Theology Pub Night

A happy and blessed Easter to you all.

Christ is risen!

Almost everyone is picking up on this. Time Magazine has a nice mini-interview up with NT Wright on his views of heaven, continuing his life after life after death theme.

I better put this lightly or I may be ostersized for even mentioning it.  What of the the promise in the old testiment to the jewish people that God would bless them.  Did not God say that the jewish people were Gods chosen people?  Now I know that any modern thinking mind has already skipped past my cordial banter. Yet in my mind it must be said.  What about the new age converts to jewdaism.  Obviously thay are not blessed!. I hate to sound condescending yet it doesn’t make sense that I would automatically be entered into a drawing that was several centuries old would it?

My point if one was to convert to Jewdaism now at later state in life not having any prior conviction or ancestry connection would be ridiculous.  So you can’t think that you will gain the same blessing if you come in at a later date to the decree.  It just doesn’t make sense that any one would think that they would gain some sort financial gift as a result of becoming a Jew. Just a thought!

We will reconvene after a long break from meeting. The next pub night will be held at Patrick McGoverns on West Seventh in St Paul MN 55102. We will meet at the usual time 7:00pm. Hope to see you all there.

Nathan Lindstrom

(cross posted from two42.net)

A question for Christians: Does your faith tradition observe Lent? If not, have you considered a personal observance? Lent is the season of the traditional church calendar that leads up to Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday (which was on Feb. 21 this year). This is a day to remind us, as God reminded Adam and Eve, that we are dust, and to dust we shall return. (Genesis 3:19) Some traditions hold an Ash Wednesday service, where the sign of the cross is made with ashes on the foreheads of those attending. If you’ve ever seen someone who has been to this and said, “You have dirt on your forehead,” now you know why.

So begins Lent, a time of fasting and preparation for Easter. Today, many choose to give something up, usually a personal indulgence of some kind, like chocolate or caffeine, but Christians throughout history have observed various fasts. Many choose not to eat meat on Fridays. In older times, people would refrain from meat for the entire period. Some choose to fast one or more days a week from all food, though laborers were typically exempted from this practice. What would you be willing to give up for 40 days to help you prepare yourself to celebrate Easter, to remember and to proclaim the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins to all who call on his name?

This year, a small group of us was blessed with the opportunity to spend three days in silence and solitude, studying the scriptures, praying, and in some cases fasting. Work schedules in the modern world prevented this from beginning Ash Wednesday, but we were able to leave Thursday afternoon. I’m sure some of you are asking at this point, “How are you supposed to practice solitude when there are three of you?” While we didn’t maintain straight days of solitude, we worked it into a daily schedule. Each day of the retreat, we would come together for morning, noonday, and evening prayer and a meal. To make things simple, we followed the rites from the Book of Common Prayer. This was the only time where speaking was allowed, and it allowed us to center ourselves in a routine of shared prayer. For all other time not spent sleeping, our location provided many places where one could be alone with God.

Each one spent their time differently. Some fasted one day. Some read devotional material. Some studied scripture. All prayed. All waited on the Lord. Each came away with something different, but all were encouraged to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

On the last day, we ended with a simple prayer service, in the manner of the others, and we shared communion together. This was one of the most powerful moments of the weekend. All knew that at the conclusion of the service, we were free of our silence and done with our time of solitude, but we all sat in silence for a long moment before stirring to return to the world.

So begins Lent for three insignificant Christians in the wide world. May you all enjoy the blessing of the season, and prepare yourself in some way for the coming of Easter, and to remember that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of God. In him you will find your only hope of forgiveness of sin and reconciliation to the one Almighty God who created all. Jesus, the Christ, willingly died on the cross – a perfect, sinless, unblemished sacrifice – to satisfy the debt of sin, and rose again the third day to new life. He calls everyone, everywhere, to turn from their own ways, to leave their sin behind, and believe in him for salvation. Believe him; cry out for mercy and he will save you. In forgiveness, be baptized in the same of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and become his disciple today. And be welcome in the family of forgiven sinners – a family of people from all times and places – who know the peace of being adopted as God’s children. I leave you with this Ash Wednesday prayer from the Book of Common Prayer:

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(If you want to know more about the church year, a good place to start is churchyear.net. HT: Michael Spencer)

Once again we had a great turn out. There were a few people absent, but all in all the core group was there. The discussion was all over the map and nowhere near where we thought it would be. We began to talk about the pub night as an intro to some of the new comers who had not joined us before. There were about four new faces with us last night so it was imperative that we give a glimpse of the vision, and past of pub nights. That conversation then lead smoothly into the issue of emerging churches and christian philosophy within branching denominations.

The subject of worship was brought up in a most unusual way. Why do we put so much emphasis on music in our worship service. Is there too much music in the church. Maybe we need to cut back and focus on a more gathering, sharing, and teaching. I personally thought the point was valid. It seems that no matter what your music preference is the real issue is left unresolved. The real issue isn’t did we make enough people happy this morning with our line up. It should be how did we minister to the congregation as a whole in more ways than just singing. Music has lost so much of it’s impact on the church these day because it’s so debated, and argued about that it’s not even healthy. The meaning of a song is completely lost by a nit picky congregation that doesn’t like this or that about the way it was done. The message is still there we just don’t see it.

We also touched briefly on the topic of Christians, and adult beverages. I’m sure Jason can explain that whole argument better than I so I shall let him comment. Personally for me it is a good way to calm me down in the evening or in a social setting. Once in a while it is refreshing to sip a beer, and coupled with good discussion it’s grand.

For the better part of the time we mingled in the creation verses evolution debate. For the most part we were all on the same page the God did create the earth. The question we asked was how. There is evidence out there to support an old earth and the lineage of biblical accounts supports a young earth. Could there have been a lapse in the time between God creating the earth and God creating man. We came the conclusion if you can call it a conclusion. That there are several un-decifered actions that happened in Genesis. Personally I am glad that there are people willing to throw out idea’s as to the age of the earth and so on. I don’t think will ever fully wrap our minds around the great act of creation in this life.

Calvin yes I said it Calvinism was one of the last topics we hit on briefly. Someone mentioned a friend who was a Calvinist who was asking people questions. He ask is your God a God of Love or a God of justice. The immediate response was both! Once again I will let Jason comment on this topic.

Tentatively we will meet at keegan’s Irish pub next month.  Same time in the evening 7:00pm on the 14th of Nov.