outside is better

Talking about Revelation: Developing an Eschatological Hermaneutic

 I have written before about how local churches need to engage with Revelation. To some, this might be an insurmountable task.

The character of Revelation makes an auditory involvement necessary. In country terms; We need to HEAR Revelation.

Those in the company of preachers must learn to call the church to its eschatological dwelling place.  In the enterprise of the earthly church taking Revelation back, local pastors serve both as truck drivers and road crew.  We direct the energy as well as take care of the movement so that the laity can travel alongside. Intentionally preaching eschatologically means a deliberate admonition of the end that comes across as assured as the deliberate notions of beginning. Our role is to theologically play the childhood game of “connect the dots”. We are story-tellers, not date-setters.   

As pastors we must tell people about the other world,  living in the the subversive act of preached hope. Instead of romantic historical meanderings that lament morals gone amuck, we focus on preached time. Preached time creates the path to New Jerusalem.  This alternate narrative answers the question of who really is in charge.

Whenever I teach Revelation to a new group of people, I start with a question. It goes something like this; "I am going to let you make a decision as to how we will read this book and how I will teach it to you. We can either let Revelation be a book that only pertains to a distinct group of people at only one time in the history of the world or we can read it as though it has informed the church for 2000 years and will continue to speak to us."

I have never had a group take option A. Even if they are hardcore Left Behinders, the second choice just sounds better. If teaching Revelation freaks you out, let the congregation make the first choice. Present to them a basic reading strategy. It will allow you to stay away from so many testy issues.

Revelation doesn't work in a passive setting. We have to be intentional and deliberate with it, but shouldn't we with all scripture?

Related Posts:
The Apocalyptic Pastor
Preaching, Mindmapping and the Apocalypse of John
Christian Time and the End of Times

Glory be to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning, is now, and shall ever be, world without end.

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This is a repost from a blog I ran for a few years postmoderneschatology.com. I have decided to merge that content in with this blog and will occasionally post from its archives.

Reading together

Over the last month or so, I have been drumming up folks to read scripture together in the new year. Last week, John Meunier also mentioned reading Wesley's Standard 52 through the year and some people expressed interest in doing so together.

I like reading with people, even if our only connection is via the internet. To facilitate greater interaction, I started two simple little blogs for both projects. They will be tweaked out in greater measure over the next few days, but if you are interested in either project, consider joining and contributing to them sites.

Let's walk this journey together!

standard52.tumblr.com

90daybible.tumblr.com

 

Reading Scripture in Advent

Earlier today, my good friend Jonathan mentioned he is reading through both the New Testament and St. Athanasius's "On the Incarnation " this advent season and was looking for others interested. I had read through the prophets in the last month before Advent and had been thinking of how I would be reading scripture this season and was really excited to see Jonathan's reading plan. It is ordered a bit different from the standard cover to cover, so I am happy to see a little change.

You can see Jonathan's reading schedule here. We are also reading through a marvelous work by a Church Father, Athanasius. I am excited about spending this season reflecting on the radical idea that Jesus Christ is truly Emmanuel. He is God with Us!

 

There are a handful of us reading along this season. If you want to jump in let me know. You can get "On the Incarnation" free online through the CCEL.

So far our list is: @chaddbrooks, @bamahank, @jonboy017 and @aaronmansfield2

The Skinny on 90 Days in Scripture

Earlier this week, I mentioned on twitter and instagram that I finished another cycle of reading the bible in 90 days (disclosure..it took a little longer this time). I received several tweets and other questions asking for information on the whole idea...so I thought I would put together a quick info page on what I do.

The Plan:
Zondervan sells a fancy bible that makes it really easy...but why pay for a new Bible. I know of two ways to make it super easy. The first is to simply download the bookmark with the readings on them. The image to the left is said bookmark. The file is a .pdf and has three bookmarks. The second is to use youversion.com's plan. I have done this as well. It is identical to the paper version, but utilizes their bible app.

How?:
Alot of folks tell me it sounds really intense. I guess it is...a little. I spend about 45 minutes reading. Building a pattern of scripture was more important than watching a King of the Hill re-run. In the mornings I read my 90 day plan. That evening, I do a more devotional reading. With the expanse of the 90 days, I find it really important to have a second reading time that is devoted to prayerfully and deeply reading a smaller portion of scripture.

I would also encourage you to find a person or two that will join you. My first time around this kept me on track. My pastor talked me into it and we had a ball discussing it through the week. There has been some discussion of a few people starting together on January 1 and then group blogging through it.

Thanks for being interested in reading more scripture.

For my own experiences with the 90 days here are a few other posts.
Creating a Rhythm of Scripture
Digitizing Devotion...my latest experiment
90 Days through scripture...my ending thoughts
90 days in scripture...take 2

 

Write in your bibles...

Once, years ago, I ran into someone who was highly offended when anyone wrote in their Bible. I think this was taking reverence to an unhealthy extreme. I use my Bible, it becomes part of who I am. I can trace my spiritual journey by looking at pages, notes and highlights. I try to date when I read things so I can remember different emotions and fascinations.

The side of my (currently) favorite Bible as this phrase written on the side. "Eat this Book" is a subtle nod to Eugene Peterson while also reminding me of the prophetic role of scripture reading. Scripture should be consumed through every multiplicity imagined. We memorise it, recite it, read it together, hide it in our hearts...we totally consume it.

Just as fried foods, or to much roughage or sno cones (points to anyone who names what this does!!) can change the way we feel or our bodies operate, the way we let scripture flow through our bodies changes us. Reading can make us better people or focused on something to an extreme. When read in community and within tradition it conforms us to the patterns of the Church. When read in isolation and fear it shores up our own unGodliness. Following the metaphor of food, scripture affects our total being. It must be consumed responsibly. But bottom line...it changes us.

So write in your Bibles...remember when, why and how you read. Share it with others. Use the book until it must be replaced. Then cherish and hold it high as a marker along your path to sanctification. Work through, struggle and wrestle with the hard places. Scripture will change you, that is one of the scary things about reading it.

Mark your journey. Write in your Bibles...

My Bible

My church started a community reading of the New Testament last week. It has been great getting reports from members who are reading together. Scripture always changes our lives, in ways we understand and in ways we often don't.

Last week, our pastor shared a story about his favorite Bible. I have written before about different Bibles I own, and I want to share the evolution of my current daily Bible. It is great to see something turn into a treasured possession and why I continue to try to keep its pages and cover from falling apart.

I was sent a NRSV notetakers edition several years ago to review. After putting it through the paces, I realized this would be the perfect Bible for seminary. It ended up being my daily reader. I have gone cover to cover with it a few times and I love seeing dates and notes from previous readings. I have had to tape it together in a few places and the cover has some gaff tape on it as well.

I have gotten to the point where I know exactly were certain passages are...on the right or left page and where on that page. The margins make it nice for making outlines, taking notes and doing some quick IBS directly on the page.

More than anything, I appreciate the formation that has taken place while using this bible. I love seeing passages I have preached, written papers on and used in Bible studies. I love seeing my own notes taken during times of worship and prayer. This Bible can serve as the memoir for the last few years of my life.

Our Bibles are like roadmaps to sanctification. They tell us where we have been and the keep us on the path for the future. They have stories and we should tell those stories.

Book Review: The Rise and Fall of the Bible

Part of the hotly contested landscape of Western Christianity today is the Bible. How do we use this, read this and make the claims about it that our parents and grandparents did?

The widening definition of “evangelical” means different people that consider themselves theologically conservative are reading the scriptures in different ways. In “The Rise and Fall of the Bible: The Unexpected History of an Accidental Book” author and teacher Timothy Beal offers his own personal thoughts about using the Bible told from the story of his own faith journey.

I appreciated his writing because he tells a story of someone who struggled and wrestled with how culture has read and used the Bible over time, and focused on the last thirty or so years. Always interpreted in context, the Scripture means specific things to specific cultures. 

To quote Beal;

“The Bible creates community by providing space for community to happen. It offers storied worlds and theological vocabulary around which people can come together in conversation about abiding questions. It calls for creative, collaborative participation...In its many voices, perspectives, and contradictions, it both embraces the diversity of voices among us and provides a context in which we can affirm unity within that diversity-not by agreeing about what it means but by joining in the creative, meaning-making process of interpretation that it hosts.”

Beal gives great information about the power of the publishing world and how scripture sometimes gets a modification in order to function better in the marketplace. Beal also looks at the affect publishing has had in the last 500 years regarding how people read the Bible.

Ultimately, Beal writes about what it means to believe the book and believe it deeply while understanding the human involvement in its process. He does this without discounting commitment to the word of God. While we wrestle with questions over authorship, redaction and narrative it is easy to simply give up on keeping the Holy in Bible. Beal carefully explains how our views function in sacred time and action.

If you are interested in scripture and how it is read, I recommend this book.

Reading scripture together

Today a great surprise arrived in the mail. Good friend, mentor and former boss @jdwalt sent me the newest edition of Asbury Seminary's scripture reader. I have to say this makes me excited and slightly sad. This is the first reader in years I have had no part in! During my five years at seminary I was really involved with the reader. In fact, it was one of the main reasons that I decided to attend Asbury. I really wanted to be part of a community that viewed their formation as part of the fabric of life together. I can quickly say the reader changed my life. It taught me to truly "eat the book."

This new reader looks great. The theme for the fall is "Perfect" and the readings follow the gospel of Matthew, along with selected readings from E. Stanley Jones and the sermons of John Wesley. The interactive component that we really desired for years has been realized in m.asburyreader.com with a great interactive site filled with content for your mobile device. Their twitter feed is another great way to read scripture through the day. You can follow it at @twiturgy.

Any group of people that really desire to read scripture together could benefit from this great resource put together by Asbury. If you want a hard copy for the next cycle (in the spring), you can purchase them.

But I really encourage anyone that wants to start a heavy pattern of scripture to look at this tremendous resource. It is a normal part of my own scripture pattern and I can't imagine life without.

Reading the Bible: Finding a First book

Late last night on twitter and facebook I asked the question "What is the hardest book of the bible for you to read?" I got plenty of great responses. One of the folks in my church answered "all of them" and I think I can feel her pain. For me, I tried to get into a rhythm of scripture for years and I never was able to keep it up. Last week I had a student want to start reading the Bible and I carefully weighed the right starting place for her.

What put me on the permanent track was finding a book that really resonated with me and kept me interested over a long period of time. Mine was Revelation. Kinda odd, I know. Later I was able to find a few more books that helped me keep the pattern.

 

I think the whole "first book" idea might work on several levels.
1. It helps us enter into a place of personal interest.
First books might peak our interest for theological reasons, by providing answers to distinct questions. Or we might be interested in history and parts of the Old Testament or the book of Acts fits well.

2. It helps us devotionally.
At certain times in our life, different parts of scripture might fit a need we have in our hearts. The book could provide answers that are desperately needed. We are able to find help and assurance in a book of the bible.

3. We have an academic interest.
I have to admit, this is the one that got me. I really was fascinated by patterns of worship in the scripture. I was also thinking about the sociology of modern apocalyptic thought. I decided to read Revelation 3 times in one week to prepare for a class. From that point on, I was able to fan out into related books like Daniel, Ezekiel and the minor prophets. At first I wasn't thinking about devotionally reading books like this. But over time it began to sink into my heart and I wanted to read the whole Bible to see how these themes fit.

For many reasons, people have favorite books of scripture. Some people have the discipline to start in Genesis and keep the energy going. Others of us often attach ourselves to certain books or sections and find the beginning of our devotional life there.

 

 

Camping Out: Scripture as a location

I blog often (look at the bottom of the post for links) about reading the bible cover to cover. It is a relatively new practice in my life and I imagine I will doing it for years at the pace I work at now (90 days or so through the whole Bible). I won't bore you with another post on that reading. I want to show yet another strategy I have found and it works in tandem with my other readings.

I call it camping out. I have had friends sometimes ask questions about how I meditate in scripture when going at breakneck speed. I rarely do an intense read without a slow, deliberate reading at another time daily.

I usually decide to spend a few weeks really praying through certain passages of scripture. I take good notes, I think about what it meant to hear the words then and to hear them now. I imagine the author speaking them to me personally. I try to put myself in the shoes of other men and women of faith who have heard the passage in the past. I really focus on absorbing these pieces of scripture.

I think the Christian should camp out because it allows us yet another way to truly eat the book. It helps us to build practices of scripture reading that are sustainable and focused on the long tail. I try to always have an idea of when I take notes and highlight so I know in the future when I was reading these pieces. It is in camping that we absorb the word of God and allow it to be part of our own personal story. We begin to own the word of God only when we are willing to break the current cycle of the day and dwell in this new place.

Related:
Creating a Rhythm of Scripture

90 Days in Scripture: Ending Thoughts

Eating the Book