jesus turns the tables and asks a question of his questioners. On its face it seems to have little connection with what he had been asked. What is Matthew up to when he locates these two incidents side by side? Is there space of Pirate Communities? How would a reference to Levinas open up an occasion to consider a connection with the Epistle passage in 1 Thessalonians?
What are your thoughts and suggestions?
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10/20/11
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7
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Practice What You See – Thoughts from the Edge
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How would Paul compel two women to get along when it is recorded that he and John Mark had a falling out that extended to he and Barnabas? Time softens? Maybe. This week's RCL texts are mashed up in this week's edition of "Thoughts from the Edge."
One thought I did not include in the audio - Would it be consistent to say, how we practice what we believe creates the kind of space for unity that illustrates the possibility for peace?
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10/6/11
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8
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Is God Among Us? – Thoughts From the Edge
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Five months ago I encountered a wonky podcast plugin. Looking for a solution ran into the brick wall of time. Summer came and with it other matters that rose to the top of the "To Do" list for each week.
I recently discovered a solution and am glad to be thinking out loud again on one or more of the suggested texts from the Revised Common Lectionary for the coming week. I hope you will listen in, even subscribe to the podcast. Then, let's have a conversation about the Scriptures covered in the comments.
In the coming episodes, I will offer something akin to "Show Notes" here in the post introducing the weekly podcast.
Thanks for stopping by and participating.
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9/22/11
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9
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Hope and Reality – Thoughts from the Edge
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The new realities of the Kingdom break into the world in some important ways. Our continued living out the resurrection of Jesus may give hope to people who have lost confidence in our adversarial posture as we live redemptively in the world. What are your thoughts? If you like leave a comment for discussion.
You may subscribe to Thoughts from the Edge in iTunes. See the link in the right sidebar.
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4/14/11
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10
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Lyle Thought He Had It Rough . . . Until Bonhoeffer
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Earlier today I listened to my friend Chris Seay's sermon from this past Sunday. I admit, I do not listen to many. Maybe I should. Seay quoted Miroslav Volf who questioned how well someone in the West, think Western Europe and America, "gets" suffering and its cause radical evil. Our thoughts of justice somehow seem a bit pale when considering life in Croatia according to Seay's telling of Volf's story.
Some want to dismiss perspective for fear it marginalizes real fear and human struggles. However, we cannot keep from recognizing there are degrees of human suffering. My hunger between meals could hardly compare to hunger in the hovels of South Africa I visited years ago.
Lyle's wrote, I Thought I had it rough after reading an excerpt from Bonhoeffer's Discipleship and the Cross.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 23, 2005
I thought I had it rough
An excerpt from Discipleship and the Cross by Bonhoffer:
Those who are not prepared to take up the cross, those who are not prepared to give their life to suffering and rejection by others, lose community with Christ, and are not disciples. Discipleship is commitment to the suffering Christ.
Whether we really have found God's peace will be shown by how we deal with the sufferings that will come upon us. There are many Christians who do, indeed, kneel before the cross of Jesus Christ, and yet reject and struggle against every tribulation in their own lives. They believe they love the cross of Christ, and yet they hate that cross in their own lives. And so in truth they hate the cross of Jesus Christ as well, and in truth despise that cross and try by any means possible to escape it. - Dietrich Bonhoffer
When it is put that way I find myself seriously lacking in the commitment category.
POSTED BY LYLE AT 9:58 AM 0 SPEAKING UP
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3/23/11
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