Thursday, February 19, 2009
Richard Foster has interesting ways of examining the spiritual disciplines. Calling prayer a "learning experience" is something I had never thought of before. I normally think I have to have mastery of my words when I pray, but the simple prayer is preferred, and fluffy language was discouraged by Jesus. The importance of imagination is also interesting, and how we need to have the imagination and faith of a child, another thing Jesus said we needed.
With repetition in study, I have noticed that a certain verse in the Bible I have read several times, even though I was not purposefully memorizing it, became ingrained in my mind so that later that verse would come up. Even more so than when Richard Foster wrote the book, concentration remains a large problem especially with the youth who were brought up on xbox and movies. To examine something and to put all other subjects away is a difficult thing to do.
When it comes to meditation, the first thing that would come to many western Christian minds is that of a Buddhist monk, trying to meditate himself into nothingness. This western-centered idea, which Foster points out, pulls us away from many of the great books written by non-Evangelical Christians over the last two thousands years. I find the most difficult aspect of the inner disciplines is knowing that it is not very visible on the outside to others, for example, the discipline of studying will not be easily noticed. But the inner disciplines are very important, and changing oneself is a part of that. As Leo Tolstoy said, ``Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.``
With repetition in study, I have noticed that a certain verse in the Bible I have read several times, even though I was not purposefully memorizing it, became ingrained in my mind so that later that verse would come up. Even more so than when Richard Foster wrote the book, concentration remains a large problem especially with the youth who were brought up on xbox and movies. To examine something and to put all other subjects away is a difficult thing to do.
When it comes to meditation, the first thing that would come to many western Christian minds is that of a Buddhist monk, trying to meditate himself into nothingness. This western-centered idea, which Foster points out, pulls us away from many of the great books written by non-Evangelical Christians over the last two thousands years. I find the most difficult aspect of the inner disciplines is knowing that it is not very visible on the outside to others, for example, the discipline of studying will not be easily noticed. But the inner disciplines are very important, and changing oneself is a part of that. As Leo Tolstoy said, ``Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.``
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Matt's second post - Worship and Confession
In class we spoke about what is needed to be able to give a confession, and what was needed to be able to hear a confession. According to Richard Foster and St. Alphonsus Liguori, both sides "required" several qualities. As I sat there and thought about it, I realized how much I totally disagreed with Foster and Liguori. I don't believe that you need sorrow or the determination to avoid sin to be able to confess a sin. What does "determination to avoid sin" mean anyways? Yes I am a Christian trying not to sin, but I still am going to do it. Just as if I were not a Christian. I could be the worst person in the world and still just happen to decide one day that I want to confess some sins.....maybe even just for fun. Maybe this would not be considered a "true" confessions of one's sins, but guess what....it's still a confession! I am guessing what Foster actually means is that you need to aquire these qualities to confess to be able to grow spiritually in Christ. Foster also noted how certain qualities were needed to listen to a confession. One of these was the authority to forgive. When I read this I thought to myself, my goodness what is this guy thinking? A person hearing a confession has to have the authority to forgive? HELLO, we all already have the authority to forgive one another. I mean, I could steal some guy's wallet and confess my sin to a person 10 years later but I still believe that this person would be able to forgive me for my sin even though it was not their wallet that I stole. Maybe not a forgiveness on a personal level, but I still believe that we all have the authority to forgive each other for the sins we have committed against humanity.
Often when we hear the word "worship", the first thing to come to mind is a band playing Christian music or a choir singing hymns. In class, it was also noted that the word Worship was not actually a verb, but a noun. After hearing that, I had some questions. Like, if it is not an action, why do we have "worship services", and why do we say that we must worship the lord? (which we must, just showing the action side of it). So why can't the statement "to worship" also mean the action of praising God?
So far in this post I have blasted against Foster's Celebration of Discipline, but it was really a great book. It definitely opened my eyes to a lot of the different disciplines that are needed to be followed, and how to follow them. It was so in-depth, yet so easy to understand, and to follow. To me it is a little surprising that it was actually written in 1978. In fact, during our group discussion time, one member was a little upset over the fact that since the book was written in 1978 (and it was popular then), nothing has really changed (discipline wise) in our churches. Even so, we all found it to be an excellent book, and a great help with our spiritual lives.
We also watched a short video that showed how worship has become like a material industry. Personally, I thought the video to be dead on. I find that churches are so formal and repetative these days. People are losing interest in going to church, and are starting to think of it as a waste of time. I recently had visited a Spanish Church in Kitchener and though it was small, it was filled with people yelling out their praises for the Lord. It suddenly struck me that this is how church should be. We should be yelling out to Him and telling Him how much we love Him, not just sitting in a pew for an hour in pure silence.
Personally, I have found this weeks group time to be one of the best so far. There was adaquate time to reflect on what we had discussed, and turned out to be one of the more in-depth discussions so far. The Celebration of Discipline was an amazing book, and I will definitely be reading it again in the future.
Often when we hear the word "worship", the first thing to come to mind is a band playing Christian music or a choir singing hymns. In class, it was also noted that the word Worship was not actually a verb, but a noun. After hearing that, I had some questions. Like, if it is not an action, why do we have "worship services", and why do we say that we must worship the lord? (which we must, just showing the action side of it). So why can't the statement "to worship" also mean the action of praising God?
So far in this post I have blasted against Foster's Celebration of Discipline, but it was really a great book. It definitely opened my eyes to a lot of the different disciplines that are needed to be followed, and how to follow them. It was so in-depth, yet so easy to understand, and to follow. To me it is a little surprising that it was actually written in 1978. In fact, during our group discussion time, one member was a little upset over the fact that since the book was written in 1978 (and it was popular then), nothing has really changed (discipline wise) in our churches. Even so, we all found it to be an excellent book, and a great help with our spiritual lives.
We also watched a short video that showed how worship has become like a material industry. Personally, I thought the video to be dead on. I find that churches are so formal and repetative these days. People are losing interest in going to church, and are starting to think of it as a waste of time. I recently had visited a Spanish Church in Kitchener and though it was small, it was filled with people yelling out their praises for the Lord. It suddenly struck me that this is how church should be. We should be yelling out to Him and telling Him how much we love Him, not just sitting in a pew for an hour in pure silence.
Personally, I have found this weeks group time to be one of the best so far. There was adaquate time to reflect on what we had discussed, and turned out to be one of the more in-depth discussions so far. The Celebration of Discipline was an amazing book, and I will definitely be reading it again in the future.
Friday, February 13, 2009
What I meant
My last post seems to have caused some confusion.
Basically what I meant is this. Everytime I fast one question always comes into my mind: why? Yes I know I can connect with God, but I also have to make sure I actually intentionally do so. I could potentially fast without even thinking about my faith. Therefore what I meant by disciplining the disciplines is that we should intentionally focus on God and not just do the things, go through the motions etc.
Basically what I meant is this. Everytime I fast one question always comes into my mind: why? Yes I know I can connect with God, but I also have to make sure I actually intentionally do so. I could potentially fast without even thinking about my faith. Therefore what I meant by disciplining the disciplines is that we should intentionally focus on God and not just do the things, go through the motions etc.
Friday, February 6, 2009
To be Marked - Isaiah's Second Post
After class today in our discussion group we both discussed how in the last couple weeks because of busy schedules, school creating a lot of that busyness, we have both become exhausted. Myself particularly, although I do get a lot out of my classes, seem to be perpetually both physically and even spiritually exhausted.
That leads me to our conversation in class. We both feel that although silence and solitude are important, our own lives reflect that there needs to be a difference between "silence and solitude" and "rest and relaxation". Again, we know there is a difference but we feel that we need to discipline our discipline, practice making our spiritual practice spiritual.
Finally we asked ourselves: Is spiritual formations worth it? We both said yes, but not simply yes. We feel, ultimately, that though spiritual disciplines are important we both have a strong social consciousness and want to explore more deeply how the disciplines relate to that passion. How, for example, does meditation increase generosity and create Justice? Foster briefly touches on this in his chapter on Meditation, but we both feel that more discussion is needed.
Most likely in future we will discuss this question, and others like it, to grasp a deeper understanding of what it means to be a holistic disciple.
That leads me to our conversation in class. We both feel that although silence and solitude are important, our own lives reflect that there needs to be a difference between "silence and solitude" and "rest and relaxation". Again, we know there is a difference but we feel that we need to discipline our discipline, practice making our spiritual practice spiritual.
Finally we asked ourselves: Is spiritual formations worth it? We both said yes, but not simply yes. We feel, ultimately, that though spiritual disciplines are important we both have a strong social consciousness and want to explore more deeply how the disciplines relate to that passion. How, for example, does meditation increase generosity and create Justice? Foster briefly touches on this in his chapter on Meditation, but we both feel that more discussion is needed.
Most likely in future we will discuss this question, and others like it, to grasp a deeper understanding of what it means to be a holistic disciple.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Not to be marked: Isaiah thinks about Liturgy.
Since last class I've been thinking about liturgy and tradition within evangelicalism.
I made the mistake of saying "most" instead of "some" when talking about the lectionary in EMCC churches. I was corrected that a lot do not, even though I still maintain there are some (at the very least, my church has). Because of this I began to wonder and reflect on the role of tradition within evangelicalism. Are we anti-traditional?
I don't think so. I think we are not aware that we have traditions.
I don't make that claim heavily, but observationally. It seems that we do have traditions. Traditions for Christmas eve services, youth retreats, "Harvest" parties and even what songs we sing, what we say after we read scripture, how much scripture we read etc. It of course is less offficial and more flexible than the RCC or mainline protestants, never the less there is tradition. The difference is, at least what I see, is not only in flexibility but also awareness.
I made the mistake of saying "most" instead of "some" when talking about the lectionary in EMCC churches. I was corrected that a lot do not, even though I still maintain there are some (at the very least, my church has). Because of this I began to wonder and reflect on the role of tradition within evangelicalism. Are we anti-traditional?
I don't think so. I think we are not aware that we have traditions.
I don't make that claim heavily, but observationally. It seems that we do have traditions. Traditions for Christmas eve services, youth retreats, "Harvest" parties and even what songs we sing, what we say after we read scripture, how much scripture we read etc. It of course is less offficial and more flexible than the RCC or mainline protestants, never the less there is tradition. The difference is, at least what I see, is not only in flexibility but also awareness.
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