Carlin turned up at my table at lunch on Sunday and dropped two slim books down in such a way as to impress me: Jürgen Moltmann's Experiences of God and Karl Barth on prayer. I was impressed. I haven't had an opportunity to read Moltmann and in 15 minutes I got quickly through 30 some pages before my friend's return. I found this beautiful quote on page 29.
"Faith does not mean registering a fact called 'the resurrection'. Faith means experiencing the creative power of God, who makes the impossible reality."Wednesday over lunch, a pastor asked me about a book I'd read recently which was significant. Without hesitation I said Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. I think he says many things I agree with, in fact I can't find anything I radically disagreed with him. Somehow he asserts what I've been thinking about for a few years now. We agreed even to the point where he says
"Test it Probe it... Do that to this book. Don't swallow it uncritically. Think about it. Wrestle with it. Just because I'm a Christian and I'm trying to articulate a Christian worldview doesn't mean I've got it nailed. ... God has spoken and the rest is commentary, right?"I have great difficulties here because I agree with him because I had the same conclusions before I read the book. He and I are working out of the same paradigm.
"Oftentimes the Christian community has sent the message that we love people and build relationships in order to convert them ... so there is an agenda. And when there is an agenda, it isn't really love is it? It's something else. We have to rediscover love, period. Love that loves because it is what Jesus teaches us to do. We have to surrender our agendas."We're not talking rocket science here. We talking straightforward honesty. Getting our motivations and reasons in order. The same issues of whether you merely talk the talk or if you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk to make authentic and real. Moltmann reminds us that it is God who can make this happen and not us! God make the impossible real. Get your head around Velvet Elvis ASAP.
