(1383,1,'2011-10-28 23:14:28','2011-10-29 06:14:28','<em>This is part four in my series about the six reasons why I left the church based off of the article <a href=\"http://www.barna.org/teens-next-gen-articles/528-six-reasons-young-christians-leave-church\" target=\"_blank\">\"Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church\"</a> by the <a href=\"http://www.barna.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Barna Group</a>.</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>Reason #4: \"The church feels unfriendly to those who doubt.\"</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter being frustrated with the <a href=\"http://www.soullikeaspider.com/blog/2011/10/9/where-the-church-lost-me-part-i.html\" target=\"_blank\">lack of challenging content for my age group</a>, realizing how <a href=\"http://www.soullikeaspider.com/blog/2011/10/12/where-the-church-lost-me-part-ii.html\" target=\"_blank\">clueless I was about other religions and their beliefs</a>, and starting to open my eyes as to the <a href=\"http://www.soullikeaspider.com/blog/2011/10/16/where-the-church-lost-me-part-iii.html\" target=\"_blank\">overly simplistic nature of sexuality</a> I had been presented with, I began feeling discontent. Each one of these things would have been excusable on their own, but all together I began to get a feel of the nature of what I had grown up. There were rumblings in my bones that I couldn’t ignore anymore.\r\n\r\nThe one thing that finally sent me throttling to the face of disillusionment was when my mother wasn’t allowed to work in the youth group. After going on a youth retreat as a chaperone, she wanted to take the next step and be a regular youth leader. When she spoke to the pastor about this, they said she couldn’t work with the youth without her husband. My father is not a social butterfly by any stretch of the imagination, and my mom is an absolute social butterfly, so it was a little bit crazy to expect my dad to come along to something that she was very clearly suited for and he wasn’t.\r\n\r\nMy mom decided that maybe they would change their minds once they saw her working with the kids so she decided just to start showing up. The second week she came to youth group they had someone standing outside of the door to the youth group guarding to prohibit her from coming in.\r\n\r\nI understand why they would put the couples-only stipulation on youth workers: they want the couples to show kids how to have healthy romantic relationships and be able to go to either adult for advice if need be. I would have been fine with married leaders principle had they followed it. Less than a month after my mother was literally barred from the room, the single son of the events manager of the church showed back and they let him start working immediately with the kids, and he was one of seven other single individuals working in the youth group during this time (most of which were kids of the pastors or deacons).\r\n\r\nHow could they do this to her? They punished her because my father isn’t social-inclined? How could they preach Sunday after Sunday about how they needed people to get into ministry and then <em>physically block</em> her from even entering the room? If someone has the desire and the ability wouldn’t you be tripping over yourself to get them? I want to give the staff the benefit of the doubt that maybe something else was going on behind the scenes that I don’t know about, but it appeared as blatant favoritism.\r\n\r\nBy the time I hit sophomore year of high school I was craving content I could wrestle with and people who could really get into my head that I made the mistake of opening my mouth. All I wanted was more. I could have bowed out quietly (like smarter people after me did), but I thought that if I started voicing some of my opinions to the right people that they could help me find what I was looking for or find ways to improve what was going on. But instead of seeing my questions and feelings as a desire for something more, it was taken as a <em>personal</em> attack on the staff and the church.\r\n\r\nIt didn’t take long before friends and leaders were each asking me what was wrong, and afterward I told them each one of them clobbered me. Some lectured me, some got offended, and some chose to yell right over me. I was reminded a few times that \"Pastor John is not Billy Graham.\" I wasn’t expecting Billy Graham. When someone talks for twenty full minutes about how he is going to step on some toes, how he didn’t want to offend anyone, but that he needed to share the truth, I just want there to be something more substantial than telling me to do my devotions.\r\n\r\nMy doubt was perceived as a threat. Even though I was at church every time the doors were open, was actively involved in ministry, worked with the elementary kids in <a href=\"http://awana.org/\" target=\"_blank\">AWANA</a>, was on the worship team, and was very active in Sunday School, the <em>moment</em> I started asking questions and challenging the status quo I was voted off the island. I did everything right by them. I followed all of the rules and expectations put in front of me but once I questioned things I became a black sheep.\r\n\r\nI remember telling the whole story to one of my best friends while working on desserts for the giant Christmas dinner we put on every year. The kitchen refrigerators were already full so we opened all the windows in the children’s classrooms and then shut the doors to create make-shift refrigerators. We were filling crepes when I told him what was going on and then told him I was considering trying out a different youth group. I remember shivering and the dull smell of confectionary sugar filling my nostrils as he told me how I couldn’t do that because I would be \"divorcing the church\" and that I would practically be breaking a blood contract with the body if I left.\r\n\r\nLater, Mr. Darren, one of the leaders, set aside some time to talk to me to see what was wrong. He had been hearing things but wanted to hear the whole story from me. I felt particularly close to Mr. Darren and his wife; aside from having the mother of all crushes on their son, I spent a lot of time with them at church and outside of church. I would go over to their house occasionally and they always made a point to talk to me when they saw me. They even called me their niece on a couple of occasions.  They made me feel loved and important.\r\n\r\nI skipped out on the last few minutes of youth group one night sat in the small church library across the table from Mr. Darren. He said he could sense something was off about me over the last couple of weeks and wanted to know what was happening. I had kept this information from him mostly because I needed time to figure it out and I didn’t want him and his wife to be disappointed in me. But since he took the time out to ask me, I took it as a sign that he cared and I could be honest with him, so I shared my story.\r\n\r\nHe proceeded to tell me that he had been in youth ministry for twenty years and that this was as good as it got. Pastor John was the best he had ever seen and I wasn\'t going to find anyone better. He told me that my role in the church was changing and that from here on out I would never get anything from church and would need to start spending all my time making sure <em>other</em> people got \"fed\" at church.\r\n\r\nIn a sense he had a point. I can’t expect to be spoon fed or fuel my entire spiritual journey on sermons but I was still devastated. Name after name flew by of leaders I had offended and friend after friend crossed me off their lists. I thought Darren and his wife would be the ones who, even if they couldn’t relate, would still love on me and help me through. But instead I was told to just buck up, be content and to stop expecting things. (This was accidentally the last time we ever spoke, which makes me even sadder.)\r\n\r\nI was crushed. I guess more than anything I felt hung out to dry. For years my superiors told me not to just be spoon-fed by the stuff I hear on Sundays but to desire to know more and take learning into my own hands. So, when I tell them that I’m hungry and I want something more, I’m abandoned? If you are going to talk about sparks be prepared for the fire if it catches.\r\n\r\nI was left alone. The leaders weren\'t there for me when I needed them the most. Even if they thought I was just being a bratty teenager, nothing was worse there than them crushing the eager spirit that I thought they wanted to see in me. The message was loud and clear: they wanted fair weather youth, and me and my questions were no longer welcome.\r\n\r\nPeter Rollins talks about how important doubt is in a religious setting in his book <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Speak-Peter-Rollins/dp/1557255059/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1319866840&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">\"How (Not) to Speak of God\"</a>:\r\n<blockquote>\"For instance, take the example of two people getting married with the firm conviction that the union will last as long as they both live. In this state of obvious delusion no real decision needs to be made. The future is believed to be so certain that the decision to marry requires no decision at all. Yet if two people understand that their relationship will face various hardships, that the future is uncertain and that there are no guarantees, then, far from preventing a decision, this is the very point when a real decision needs to be made. The vows of marriage are not so much affirmations of what one believes will take place but rather the promises that one will work towards ensuring that it will indeed happen. […] A love that requires contracts and absolute assurance in order to act is no love at all.\"</blockquote>\r\nIn the aftermath, there were four people who didn’t toss me out like a dead fashion trend. One was a leader who listened to me and said that he could relate to me a little and then showed me some note-taking tips to help him extract more meaning out of sermons. The other three were friends who treated me no differently after admitting to my doubt. These are the friends I have carried with me for the last decade and who, even if we grow apart, I will always feel grateful for. They each in their own words said \"You’re not crazy. I don’t feel the exact same way, but you’re definitely not crazy.\"\r\n\r\n<em>The fifth and final installment will be about how the church is over-protective.</em>','Where the Church Lost Me: Part IV','','inherit','open','open','','1376-revision-4','','','2011-10-28 23:14:28','2011-10-29 06:14:28','',1376,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/28/1376-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(1384,1,'2011-10-29 07:03:52','2011-10-29 14:03:52','<em>This is part four in my series about the six reasons why I left the church based off of the article <a href=\"http://www.barna.org/teens-next-gen-articles/528-six-reasons-young-christians-leave-church\" target=\"_blank\">\"Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church\"</a> by the <a href=\"http://www.barna.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Barna Group</a>.</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>Reason #4: \"The church feels unfriendly to those who doubt.\"</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter being frustrated with the <a href=\"http://www.soullikeaspider.com/blog/2011/10/9/where-the-church-lost-me-part-i.html\" target=\"_blank\">lack of challenging content for my age group</a>, realizing how <a href=\"http://www.soullikeaspider.com/blog/2011/10/12/where-the-church-lost-me-part-ii.html\" target=\"_blank\">clueless I was about other religions and their beliefs</a>, and starting to open my eyes as to the <a href=\"http://www.soullikeaspider.com/blog/2011/10/16/where-the-church-lost-me-part-iii.html\" target=\"_blank\">overly simplistic nature of sexuality</a> I had been presented with, I began feeling discontent. Each one of these things would have been excusable on their own, but all together I began to get a feel of the nature of what I had grown up. There were rumblings in my bones that I couldn’t ignore anymore.\r\n\r\nThe one thing that finally sent me throttling to the face of disillusionment was when my mother wasn’t allowed to work in the youth group. After going on a youth retreat as a chaperone, she wanted to take the next step and be a regular youth leader. When she spoke to the pastor about this, they said she couldn’t work with the youth without her husband. My father is not a social butterfly by any stretch of the imagination, and my mom is an absolute social butterfly, so it was a little bit crazy to expect my dad to come along to something that she was very clearly suited for and he wasn’t.\r\n\r\nMy mom decided that maybe they would change their minds once they saw her working with the kids so she decided just to start showing up. The second week she came to youth group they had someone standing outside of the door to the youth group guarding to prohibit her from coming in.\r\n\r\nI understand why they would put the couples-only stipulation on youth workers: they want the couples to show kids how to have healthy romantic relationships and be able to go to either adult for advice if need be. I would have been fine with married leaders principle had they followed it. Less than a month after my mother was literally barred from the room, the single son of the events manager of the church showed back and they let him start working immediately with the kids, and he was one of seven other single individuals working in the youth group during this time (most of which were kids of the pastors or deacons).\r\n\r\nHow could they do this to her? They punished her because my father isn’t social-inclined? How could they preach Sunday after Sunday about how they needed people to get into ministry and then <em>physically block</em> her from even entering the room? If someone has the desire and the ability wouldn’t you be tripping over yourself to get them? I want to give the staff the benefit of the doubt that maybe something else was going on behind the scenes that I don’t know about, but it appeared as blatant favoritism.\r\n\r\nBy the time I hit sophomore year of high school I was craving content I could wrestle with and people who could really get into my head that I made the mistake of opening my mouth. All I wanted was more. I could have bowed out quietly (like smarter people after me did), but I thought that if I started voicing some of my opinions to the right people that they could help me find what I was looking for or find ways to improve what was going on. But instead of seeing my questions and feelings as a desire for something more, it was taken as a <em>personal</em> attack on the staff and the church.\r\n\r\nIt didn’t take long before friends and leaders were each asking me what was wrong, and afterward I told them each one of them clobbered me. Some lectured me, some got offended, and some chose to yell right over me. I was reminded a few times that \"Pastor John is not Billy Graham.\" I wasn’t expecting Billy Graham. When someone talks for twenty full minutes about how he is going to step on some toes, how he didn’t want to offend anyone, but that he needed to share the truth, I just want there to be something more substantial than telling me to do my devotions.\r\n\r\nMy doubt was perceived as a threat. Even though I was at church every time the doors were open, was actively involved in ministry, worked with the elementary kids in <a href=\"http://awana.org/\" target=\"_blank\">AWANA</a>, was on the worship team, and was very active in Sunday School, the <em>moment</em> I started asking questions and challenging the status quo I was voted off the island. I did everything right by them. I followed all of the rules and expectations put in front of me but once I questioned things I became a black sheep.\r\n\r\nI remember telling the whole story to one of my best friends while working on desserts for the giant Christmas dinner we put on every year. The kitchen refrigerators were already full so we opened all the windows in the children’s classrooms and then shut the doors to create make-shift refrigerators. We were filling crepes when I told him what was going on and then told him I was considering trying out a different youth group. I remember shivering and the dull smell of confectionary sugar filling my nostrils as he told me how I couldn’t do that because I would be \"divorcing the church\" and that I would practically be breaking a blood contract with the body if I left.\r\n\r\nLater, Mr. Darren, one of the leaders, set aside some time to talk to me to see what was wrong. He had been hearing things but wanted to hear the whole story from me. I felt particularly close to Mr. Darren and his wife; aside from having the mother of all crushes on their son, I spent a lot of time with them at church and outside of church. I would go over to their house occasionally and they always made a point to talk to me when they saw me. They even called me their niece on a couple of occasions.  They made me feel loved and important.\r\n\r\nI skipped out on the last few minutes of youth group one night sat in the small church library across the table from Mr. Darren. He said he could sense something was off about me over the last couple of weeks and wanted to know what was happening. I had kept this information from him mostly because I needed time to figure it out and I didn’t want him and his wife to be disappointed in me. But since he took the time out to ask me, I took it as a sign that he cared and I could be honest with him, so I shared my story.\r\n\r\nHe proceeded to tell me that he had been in youth ministry for twenty years and that this was as good as it got. Pastor John was the best he had ever seen and I wasn\'t going to find anyone better. He told me that my role in the church was changing and that from here on out I would never get anything from church and would need to start spending all my time making sure <em>other</em> people got \"fed\" at church.\r\n\r\nIn a sense he had a point. I can’t expect to be spoon fed or fuel my entire spiritual journey on sermons but I was still devastated. Name after name flew by of leaders I had offended and friend after friend crossed me off their lists. I thought Darren and his wife would be the ones who, even if they couldn’t relate, would still love on me and help me through. But instead I was told to just buck up, be content and to stop expecting things. (This was accidentally the last time we ever spoke, which makes me even sadder.)\r\n\r\nI was crushed. I guess more than anything I felt hung out to dry. For years my superiors told me not to just be spoon-fed by the stuff I hear on Sundays but to desire to know more and take learning into my own hands. So, when I tell them that I’m hungry and I want something more, I’m abandoned? If you are going to talk about sparks be prepared for the fire if it catches.\r\n\r\nI was left alone. The leaders weren\'t there for me when I needed them the most. Even if they thought I was just being a bratty teenager, nothing was worse there than them crushing the eager spirit that I thought they wanted to see in me. The message was loud and clear: they wanted fair weather youth, and me and my questions were no longer welcome.\r\n\r\nPeter Rollins talks about how important doubt is in a religious setting in his book <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Speak-Peter-Rollins/dp/1557255059/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1319866840&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">\"How (Not) to Speak of God\"</a>:\r\n<blockquote>\"For instance, take the example of two people getting married with the firm conviction that the union will last as long as they both live. In this state of obvious delusion no real decision needs to be made. The future is believed to be so certain that the decision to marry requires no decision at all. Yet if two people understand that their relationship will face various hardships, that the future is uncertain and that there are no guarantees, then, far from preventing a decision, this is the very point when a real decision needs to be made. The vows of marriage are not so much affirmations of what one believes will take place but rather the promises that one will work towards ensuring that it will indeed happen. […] A love that requires contracts and absolute assurance in order to act is no love at all.\"</blockquote>\r\nIn the aftermath, there were four people who didn’t toss me out like a dead fashion trend. One was a leader who listened to me and said that he could relate to me a little and then showed me some note-taking tips to help him extract more meaning out of sermons. The other three were friends who treated me no differently after admitting to my doubt. These are the friends I have carried with me for the last decade and who, even if we grow apart, I will always feel grateful for. They each in their own words said \"You’re not crazy. I don’t feel the exact same way, but you’re definitely not crazy.\"\r\n\r\n<em>The fifth and final installment will be about how the church is over-protective.</em>','Where the Church Lost Me: Part IV','','inherit','open','open','','1376-revision-5','','','2011-10-29 07:03:52','2011-10-29 14:03:52','',1376,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1376-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(1385,38,'2011-10-30 14:17:28','2011-10-30 21:17:28','<em>This is part four in my series about the six reasons why I left the church based off of the article <a href=\"http://www.barna.org/teens-next-gen-articles/528-six-reasons-young-christians-leave-church\" target=\"_blank\">\"Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church\"</a> by the <a href=\"http://www.barna.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Barna Group</a>.</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>Reason #4: \"The church feels unfriendly to those who doubt.\"</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter being frustrated with the <a href=\"http://www.soullikeaspider.com/blog/2011/10/9/where-the-church-lost-me-part-i.html\" target=\"_blank\">lack of challenging content for my age group</a>, realizing how <a href=\"http://www.soullikeaspider.com/blog/2011/10/12/where-the-church-lost-me-part-ii.html\" target=\"_blank\">clueless I was about other religions and their beliefs</a>, and opening my eyes as to the <a href=\"http://www.soullikeaspider.com/blog/2011/10/16/where-the-church-lost-me-part-iii.html\" target=\"_blank\">overly-simplistic nature of sexuality</a> I had been presented with, I began feeling discontent. Each one of these things would have been excusable on their own, but with them all together I began to get a feel of the nature of what I had grown up with. There were rumblings in my bones that I couldn’t ignore anymore.\r\n\r\nThe one thing that finally sent me throttling to the face of disillusionment was when my mother wasn’t allowed to work in the youth group. After going on a youth retreat as a chaperone, she wanted to take the next step and be a regular youth leader. When she spoke to the pastor about this, they said she couldn’t work with the youth without her husband. My father is not a social butterfly by any stretch of the imagination, and my mom is, so it was a little bit crazy to expect my dad to come along to something that she was very clearly suited for and he wasn’t.\r\n\r\nMy mom decided that maybe they would change their minds once they saw her working with the kids so she decided just to start showing up. The second week she came to youth group they had someone standing outside of the door to the youth group guarding to prohibit her from coming in.\r\n\r\nI understand why they would put the couples-only stipulation on youth workers: they want the couples to show kids how to have healthy romantic relationships and be able to go to either adult for advice if need be. I would have been fine with married leaders principle had they followed it. Less than a month after my mother was literally barred from the room, the single son of the events manager of the church showed back and they let him start working immediately with the kids, and he was one of seven other single individuals working in the youth group during this time (most of which were kids of the pastors or deacons).\r\n\r\nHow could they do this to her? They punished her because my father isn’t social-inclined? How could they preach Sunday after Sunday about how they needed people to get into ministry and then <em>physically block</em> her from even entering the room? If someone has the desire and the ability wouldn’t you be tripping over yourself to get them? I want to give the staff the benefit of the doubt that maybe something else was going on behind the scenes that I don’t know about, but it appeared as blatant favoritism.\r\n\r\nBy the time I hit sophomore year of high school I was so desperately craving content I could wrestle with and people who could really get into my head that I made the mistake of opening my mouth. All I wanted was more. I could have bowed out quietly (like smarter people after me did), but I thought that if I started voicing some of my opinions to the right people that they could help me find what I was looking for or find ways to improve what was going on. But instead of seeing my questions and feelings as a desire for something more, it was taken as a <em>personal</em> attack on the staff and the church.\r\n\r\nIt didn’t take long before friends and leaders were each asking me what was wrong, and after I told them each one of them clobbered me. Some lectured me, some got offended, and some chose to yell right over me. I was reminded a few times that \"Pastor John is not Billy Graham.\" I wasn’t expecting Billy Graham. When someone talks for twenty full minutes about how he is going to step on some toes, how he didn’t want to offend anyone, but that he needed to share the truth, I just want there to be something more substantial than telling me to do my devotions.\r\n\r\nMy doubt was perceived as a threat. Even though I was at church every time the doors were open, was actively involved in ministry, worked with the elementary kids in <a href=\"http://awana.org/\" target=\"_blank\">AWANA</a>, was on the worship team, and was very active in Sunday School, the <em>moment</em> I started asking questions and challenging the status quo I was voted off the island. I did everything right by them. I followed all of the rules and expectations put in front of me but once I questioned things I became a black sheep.\r\n\r\nI remember telling the whole story to one of my best friends while working on desserts for the giant Christmas dinner we put on every year. The kitchen refrigerators were already full so we opened all the windows in the children’s classrooms and then shut the doors to create make-shift refrigerators. We were filling crepes when I told him what was going on and that I was considering trying out a different youth group. I remember shivering and the dull smell of confectionary sugar filling my nostrils as he told me how I couldn’t do that because I would be \"divorcing the church\" and that I would practically be breaking a blood contract with the body if I left.\r\n\r\nLater, Mr. Darren, one of the leaders, set aside some time to talk to me to see what was wrong. He had been hearing things but wanted to hear the whole story from me. I felt particularly close to Mr. Darren and his wife; aside from having the mother of all crushes on their son, I spent a lot of time with them at church and outside of church. I would go over to their house occasionally and they always made a point to talk to me when they saw me. They even called me their niece on a couple of occasions.  They made me feel loved and important.\r\n\r\nI skipped out on the last few minutes of youth group one night sat in the small church library across the table from Mr. Darren. He said he could sense something was off about me over the last couple of weeks and wanted to know what was happening. I had kept this information from him mostly because I needed time to figure it out and I didn’t want him and his wife to be disappointed in me. But since he took the time out to ask me, I took it as a sign that he cared and I could be honest with him, so I shared my story.\r\n\r\nHe proceeded to tell me that he had been in youth ministry for twenty years and that this was as good as it got. Pastor John was the best he had ever seen and I wasn\'t going to find anyone better. He told me that my role in the church was changing and that from here on out I would never get anything from church. I would need to start spending all my time making sure <em>other</em> people got \"fed\" at church.\r\n\r\nIn a sense he had a point. I can’t expect to be spoon-fed or fuel my entire spiritual journey on sermons but I was still devastated. Name after name flew by of leaders I had offended and friend after friend crossed me off their lists. I thought Darren and his wife would be the ones who, even if they couldn’t relate, would still love on me and help me through. But instead I was told to just buck up, be content and to stop expecting things. (This was accidentally the last time we ever spoke, which makes me even sadder.)\r\n\r\nI was crushed. I guess more than anything I felt hung out to dry. For years my superiors told me not to just be spoon-fed by the stuff I hear on Sundays but to desire to know more and take learning into my own hands. So, when I tell them that I’m hungry and I want something more, I’m abandoned? If you are going to talk about sparks be prepared for the fire if it catches.\r\n\r\nI was left alone. The leaders weren\'t there for me when I needed them the most. Even if they thought I was just being a bratty teenager, nothing was worse there than them crushing the eager spirit that I thought they wanted to see in me. The message was loud and clear: they wanted fair weather youth, and my questions and I were no longer welcome.\r\n\r\nPeter Rollins talks about how important doubt is in a religious setting in his book <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Speak-Peter-Rollins/dp/1557255059/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1319866840&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">\"How (Not) to Speak of God\"</a>:\r\n<blockquote>\"For instance, take the example of two people getting married with the firm conviction that the union will last as long as they both live. In this state of obvious delusion no real decision needs to be made. The future is believed to be so certain that the decision to marry requires no decision at all. Yet if two people understand that their relationship will face various hardships, that the future is uncertain and that there are no guarantees, then, far from preventing a decision, this is the very point when a real decision needs to be made. The vows of marriage are not so much affirmations of what one believes will take place but rather the promises that one will work towards ensuring that it will indeed happen. […] A love that requires contracts and absolute assurance in order to act is no love at all.\"</blockquote>\r\nIn the aftermath, there were four people who didn’t toss me out like a dead fashion trend. One was a leader who listened to me and said that he could relate to me a little and then showed me some note-taking tips that helped him extract more meaning out of sermons. The other three were friends who treated me no differently after admitting to my doubt. These are the friends I have carried with me for the last decade and who, even if we grow apart, I will always feel grateful for. They each in their own words said \"You’re not crazy. I don’t feel the exact same way, but you’re definitely not crazy.\"\r\n\r\n<em>The fifth and final installment will be about how the church is over-protective.</em>','Where the Church Lost Me: Part IV','','inherit','open','open','','1376-autosave','','','2011-10-30 14:17:28','2011-10-30 21:17:28','',1376,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1376-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(1388,77,'2011-10-30 08:00:39','2011-10-30 15:00:39','A few years ago my wife and I were planning a big vacation. We had narrowed it down to either Seattle, Washington or Portland, Maine. We decided on Portland. It was easy for us to see the vacation in our minds as we planned. There would be a long drive up through the eastern US where we would see cities and countryside that we had never seen before.\r\n\r\nWe would spend a couple of days enjoying the coastal town of Portland, perhaps trying Maine lobster for the first time at one of the locally owned restaurants. A day would be spent in Boston walking the streets where some of the most important events of our nation’s history took place. Another day would be spent in New Hampshire, driving the countryside surrounded by autumn’s changing leaves.\r\n\r\nA vision for what we would spend our vacation week doing was pretty clear. The route was also pretty easy to see. What remained unknown to us at departure and what would need to be discovered along the way were the obstacles that could, if we allowed them, prevent us from enjoying a relaxing vacation.\r\n\r\nIt’s much the same in life. I think most of us enter adulthood with a picture of what we want our life to be. We have interests, passions, dreams, and abilities and in our heart all of these things fit together into a life vision. But I also think that there are far too many of us who, midway through life, would admit that reality has fallen far short of our dreams. When asked why, we will most likely point to and speak of all the “obstacles” along the way that have stopped us in our tracks and locked us into an existence of daily survival with the stuff of our dreams being little more than a distant memory.\r\n\r\nTo those who would say that the above statement is true of his or her life, I want to boldly suggest that the only real obstacle that any of us can point to is the obstacle of self. Sure, there are circumstances and events that get in the way of every person who is pursuing the life of their dreams with some of those circumstances and events being tragic, heart-breaking, and mind-bending. But the power of these obstacles to reduce your life to mere existence is an illusion.\r\n\r\nObstacles in life have two purposes. Some obstacles are meant to be overcome and through the overcoming we find deeply hidden riches of character and perseverance that required the difficulty of the obstacle for them to be unearthed. Consider the young boy, abandoned by his father and left to a life of poverty with his mother working two minimum wage jobs just trying to make ends meet. He had a dream of going to college and now his only chance of realizing that dream is through a scholarship. He refuses to dance along to the tune of shattered dreams, studies, rises to the top of his class, and graduates with a full-ride scholarship to the school of his choice. Not only has he achieved his dream, but in so doing he is more prepared for academic excellence than the rich kid who will endure college as an obligatory gesture to his parents.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/detour_sign.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1390\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/detour_sign.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"151\" /></a>Obstacles also serve another purpose, and that is the purpose of redirection. When we encounter seemingly insurmountable circumstances, we have the choice of either sitting down in the road in the shadow of the obstacle wishing that life wasn’t killing our dreams. Or we can find an alternate route.\r\n\r\nOne of my dreams in life is to be a published author. A reality I face is that it is nearly impossible for an unknown writer to have a manuscript picked up by a publishing house. For several years I allowed that to quench my dreams. But now, thanks to technology, I have self-published and marketed <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Christian-Dropout-William-Huffhine/dp/1257880047/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1319903109&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">my book</a> to a global audience without a publishing house taking a cut of the earnings. In so doing, not only have I found a way around the obstacle, but am also learning things about publishing and marketing that I probably wouldn’t have learned through the traditional route.\r\n\r\nI’ll leave you with this challenge. Make some time today to find a quiet place where you can reach back into the dusty, dark corners of your abandoned dreams, and bring them into the light for another look. As you do, recall the circumstances and events that prompted you to abandon them. Could those obstacles have been overcome? Could there have been another route to your dreams? If the answer is yes to either question, then maybe it’s time to permanently move those dreams out of the dark, dirty attic and set them on the fireplace mantle where they will always be in sight.','Obstacle Illusion','','publish','open','open','','obstacle-illusion','','','2011-10-29 09:52:12','2011-10-29 16:52:12','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1388',0,'post','',7),(1389,77,'2011-10-29 08:28:37','2011-10-29 15:28:37','','roadblock','','inherit','open','open','','roadblock','','','2011-10-29 08:28:37','2011-10-29 15:28:37','',1388,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/roadblock.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1390,77,'2011-10-29 08:29:47','2011-10-29 15:29:47','','detour_sign','','inherit','open','open','','detour_sign','','','2011-10-29 08:29:47','2011-10-29 15:29:47','',1388,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/detour_sign.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1391,77,'2011-10-29 08:30:46','2011-10-29 15:30:46','','roadblock','','inherit','open','open','','roadblock-2','','','2011-10-29 08:30:46','2011-10-29 15:30:46','',1388,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/roadblock1.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1392,77,'2011-10-29 08:24:41','2011-10-29 15:24:41','A few years ago my wife and I were planning a big vacation. We had narrowed it down to either Seattle, Washington or Portland, Maine. We decided on Portland. It was easy for us to see the vacation in our minds as we planned. There would be a long drive up through the eastern US where we would see cities and countryside that we had never seen before. We would spend a couple of days enjoying the coastal town of Portland, perhaps trying Maine lobster for the first time at one of the locally owned restaurants. A day would be spent in Boston walking the streets where some of the most important events of our nation’s history took place. Another day would be spent in New Hampshire, driving the countryside surrounded by autumn’s changing leaves. A vision for what we would spend our vacation week doing was pretty clear. The route was also pretty easy to see (thank you Mapquest). What remained unknown to us at departure and what would need to be discovered along the way were the obstacles that could, if we allowed them, prevent us from enjoying a relaxing vacation.\n\nIt’s much the same in life. I think most of us enter adulthood with a picture of what we want our life to be. We have interests, passions, dreams, and abilities and in our heart all of these things fit together into a life vision. But I also think that there are far too many of us who, midway through life, would admit that reality has fallen far short of our dreams. When asked why, we will most likely point to and speak of all the “obstacles” along the way that have stopped us in our tracks and locked us into an existence of daily survival with the stuff of our dreams being little more than a faint memory.\n\nTo those who would say that the above statement is true of his or her life, I want to boldly suggest that the only real obstacle that any of us can point to is the obstacle of self. Sure, there are circumstances and events that get in the way of every person who is pursuing the life of their dreams with some of those circumstances and events being tragic, heart-breaking, and mind-bending. But the power of these obstacles to reduce your life to mere existence is an illusion.\n\nObstacles in life have two purposes. Some obstacles are meant to be overcome and through the overcoming we find deeply hidden riches of character and perseverance that required the difficulty of the obstacle for them to be unearthed. Consider the young boy, abandoned by his father and left to a life of poverty with his mother working two minimum wage jobs just trying to make ends meet. He had a dream of going to college and now his only chance of realizing that dream is through a scholarship. He refuses to dance along to the tune of shattered dreams, studies, rises to the top of his class, and graduates with a full-ride scholarship to the school of his choice. Not only has he achieved his dream, but in so doing he is more prepared for academic excellence than the rich kid who will endure college as an obligatory gesture to his parents.\n\nObstacles also serve another purpose, and that is the purpose of redirection. When we encounter seemingly insurmountable circumstances, we have the choice of either sitting down in the road in the shadow of the obstacle wishing that life wasn’t killing our dreams. Or we can find an alternate route. One of my dreams in life is to be a published author. A reality I face is that it is nearly impossible for an unknown writer to have a manuscript picked up by a publishing house. For several years I allowed that to quench my dreams. But now, thanks to technology, I can self-publish and market my book to a global audience without a publishing house taking a cut of the earnings. In so doing, not only will I have found a way around the obstacle, but I will also learn things about publishing and marketing that I probably wouldn’t have learned through the traditional route.\n\nI’ll leave you with this challenge. Make some time today to find a quiet place where you can reach back into the dusty, dark corners of your abandoned dreams, and bring them into the light for another look. As you do, recall the circumstances and events that prompted you to abandon them. Could those obstacles have been overcome? Could there have been another route to your dreams? If the answer is yes to either question, then maybe it’s time to permanently move those dreams out of the dark, dirty attic and set them on the fireplace mantle where they will always be in sight.','Obstacle Illusion','','inherit','open','open','','1388-revision','','','2011-10-29 08:24:41','2011-10-29 15:24:41','',1388,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1388-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1393,77,'2011-10-29 08:41:08','2011-10-29 15:41:08','A few years ago my wife and I were planning a big vacation. We had narrowed it down to either Seattle, Washington or Portland, Maine. We decided on Portland. It was easy for us to see the vacation in our minds as we planned. There would be a long drive up through the eastern US where we would see cities and countryside that we had never seen before. We would spend a couple of days enjoying the coastal town of Portland, perhaps trying Maine lobster for the first time at one of the locally owned restaurants. A day would be spent in Boston walking the streets where some of the most important events of our nation’s history took place. Another day would be spent in New Hampshire, driving the countryside surrounded by autumn’s changing leaves. A vision for what we would spend our vacation week doing was pretty clear. The route was also pretty easy to see (thank you Mapquest). What remained unknown to us at departure and what would need to be discovered along the way were the obstacles that could, if we allowed them, prevent us from enjoying a relaxing vacation.\n\nIt’s much the same in life. I think most of us enter adulthood with a picture of what we want our life to be. We have interests, passions, dreams, and abilities and in our heart all of these things fit together into a life vision. But I also think that there are far too many of us who, midway through life, would admit that reality has fallen far short of our dreams. When asked why, we will most likely point to and speak of all the “obstacles” along the way that have stopped us in our tracks and locked us into an existence of daily survival with the stuff of our dreams being little more than a faint memory.\n\nTo those who would say that the above statement is true of his or her life, I want to boldly suggest that the only real obstacle that any of us can point to is the obstacle of self. Sure, there are circumstances and events that get in the way of every person who is pursuing the life of their dreams with some of those circumstances and events being tragic, heart-breaking, and mind-bending. But the power of these obstacles to reduce your life to mere existence is an illusion.\n\nObstacles in life have two purposes. Some obstacles are meant to be overcome and through the overcoming we find deeply hidden riches of character and perseverance that required the difficulty of the obstacle for them to be unearthed. Consider the young boy, abandoned by his father and left to a life of poverty with his mother working two minimum wage jobs just trying to make ends meet. He had a dream of going to college and now his only chance of realizing that dream is through a scholarship. He refuses to dance along to the tune of shattered dreams, studies, rises to the top of his class, and graduates with a full-ride scholarship to the school of his choice. Not only has he achieved his dream, but in so doing he is more prepared for academic excellence than the rich kid who will endure college as an obligatory gesture to his parents.\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/detour_sign.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1390\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/detour_sign.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"227\" /></a>Obstacles also serve another purpose, and that is the purpose of redirection. When we encounter seemingly insurmountable circumstances, we have the choice of either sitting down in the road in the shadow of the obstacle wishing that life wasn’t killing our dreams. Or we can find an alternate route. One of my dreams in life is to be a published author. A reality I face is that it is nearly impossible for an unknown writer to have a manuscript picked up by a publishing house. For several years I allowed that to quench my dreams. But now, thanks to technology, I can self-publish and market my book to a global audience without a publishing house taking a cut of the earnings. In so doing, not only will I have found a way around the obstacle, but I will also learn things about publishing and marketing that I probably wouldn’t have learned through the traditional route.\n\nI’ll leave you with this challenge. Make some time today to find a quiet place where you can reach back into the dusty, dark corners of your abandoned dreams, and bring them into the light for another look. As you do, recall the circumstances and events that prompted you to abandon them. Could those obstacles have been overcome? Could there have been another route to your dreams? If the answer is yes to either question, then maybe it’s time to permanently move those dreams out of the dark, dirty attic and set them on the fireplace mantle where they will always be in sight.','Obstacle Illusion','','inherit','open','open','','1388-revision-2','','','2011-10-29 08:41:08','2011-10-29 15:41:08','',1388,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1388-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(1394,77,'2011-10-29 08:42:15','2011-10-29 15:42:15','A few years ago my wife and I were planning a big vacation. We had narrowed it down to either Seattle, Washington or Portland, Maine. We decided on Portland. It was easy for us to see the vacation in our minds as we planned. There would be a long drive up through the eastern US where we would see cities and countryside that we had never seen before. We would spend a couple of days enjoying the coastal town of Portland, perhaps trying Maine lobster for the first time at one of the locally owned restaurants. A day would be spent in Boston walking the streets where some of the most important events of our nation’s history took place. Another day would be spent in New Hampshire, driving the countryside surrounded by autumn’s changing leaves. A vision for what we would spend our vacation week doing was pretty clear. The route was also pretty easy to see. What remained unknown to us at departure and what would need to be discovered along the way were the obstacles that could, if we allowed them, prevent us from enjoying a relaxing vacation.\r\n\r\nIt’s much the same in life. I think most of us enter adulthood with a picture of what we want our life to be. We have interests, passions, dreams, and abilities and in our heart all of these things fit together into a life vision. But I also think that there are far too many of us who, midway through life, would admit that reality has fallen far short of our dreams. When asked why, we will most likely point to and speak of all the “obstacles” along the way that have stopped us in our tracks and locked us into an existence of daily survival with the stuff of our dreams being little more than a faint memory.\r\n\r\nTo those who would say that the above statement is true of his or her life, I want to boldly suggest that the only real obstacle that any of us can point to is the obstacle of self. Sure, there are circumstances and events that get in the way of every person who is pursuing the life of their dreams with some of those circumstances and events being tragic, heart-breaking, and mind-bending. But the power of these obstacles to reduce your life to mere existence is an illusion.\r\n\r\nObstacles in life have two purposes. Some obstacles are meant to be overcome and through the overcoming we find deeply hidden riches of character and perseverance that required the difficulty of the obstacle for them to be unearthed. Consider the young boy, abandoned by his father and left to a life of poverty with his mother working two minimum wage jobs just trying to make ends meet. He had a dream of going to college and now his only chance of realizing that dream is through a scholarship. He refuses to dance along to the tune of shattered dreams, studies, rises to the top of his class, and graduates with a full-ride scholarship to the school of his choice. Not only has he achieved his dream, but in so doing he is more prepared for academic excellence than the rich kid who will endure college as an obligatory gesture to his parents.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/detour_sign.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1390\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/detour_sign.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"227\" /></a>Obstacles also serve another purpose, and that is the purpose of redirection. When we encounter seemingly insurmountable circumstances, we have the choice of either sitting down in the road in the shadow of the obstacle wishing that life wasn’t killing our dreams. Or we can find an alternate route. One of my dreams in life is to be a published author. A reality I face is that it is nearly impossible for an unknown writer to have a manuscript picked up by a publishing house. For several years I allowed that to quench my dreams. But now, thanks to technology, I can self-publish and market my book to a global audience without a publishing house taking a cut of the earnings. In so doing, not only will I have found a way around the obstacle, but I will also learn things about publishing and marketing that I probably wouldn’t have learned through the traditional route.\r\n\r\nI’ll leave you with this challenge. Make some time today to find a quiet place where you can reach back into the dusty, dark corners of your abandoned dreams, and bring them into the light for another look. As you do, recall the circumstances and events that prompted you to abandon them. Could those obstacles have been overcome? Could there have been another route to your dreams? If the answer is yes to either question, then maybe it’s time to permanently move those dreams out of the dark, dirty attic and set them on the fireplace mantle where they will always be in sight.','Obstacle Illusion','','inherit','open','open','','1388-revision-3','','','2011-10-29 08:42:15','2011-10-29 15:42:15','',1388,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1388-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(1395,77,'2011-10-29 08:48:33','2011-10-29 15:48:33','A few years ago my wife and I were planning a big vacation. We had narrowed it down to either Seattle, Washington or Portland, Maine. We decided on Portland. It was easy for us to see the vacation in our minds as we planned. There would be a long drive up through the eastern US where we would see cities and countryside that we had never seen before. We would spend a couple of days enjoying the coastal town of Portland, perhaps trying Maine lobster for the first time at one of the locally owned restaurants. A day would be spent in Boston walking the streets where some of the most important events of our nation’s history took place. Another day would be spent in New Hampshire, driving the countryside surrounded by autumn’s changing leaves. A vision for what we would spend our vacation week doing was pretty clear. The route was also pretty easy to see. What remained unknown to us at departure and what would need to be discovered along the way were the obstacles that could, if we allowed them, prevent us from enjoying a relaxing vacation.\n\nIt’s much the same in life. I think most of us enter adulthood with a picture of what we want our life to be. We have interests, passions, dreams, and abilities and in our heart all of these things fit together into a life vision. But I also think that there are far too many of us who, midway through life, would admit that reality has fallen far short of our dreams. When asked why, we will most likely point to and speak of all the “obstacles” along the way that have stopped us in our tracks and locked us into an existence of daily survival with the stuff of our dreams being little more than a distant memory.\n\nTo those who would say that the above statement is true of his or her life, I want to boldly suggest that the only real obstacle that any of us can point to is the obstacle of self. Sure, there are circumstances and events that get in the way of every person who is pursuing the life of their dreams with some of those circumstances and events being tragic, heart-breaking, and mind-bending. But the power of these obstacles to reduce your life to mere existence is an illusion.\n\nObstacles in life have two purposes. Some obstacles are meant to be overcome and through the overcoming we find deeply hidden riches of character and perseverance that required the difficulty of the obstacle for them to be unearthed. Consider the young boy, abandoned by his father and left to a life of poverty with his mother working two minimum wage jobs just trying to make ends meet. He had a dream of going to college and now his only chance of realizing that dream is through a scholarship. He refuses to dance along to the tune of shattered dreams, studies, rises to the top of his class, and graduates with a full-ride scholarship to the school of his choice. Not only has he achieved his dream, but in so doing he is more prepared for academic excellence than the rich kid who will endure college as an obligatory gesture to his parents.\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/detour_sign.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1390\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/detour_sign.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"227\" /></a>Obstacles also serve another purpose, and that is the purpose of redirection. When we encounter seemingly insurmountable circumstances, we have the choice of either sitting down in the road in the shadow of the obstacle wishing that life wasn’t killing our dreams. Or we can find an alternate route. One of my dreams in life is to be a published author. A reality I face is that it is nearly impossible for an unknown writer to have a manuscript picked up by a publishing house. For several years I allowed that to quench my dreams. But now, thanks to technology, I have self-published and marketed <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Christian-Dropout-William-Huffhine/dp/1257880047/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1319903109&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">my book</a> to a global audience without a publishing house taking a cut of the earnings. In so doing, not only will I found a way around the obstacle, but am also learning things about publishing and marketing that I probably wouldn’t have learned through the traditional route.\n\nI’ll leave you with this challenge. Make some time today to find a quiet place where you can reach back into the dusty, dark corners of your abandoned dreams, and bring them into the light for another look. As you do, recall the circumstances and events that prompted you to abandon them. Could those obstacles have been overcome? Could there have been another route to your dreams? If the answer is yes to either question, then maybe it’s time to permanently move those dreams out of the dark, dirty attic and set them on the fireplace mantle where they will always be in sight.','Obstacle Illusion','','inherit','open','open','','1388-revision-4','','','2011-10-29 08:48:33','2011-10-29 15:48:33','',1388,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1388-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(1396,1,'2011-10-29 09:51:46','2011-10-29 16:51:46','A few years ago my wife and I were planning a big vacation. We had narrowed it down to either Seattle, Washington or Portland, Maine. We decided on Portland. It was easy for us to see the vacation in our minds as we planned. There would be a long drive up through the eastern US where we would see cities and countryside that we had never seen before.\r\n\r\nWe would spend a couple of days enjoying the coastal town of Portland, perhaps trying Maine lobster for the first time at one of the locally owned restaurants. A day would be spent in Boston walking the streets where some of the most important events of our nation’s history took place. Another day would be spent in New Hampshire, driving the countryside surrounded by autumn’s changing leaves.\r\n\r\nA vision for what we would spend our vacation week doing was pretty clear. The route was also pretty easy to see. What remained unknown to us at departure and what would need to be discovered along the way were the obstacles that could, if we allowed them, prevent us from enjoying a relaxing vacation.\r\n\r\nIt’s much the same in life. I think most of us enter adulthood with a picture of what we want our life to be. We have interests, passions, dreams, and abilities and in our heart all of these things fit together into a life vision. But I also think that there are far too many of us who, midway through life, would admit that reality has fallen far short of our dreams. When asked why, we will most likely point to and speak of all the “obstacles” along the way that have stopped us in our tracks and locked us into an existence of daily survival with the stuff of our dreams being little more than a distant memory.\r\n\r\nTo those who would say that the above statement is true of his or her life, I want to boldly suggest that the only real obstacle that any of us can point to is the obstacle of self. Sure, there are circumstances and events that get in the way of every person who is pursuing the life of their dreams with some of those circumstances and events being tragic, heart-breaking, and mind-bending. But the power of these obstacles to reduce your life to mere existence is an illusion.\r\n\r\nObstacles in life have two purposes. Some obstacles are meant to be overcome and through the overcoming we find deeply hidden riches of character and perseverance that required the difficulty of the obstacle for them to be unearthed. Consider the young boy, abandoned by his father and left to a life of poverty with his mother working two minimum wage jobs just trying to make ends meet. He had a dream of going to college and now his only chance of realizing that dream is through a scholarship. He refuses to dance along to the tune of shattered dreams, studies, rises to the top of his class, and graduates with a full-ride scholarship to the school of his choice. Not only has he achieved his dream, but in so doing he is more prepared for academic excellence than the rich kid who will endure college as an obligatory gesture to his parents.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/detour_sign.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1390\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/detour_sign.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"151\" /></a>Obstacles also serve another purpose, and that is the purpose of redirection. When we encounter seemingly insurmountable circumstances, we have the choice of either sitting down in the road in the shadow of the obstacle wishing that life wasn’t killing our dreams. Or we can find an alternate route.\r\n\r\nOne of my dreams in life is to be a published author. A reality I face is that it is nearly impossible for an unknown writer to have a manuscript picked up by a publishing house. For several years I allowed that to quench my dreams. But now, thanks to technology, I have self-published and marketed <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Christian-Dropout-William-Huffhine/dp/1257880047/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1319903109&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">my book</a> to a global audience without a publishing house taking a cut of the earnings. In so doing, not only have I found a way around the obstacle, but am also learning things about publishing and marketing that I probably wouldn’t have learned through the traditional route.\r\n\r\nI’ll leave you with this challenge. Make some time today to find a quiet place where you can reach back into the dusty, dark corners of your abandoned dreams, and bring them into the light for another look. As you do, recall the circumstances and events that prompted you to abandon them. Could those obstacles have been overcome? Could there have been another route to your dreams? If the answer is yes to either question, then maybe it’s time to permanently move those dreams out of the dark, dirty attic and set them on the fireplace mantle where they will always be in sight.','Obstacle Illusion','','inherit','open','open','','1388-autosave','','','2011-10-29 09:51:46','2011-10-29 16:51:46','',1388,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1388-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(1397,77,'2011-10-29 08:48:37','2011-10-29 15:48:37','A few years ago my wife and I were planning a big vacation. We had narrowed it down to either Seattle, Washington or Portland, Maine. We decided on Portland. It was easy for us to see the vacation in our minds as we planned. There would be a long drive up through the eastern US where we would see cities and countryside that we had never seen before. We would spend a couple of days enjoying the coastal town of Portland, perhaps trying Maine lobster for the first time at one of the locally owned restaurants. A day would be spent in Boston walking the streets where some of the most important events of our nation’s history took place. Another day would be spent in New Hampshire, driving the countryside surrounded by autumn’s changing leaves. A vision for what we would spend our vacation week doing was pretty clear. The route was also pretty easy to see. What remained unknown to us at departure and what would need to be discovered along the way were the obstacles that could, if we allowed them, prevent us from enjoying a relaxing vacation.\r\n\r\nIt’s much the same in life. I think most of us enter adulthood with a picture of what we want our life to be. We have interests, passions, dreams, and abilities and in our heart all of these things fit together into a life vision. But I also think that there are far too many of us who, midway through life, would admit that reality has fallen far short of our dreams. When asked why, we will most likely point to and speak of all the “obstacles” along the way that have stopped us in our tracks and locked us into an existence of daily survival with the stuff of our dreams being little more than a distant memory.\r\n\r\nTo those who would say that the above statement is true of his or her life, I want to boldly suggest that the only real obstacle that any of us can point to is the obstacle of self. Sure, there are circumstances and events that get in the way of every person who is pursuing the life of their dreams with some of those circumstances and events being tragic, heart-breaking, and mind-bending. But the power of these obstacles to reduce your life to mere existence is an illusion.\r\n\r\nObstacles in life have two purposes. Some obstacles are meant to be overcome and through the overcoming we find deeply hidden riches of character and perseverance that required the difficulty of the obstacle for them to be unearthed. Consider the young boy, abandoned by his father and left to a life of poverty with his mother working two minimum wage jobs just trying to make ends meet. He had a dream of going to college and now his only chance of realizing that dream is through a scholarship. He refuses to dance along to the tune of shattered dreams, studies, rises to the top of his class, and graduates with a full-ride scholarship to the school of his choice. Not only has he achieved his dream, but in so doing he is more prepared for academic excellence than the rich kid who will endure college as an obligatory gesture to his parents.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/detour_sign.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1390\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/detour_sign.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"227\" /></a>Obstacles also serve another purpose, and that is the purpose of redirection. When we encounter seemingly insurmountable circumstances, we have the choice of either sitting down in the road in the shadow of the obstacle wishing that life wasn’t killing our dreams. Or we can find an alternate route. One of my dreams in life is to be a published author. A reality I face is that it is nearly impossible for an unknown writer to have a manuscript picked up by a publishing house. For several years I allowed that to quench my dreams. But now, thanks to technology, I have self-published and marketed <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Christian-Dropout-William-Huffhine/dp/1257880047/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1319903109&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">my book</a> to a global audience without a publishing house taking a cut of the earnings. In so doing, not only will I found a way around the obstacle, but am also learning things about publishing and marketing that I probably wouldn’t have learned through the traditional route.\r\n\r\nI’ll leave you with this challenge. Make some time today to find a quiet place where you can reach back into the dusty, dark corners of your abandoned dreams, and bring them into the light for another look. As you do, recall the circumstances and events that prompted you to abandon them. Could those obstacles have been overcome? Could there have been another route to your dreams? If the answer is yes to either question, then maybe it’s time to permanently move those dreams out of the dark, dirty attic and set them on the fireplace mantle where they will always be in sight.','Obstacle Illusion','','inherit','open','open','','1388-revision-5','','','2011-10-29 08:48:37','2011-10-29 15:48:37','',1388,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1388-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(1398,0,'2011-10-29 09:17:51','2011-10-29 16:17:51','Social Justice, Politics and Economics\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: Derek Penwell\nAUTHOR EMAIL: dlpenw01@gmail.com\nAUTHOR URL: http://dmergent.org;drdlpenwell.wordpress.com\nSUBJECT: Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\nIP: 74.134.93.99\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; Derek Penwell\n    [Email] =&gt; dlpenw01@gmail.com\n    [Existing Blog or Website] =&gt; dmergent.org; drdlpenwell.wordpress.com\n    [List the topic you are interested writing about] =&gt; Social Justice, Politics and Economics\n    [Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)] =&gt; drdlpenwell\n)\n','Derek Penwell - 2011-10-29 09:17:51','','publish','open','open','','75a6ce38577eb89efe756c77cd72ca13','','','2011-10-29 09:17:51','2011-10-29 16:17:51','',358,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=1398',0,'feedback','',0),(1399,1,'2011-10-29 09:51:00','2011-10-29 16:51:00','','quite_a_road_block','','inherit','open','open','','quite_a_road_block','','','2011-10-29 09:51:00','2011-10-29 16:51:00','',1388,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/quite_a_road_block.gif',0,'attachment','image/gif',0),(1400,1,'2011-10-29 09:05:24','2011-10-29 16:05:24','A few years ago my wife and I were planning a big vacation. We had narrowed it down to either Seattle, Washington or Portland, Maine. We decided on Portland. It was easy for us to see the vacation in our minds as we planned. There would be a long drive up through the eastern US where we would see cities and countryside that we had never seen before. We would spend a couple of days enjoying the coastal town of Portland, perhaps trying Maine lobster for the first time at one of the locally owned restaurants. A day would be spent in Boston walking the streets where some of the most important events of our nation’s history took place. Another day would be spent in New Hampshire, driving the countryside surrounded by autumn’s changing leaves. A vision for what we would spend our vacation week doing was pretty clear. The route was also pretty easy to see. What remained unknown to us at departure and what would need to be discovered along the way were the obstacles that could, if we allowed them, prevent us from enjoying a relaxing vacation.\r\n\r\nIt’s much the same in life. I think most of us enter adulthood with a picture of what we want our life to be. We have interests, passions, dreams, and abilities and in our heart all of these things fit together into a life vision. But I also think that there are far too many of us who, midway through life, would admit that reality has fallen far short of our dreams. When asked why, we will most likely point to and speak of all the “obstacles” along the way that have stopped us in our tracks and locked us into an existence of daily survival with the stuff of our dreams being little more than a distant memory.\r\n\r\nTo those who would say that the above statement is true of his or her life, I want to boldly suggest that the only real obstacle that any of us can point to is the obstacle of self. Sure, there are circumstances and events that get in the way of every person who is pursuing the life of their dreams with some of those circumstances and events being tragic, heart-breaking, and mind-bending. But the power of these obstacles to reduce your life to mere existence is an illusion.\r\n\r\nObstacles in life have two purposes. Some obstacles are meant to be overcome and through the overcoming we find deeply hidden riches of character and perseverance that required the difficulty of the obstacle for them to be unearthed. Consider the young boy, abandoned by his father and left to a life of poverty with his mother working two minimum wage jobs just trying to make ends meet. He had a dream of going to college and now his only chance of realizing that dream is through a scholarship. He refuses to dance along to the tune of shattered dreams, studies, rises to the top of his class, and graduates with a full-ride scholarship to the school of his choice. Not only has he achieved his dream, but in so doing he is more prepared for academic excellence than the rich kid who will endure college as an obligatory gesture to his parents.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/detour_sign.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1390\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/detour_sign.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"227\" /></a>Obstacles also serve another purpose, and that is the purpose of redirection. When we encounter seemingly insurmountable circumstances, we have the choice of either sitting down in the road in the shadow of the obstacle wishing that life wasn’t killing our dreams. Or we can find an alternate route. One of my dreams in life is to be a published author. A reality I face is that it is nearly impossible for an unknown writer to have a manuscript picked up by a publishing house. For several years I allowed that to quench my dreams. But now, thanks to technology, I have self-published and marketed <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Christian-Dropout-William-Huffhine/dp/1257880047/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1319903109&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">my book</a> to a global audience without a publishing house taking a cut of the earnings. In so doing, not only have I found a way around the obstacle, but am also learning things about publishing and marketing that I probably wouldn’t have learned through the traditional route.\r\n\r\nI’ll leave you with this challenge. Make some time today to find a quiet place where you can reach back into the dusty, dark corners of your abandoned dreams, and bring them into the light for another look. As you do, recall the circumstances and events that prompted you to abandon them. Could those obstacles have been overcome? Could there have been another route to your dreams? If the answer is yes to either question, then maybe it’s time to permanently move those dreams out of the dark, dirty attic and set them on the fireplace mantle where they will always be in sight.','Obstacle Illusion','','inherit','open','open','','1388-revision-6','','','2011-10-29 09:05:24','2011-10-29 16:05:24','',1388,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1388-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(1401,1,'2011-10-29 09:51:37','2011-10-29 16:51:37','A few years ago my wife and I were planning a big vacation. We had narrowed it down to either Seattle, Washington or Portland, Maine. We decided on Portland. It was easy for us to see the vacation in our minds as we planned. There would be a long drive up through the eastern US where we would see cities and countryside that we had never seen before.\r\n\r\nWe would spend a couple of days enjoying the coastal town of Portland, perhaps trying Maine lobster for the first time at one of the locally owned restaurants. A day would be spent in Boston walking the streets where some of the most important events of our nation’s history took place. Another day would be spent in New Hampshire, driving the countryside surrounded by autumn’s changing leaves.\r\n\r\nA vision for what we would spend our vacation week doing was pretty clear. The route was also pretty easy to see. What remained unknown to us at departure and what would need to be discovered along the way were the obstacles that could, if we allowed them, prevent us from enjoying a relaxing vacation.\r\n\r\nIt’s much the same in life. I think most of us enter adulthood with a picture of what we want our life to be. We have interests, passions, dreams, and abilities and in our heart all of these things fit together into a life vision. But I also think that there are far too many of us who, midway through life, would admit that reality has fallen far short of our dreams. When asked why, we will most likely point to and speak of all the “obstacles” along the way that have stopped us in our tracks and locked us into an existence of daily survival with the stuff of our dreams being little more than a distant memory.\r\n\r\nTo those who would say that the above statement is true of his or her life, I want to boldly suggest that the only real obstacle that any of us can point to is the obstacle of self. Sure, there are circumstances and events that get in the way of every person who is pursuing the life of their dreams with some of those circumstances and events being tragic, heart-breaking, and mind-bending. But the power of these obstacles to reduce your life to mere existence is an illusion.\r\n\r\nObstacles in life have two purposes. Some obstacles are meant to be overcome and through the overcoming we find deeply hidden riches of character and perseverance that required the difficulty of the obstacle for them to be unearthed. Consider the young boy, abandoned by his father and left to a life of poverty with his mother working two minimum wage jobs just trying to make ends meet. He had a dream of going to college and now his only chance of realizing that dream is through a scholarship. He refuses to dance along to the tune of shattered dreams, studies, rises to the top of his class, and graduates with a full-ride scholarship to the school of his choice. Not only has he achieved his dream, but in so doing he is more prepared for academic excellence than the rich kid who will endure college as an obligatory gesture to his parents.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/detour_sign.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1390\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/detour_sign.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"151\" /></a>Obstacles also serve another purpose, and that is the purpose of redirection. When we encounter seemingly insurmountable circumstances, we have the choice of either sitting down in the road in the shadow of the obstacle wishing that life wasn’t killing our dreams. Or we can find an alternate route.\r\n\r\nOne of my dreams in life is to be a published author. A reality I face is that it is nearly impossible for an unknown writer to have a manuscript picked up by a publishing house. For several years I allowed that to quench my dreams. But now, thanks to technology, I have self-published and marketed <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Christian-Dropout-William-Huffhine/dp/1257880047/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1319903109&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">my book</a> to a global audience without a publishing house taking a cut of the earnings. In so doing, not only have I found a way around the obstacle, but am also learning things about publishing and marketing that I probably wouldn’t have learned through the traditional route.\r\n\r\nI’ll leave you with this challenge. Make some time today to find a quiet place where you can reach back into the dusty, dark corners of your abandoned dreams, and bring them into the light for another look. As you do, recall the circumstances and events that prompted you to abandon them. Could those obstacles have been overcome? Could there have been another route to your dreams? If the answer is yes to either question, then maybe it’s time to permanently move those dreams out of the dark, dirty attic and set them on the fireplace mantle where they will always be in sight.','Obstacle Illusion','','inherit','open','open','','1388-revision-7','','','2011-10-29 09:51:37','2011-10-29 16:51:37','',1388,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1388-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(2783,1,'2011-11-29 08:04:34','2011-11-29 16:04:34','[caption id=\"attachment_2731\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"300\" caption=\"Gift by Vanessa Fitzgerald\"]<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/gift.jpg\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-2731\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/gift-300x220.jpg\" alt=\"Gift by Vanessa Fitzgerald\" width=\"300\" height=\"220\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nBlack Friday…it honestly has a very somber ring to it.\r\n\r\nSure, for retailers nationwide, these words are the most blessed words one can hear – but outside of the cash flow, it really prompts a very a solemn feeling from the utterance of such words alone.\r\n\r\nUpon the many articles that flew across headline news on morning of Nov. 25th, revealing people being hurt in the process of others seeking to obtain that “perfect” gift for someone at the best deal they’ve ever experienced on such an item, it sincerely brought about two emotions to my heart.\r\n\r\n<em>One of gratitude, and one of shock.</em>\r\n\r\nGratitude in that I didn’t opt to engage, like I never do, in Black Friday hoopla – and shock that so many would go to such measures (such as using pepper spray) to gain the upper hand over others to obtain what they wanted to get for someone else.\r\n\r\nReally now?\r\n\r\nHmmm…doesn’t sound like the apple fell that far from the tree when we look more at Cain’s example of “giving.”\r\n\r\nExploring Chapter 4 of Genesis, we see in the beginning that Cain and Abel were given distinct gifts for their lives to work out – Cain, to work the land; Abel to tend to the flock.\r\n\r\nEach of these brothers each had the same opportunity to serve God cheerfully, but only one opted to actually do it in faith and belief to God…and no, it wasn’t Cain who did that. He was the other guy who grumbled under his breath to God and saw his brother as competition and “God’s favorite”;  hence his decision to get him out of the picture.\r\n\r\nThis kind of mentality and behavior is oozing at its proverbial seams with the way people treat others on a Black Friday morning.\r\n\r\nFor a season abundantly laden with the theme of giving, sincerely what does ransacking a store for the best possible price on the highest-end object have anything to truly do with giving?\r\n\r\nMatthew West and Amy Grant put out a beautiful song last year that was put on a Veggie Tale’s movie that my son absolutely adores – as does my husband and myself. The song is called, <em>“<a title=\"Give This Christmas Away by Matthew West &amp; Amy Grant\" href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2ulYpoNXC0\" target=\"_blank\">Give This Christmas Away</a>.”</em>\r\n\r\nI deeply love this song because it captures the heart of Christmas, and the life we’re called to live in Christ year round…not just one season out of the year.\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>To give doesn’t focus on an object.</em></p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>To give doesn’t incite anger.</em></p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><em>To give doesn\'t provoke selfishness in any capacity.</em></p>\r\nTo truly give prompts our hearts to give the gift we’ve been given in Christ Jesus away in such a manner that He becomes the most desired gift anyone would want to receive into their own lives.\r\n\r\nCan this be accomplished through the giving of a material gift? Absolutely. But it is never the material that is the focus…it is the intent of the heart of the one giving the gift.\r\n\r\n<em><strong>This Christmas season…and the year to come, hereafter…how can you find yourselves giving in a manner that reveals Christ more than the material gift you give this year to others?</strong></em>','The Gifts We Give','','inherit','open','open','','2730-revision-6','','','2011-11-29 08:04:34','2011-11-29 16:04:34','',2730,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/29/2730-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(2784,1,'2011-11-30 00:02:17','2011-11-30 08:02:17','[caption id=\"attachment_2731\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"300\" caption=\"Gift by Vanessa Fitzgerald\"]<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/gift.jpg\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-2731\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/gift-300x220.jpg\" alt=\"Gift by Vanessa Fitzgerald\" width=\"300\" height=\"220\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nBlack Friday…it honestly has a very somber ring to it.\r\n\r\nSure, for retailers nationwide, these words are the most blessed words one can hear – but outside of the cash flow, it really prompts a very a solemn feeling from the utterance of such words alone.\r\n\r\nUpon the many articles that flew across headline news on morning of Nov. 25th, revealing people being hurt in the process of others seeking to obtain that “perfect” gift for someone at the best deal they’ve ever experienced on such an item, it sincerely brought about two emotions to my heart.\r\n\r\n<em>One of gratitude, and one of shock.</em>\r\n\r\nGratitude in that I didn’t opt to engage, like I never do, in Black Friday hoopla – and shock that so many would go to such measures (such as using pepper spray) to gain the upper hand over others to obtain what they wanted to get for someone else.\r\n\r\nReally now?\r\n\r\nHmmm…doesn’t sound like the apple fell that far from the tree when we look more at Cain’s example of “giving.”\r\n\r\nExploring Chapter 4 of Genesis, we see in the beginning that Cain and Abel were given distinct gifts for their lives to work out – Cain, to work the land; Abel to tend to the flock.\r\n\r\nEach of these brothers each had the same opportunity to serve God cheerfully, but only one opted to actually do it in faith and belief to God…and no, it wasn’t Cain who did that. He was the other guy who grumbled under his breath to God and saw his brother as competition and “God’s favorite”;  hence his decision to get him out of the picture.\r\n\r\nThis kind of mentality and behavior is oozing at its proverbial seams with the way people treat others on a Black Friday morning.\r\n\r\nFor a season abundantly laden with the theme of giving, sincerely what does ransacking a store for the best possible price on the highest-end object have anything to truly do with giving?\r\n\r\nMatthew West and Amy Grant put out a beautiful song last year that was put on a Veggie Tale’s movie that my son absolutely adores – as does my husband and myself. The song is called, <em>“<a title=\"Give This Christmas Away by Matthew West &amp; Amy Grant\" href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2ulYpoNXC0\" target=\"_blank\">Give This Christmas Away</a>.”</em>\r\n\r\nI deeply love this song because it captures the heart of Christmas, and the life we’re called to live in Christ year round…not just one season out of the year.\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>To give doesn’t focus on an object.</em></p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>To give doesn’t incite anger.</em></p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>To give doesn\'t provoke selfishness in any capacity.</em></p>\r\nTo truly give prompts our hearts to give the gift we’ve been given in Christ Jesus away in such a manner that He becomes the most desired gift anyone would want to receive into their own lives.\r\n\r\nCan this be accomplished through the giving of a material gift? Absolutely. But it is never the material that is the focus…it is the intent of the heart of the one giving the gift.\r\n\r\n<em><strong>This Christmas season…and the year to come, hereafter…how can you find yourselves giving in a manner that reveals Christ more than the material gift you give this year to others?</strong></em>','The Gifts We Give','','inherit','open','open','','2730-revision-7','','','2011-11-30 00:02:17','2011-11-30 08:02:17','',2730,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/30/2730-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(2785,1,'2011-11-30 00:03:06','2011-11-30 08:03:06','Black Friday…it honestly has a very somber ring to it.\r\n\r\nSure, for retailers nationwide, these words are the most blessed words one can hear – but outside of the cash flow, it really prompts a very a solemn feeling from the utterance of such words alone.\r\n\r\nUpon the many articles that flew across headline news on morning of Nov. 25th, revealing people being hurt in the process of others seeking to obtain that “perfect” gift for someone at the best deal they’ve ever experienced on such an item, it sincerely brought about two emotions to my heart.\r\n\r\n<em>One of gratitude, and one of shock.</em>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2731\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"300\" caption=\"Gift by Vanessa Fitzgerald\"]<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/gift.jpg\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-2731\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/gift-300x220.jpg\" alt=\"Gift by Vanessa Fitzgerald\" width=\"300\" height=\"220\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nGratitude in that I didn’t opt to engage, like I never do, in Black Friday hoopla – and shock that so many would go to such measures (such as using pepper spray) to gain the upper hand over others to obtain what they wanted to get for someone else.\r\n\r\nReally now?\r\n\r\nHmmm…doesn’t sound like the apple fell that far from the tree when we look more at Cain’s example of “giving.”\r\n\r\nExploring Chapter 4 of Genesis, we see in the beginning that Cain and Abel were given distinct gifts for their lives to work out – Cain, to work the land; Abel to tend to the flock.\r\n\r\nEach of these brothers each had the same opportunity to serve God cheerfully, but only one opted to actually do it in faith and belief to God…and no, it wasn’t Cain who did that. He was the other guy who grumbled under his breath to God and saw his brother as competition and “God’s favorite”;  hence his decision to get him out of the picture.\r\n\r\nThis kind of mentality and behavior is oozing at its proverbial seams with the way people treat others on a Black Friday morning.\r\n\r\nFor a season abundantly laden with the theme of giving, sincerely what does ransacking a store for the best possible price on the highest-end object have anything to truly do with giving?\r\n\r\nMatthew West and Amy Grant put out a beautiful song last year that was put on a Veggie Tale’s movie that my son absolutely adores – as does my husband and myself. The song is called, <em>“<a title=\"Give This Christmas Away by Matthew West &amp; Amy Grant\" href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2ulYpoNXC0\" target=\"_blank\">Give This Christmas Away</a>.”</em>\r\n\r\nI deeply love this song because it captures the heart of Christmas, and the life we’re called to live in Christ year round…not just one season out of the year.\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>To give doesn’t focus on an object.</em></p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>To give doesn’t incite anger.</em></p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>To give doesn\'t provoke selfishness in any capacity.</em></p>\r\nTo truly give prompts our hearts to give the gift we’ve been given in Christ Jesus away in such a manner that He becomes the most desired gift anyone would want to receive into their own lives.\r\n\r\nCan this be accomplished through the giving of a material gift? Absolutely. But it is never the material that is the focus…it is the intent of the heart of the one giving the gift.\r\n\r\n<em><strong>This Christmas season…and the year to come, hereafter…how can you find yourselves giving in a manner that reveals Christ more than the material gift you give this year to others?</strong></em>','The Gifts We Give','','inherit','open','open','','2730-revision-8','','','2011-11-30 00:03:06','2011-11-30 08:03:06','',2730,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/30/2730-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(2786,1,'2011-11-30 00:05:43','2011-11-30 08:05:43','I am sure you’ve heard about the ongoing series of demonstrations in the Wall Street financial district. What is Occupy Wall Street or<strong> </strong>(OWS) for short anyway? A paradigm shift or “blame-game” perhaps? In a nutshell, it’s a growing worldwide movement loosely based upon social and economic inequality. Some consider this movement highly controversial.\n\nMaybe, to some who are reading, <em>this article</em> will seem “controversial.”  But, as they say, “the proof is in the pudding.”  The realization I’m pointing to can only be known once we recognize the open, relaxed, non-separate way of being of what is known as non-duality. Occupy Wall Street, along with the frustration and desire for change that lots of people are experiencing these days, is a prime example of how the belief in separation can be seen as the root of human problems.\n\n&nbsp;\n<p align=\"center\"><strong>What is the belief in separation?</strong></p>\n&nbsp;\n\nFor starters here is a simple metaphor:  the painter and his painting are inseparable.  Translated, this means that the consciousness we are carrying around, which is the belief in being separate people, determines the world we see.  The painter “me” is inseparable from the world I see out there.\n\nThe Occupy Wall Street movement is certainly shaking things up, while attempting to provide a much-needed balance in our world. It appears that lots of people are “fed up” these days with corporate greed and the appearance that the rich keep getting richer while the poorer keep getting poorer.  It’s <em>quite</em> natural to want change when this is believed.  And it’s also quite <em>natural</em> to look outward into the world, believing that the problem exists (solely) out there.  In some sense, it does!  In the appearance of life, there are people and organizations who are acting from a sense of lack, fear, and greed—taking more than giving.  It’s much like any addiction.  The taking begets more taking, ad nauseum.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_2719\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"266\" caption=\"Pic Aaron Bauer\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2719 \" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Occupy-Wallstreet-Sign-Aaron-Bauer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"266\" height=\"400\" />[/caption]\n\n&nbsp;\n<p align=\"center\"><strong>Let’s look at it a different way.</strong></p>\n&nbsp;\n\nMany times in my meetings I get questions about the financial state of our world.  And almost always, I can sense in the questioner fear or anxiety below the surface of the words.  Yet the focus of the questioner is in pointing <em>out there</em>, in the world (in the “painting”), as if the solution lies solely there.\n\nWe can take all sorts of practical steps to change our world, and even improve it in many ways.  But if we are not in touch with the fear, anxiety, frustration, lack, and greed within each of us, then in some ways we are <em>only boxing our own shadows </em>when we point outward to Wall Street.  If the painter—me—is experiencing fear, frustration, anger or anxiety but only pointing outward towards the world, the question is this:  what am I looking to accomplish through that pointing?\n\nWhat I find time and again when the question of Wall Street pops up is that this outward pointing is the perfect opportunity to go <em>inward</em>.  By bringing someone’s attention—the bare observation of naked awareness—directly to the frustration, anger, fear or anxiety he or she is feeling, this inseparability between the painter and his painting becomes crystal clear.  Although we don’t always see it that way, we are looking for relaxation and well-being.  We are looking to rearrange the world (the painting) so that we can finally relax and not have to feel this frustration, anger, fear or anxiety.\n\nWhen I suggest to the questioner that true transformation of the world starts with the self (or inner voice), it can appear controversial, counterintuitive, and even repulsive at first.  I’m inviting the questioner to Occupy Awareness first, so to speak.  This means to rest without viewpoints over and over, throughout the day, letting all the afflictive emotions that arise with those viewpoints be as they are, without trying to understand, neutralize or get rid of them.   When we begin to do this, insight begins to arise automatically.  We see that our bodies, when they are troubled by these afflictive emotions, cause a sort of automated response in the mind.  That response shows up as a pointing outward into the world in some attempt to change that world so that the emotions can relax.  However, that outward pointing only goes so far.\n\nFor any transformation to happen, it is helpful to see through the sense of self that is identifying so strongly with viewpoints, no matter what they are.  As these viewpoints are relaxed, over and over, we start to feel energy in the body very directly.  That energy is allowed to come and go, bringing about a natural healing in our experience.  This is a deep and profound healing precisely because it deals with the very source of suffering, the ego or self.\n\nAs we relax as awareness (or Occupy Awareness), the sense of being a person cut off from a hostile world “out there” begins to soften and relax.   Insights and clarity begin to pave the way automatically.  We lose the sense of an us v. them attitude and this frees us up to take a more comprehensive perspective of our world, illuminating the way in which the painter is inseparable from his painting.\n\nAs we begin to relax and heal, the world and the sense of inherent “others” also begin to relax.  We start to move and act in the world with a fearless, compassionate love and peace.  This is not a love and peace that just sits quietly as the so-called others “destroy the world.”  It is not by its nature passive at all.\n\nWe can continue trying to point outwardly, believing that the problem is solely out there.  Yet this blinds us to the direct experience of what is happening in our own bodies and minds.  If we look inward, the fear, lack, anger, frustration, and anxiety that we are feeling as separate selves actually creates a sort of addiction for goods or for other vices that we believe will satisfy our suffering.  And so, in a very direct way, we created Wall Street by not experiencing and healing our own afflictive emotions.\n\nThe painter is inseparable from his painting.  So, as we change, from the belief in being a<em> separate</em> person, into a more fluid, non-separate, non-referential way of experiencing, the painting (the world) begins to change automatically.  Everyone we meet is then affected by the change within us.  Deep change is very contagious.  We don’t settle for Occupying Wall Street or any other street for that matter.  We occupy every moment with this new-found openness and direct experience of non-separation.  The world cannot help but change at that point simply because the world is a reflection of our own consciousness.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_2720\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"300\" caption=\"Pic Wendy Annibell\"]<img class=\"size-medium wp-image-2720\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Wallstreet-Wendy-Annibell-300x196.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"196\" />[/caption]\n\n&nbsp;\n\nFurthermore, do not take this as an invitation to stop protesting or speaking your mind about what you perceive in the world.  The recognition of the inward freedom that I am attempting to demonstrate here in no way outlaws taking practical action to change things in our relative experience.  I’m merely offering you, the reader, <a title=\"An invitation to Living Realization\" href=\"http://livingrealization.org/\" target=\"_blank\">an invitation</a> to look in a different way, seeing that what we have created as something out there is a reflection of our own, interior experience as humans.  As that interior experience begins to be illuminated more and more, it’s quite natural for an outward expression of that to take place.  We are only ever tending to the world we created through our own thoughts, feelings, sensations and perceptions.\n\nWhy not start in our own backyard?','Occupy Awareness','','inherit','open','open','','2713-autosave','','','2011-11-30 00:05:43','2011-11-30 08:05:43','',2713,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/30/2713-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(2204,1,'2011-11-12 11:41:36','2011-11-12 19:41:36','<iframe src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/tg00YEETFzg\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"500\" height=\"254\"></iframe>\r\n\r\nRihanna has a way of making the most interesting videos about the tension of love. Her video with Eminem, <em><a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uelHwf8o7_U\" target=\"_blank\">Love The Way You Lie</a></em> explored a deep tension of trying to love in a broken world.  We live in relationships with people, searching for someone who will love us, who will speak to something deep within our soul that says, \"You are worth it.\" To find it is intoxicating.  It is the ever present feeling of love that comes from the affections of the other. In many ways, to be loved feels like salvation.\r\n\r\nBut live in relationship is to feel it is to risk the possibility of losing it.  And when we do, it becomes a place of unspeakable suffering. Was the original love ever true.  The loss of love reminds us of our search, and the original desire that we longed to quench.  It\'s easy to want to hold onto that old memory, desiring to go back to the old places.  In this video <em>We Found Love</em>, a female voice speaks to that tension.  She says:\r\n\r\n<em>It\'s like screaming and no one can hear.</em>\r\n<em>You almost feel ashamed, that someone could be that important, </em>\r\n<em>that without them, you feel like nothing.</em>\r\n<em>No one will ever understand how much it hurts.</em>\r\n<em>You feel hopeless, like nothing can save you.</em>\r\n<em>And when it\'s over, when it\'s gone, you almost wish that you could have all that bad stuff back, </em>\r\n<em>so you can have the good.</em>\r\n\r\nThe risk of love is in the possibility that someone may not love you back. This is also the risk of our humanity, that God may not love us back.  And when our present circumstances suggest that God has left the building, it\'s hard to hold on.  It\'s hard to believe that it was ever true in the first place.\r\n\r\nI wonder if this is why it\'s called faith.  Because there is so much more evidence that God is not present in our lives, that the original lie that <a href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gen%201:31&amp;version=MSG\" target=\"_blank\">we really aren\'t that good</a> is somehow true. Faith requires us to see beyond our present circumstance, pain and suffering to hold onto something magically impossible: that God really loves us even when we don\'t feel it.','The Salvation Of Love','','publish','open','open','','the-salvation-of-love','','','2011-11-12 11:42:12','2011-11-12 19:42:12','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=2204',0,'post','',0),(1409,20,'2011-10-28 22:09:09','2011-10-29 05:09:09','<blockquote>This is what gets left out, I was realizing: not just left out of the national political debate but also left out of religious discourse.  Politicians talked about welfare - usually to blame and scapegoat - and occasionally made speches about poverty.  There was no shortage of talk about the poor and social services from church leaders of all stripes.  But the experiences of people such as my volunteers, the texture and specificity of their incarnate lives, were missing from the story of what Christianity was like now in contemporary America.\n\nAnd just as I\'d looked for the unofficial truth, as a reporter, on the edge of things, I believed I was discovering , at the food pantry, our people\'s significance to the real story.  They were on the margins of society, and often on the margins of the church, but their lives were full of meaning.  They threw light not only on the overlooked parts but on how the whole system worked.  These poor lives illuminated middle-class life - our anxiety, our reliance on managing and fixing feelings rather than having them, our desire to punish.  They made clear the limitations of religions that cast out every member whose reality didn\'t fit inside church doctrines.  Their lives showed the profound resourcefulness and strengths of the weak.  the thing that astonished me sometimes - listening to tales of terrible damage, psychosis, loss - was not how messed up people could be but how resilient; how, in the depths of suffering, they found ways to adapt and continue.\n\n- Sarah Miles, <em>Take this Bread</em></blockquote>','','','inherit','open','open','','1375-revision','','','2011-10-28 22:09:09','2011-10-29 05:09:09','',1375,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/28/1375-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(2380,0,'2011-11-18 09:59:17','2011-11-18 17:59:17','Hello.  I am interested in writing for your awesome magazine.  I am a freelance writer, and nonprofit owner for the homeless.  I often write about the hardships and obstacles that surround them, and ways that we can help them.  Here are examples of my writings: \r\nNichole\r\nwww.shoutitcharlotte.blogspot.com\r\nhttp://www.charlotteviewpoint.org/columnist/369/Nichole-K.-Jaworski\r\nhttp://www.examiner.com/public-policy-in-charlotte/nichole-jaworski\r\n\r\nI look forward to hearing from you soon.\r\n\r\nBest,\r\nNichole Jaworski\r\n\r\n\r\n​\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: Nichole Jaworski\nAUTHOR EMAIL: nichole@steelecreekoutreach.org\nAUTHOR URL: \nSUBJECT: [Provoketive Magazine] Contact Us\nIP: 75.176.94.3\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; Nichole Jaworski\n    [Email] =&gt; nichole@steelecreekoutreach.org\n    [Comment] =&gt; Hello.  I am interested in writing for your awesome magazine.  I am a freelance writer, and nonprofit owner for the homeless.  I often write about the hardships and obstacles that surround them, and ways that we can help them.  Here are examples of my writings: \r\nNichole\r\nwww.shoutitcharlotte.blogspot.com\r\nhttp://www.charlotteviewpoint.org/columnist/369/Nichole-K.-Jaworski\r\nhttp://www.examiner.com/public-policy-in-charlotte/nichole-jaworski\r\n\r\nI look forward to hearing from you soon.\r\n\r\nBest,\r\nNichole Jaworski\r\n\r\n\r\n​\n)\n','Nichole Jaworski - 2011-11-18 09:59:17','','publish','open','open','','c4cdad06f3120284b37db995cb754b57','','','2011-11-18 09:59:17','2011-11-18 17:59:17','',16,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=2380',0,'feedback','',0);
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (1411,64,'2011-11-02 08:00:13','2011-11-02 15:00:13','A popular post at<a title=\"Sharon Hodde Miller\" href=\"http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7ya3xT/blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/10/why_its_your_job_to_break_the.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Her.meneutics</a>, <em>Why it’s Your Job to Break the Women’s Ministry Stereotype</em> by Sharon Hodde Miller, reminded me of something I wrote earlier this year.  You must read her blog <a title=\"She Worships\" href=\"http://sheworships.com\" target=\"_blank\">She Worships</a>.  She is one of the more wise and intelligent female voices of my generation.\r\n<h2>I just want to know what you think.</h2>\r\nFor seven years I attended Women’s Bible studies offered at my church.  I learned a lot and my love for scripture grew deeper.   Over the years, as I refined my ability to study scripture for myself I began to notice an odd trend.  These women who taught with clear outward self-assurance were basically parroting the commentary and words of other (usually male) authors.   I found myself counting the times in a lecture they would say “So and so says ... in such and such commentary.”  <strong><em>I longed to hear what these wise women thought and more importantly what God was saying to them as they studied scripture.</em>   </strong>I believe these women were essentially shuffled to the side of the church “to teach women.”  Noticeably they had not received coaching comparable to the “teaching team” (of men) who taught Sunday mornings.  <em>Subsequently these women lacked the confidence and training to speak with authority. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>By writing this essay I am not saying that there is no place for women’s ministry in the church, but after all these years <em>I know it is not for me.  Here\'s why.</em></strong>\r\n<h2>My life is incredibly diverse and I\'ll do everything I can to keep it that way.</h2>\r\nI guess the saying is true, “People of a feather flock together.”\r\n\r\nA good friend who is a leader at church told me that <em>people ask for groupings</em> when they come to church.  They <em>want</em> to be with those that are <em>like them</em> – whether it is women or men, youth or college-aged, young marrieds with or without kids, or singles gathering together.  I understand that this is what we are used and more comfortable with but does that mean it is <em>good</em>?\r\n\r\n<strong><em>I have deep concerns with that when it comes to separating men and women.</em></strong><strong> </strong>\r\n\r\nFirst of all, fundamentally it comes out of this notion that men and women are <em>so very different.  </em> We certainly have our differences, but that sort of thinking is divisive and unproductive. It hurts us more than helps as we try to work out our faith together.  Separation of men and women in the church might have begun when women were for the most part at-home and looking for things to do.  That is no longer the case, as people today divide up their lives and work and time very differently.  And today the church is full of the divorced, single parents,  men at home and women working in the marketplace, as well as more and more single men and women who are choosing to remain so longer, not to mention the younger retired boomers who make up the church.\r\n\r\n<em><strong>Scripture isn’t \"for women\" or \"for men.” </strong></em>\r\n\r\nWe don’t need to separate to study the Word.  When we split up it only perpetuates gender stereotypes.  Ah, the stereotypes, women want to be treated like princesses and men are all tough guys.  Women love to talk and are more emotional.  Men are stone and are afraid of being vulnerable and all have pornography problems.  Next thing you know, when women get together we are all making crafts and men are playing basketball.\r\n\r\nI think we benefit as we<strong> </strong>mix generations and genders, hipsters and bikers and soccer moms, boomers, silent gen, teens, single and married with those with higher education or not.  We need to cross all those cultural barriers and learn together.  We are strengthened as people and as a community when we do.  We lose out when we don’t.  There is so much that we don\'t learn when we divide into groups by our comfortable similarities.\r\n<h2>What about Tribes?</h2>\r\nOne of my husband tribes is <strong>Musical Geeks</strong> and they cross many apparent differences, women and men, young and old, it matters not at all, as long as you want to \"geek out\" about all sorts of really boring musical minutia. (That is not my tribe, clearly.)  Not my <em>need, </em>but <em>he needs and loves to be with those people because they have like interests</em>!\r\n\r\nThis is important.  We feel connection, solidarity and even strength when we connect from time to time with our tribe.  One must find a balance.\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 20px;font-weight: bold\">What about in the Church?</span>\r\n\r\n<strong><em>It feels like there are a million obstacles to women experiencing true equity within the Christian evangelical church and separating ourselves by gender simply perpetuates the stereotypes and encourages a lack of creativity when it comes to the gifts and talents that people have.</em></strong>\r\n\r\nI know that I am not your typical evangelical Christian woman nor married to the typical man.  We divide our household chores by talents and interests, as well as what brings us joy.  For example, you will not find my husband outside on the weekend mowing the lawn or in the yard at all.  I do it because I love being outside, love the physical effort and I care about our yard.  He can typically be found inside either cleaning or down in his studio working on music.   When we got married, rather than fall into the typical gender stereotypes we just thought about it pragmatically.  Why can’t we do that in the Church?\r\n\r\nI believe that men and women should be using their skills and abilities and spiritual gifts in the whole Church.  They were given to us by Yahweh.  I believe he chose my skills, abilities and spiritual gifts.  God is the one that <em>made me this way. I should be serving.  I should be using the abilities and talents that He gave me. It would be wrong for me to sit back and not use them. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>This is complicated when you haven\'t had your abilities affirmed in the church.  But some day, women will come to know themselves capable.  I think it is time for us to begin again, to rethink women and men’s ministry and know that we are the body of Christ, at is says in 1 Corinthians 12</strong>.\r\n<blockquote> <strong><sup>4</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. <strong><sup>5</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of service, but the same Lord. <strong><sup>6</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of working, but in all of them and <strong><em>in everyone</em></strong> it is the same God at work.\r\n\r\n<strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Now <em>to each one</em> the manifestation of the Spirit is given <strong><em>for the common good.</em></strong> <strong><sup>8</sup></strong> To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <strong><sup>9</sup></strong> to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <strong><sup>10</sup></strong> to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote a\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645a\">a</a>]</sup></strong> and to still another the interpretation of tongues.<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote b\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645b\">b</a>]</sup></strong> <strong><sup>11</sup></strong> All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them <strong><em>to each one</em></strong>, just as he determines. (NIV, <strong><em>emphasis mine</em></strong>.)</blockquote>\r\nI am so encouraged reading those verses, which were written to us, yes each one, yes <em>to everyone,</em> in the Church.\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Mimi Haddad\" href=\"http://www.cbeinternational.org/?q=content/leadership#dr-mimi-haddad\" target=\"_blank\">Mimi Haddad</a> puts it so well:\r\n<blockquote>“<strong>…</strong> Women need to learn the power and validity of their voices. Women have been given voices as instruments that God intends for them to use—not in anger, but with the grace and dignity with which Jesus spoke. When I look through the pages of Scripture, I see that the words of women and men throughout history have been beautiful gifts from God. It is time we remember that our voices carry weight, that we hold truth from God on our tongues. The world needs to hear from us.”</blockquote>\r\n<strong><em>I believe God is calling women to come forth and speak to the Church not just to women.</em></strong>\r\n\r\n<em>Photo Credit: Alesa Dam</em>','Why Ministry \"For Women\" is Not \"For Me\"','','publish','open','open','','why-ministry-for-women-is-not-for-me','','','2011-11-02 12:30:17','2011-11-02 19:30:17','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1411',0,'post','',2),(1412,64,'2011-10-29 11:02:00','2011-10-29 18:02:00','<strong>A popular post at<a title=\"Sharon Hodde Miller\" href=\"http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7ya3xT/blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/10/why_its_your_job_to_break_the.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Hermeneutics</a> this week, titled <em>Why it’s Your Job to Break the Women’s Ministry Stereotype</em>, by Sharon Hodde Miller, reminded me of something I had written.  So I reworked it for you here.</strong>\n<h2>I want to know what you think.</h2>\nFor seven years I attended Women’s Bible studies offered at my church.  I learned a lot and my love for scripture grew deeper.   Over the years, as I refined my ability to study scripture for myself I began to notice an odd trend.  These women who taught with apparent outward self-assurance were basically parroting the commentary and words of male authors.   I found myself counting the number of times in a lecture they would say “So and so says ... in such and such commentary.”\n\n<em>I longed to hear what these wise women thought and what God was saying to them as they studied scripture.</em>  I finally stopped going thinking I can read commentary myself.  I believe these women had been shuffled to the side of the church “to teach women.”  They noticeably had not received coaching comparable to the “teaching team” of men who taught Sunday mornings.  <em>Subsequently these women lacked the confidence and training to speak with authority.</em>\n\n<strong>By writing this essay I am not saying that there is no place for women’s ministry in the church, but after all these years <em>I know it is not for me.</em>  Here\'s why.</strong>\n<h2>My life is incredibly diverse and I\'ll do everything I can to keep it that way.</h2>\nI guess the saying is true, “People of a feather flock together.”\n\nA good friend who is a leader at church told me that <em>people ask for groupings</em> when they come to church.  They want to be with those that are <em>like them</em> – whether it is women or men, youth or college-aged, or young marrieds, or singles gathering together.  I understand that this is what we are used to, but does that mean it is good?\n\n<strong><em>I have deep concerns with that when it comes to separating men and women.</em></strong><strong> </strong>\n\nFirst of all, fundamentally it comes out of this notion that men and women are <em>so very different.  </em> We certainly have our differences, but that sort of thinking is divisive and unproductive. It hurts us more than helps as we try to work out our faith together.  Separation of men and women in the church might have begun when women were for the most part at-home and looking for things to do.  That is no longer the case, as people today divide up their lives and work and time very differently.  And today the church is full of the divorced, single parents,  men at home and women working in the marketplace, as well as more and more single men and women who are choosing to remain so longer, not to mention the younger retired boomers who make up the church.\n\n<strong>S<em>cripture isn’t </em>\"for women\" or \"for men.” </strong>\n\nWe don’t need to separate to study the Word.  When we split up it only perpetuates gender stereotypes.  Ah, the stereotypes, women want to be treated like princesses and men are all tough guys.  Women love to talk and are more emotional.  Men are stone and are afraid of being vulnerable and all have pornography problems.  Next thing you know, when women get together we are all making crafts and men are playing basketball.\n\nI think we benefit as we<strong> </strong>mix generations and genders, hipsters and bikers and soccer moms, boomers, silent gen, teens, single and married with those with higher education or not.  We need to cross all those cultural barriers and learn together.  We are strengthened as people and as a community when we do.  We lose out when we don’t.  There is so much that we don\'t learn when we divide into groups by our comfortable similarities.\n<h2>What about Tribes?</h2>\nOn the other hand, we feel connection, solidarity and even strength when we connect from time to time with our tribe.  One must find a balance.\n\nOne of my husband tribes is <strong>Musical Geeks</strong> and they cross many apparent differences, women and men, young and old, it matters not at all, as long as you want to \"geek out\" about all sorts of really boring musical minutia. (That is not my tribe, clearly.)  Not my <em>need, </em>but <em>he needs and loves to be with those folk</em>!\n\nI know that I am not your typical evangelical Christian woman.  We divide our household chores by talents and interests, as well as what brings us joy.  For example, you will not find my husband outside on the weekend mowing the lawn or in the yard at all.  I do it because I love being outside, love the physical effort and I care about our yard.  He can typically be found inside either cleaning or down in his studio working on music.   When we got married, rather than fall into the typical gender stereotypes we just thought about it pragmatically.  Why can’t we do that in the Church?\n<h2>Women in the Church</h2>\n<strong><em>It feels like there are a million obstacles to women experiencing true equity within the Christian evangelical church and separating ourselves by gender simply perpetuates the stereotypes and encourages a lack of creativity when it comes to the gifts and talents people have.</em></strong>\n\nI believe that men and women should be using their skills and abilities and spiritual gifts in the whole Church.  They were given to us by Yahweh.  I believe he chose my skills, abilities and spiritual gifts.  God is the one that <em>made me this way. I should be serving.  I should be using the abilities and talents that He gave me. It would be wrong for me to sit back and not use them. </em>\n\nThis is complicated when you haven\'t had your abilities affirmed in the church.  But some day, women will come to know themselves capable.  I think it is time for us to begin again.  To rethink women and men’s ministry and know that we are the body of Christ, at is says in 1 Corinthians 12:\n<blockquote> <strong><sup>4</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. <strong><sup>5</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of service, but the same Lord. <strong><sup>6</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of working, but in all of them and <strong><em>in everyone</em></strong> it is the same God at work.\n\n<strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Now <em>to each one</em> the manifestation of the Spirit is given <strong><em>for the common good.</em></strong> <strong><sup>8</sup></strong> To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <strong><sup>9</sup></strong> to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <strong><sup>10</sup></strong> to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote a\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645a\">a</a>]</sup></strong> and to still another the interpretation of tongues.<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote b\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645b\">b</a>]</sup></strong> <strong><sup>11</sup></strong> All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them <strong><em>to each one</em></strong>, just as he determines. (NIV, <strong><em>emphasis mine</em></strong>.)</blockquote>\nI am so encouraged reading those verses, which were written to each one, yes <em>to everyone,</em> in the Church.\n\nMimi Haddad puts it so well,\n<blockquote>“<strong>…</strong> Women need to learn the power and validity of their voices. Women have been given voices as instruments that God intends for them to use—not in anger, but with the grace and dignity with which Jesus spoke. When I look through the pages of Scripture, I see that the words of women and men throughout history have been beautiful gifts from God. It is time we remember that our voices carry weight, that we hold truth from God on our tongues. The world needs to hear from us.”</blockquote>\n<strong><em>I believe God is calling women to come forth and speak to the Church not just to women.</em></strong>','','','inherit','open','open','','1411-revision','','','2011-10-29 11:02:00','2011-10-29 18:02:00','',1411,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1411-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1413,64,'2011-10-29 11:14:12','2011-10-29 18:14:12','<strong>A popular post at<a title=\"Sharon Hodde Miller\" href=\"http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7ya3xT/blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/10/why_its_your_job_to_break_the.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Hermeneutics</a> this week, titled <em>Why it’s Your Job to Break the Women’s Ministry Stereotype</em>, by Sharon Hodde Miller, reminded me of something I had written.</strong>\n<h2>I J want to know what you think.</h2>\nFor seven years I attended Women’s Bible studies offered at my church.  I learned a lot and my love for scripture grew deeper.   Over the years, as I refined my ability to study scripture for myself I began to notice an odd trend.  These women who taught with apparent outward self-assurance were basically parroting the commentary and words of male authors.   I found myself counting the number of times in a lecture they would say “So and so says ... in such and such commentary.”\n\n<em>I longed to hear what these wise women thought and what God was saying to them as they studied scripture.</em>  I finally stopped going thinking I can read commentary myself.  I believe these women had been shuffled to the side of the church “to teach women.”  They noticeably had not received coaching comparable to the “teaching team” of men who taught Sunday mornings.  <em>Subsequently these women lacked the confidence and training to speak with authority.</em>\n\n<strong>By writing this essay I am not saying that there is no place for women’s ministry in the church, but after all these years <em>I know it is not for me.</em>  Here\'s why.</strong>\n<h2>My life is incredibly diverse and I\'ll do everything I can to keep it that way.</h2>\nI guess the saying is true, “People of a feather flock together.”\n\nA good friend who is a leader at church told me that <em>people ask for groupings</em> when they come to church.  They want to be with those that are <em>like them</em> – whether it is women or men, youth or college-aged, or young marrieds, or singles gathering together.  I understand that this is what we are used to, but does that mean it is good?\n\n<strong><em>I have deep concerns with that when it comes to separating men and women.</em></strong><strong> </strong>\n\nFirst of all, fundamentally it comes out of this notion that men and women are <em>so very different.  </em> We certainly have our differences, but that sort of thinking is divisive and unproductive. It hurts us more than helps as we try to work out our faith together.  Separation of men and women in the church might have begun when women were for the most part at-home and looking for things to do.  That is no longer the case, as people today divide up their lives and work and time very differently.  And today the church is full of the divorced, single parents,  men at home and women working in the marketplace, as well as more and more single men and women who are choosing to remain so longer, not to mention the younger retired boomers who make up the church.\n\n<strong>S<em>cripture isn’t </em>\"for women\" or \"for men.” </strong>\n\nWe don’t need to separate to study the Word.  When we split up it only perpetuates gender stereotypes.  Ah, the stereotypes, women want to be treated like princesses and men are all tough guys.  Women love to talk and are more emotional.  Men are stone and are afraid of being vulnerable and all have pornography problems.  Next thing you know, when women get together we are all making crafts and men are playing basketball.\n\nI think we benefit as we<strong> </strong>mix generations and genders, hipsters and bikers and soccer moms, boomers, silent gen, teens, single and married with those with higher education or not.  We need to cross all those cultural barriers and learn together.  We are strengthened as people and as a community when we do.  We lose out when we don’t.  There is so much that we don\'t learn when we divide into groups by our comfortable similarities.\n<h2>What about Tribes?</h2>\nOne of my husband tribes is <strong>Musical Geeks</strong> and they cross many apparent differences, women and men, young and old, it matters not at all, as long as you want to \"geek out\" about all sorts of really boring musical minutia. (That is not my tribe, clearly.)  Not my <em>need, </em>but <em>he needs and loves to be with those people because they have like interests</em>!\n\nThis is important.  We feel connection, solidarity and even strength when we connect from time to time with our tribe.  One must find a balance.\n\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 20px;font-weight: bold\">What about in the Church?</span>\n\n<strong><em>It feels like there are a million obstacles to women experiencing true equity within the Christian evangelical church and separating ourselves by gender simply perpetuates the stereotypes and encourages a lack of creativity when it comes to the gifts and talents that people have.</em></strong>\n\nI know that I am not your typical evangelical Christian woman nor married to the typical man.  We divide our household chores by talents and interests, as well as what brings us joy.  For example, you will not find my husband outside on the weekend mowing the lawn or in the yard at all.  I do it because I love being outside, love the physical effort and I care about our yard.  He can typically be found inside either cleaning or down in his studio working on music.   When we got married, rather than fall into the typical gender stereotypes we just thought about it pragmatically.  Why can’t we do that in the Church?\n\nI believe that men and women should be using their skills and abilities and spiritual gifts in the whole Church.  They were given to us by Yahweh.  I believe he chose my skills, abilities and spiritual gifts.  God is the one that <em>made me this way. I should be serving.  I should be using the abilities and talents that He gave me. It would be wrong for me to sit back and not use them. </em>\n\n<strong>This is complicated when you haven\'t had your abilities affirmed in the church.  But some day, women will come to know themselves capable.  I think it is time for us to begin again, to rethink women and men’s ministry and know that we are the body of Christ, at is says in 1 Corinthians 12</strong>.\n<blockquote> <strong><sup>4</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. <strong><sup>5</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of service, but the same Lord. <strong><sup>6</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of working, but in all of them and <strong><em>in everyone</em></strong> it is the same God at work.\n\n<strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Now <em>to each one</em> the manifestation of the Spirit is given <strong><em>for the common good.</em></strong> <strong><sup>8</sup></strong> To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <strong><sup>9</sup></strong> to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <strong><sup>10</sup></strong> to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote a\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645a\">a</a>]</sup></strong> and to still another the interpretation of tongues.<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote b\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645b\">b</a>]</sup></strong> <strong><sup>11</sup></strong> All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them <strong><em>to each one</em></strong>, just as he determines. (NIV, <strong><em>emphasis mine</em></strong>.)</blockquote>\nI am so encouraged reading those verses, which were written to us, yes each one, yes <em>to everyone,</em> in the Church.\n\n<a title=\"Mimi Haddad\" href=\"http://www.cbeinternational.org/?q=content/leadership#dr-mimi-haddad\" target=\"_blank\">Mimi Haddad</a> puts it so well:\n<blockquote>“<strong>…</strong> Women need to learn the power and validity of their voices. Women have been given voices as instruments that God intends for them to use—not in anger, but with the grace and dignity with which Jesus spoke. When I look through the pages of Scripture, I see that the words of women and men throughout history have been beautiful gifts from God. It is time we remember that our voices carry weight, that we hold truth from God on our tongues. The world needs to hear from us.”</blockquote>\n<strong><em>I believe God is calling women to come forth and speak to the Church not just to women.</em></strong>','???title???','','inherit','open','open','','1411-revision-2','','','2011-10-29 11:14:12','2011-10-29 18:14:12','',1411,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1411-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(1414,64,'2011-10-29 11:15:25','2011-10-29 18:15:25','<strong>A popular post at<a title=\"Sharon Hodde Miller\" href=\"http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7ya3xT/blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/10/why_its_your_job_to_break_the.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Hermeneutics</a> this week, titled <em>Why it’s Your Job to Break the Women’s Ministry Stereotype</em>, by Sharon Hodde Miller, reminded me of something I had written.</strong>\n<h2>I just want to know what you think.</h2>\nFor seven years I attended Women’s Bible studies offered at my church.  I learned a lot and my love for scripture grew deeper.   Over the years, as I refined my ability to study scripture for myself I began to notice an odd trend.  These women who taught with apparent outward self-assurance were basically parroting the commentary and words of male authors.   I found myself counting the number of times in a lecture they would say “So and so says ... in such and such commentary.”\n\n<em>I longed to hear what these wise women thought and what God was saying to them as they studied scripture.</em>  I finally stopped going thinking I can read commentary myself.  I believe these women had been shuffled to the side of the church “to teach women.”  They noticeably had not received coaching comparable to the “teaching team” of men who taught Sunday mornings.  <em>Subsequently these women lacked the confidence and training to speak with authority.</em>\n\n<strong>By writing this essay I am not saying that there is no place for women’s ministry in the church, but after all these years <em>I know it is not for me.</em>  Here\'s why.</strong>\n<h2>My life is incredibly diverse and I\'ll do everything I can to keep it that way.</h2>\nI guess the saying is true, “People of a feather flock together.”\n\nA good friend who is a leader at church told me that <em>people ask for groupings</em> when they come to church.  They want to be with those that are <em>like them</em> – whether it is women or men, youth or college-aged, or young marrieds, or singles gathering together.  I understand that this is what we are used to, but does that mean it is good?\n\n<strong><em>I have deep concerns with that when it comes to separating men and women.</em></strong><strong> </strong>\n\nFirst of all, fundamentally it comes out of this notion that men and women are <em>so very different.  </em> We certainly have our differences, but that sort of thinking is divisive and unproductive. It hurts us more than helps as we try to work out our faith together.  Separation of men and women in the church might have begun when women were for the most part at-home and looking for things to do.  That is no longer the case, as people today divide up their lives and work and time very differently.  And today the church is full of the divorced, single parents,  men at home and women working in the marketplace, as well as more and more single men and women who are choosing to remain so longer, not to mention the younger retired boomers who make up the church.\n\n<strong>S<em>cripture isn’t </em>\"for women\" or \"for men.” </strong>\n\nWe don’t need to separate to study the Word.  When we split up it only perpetuates gender stereotypes.  Ah, the stereotypes, women want to be treated like princesses and men are all tough guys.  Women love to talk and are more emotional.  Men are stone and are afraid of being vulnerable and all have pornography problems.  Next thing you know, when women get together we are all making crafts and men are playing basketball.\n\nI think we benefit as we<strong> </strong>mix generations and genders, hipsters and bikers and soccer moms, boomers, silent gen, teens, single and married with those with higher education or not.  We need to cross all those cultural barriers and learn together.  We are strengthened as people and as a community when we do.  We lose out when we don’t.  There is so much that we don\'t learn when we divide into groups by our comfortable similarities.\n<h2>What about Tribes?</h2>\nOne of my husband tribes is <strong>Musical Geeks</strong> and they cross many apparent differences, women and men, young and old, it matters not at all, as long as you want to \"geek out\" about all sorts of really boring musical minutia. (That is not my tribe, clearly.)  Not my <em>need, </em>but <em>he needs and loves to be with those people because they have like interests</em>!\n\nThis is important.  We feel connection, solidarity and even strength when we connect from time to time with our tribe.  One must find a balance.\n\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 20px;font-weight: bold\">What about in the Church?</span>\n\n<strong><em>It feels like there are a million obstacles to women experiencing true equity within the Christian evangelical church and separating ourselves by gender simply perpetuates the stereotypes and encourages a lack of creativity when it comes to the gifts and talents that people have.</em></strong>\n\nI know that I am not your typical evangelical Christian woman nor married to the typical man.  We divide our household chores by talents and interests, as well as what brings us joy.  For example, you will not find my husband outside on the weekend mowing the lawn or in the yard at all.  I do it because I love being outside, love the physical effort and I care about our yard.  He can typically be found inside either cleaning or down in his studio working on music.   When we got married, rather than fall into the typical gender stereotypes we just thought about it pragmatically.  Why can’t we do that in the Church?\n\nI believe that men and women should be using their skills and abilities and spiritual gifts in the whole Church.  They were given to us by Yahweh.  I believe he chose my skills, abilities and spiritual gifts.  God is the one that <em>made me this way. I should be serving.  I should be using the abilities and talents that He gave me. It would be wrong for me to sit back and not use them. </em>\n\n<strong>This is complicated when you haven\'t had your abilities affirmed in the church.  But some day, women will come to know themselves capable.  I think it is time for us to begin again, to rethink women and men’s ministry and know that we are the body of Christ, at is says in 1 Corinthians 12</strong>.\n<blockquote> <strong><sup>4</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. <strong><sup>5</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of service, but the same Lord. <strong><sup>6</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of working, but in all of them and <strong><em>in everyone</em></strong> it is the same God at work.\n\n<strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Now <em>to each one</em> the manifestation of the Spirit is given <strong><em>for the common good.</em></strong> <strong><sup>8</sup></strong> To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <strong><sup>9</sup></strong> to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <strong><sup>10</sup></strong> to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote a\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645a\">a</a>]</sup></strong> and to still another the interpretation of tongues.<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote b\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645b\">b</a>]</sup></strong> <strong><sup>11</sup></strong> All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them <strong><em>to each one</em></strong>, just as he determines. (NIV, <strong><em>emphasis mine</em></strong>.)</blockquote>\nI am so encouraged reading those verses, which were written to us, yes each one, yes <em>to everyone,</em> in the Church.\n\n<a title=\"Mimi Haddad\" href=\"http://www.cbeinternational.org/?q=content/leadership#dr-mimi-haddad\" target=\"_blank\">Mimi Haddad</a> puts it so well:\n<blockquote>“<strong>…</strong> Women need to learn the power and validity of their voices. Women have been given voices as instruments that God intends for them to use—not in anger, but with the grace and dignity with which Jesus spoke. When I look through the pages of Scripture, I see that the words of women and men throughout history have been beautiful gifts from God. It is time we remember that our voices carry weight, that we hold truth from God on our tongues. The world needs to hear from us.”</blockquote>\n<strong><em>I believe God is calling women to come forth and speak to the Church not just to women.</em></strong>','Why Ministry \"For Women\" is Not \"For Me\"','','inherit','open','open','','1411-revision-3','','','2011-10-29 11:15:25','2011-10-29 18:15:25','',1411,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1411-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(1415,64,'2011-10-29 11:20:46','2011-10-29 18:20:46','A popular post at<a title=\"Sharon Hodde Miller\" href=\"http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7ya3xT/blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/10/why_its_your_job_to_break_the.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Hermeneutics</a>, titled <em>Why it’s Your Job to Break the Women’s Ministry Stereotype </em>by Sharon Hodde Miller, reminded me of something I wrote earlier this year.  If you don\'t read her blog, <a title=\"She Worships\" href=\"http://sheworships.com\" target=\"_blank\">She Worships</a>, you are missing hearing from one of the more wise and intelligent female voices of my generation.\n<h2>I just want to know what you think.</h2>\nFor seven years I attended Women’s Bible studies offered at my church.  I learned a lot and my love for scripture grew deeper.   Over the years, as I refined my ability to study scripture for myself I began to notice an odd trend.  These women who taught with apparent outward self-assurance were basically parroting the commentary and words of male authors.   I found myself counting the number of times in a lecture they would say “So and so says ... in such and such commentary.”\n\n<em>I longed to hear what these wise women thought and what God was saying to them as they studied scripture.</em>  I finally stopped going thinking I can read commentary myself.  I believe these women had been shuffled to the side of the church “to teach women.”  They noticeably had not received coaching comparable to the “teaching team” of men who taught Sunday mornings.  <em>Subsequently these women lacked the confidence and training to speak with authority.</em>\n\n<strong>By writing this essay I am not saying that there is no place for women’s ministry in the church, but after all these years <em>I know it is not</em> for me.  Here\'s why.</strong>\n<h2>My life is incredibly diverse and I\'ll do everything I can to keep it that way.</h2>\nI guess the saying is true, “People of a feather flock together.”\n\nA good friend who is a leader at church told me that <em>people ask for groupings</em> when they come to church.  They want to be with those that are <em>like them</em> – whether it is women or men, youth or college-aged, or young marrieds, or singles gathering together.  I understand that this is what we are used to, but does that mean it is good?\n\n<strong><em>I have deep concerns with that when it comes to separating men and women.</em></strong><strong> </strong>\n\nFirst of all, fundamentally it comes out of this notion that men and women are <em>so very different.  </em> We certainly have our differences, but that sort of thinking is divisive and unproductive. It hurts us more than helps as we try to work out our faith together.  Separation of men and women in the church might have begun when women were for the most part at-home and looking for things to do.  That is no longer the case, as people today divide up their lives and work and time very differently.  And today the church is full of the divorced, single parents,  men at home and women working in the marketplace, as well as more and more single men and women who are choosing to remain so longer, not to mention the younger retired boomers who make up the church.\n\n<strong>S<em>cripture isn’t </em>\"for women\" or \"for men.” </strong>\n\nWe don’t need to separate to study the Word.  When we split up it only perpetuates gender stereotypes.  Ah, the stereotypes, women want to be treated like princesses and men are all tough guys.  Women love to talk and are more emotional.  Men are stone and are afraid of being vulnerable and all have pornography problems.  Next thing you know, when women get together we are all making crafts and men are playing basketball.\n\nI think we benefit as we<strong> </strong>mix generations and genders, hipsters and bikers and soccer moms, boomers, silent gen, teens, single and married with those with higher education or not.  We need to cross all those cultural barriers and learn together.  We are strengthened as people and as a community when we do.  We lose out when we don’t.  There is so much that we don\'t learn when we divide into groups by our comfortable similarities.\n<h2>What about Tribes?</h2>\nOne of my husband tribes is <strong>Musical Geeks</strong> and they cross many apparent differences, women and men, young and old, it matters not at all, as long as you want to \"geek out\" about all sorts of really boring musical minutia. (That is not my tribe, clearly.)  Not my <em>need, </em>but <em>he needs and loves to be with those people because they have like interests</em>!\n\nThis is important.  We feel connection, solidarity and even strength when we connect from time to time with our tribe.  One must find a balance.\n\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 20px;font-weight: bold\">What about in the Church?</span>\n\n<strong><em>It feels like there are a million obstacles to women experiencing true equity within the Christian evangelical church and separating ourselves by gender simply perpetuates the stereotypes and encourages a lack of creativity when it comes to the gifts and talents that people have.</em></strong>\n\nI know that I am not your typical evangelical Christian woman nor married to the typical man.  We divide our household chores by talents and interests, as well as what brings us joy.  For example, you will not find my husband outside on the weekend mowing the lawn or in the yard at all.  I do it because I love being outside, love the physical effort and I care about our yard.  He can typically be found inside either cleaning or down in his studio working on music.   When we got married, rather than fall into the typical gender stereotypes we just thought about it pragmatically.  Why can’t we do that in the Church?\n\nI believe that men and women should be using their skills and abilities and spiritual gifts in the whole Church.  They were given to us by Yahweh.  I believe he chose my skills, abilities and spiritual gifts.  God is the one that <em>made me this way. I should be serving.  I should be using the abilities and talents that He gave me. It would be wrong for me to sit back and not use them. </em>\n\n<strong>This is complicated when you haven\'t had your abilities affirmed in the church.  But some day, women will come to know themselves capable.  I think it is time for us to begin again, to rethink women and men’s ministry and know that we are the body of Christ, at is says in 1 Corinthians 12</strong>.\n<blockquote> <strong><sup>4</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. <strong><sup>5</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of service, but the same Lord. <strong><sup>6</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of working, but in all of them and <strong><em>in everyone</em></strong> it is the same God at work.\n\n<strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Now <em>to each one</em> the manifestation of the Spirit is given <strong><em>for the common good.</em></strong> <strong><sup>8</sup></strong> To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <strong><sup>9</sup></strong> to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <strong><sup>10</sup></strong> to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote a\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645a\">a</a>]</sup></strong> and to still another the interpretation of tongues.<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote b\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645b\">b</a>]</sup></strong> <strong><sup>11</sup></strong> All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them <strong><em>to each one</em></strong>, just as he determines. (NIV, <strong><em>emphasis mine</em></strong>.)</blockquote>\nI am so encouraged reading those verses, which were written to us, yes each one, yes <em>to everyone,</em> in the Church.\n\n<a title=\"Mimi Haddad\" href=\"http://www.cbeinternational.org/?q=content/leadership#dr-mimi-haddad\" target=\"_blank\">Mimi Haddad</a> puts it so well:\n<blockquote>“<strong>…</strong> Women need to learn the power and validity of their voices. Women have been given voices as instruments that God intends for them to use—not in anger, but with the grace and dignity with which Jesus spoke. When I look through the pages of Scripture, I see that the words of women and men throughout history have been beautiful gifts from God. It is time we remember that our voices carry weight, that we hold truth from God on our tongues. The world needs to hear from us.”</blockquote>\n<strong><em>I believe God is calling women to come forth and speak to the Church not just to women.</em></strong>','Why Ministry \"For Women\" is Not \"For Me\"','','inherit','open','open','','1411-revision-4','','','2011-10-29 11:20:46','2011-10-29 18:20:46','',1411,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1411-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(1420,33,'2011-10-31 08:00:02','2011-10-31 15:00:02','<p align=\"left\">I quit my job recently.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\"> It was a good job...a relatively well-paying job with good benefits and a dental plan.  I liked my boss and enjoyed my colleagues.  I found the work interesting as it frequently provided a chance to be creative, innovative and kept the cat in kibble.  On the surface, everything appeared as though I was on the path to upward mobility and the good life.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">But inside, I was dying a little bit each day.  Each day for the last several months, my soul was being diminished rather than enlarged and I was finding the emotional, spiritual, and even physical demands of the job outpaced the returns.  It became a bad trade...the exchange rate was too high and the return on investment steadily got smaller.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\"> I thought I could manage the dissonance between not being in the right place but staying for reasons that seemed logical – security, stability, a fancy title and an office with windows that opened.  But each day as I put on my dress slacks and slipped into my shiny black shoes, I was dressing up like an actor to play a character whose motivation I simply couldn’t understand.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">So I prayed for wisdom and guidance.  I prayed for clarity and insight.  I waited for the voice from Heaven to shout down the next step of the grand plan.  I waited.  But the voice never came.   I wondered what was causing God to be silent - apparently disinterested in the petty details of my frustrated work life.  I wondered if the lines of communication were clogged on my end...perhaps it was me who was unable or unwilling to open my ears to the voice of the shepherd whom I so desperately hoped would lead me out of the arid desert and into greener pastures and beside still waters.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I grew fearful of making the wrong decision lest I chose the wrong road.  I had grown up being taught that the “human heart is wicked and deceitful above all else”, yet paradoxically encouraged to “commit all your ways to the Lord and he will make your paths straight”.  Apparently my sinful human anthropology meant my own interests, goals and desires were unreliable and suspicious whereas my Christian faith simultaneously called me to trust in a God who has promised to show the way.  And it is in this apparent duality – the implied distrust of self and a faith in self-revealing, communicative God that I got stuck...afraid to move...growing more miserable each day while trusting the clarity would come in due time.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">It was during a long, slow recovery from a life-altering health challenge that I had the opportunity to cut through the noise, give voice to the frustrations surrounding career ambiguity, and to seek out other ways to gain some perspective on issues of career and calling.  Of all the things I had the opportunity to read while lying on my couch, <em>Let Your Life Speak</em> by Parker J. Palmer was the most transformative.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">In this short yet profound book, Palmer flips the tables on the commonplace evangelical notion that career and calling come from the ‘outside’ by instead suggesting that the secret to discovering one’s purpose in life is to let your life speak its truth from the inside out.  According to the beginning of Genesis, man and woman were made in God’s image – a notion that insinuates that people enter the world bearing a resemblance to their creator and imbued with aspects of personhood that reflect the heart and nature of the One who gives life.  The key to happiness and fulfillment is to take time to reflect on your life, let it tell you what it was created to do…what moves it, what brings it joy, what breaks its heart and what causes it to rise up in holy anger.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\"> Palmer writes:</p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Vocation does not come from wilfulness. It comes from listening.  I must listen to my life and try to understand what it is truly about-quite apart from what I would like it to be about-or my life will never represent anything real in the world, no matter how earnest my intentions. (p.4)</p>\r\n</blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Parker encourages his readers to reflect on their childhoods – back to a time before they started putting on the masks worn by people consumed with cares of career advancement, social standing, and 401K plans.  These times of innocence, of play, of genuine curiosity and emotion…these contain the silent whispers of a life’s calling.  Spend time away from the noise, from the iPhone and email, and let your life tell you about you.  Let the God-ness in you move you towards how you might be an authentic God-ness in the world.  And for all those who challenge this approach as being self-indulgent and disrespectful of God’s perspective on career choice and vocational calling, Parker simply raises the question of whether it is not equally disrespectful to ignore the person you were created to be by failing to stop and tune in for a while.</p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Discovering vocation does not come from a voice ‘out there’ calling me to be something I am not.  It comes from a voice ‘in here’ calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God. (p.10)</p>\r\n</blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">So I did as Parker encouraged and started on a journey of listening inwardly.  At first it was strange but then the memories started coming like a flood.  Memories of the simple joy that came from creating things – a song on the piano, a short story about a dog named Tinsey, or a whole universe out of Lego.  I remembered the tug of compassion towards a friend who had life-saving surgery in eighth grade as well as my awakening to the needs of others brought on by being encouraged to give my old toys to a family that didn’t have enough money to buy their own.  I recalled that I always loved Jesus and was moved by his heart of generosity and acceptance.  I realized that I am a poet, a writer, an encourager, a creator.   The more that the memories came…the more I started to see patterns of attraction and affinity.</p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\"> From the beginning, our lives lay down clues to selfhood and vocation, though the clues may be hard to decode.  But trying to interpret them is profoundly worthwhile – especially when we are lost in our twenties, thirties, or forties, feeling profoundly lost, having wandered, or been dragged, far away from our birthright gifts. (p.15)</p>\r\n</blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I realized that I am all of these things and so much more.  Many of these things I am because of experiences I have had, but I think that listening to my life has led me back to my core – to patterns of behaviour, disposition and interests that have always been part of me.  Perhaps more importantly, I started to see where my life was not leading and started to be thankful for its intuitive avoidance of things that had the potential for harm.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">And in the final analysis, I realized that although the pay was good and the benefits were generous, I wasn’t living in authenticity.  My life had spoken and realized I wasn’t who I wanted to be anymore.  So I stepped out of one life and back into my own.  I feel like I am standing in Robert Frost’s yellow wood at the juncture of the two roads that diverge into different directions.  I quit my job so I might take the road less travelled.  And I am trusting that it will make all the difference in the end.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Feature Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net</p>','Use Your Inside Voice','','publish','open','open','','use-your-inside-voice','','','2011-10-30 19:49:11','2011-10-31 02:49:11','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1420',0,'post','',3),(1416,64,'2011-10-29 11:21:01','2011-10-29 18:21:01','A popular post at<a title=\"Sharon Hodde Miller\" href=\"http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7ya3xT/blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/10/why_its_your_job_to_break_the.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Hermeneutics</a>, titled <em>Why it’s Your Job to Break the Women’s Ministry Stereotype </em>by Sharon Hodde Miller, reminded me of something I wrote earlier this year.  If you don\'t read her blog, <a title=\"She Worships\" href=\"http://sheworships.com\" target=\"_blank\">She Worships</a>, you are missing hearing from one of the more wise and intelligent female voices of my generation.\r\n<h2>I just want to know what you think.</h2>\r\nFor seven years I attended Women’s Bible studies offered at my church.  I learned a lot and my love for scripture grew deeper.   Over the years, as I refined my ability to study scripture for myself I began to notice an odd trend.  These women who taught with apparent outward self-assurance were basically parroting the commentary and words of male authors.   I found myself counting the number of times in a lecture they would say “So and so says ... in such and such commentary.”\r\n\r\n<em>I longed to hear what these wise women thought and what God was saying to them as they studied scripture.</em>  I finally stopped going thinking I can read commentary myself.  I believe these women had been shuffled to the side of the church “to teach women.”  They noticeably had not received coaching comparable to the “teaching team” of men who taught Sunday mornings.  <em>Subsequently these women lacked the confidence and training to speak with authority.</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>By writing this essay I am not saying that there is no place for women’s ministry in the church, but after all these years <em>I know it is not</em> for me.  Here\'s why.</strong>\r\n<h2>My life is incredibly diverse and I\'ll do everything I can to keep it that way.</h2>\r\nI guess the saying is true, “People of a feather flock together.”\r\n\r\nA good friend who is a leader at church told me that <em>people ask for groupings</em> when they come to church.  They want to be with those that are <em>like them</em> – whether it is women or men, youth or college-aged, or young marrieds, or singles gathering together.  I understand that this is what we are used to, but does that mean it is good?\r\n\r\n<strong><em>I have deep concerns with that when it comes to separating men and women.</em></strong><strong> </strong>\r\n\r\nFirst of all, fundamentally it comes out of this notion that men and women are <em>so very different.  </em> We certainly have our differences, but that sort of thinking is divisive and unproductive. It hurts us more than helps as we try to work out our faith together.  Separation of men and women in the church might have begun when women were for the most part at-home and looking for things to do.  That is no longer the case, as people today divide up their lives and work and time very differently.  And today the church is full of the divorced, single parents,  men at home and women working in the marketplace, as well as more and more single men and women who are choosing to remain so longer, not to mention the younger retired boomers who make up the church.\r\n\r\n<strong>S<em>cripture isn’t </em>\"for women\" or \"for men.” </strong>\r\n\r\nWe don’t need to separate to study the Word.  When we split up it only perpetuates gender stereotypes.  Ah, the stereotypes, women want to be treated like princesses and men are all tough guys.  Women love to talk and are more emotional.  Men are stone and are afraid of being vulnerable and all have pornography problems.  Next thing you know, when women get together we are all making crafts and men are playing basketball.\r\n\r\nI think we benefit as we<strong> </strong>mix generations and genders, hipsters and bikers and soccer moms, boomers, silent gen, teens, single and married with those with higher education or not.  We need to cross all those cultural barriers and learn together.  We are strengthened as people and as a community when we do.  We lose out when we don’t.  There is so much that we don\'t learn when we divide into groups by our comfortable similarities.\r\n<h2>What about Tribes?</h2>\r\nOne of my husband tribes is <strong>Musical Geeks</strong> and they cross many apparent differences, women and men, young and old, it matters not at all, as long as you want to \"geek out\" about all sorts of really boring musical minutia. (That is not my tribe, clearly.)  Not my <em>need, </em>but <em>he needs and loves to be with those people because they have like interests</em>!\r\n\r\nThis is important.  We feel connection, solidarity and even strength when we connect from time to time with our tribe.  One must find a balance.\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 20px;font-weight: bold\">What about in the Church?</span>\r\n\r\n<strong><em>It feels like there are a million obstacles to women experiencing true equity within the Christian evangelical church and separating ourselves by gender simply perpetuates the stereotypes and encourages a lack of creativity when it comes to the gifts and talents that people have.</em></strong>\r\n\r\nI know that I am not your typical evangelical Christian woman nor married to the typical man.  We divide our household chores by talents and interests, as well as what brings us joy.  For example, you will not find my husband outside on the weekend mowing the lawn or in the yard at all.  I do it because I love being outside, love the physical effort and I care about our yard.  He can typically be found inside either cleaning or down in his studio working on music.   When we got married, rather than fall into the typical gender stereotypes we just thought about it pragmatically.  Why can’t we do that in the Church?\r\n\r\nI believe that men and women should be using their skills and abilities and spiritual gifts in the whole Church.  They were given to us by Yahweh.  I believe he chose my skills, abilities and spiritual gifts.  God is the one that <em>made me this way. I should be serving.  I should be using the abilities and talents that He gave me. It would be wrong for me to sit back and not use them. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>This is complicated when you haven\'t had your abilities affirmed in the church.  But some day, women will come to know themselves capable.  I think it is time for us to begin again, to rethink women and men’s ministry and know that we are the body of Christ, at is says in 1 Corinthians 12</strong>.\r\n<blockquote> <strong><sup>4</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. <strong><sup>5</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of service, but the same Lord. <strong><sup>6</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of working, but in all of them and <strong><em>in everyone</em></strong> it is the same God at work.\r\n\r\n<strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Now <em>to each one</em> the manifestation of the Spirit is given <strong><em>for the common good.</em></strong> <strong><sup>8</sup></strong> To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <strong><sup>9</sup></strong> to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <strong><sup>10</sup></strong> to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote a\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645a\">a</a>]</sup></strong> and to still another the interpretation of tongues.<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote b\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645b\">b</a>]</sup></strong> <strong><sup>11</sup></strong> All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them <strong><em>to each one</em></strong>, just as he determines. (NIV, <strong><em>emphasis mine</em></strong>.)</blockquote>\r\nI am so encouraged reading those verses, which were written to us, yes each one, yes <em>to everyone,</em> in the Church.\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Mimi Haddad\" href=\"http://www.cbeinternational.org/?q=content/leadership#dr-mimi-haddad\" target=\"_blank\">Mimi Haddad</a> puts it so well:\r\n<blockquote>“<strong>…</strong> Women need to learn the power and validity of their voices. Women have been given voices as instruments that God intends for them to use—not in anger, but with the grace and dignity with which Jesus spoke. When I look through the pages of Scripture, I see that the words of women and men throughout history have been beautiful gifts from God. It is time we remember that our voices carry weight, that we hold truth from God on our tongues. The world needs to hear from us.”</blockquote>\r\n<strong><em>I believe God is calling women to come forth and speak to the Church not just to women.</em></strong>','Why Ministry \"For Women\" is Not \"For Me\"','','inherit','open','open','','1411-revision-5','','','2011-10-29 11:21:01','2011-10-29 18:21:01','',1411,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1411-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(1417,64,'2011-10-29 11:21:18','2011-10-29 18:21:18','<blockquote>A popular post at<a title=\"Sharon Hodde Miller\" href=\"http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7ya3xT/blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/10/why_its_your_job_to_break_the.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Hermeneutics</a>, titled <em>Why it’s Your Job to Break the Women’s Ministry Stereotype </em>by Sharon Hodde Miller, reminded me of something I wrote earlier this year.  If you don\'t read her blog, <a title=\"She Worships\" href=\"http://sheworships.com\" target=\"_blank\">She Worships</a>, you are missing hearing from one of the more wise and intelligent female voices of my generation.</blockquote>\r\n<h2>I just want to know what you think.</h2>\r\nFor seven years I attended Women’s Bible studies offered at my church.  I learned a lot and my love for scripture grew deeper.   Over the years, as I refined my ability to study scripture for myself I began to notice an odd trend.  These women who taught with apparent outward self-assurance were basically parroting the commentary and words of male authors.   I found myself counting the number of times in a lecture they would say “So and so says ... in such and such commentary.”\r\n\r\n<em>I longed to hear what these wise women thought and what God was saying to them as they studied scripture.</em>  I finally stopped going thinking I can read commentary myself.  I believe these women had been shuffled to the side of the church “to teach women.”  They noticeably had not received coaching comparable to the “teaching team” of men who taught Sunday mornings.  <em>Subsequently these women lacked the confidence and training to speak with authority.</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>By writing this essay I am not saying that there is no place for women’s ministry in the church, but after all these years <em>I know it is not</em> for me.  Here\'s why.</strong>\r\n<h2>My life is incredibly diverse and I\'ll do everything I can to keep it that way.</h2>\r\nI guess the saying is true, “People of a feather flock together.”\r\n\r\nA good friend who is a leader at church told me that <em>people ask for groupings</em> when they come to church.  They want to be with those that are <em>like them</em> – whether it is women or men, youth or college-aged, or young marrieds, or singles gathering together.  I understand that this is what we are used to, but does that mean it is good?\r\n\r\n<strong><em>I have deep concerns with that when it comes to separating men and women.</em></strong><strong> </strong>\r\n\r\nFirst of all, fundamentally it comes out of this notion that men and women are <em>so very different.  </em> We certainly have our differences, but that sort of thinking is divisive and unproductive. It hurts us more than helps as we try to work out our faith together.  Separation of men and women in the church might have begun when women were for the most part at-home and looking for things to do.  That is no longer the case, as people today divide up their lives and work and time very differently.  And today the church is full of the divorced, single parents,  men at home and women working in the marketplace, as well as more and more single men and women who are choosing to remain so longer, not to mention the younger retired boomers who make up the church.\r\n\r\n<strong>S<em>cripture isn’t </em>\"for women\" or \"for men.” </strong>\r\n\r\nWe don’t need to separate to study the Word.  When we split up it only perpetuates gender stereotypes.  Ah, the stereotypes, women want to be treated like princesses and men are all tough guys.  Women love to talk and are more emotional.  Men are stone and are afraid of being vulnerable and all have pornography problems.  Next thing you know, when women get together we are all making crafts and men are playing basketball.\r\n\r\nI think we benefit as we<strong> </strong>mix generations and genders, hipsters and bikers and soccer moms, boomers, silent gen, teens, single and married with those with higher education or not.  We need to cross all those cultural barriers and learn together.  We are strengthened as people and as a community when we do.  We lose out when we don’t.  There is so much that we don\'t learn when we divide into groups by our comfortable similarities.\r\n<h2>What about Tribes?</h2>\r\nOne of my husband tribes is <strong>Musical Geeks</strong> and they cross many apparent differences, women and men, young and old, it matters not at all, as long as you want to \"geek out\" about all sorts of really boring musical minutia. (That is not my tribe, clearly.)  Not my <em>need, </em>but <em>he needs and loves to be with those people because they have like interests</em>!\r\n\r\nThis is important.  We feel connection, solidarity and even strength when we connect from time to time with our tribe.  One must find a balance.\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 20px;font-weight: bold\">What about in the Church?</span>\r\n\r\n<strong><em>It feels like there are a million obstacles to women experiencing true equity within the Christian evangelical church and separating ourselves by gender simply perpetuates the stereotypes and encourages a lack of creativity when it comes to the gifts and talents that people have.</em></strong>\r\n\r\nI know that I am not your typical evangelical Christian woman nor married to the typical man.  We divide our household chores by talents and interests, as well as what brings us joy.  For example, you will not find my husband outside on the weekend mowing the lawn or in the yard at all.  I do it because I love being outside, love the physical effort and I care about our yard.  He can typically be found inside either cleaning or down in his studio working on music.   When we got married, rather than fall into the typical gender stereotypes we just thought about it pragmatically.  Why can’t we do that in the Church?\r\n\r\nI believe that men and women should be using their skills and abilities and spiritual gifts in the whole Church.  They were given to us by Yahweh.  I believe he chose my skills, abilities and spiritual gifts.  God is the one that <em>made me this way. I should be serving.  I should be using the abilities and talents that He gave me. It would be wrong for me to sit back and not use them. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>This is complicated when you haven\'t had your abilities affirmed in the church.  But some day, women will come to know themselves capable.  I think it is time for us to begin again, to rethink women and men’s ministry and know that we are the body of Christ, at is says in 1 Corinthians 12</strong>.\r\n<blockquote> <strong><sup>4</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. <strong><sup>5</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of service, but the same Lord. <strong><sup>6</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of working, but in all of them and <strong><em>in everyone</em></strong> it is the same God at work.\r\n\r\n<strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Now <em>to each one</em> the manifestation of the Spirit is given <strong><em>for the common good.</em></strong> <strong><sup>8</sup></strong> To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <strong><sup>9</sup></strong> to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <strong><sup>10</sup></strong> to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote a\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645a\">a</a>]</sup></strong> and to still another the interpretation of tongues.<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote b\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645b\">b</a>]</sup></strong> <strong><sup>11</sup></strong> All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them <strong><em>to each one</em></strong>, just as he determines. (NIV, <strong><em>emphasis mine</em></strong>.)</blockquote>\r\nI am so encouraged reading those verses, which were written to us, yes each one, yes <em>to everyone,</em> in the Church.\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Mimi Haddad\" href=\"http://www.cbeinternational.org/?q=content/leadership#dr-mimi-haddad\" target=\"_blank\">Mimi Haddad</a> puts it so well:\r\n<blockquote>“<strong>…</strong> Women need to learn the power and validity of their voices. Women have been given voices as instruments that God intends for them to use—not in anger, but with the grace and dignity with which Jesus spoke. When I look through the pages of Scripture, I see that the words of women and men throughout history have been beautiful gifts from God. It is time we remember that our voices carry weight, that we hold truth from God on our tongues. The world needs to hear from us.”</blockquote>\r\n<strong><em>I believe God is calling women to come forth and speak to the Church not just to women.</em></strong>','Why Ministry \"For Women\" is Not \"For Me\"','','inherit','open','open','','1411-revision-6','','','2011-10-29 11:21:18','2011-10-29 18:21:18','',1411,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1411-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(1418,64,'2011-10-29 11:21:24','2011-10-29 18:21:24','<blockquote>A popular post at<a title=\"Sharon Hodde Miller\" href=\"http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7ya3xT/blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/10/why_its_your_job_to_break_the.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Hermeneutics</a>, titled <em>Why it’s Your Job to Break the Women’s Ministry Stereotype </em>by Sharon Hodde Miller, reminded me of something I wrote earlier this year.  If you don\'t read her blog, <a title=\"She Worships\" href=\"http://sheworships.com\" target=\"_blank\">She Worships</a>, you are missing hearing from one of the more wise and intelligent female voices of my generation.</blockquote>\r\n<h2>I just want to know what you think.</h2>\r\nFor seven years I attended Women’s Bible studies offered at my church.  I learned a lot and my love for scripture grew deeper.   Over the years, as I refined my ability to study scripture for myself I began to notice an odd trend.  These women who taught with apparent outward self-assurance were basically parroting the commentary and words of male authors.   I found myself counting the number of times in a lecture they would say “So and so says ... in such and such commentary.”\r\n\r\n<em>I longed to hear what these wise women thought and what God was saying to them as they studied scripture.</em>  I finally stopped going thinking I can read commentary myself.  I believe these women had been shuffled to the side of the church “to teach women.”  They noticeably had not received coaching comparable to the “teaching team” of men who taught Sunday mornings.  <em>Subsequently these women lacked the confidence and training to speak with authority.</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>By writing this essay I am not saying that there is no place for women’s ministry in the church, but after all these years <em>I know it is not</em> for me.  Here\'s why.</strong>\r\n<h2>My life is incredibly diverse and I\'ll do everything I can to keep it that way.</h2>\r\nI guess the saying is true, “People of a feather flock together.”\r\n\r\nA good friend who is a leader at church told me that <em>people ask for groupings</em> when they come to church.  They want to be with those that are <em>like them</em> – whether it is women or men, youth or college-aged, or young marrieds, or singles gathering together.  I understand that this is what we are used to, but does that mean it is good?\r\n\r\n<strong><em>I have deep concerns with that when it comes to separating men and women.</em></strong><strong> </strong>\r\n\r\nFirst of all, fundamentally it comes out of this notion that men and women are <em>so very different.  </em> We certainly have our differences, but that sort of thinking is divisive and unproductive. It hurts us more than helps as we try to work out our faith together.  Separation of men and women in the church might have begun when women were for the most part at-home and looking for things to do.  That is no longer the case, as people today divide up their lives and work and time very differently.  And today the church is full of the divorced, single parents,  men at home and women working in the marketplace, as well as more and more single men and women who are choosing to remain so longer, not to mention the younger retired boomers who make up the church.\r\n\r\n<strong>S<em>cripture isn’t </em>\"for women\" or \"for men.” </strong>\r\n\r\nWe don’t need to separate to study the Word.  When we split up it only perpetuates gender stereotypes.  Ah, the stereotypes, women want to be treated like princesses and men are all tough guys.  Women love to talk and are more emotional.  Men are stone and are afraid of being vulnerable and all have pornography problems.  Next thing you know, when women get together we are all making crafts and men are playing basketball.\r\n\r\nI think we benefit as we<strong> </strong>mix generations and genders, hipsters and bikers and soccer moms, boomers, silent gen, teens, single and married with those with higher education or not.  We need to cross all those cultural barriers and learn together.  We are strengthened as people and as a community when we do.  We lose out when we don’t.  There is so much that we don\'t learn when we divide into groups by our comfortable similarities.\r\n<h2>What about Tribes?</h2>\r\nOne of my husband tribes is <strong>Musical Geeks</strong> and they cross many apparent differences, women and men, young and old, it matters not at all, as long as you want to \"geek out\" about all sorts of really boring musical minutia. (That is not my tribe, clearly.)  Not my <em>need, </em>but <em>he needs and loves to be with those people because they have like interests</em>!\r\n\r\nThis is important.  We feel connection, solidarity and even strength when we connect from time to time with our tribe.  One must find a balance.\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 20px;font-weight: bold\">What about in the Church?</span>\r\n\r\n<strong><em>It feels like there are a million obstacles to women experiencing true equity within the Christian evangelical church and separating ourselves by gender simply perpetuates the stereotypes and encourages a lack of creativity when it comes to the gifts and talents that people have.</em></strong>\r\n\r\nI know that I am not your typical evangelical Christian woman nor married to the typical man.  We divide our household chores by talents and interests, as well as what brings us joy.  For example, you will not find my husband outside on the weekend mowing the lawn or in the yard at all.  I do it because I love being outside, love the physical effort and I care about our yard.  He can typically be found inside either cleaning or down in his studio working on music.   When we got married, rather than fall into the typical gender stereotypes we just thought about it pragmatically.  Why can’t we do that in the Church?\r\n\r\nI believe that men and women should be using their skills and abilities and spiritual gifts in the whole Church.  They were given to us by Yahweh.  I believe he chose my skills, abilities and spiritual gifts.  God is the one that <em>made me this way. I should be serving.  I should be using the abilities and talents that He gave me. It would be wrong for me to sit back and not use them. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>This is complicated when you haven\'t had your abilities affirmed in the church.  But some day, women will come to know themselves capable.  I think it is time for us to begin again, to rethink women and men’s ministry and know that we are the body of Christ, at is says in 1 Corinthians 12</strong>.\r\n<blockquote> <strong><sup>4</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. <strong><sup>5</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of service, but the same Lord. <strong><sup>6</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of working, but in all of them and <strong><em>in everyone</em></strong> it is the same God at work.\r\n\r\n<strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Now <em>to each one</em> the manifestation of the Spirit is given <strong><em>for the common good.</em></strong> <strong><sup>8</sup></strong> To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <strong><sup>9</sup></strong> to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <strong><sup>10</sup></strong> to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote a\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645a\">a</a>]</sup></strong> and to still another the interpretation of tongues.<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote b\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645b\">b</a>]</sup></strong> <strong><sup>11</sup></strong> All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them <strong><em>to each one</em></strong>, just as he determines. (NIV, <strong><em>emphasis mine</em></strong>.)</blockquote>\r\nI am so encouraged reading those verses, which were written to us, yes each one, yes <em>to everyone,</em> in the Church.\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Mimi Haddad\" href=\"http://www.cbeinternational.org/?q=content/leadership#dr-mimi-haddad\" target=\"_blank\">Mimi Haddad</a> puts it so well:\r\n<blockquote>“<strong>…</strong> Women need to learn the power and validity of their voices. Women have been given voices as instruments that God intends for them to use—not in anger, but with the grace and dignity with which Jesus spoke. When I look through the pages of Scripture, I see that the words of women and men throughout history have been beautiful gifts from God. It is time we remember that our voices carry weight, that we hold truth from God on our tongues. The world needs to hear from us.”</blockquote>\r\n<strong><em>I believe God is calling women to come forth and speak to the Church not just to women.</em></strong>','Why Ministry \"For Women\" is Not \"For Me\"','','inherit','open','open','','1411-revision-7','','','2011-10-29 11:21:24','2011-10-29 18:21:24','',1411,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1411-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(1492,1,'2011-10-30 16:07:34','2011-10-30 23:07:34','Recently, I heard a speaker make reference to Schrodinger’s Cat. For those who don’t know, or don’t care to look it up on Wikipedia, Schrodinger’s Cat references a hypothetical experiment which supposes that a cat, placed into a sealed box containing a tablet of cyanide as well as a small vial of acid dripping onto the tablet, could, during the duration of and/or at the conclusion of the experiment, be either alive or dead - or in a state of flux of both states at the same time - because we are uncertain if the tablet has or has not broken open and therefore killed the cat. Since we cannot know for certain, the cat is simultaneously both dead and alive according to quantum law, in a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and learn the condition of the cat that the superposition is lost, and the cat becomes one or the other (dead or alive). This situation is sometimes called quantum indeterminacy or the observer\'s paradox: the observation or measurement itself affects an outcome, so that the outcome as such does not exist unless the measurement is made. That is, there is no single outcome unless it is observed.\r\n<h4>And we thought that when it came to boxes, Pandora had it bad.</h4>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1473\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"300\" caption=\"Image (c) 2011 Bennett.\"]<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Schr_dinger_s_cat_sleeping_awake.jpg\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-1473\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Schr_dinger_s_cat_sleeping_awake-300x224.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nIndividuals such as myself who grew up reading comic books as well as watching and reading science fiction tend to be a bit comfortable discussing concepts like Schrodinger’s Cat, mainly because we’ve already opened our minds up to the probability of an infinite diversity of infinite combinations. When the answer to a question of “Is it A, or is it B?” turns out to be “Yes,” it can be maddening to some people who are more dualistic in their thinking, especially in their theology.\r\n\r\nTo take this analogy to a point of a spiritual parallel, imagine yourself as the cat, the redemptive grace of the cross as the cyanide pellet, and the dripping acid as the Holy Spirit. For believers, at some point in our life’s journey, we invite grace (Christ) into the box of our lives. The acid drip comes with the grace, and interacts with and releases the power contained in the pellet. However, some individuals - with every head bowed and every eye closed – may simply raise a hand and have a sealed pellet placed into their box. The power remains there, waiting. The power remains there, offered. But the power remains not acted upon. Ironically enough, releasing the power within the cyanide pellet, which normally would kill, allows the “cat” to become alive, but only when it dies to self.\r\n\r\nGrace tends to express itself as a more pluralistic concept than a dualistic one. Again, for some, this can be maddening, and yet somehow simultaneously comforting in the inexplicable nature of it all. However, if this same grace, which is freely offered and freely taken, is not acted upon, in, and within our lives, our grace is basically dead. Cheap, some might call it.\r\n\r\nSometimes the boxes we live in are sealed by us to guard against the prying eyes of others. Maybe we simply haven’t learned that it’s okay to take off the box lid for others to see the experiment take place. We may be afraid of letting others discover that our cat isn’t the full-blooded Persian we have made it out to be, but is instead a mixed tabby. Regardless, we are called to show and display this grace we have invited in to be active. Matthew 5:14-16 states, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”\r\n\r\nObserving the experiment does indeed change the outcome. Observing someone who claims to be a follower should affect both how the observed and the observer interact with one other as well as what can be inferred about the presence of grace within the believer’s life. We’re called to be observed, and not live in sealed boxes. 2 Corinthians 9:13 states, “Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” This is the essence of community life, which we as believers are made to live and serve in.\r\n\r\nWe can’t just live in our box, looking at the pellet, pawing it every so often. We have to actively allow the pellet be broken, releasing what it contains and letting it spill into and over us. We have to let observations take place, no matter how much it might inconvenience or annoy us to be observed.\r\n\r\nOtherwise our faith, our grace, and our redemption is like nothing more than a dead cat in a sealed box.\r\n\r\n<strong>Both of which, after a short time, will stink.</strong>','Schrodinger\'s Cross','','inherit','open','open','','1442-revision-7','','','2011-10-30 16:07:34','2011-10-30 23:07:34','',1442,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1442-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(1422,33,'2011-10-29 12:25:45','2011-10-29 19:25:45','','let your life speak','','inherit','open','open','','let-your-life-speak','','','2011-10-29 12:25:45','2011-10-29 19:25:45','',1420,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/let-your-life-speak.gif',0,'attachment','image/gif',0),(1421,33,'2011-10-29 12:24:14','2011-10-29 19:24:14','','162110vmup2eflb','','inherit','open','open','','162110vmup2eflb','','','2011-10-29 12:24:14','2011-10-29 19:24:14','',1420,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/162110vmup2eflb.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1423,33,'2011-10-29 12:26:50','2011-10-29 19:26:50','<p align=\"left\">I quit my job recently.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"> It was a good job...a relatively well paying job with good benefits and a dental plan.  I liked my boss and enjoyed my colleagues.  I found the work interesting as it frequently provided a chance to be creative, innovative and kept the cat in kibble.  On the surface, everything appeared as though I was on the path to upward mobility and the good life.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"> But inside, I was dying a little bit each day.  Each day for the last several months, my soul was being diminished rather than enlarged and I was finding the emotional, spiritual, and even physical demands of the job outpaced the returns.  It became a bad trade...the exchange rate was too high and the return on investment steadily got smaller.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"> I thought I could manage the dissonance between not being in the right place but staying for reasons that seemed logical – security, stability, a fancy title and an office with windows that opened.  But each day as I put on my dress slacks and slipped into my shiny black shoes, I was dressing up like an actor to play a character whose motivation I simply couldn’t understand.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"> So I prayed for wisdom and guidance.  I prayed for clarity and insight.  I waited for the voice from Heaven to shout down the next step of the grand plan.  I waited.  But the voice never came.   I wondered what was causing God to be silent - apparently disinterested in the petty details of my frustrated work life.  I wondered if the lines of communication were clogged on my end...perhaps it was me who was unable or unwilling to open my ears to the voice of the shepherd whom I so desperately hoped would lead me out of the arid desert and into greener pastures and beside still waters.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"> I grew fearful of making the wrong decision lest I chose the wrong road.  I had grown up being taught that the “human heart is wicked and deceitful above all else”, yet paradoxically encouraged to “commit all your ways to the Lord and he will make your paths straight”.  Apparently my sinful human anthropology meant my own interests, goals and desires were unreliable and suspicious whereas my Christian faith simultaneously called me to trust in a God who has promised to shows the way.  And it is in this apparent duality – the implied distrust of self and a faith in self-revealing, communicative God that I got stuck...afraid to move...growing more miserable each day while trusting the clarity would come in due time.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">It was during a long, slow recovery from a life-altering health challenge that I had the opportunity to cut through the noise, give voice to the frustrations surrounding career ambiguity, and to seek out other ways to gain some perspective on issues of career and calling.  Of all the things I had the opportunity to read while lying on my couch, <em>Let Your Life Speak</em> by Parker J. Palmer was the most transformative.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">In this short yet profound book, Palmer flips the tables on the commonplace evangelical notion that career and calling come from the ‘outside’ by instead suggesting that the secret to discovering one’s purpose in life is to let your life speak its truth from the inside out.  According to the beginning of Genesis, man and woman were made in God’s image – a notion that insinuates that people enter the world bearing a resemblance to their creator and imbued with aspects of personhood that reflect the heart and nature of the One who gives life.  The key to happiness and fulfillment is to take time to reflect on your life, let it tell you what it was created to do…what moves it, what brings it joy, what breaks its heart and what causes it to rise up in holy anger.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"> Palmer writes:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\">Vocation does not come from wilfulness. It comes from listening.  I must listen to my life and try to understand what it is truly about-quite apart from what I would like it to be about-or my life will never represent anything real in the world, no matter how earnest my intentions. (p.4)</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\"></p>\n<p align=\"left\">Parker encourages his readers to reflect on their childhoods – back to a time before they started putting on the masks worn by people consumed with cares of career advancement, social standing, and 401K plans.  These times of innocence, of play, of genuine curiosity and emotion…these contain the silent whispers of a life’s calling.  Spend time away from the noise, from the iphone and email, and let your life tell you about you.  Let the God-ness in you move you towards how you might be an authentic God-ness in the world.  And for all those who challenge this approach as being self-indulgent and disrespectful of God’s perspective on career choice and vocational calling, Parker simply raises the question of whether it is not equally disrespectful to ignore the person you were created to be by failing to stop and tune in for a while.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\"> Discovering vocation does not come from a voice ‘out there’ calling me to be something I am not.  It comes from a voice ‘in here’ calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God. (p.10)</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\"></p>\n<p align=\"left\">So I did as Parker encouraged and started on a journey of listening inwardly.  At first it was strange but then the memories started coming like a flood.  Memories of the simple joy that came from creating things – a song on the piano, a short story about a dog named Tinsey, or a whole universe out of Lego.  I remembered the tug of compassion towards a friend who had life-saving surgery in Grade eight as well as my awakening to the needs of others brought on by being encouraged to give my old toys to a family that didn’t have enough money to buy their own.  I recalled that I always loved Jesus and was moved by his heart of generosity and acceptance.  I realized that I am a poet, a writer, an encourager, a creator.   The more that the memories came…the more I started to see patterns of attraction and affinity.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\"> From the beginning, our lives lay down clues to selfhood and vocation, though the clues may be hard to decode.  But trying to interpret them is profoundly worthwhile – especially when we are lost in our twenties, thirties, or forties feeling profoundly list, having wandered, or been dragged, far away from our birthright gifts. (p.15)</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\"></p>\n<p align=\"left\">I realized that I am all of these things and so much more.  Many of these things I am because of experiences I have had, but I think that listening to my life has led me hack to my core – to patterns of behaviour, disposition and interests that have always been part of me.  Perhaps more importantly, I started to see where my life was not leading and started to be thankful for it’s intuitive avoidance of things that had the potential for harm.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"> And in the final analysis, I realized that although the pay was good and the benefits were generous, I wasn’t living in authenticity.  My life had spoken and realized I wasn’t who I wanted to be anymore.  So I stepped out of one life and back into my own.  I feel like I am standing in Robert Frost’s yellow wood at the juncture of the two roads that diverge into different directions.  I quit my job so I might take the road less travelled.  And I am trusting that it will make all the difference in the end.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"></p>\n<p align=\"left\">Images courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net</p>','Use Your Inside Voice','','inherit','open','open','','1420-revision','','','2011-10-29 12:26:50','2011-10-29 19:26:50','',1420,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1420-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1424,33,'2011-10-29 12:27:50','2011-10-29 19:27:50','<p align=\"left\">I quit my job recently.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"> It was a good job...a relatively well paying job with good benefits and a dental plan.  I liked my boss and enjoyed my colleagues.  I found the work interesting as it frequently provided a chance to be creative, innovative and kept the cat in kibble.  On the surface, everything appeared as though I was on the path to upward mobility and the good life.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"> But inside, I was dying a little bit each day.  Each day for the last several months, my soul was being diminished rather than enlarged and I was finding the emotional, spiritual, and even physical demands of the job outpaced the returns.  It became a bad trade...the exchange rate was too high and the return on investment steadily got smaller.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"> I thought I could manage the dissonance between not being in the right place but staying for reasons that seemed logical – security, stability, a fancy title and an office with windows that opened.  But each day as I put on my dress slacks and slipped into my shiny black shoes, I was dressing up like an actor to play a character whose motivation I simply couldn’t understand.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"> So I prayed for wisdom and guidance.  I prayed for clarity and insight.  I waited for the voice from Heaven to shout down the next step of the grand plan.  I waited.  But the voice never came.   I wondered what was causing God to be silent - apparently disinterested in the petty details of my frustrated work life.  I wondered if the lines of communication were clogged on my end...perhaps it was me who was unable or unwilling to open my ears to the voice of the shepherd whom I so desperately hoped would lead me out of the arid desert and into greener pastures and beside still waters.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"> I grew fearful of making the wrong decision lest I chose the wrong road.  I had grown up being taught that the “human heart is wicked and deceitful above all else”, yet paradoxically encouraged to “commit all your ways to the Lord and he will make your paths straight”.  Apparently my sinful human anthropology meant my own interests, goals and desires were unreliable and suspicious whereas my Christian faith simultaneously called me to trust in a God who has promised to shows the way.  And it is in this apparent duality – the implied distrust of self and a faith in self-revealing, communicative God that I got stuck...afraid to move...growing more miserable each day while trusting the clarity would come in due time.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">It was during a long, slow recovery from a life-altering health challenge that I had the opportunity to cut through the noise, give voice to the frustrations surrounding career ambiguity, and to seek out other ways to gain some perspective on issues of career and calling.  Of all the things I had the opportunity to read while lying on my couch, <em>Let Your Life Speak</em> by Parker J. Palmer was the most transformative.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">In this short yet profound book, Palmer flips the tables on the commonplace evangelical notion that career and calling come from the ‘outside’ by instead suggesting that the secret to discovering one’s purpose in life is to let your life speak its truth from the inside out.  According to the beginning of Genesis, man and woman were made in God’s image – a notion that insinuates that people enter the world bearing a resemblance to their creator and imbued with aspects of personhood that reflect the heart and nature of the One who gives life.  The key to happiness and fulfillment is to take time to reflect on your life, let it tell you what it was created to do…what moves it, what brings it joy, what breaks its heart and what causes it to rise up in holy anger.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"> Palmer writes:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\">Vocation does not come from wilfulness. It comes from listening.  I must listen to my life and try to understand what it is truly about-quite apart from what I would like it to be about-or my life will never represent anything real in the world, no matter how earnest my intentions. (p.4)</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\"></p>\n<p align=\"left\">Parker encourages his readers to reflect on their childhoods – back to a time before they started putting on the masks worn by people consumed with cares of career advancement, social standing, and 401K plans.  These times of innocence, of play, of genuine curiosity and emotion…these contain the silent whispers of a life’s calling.  Spend time away from the noise, from the iphone and email, and let your life tell you about you.  Let the God-ness in you move you towards how you might be an authentic God-ness in the world.  And for all those who challenge this approach as being self-indulgent and disrespectful of God’s perspective on career choice and vocational calling, Parker simply raises the question of whether it is not equally disrespectful to ignore the person you were created to be by failing to stop and tune in for a while.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\"> Discovering vocation does not come from a voice ‘out there’ calling me to be something I am not.  It comes from a voice ‘in here’ calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God. (p.10)</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\"></p>\n<p align=\"left\">So I did as Parker encouraged and started on a journey of listening inwardly.  At first it was strange but then the memories started coming like a flood.  Memories of the simple joy that came from creating things – a song on the piano, a short story about a dog named Tinsey, or a whole universe out of Lego.  I remembered the tug of compassion towards a friend who had life-saving surgery in Grade eight as well as my awakening to the needs of others brought on by being encouraged to give my old toys to a family that didn’t have enough money to buy their own.  I recalled that I always loved Jesus and was moved by his heart of generosity and acceptance.  I realized that I am a poet, a writer, an encourager, a creator.   The more that the memories came…the more I started to see patterns of attraction and affinity.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\"> From the beginning, our lives lay down clues to selfhood and vocation, though the clues may be hard to decode.  But trying to interpret them is profoundly worthwhile – especially when we are lost in our twenties, thirties, or forties feeling profoundly list, having wandered, or been dragged, far away from our birthright gifts. (p.15)</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\"></p>\n<p align=\"left\">I realized that I am all of these things and so much more.  Many of these things I am because of experiences I have had, but I think that listening to my life has led me hack to my core – to patterns of behaviour, disposition and interests that have always been part of me.  Perhaps more importantly, I started to see where my life was not leading and started to be thankful for it’s intuitive avoidance of things that had the potential for harm.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"> And in the final analysis, I realized that although the pay was good and the benefits were generous, I wasn’t living in authenticity.  My life had spoken and realized I wasn’t who I wanted to be anymore.  So I stepped out of one life and back into my own.  I feel like I am standing in Robert Frost’s yellow wood at the juncture of the two roads that diverge into different directions.  I quit my job so I might take the road less travelled.  And I am trusting that it will make all the difference in the end.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"></p>\n<p align=\"left\">Feature Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net</p>','Use Your Inside Voice','','inherit','open','open','','1420-revision-2','','','2011-10-29 12:27:50','2011-10-29 19:27:50','',1420,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1420-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(1425,64,'2011-10-29 12:54:06','2011-10-29 19:54:06','<blockquote>A popular post at<a title=\"Sharon Hodde Miller\" href=\"http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7ya3xT/blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/10/why_its_your_job_to_break_the.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Hermeneutics</a>, titled <em>Why it’s Your Job to Break the Women’s Ministry Stereotype </em>by Sharon Hodde Miller, reminded me of something I wrote earlier this year.  If you don\'t read her blog <a title=\"She Worships\" href=\"http://sheworships.com\" target=\"_blank\">She Worships</a> you are missing hearing from one of the more wise and intelligent female voices of my generation.</blockquote>\n<h2>I just want to know what you think.</h2>\nFor seven years I attended Women’s Bible studies offered at my church.  I learned a lot and my love for scripture grew deeper.   Over the years, as I refined my ability to study scripture for myself I began to notice an odd trend.  These women who taught with clear outward self-assurance were basically parroting the commentary and words of other (usually male) authors.   I found myself counting the times in a lecture they would say “So and so says ... in such and such commentary.”  <strong><em>I longed to hear what these wise women thought and more importantly what God was saying to them as they studied scripture.</em>   </strong>I believe these women were essentially shuffled to the side of the church “to teach women.”  Noticeably they had not received coaching comparable to the “teaching team” (of men) who taught Sunday mornings.  <em>Subsequently these women lacked the confidence and training to speak with authority. </em>\n\n<strong>By writing this essay I am not saying that there is no place for women’s ministry in the church, but after all these years <em>I know it is not for me.  Here\'s why.</em></strong>\n<h2>My life is incredibly diverse and I\'ll do everything I can to keep it that way.</h2>\nI guess the saying is true, “People of a feather flock together.”\n\nA good friend who is a leader at church told me that <em>people ask for groupings</em> when they come to church.  They <em>want</em> to be with those that are <em>like them</em> – whether it is women or men, youth or college-aged, young marrieds with or without kids, or singles gathering together.  I understand that this is what we are used and more comfortable with but does that mean it is good?\n\n<strong><em>I have deep concerns with that when it comes to separating men and women.</em></strong><strong> </strong>\n\nFirst of all, fundamentally it comes out of this notion that men and women are <em>so very different.  </em> We certainly have our differences, but that sort of thinking is divisive and unproductive. It hurts us more than helps as we try to work out our faith together.  Separation of men and women in the church might have begun when women were for the most part at-home and looking for things to do.  That is no longer the case, as people today divide up their lives and work and time very differently.  And today the church is full of the divorced, single parents,  men at home and women working in the marketplace, as well as more and more single men and women who are choosing to remain so longer, not to mention the younger retired boomers who make up the church.\n\n<strong>S<em>cripture isn’t </em>\"for women\" or \"for men.” </strong>\n\nWe don’t need to separate to study the Word.  When we split up it only perpetuates gender stereotypes.  Ah, the stereotypes, women want to be treated like princesses and men are all tough guys.  Women love to talk and are more emotional.  Men are stone and are afraid of being vulnerable and all have pornography problems.  Next thing you know, when women get together we are all making crafts and men are playing basketball.\n\nI think we benefit as we<strong> </strong>mix generations and genders, hipsters and bikers and soccer moms, boomers, silent gen, teens, single and married with those with higher education or not.  We need to cross all those cultural barriers and learn together.  We are strengthened as people and as a community when we do.  We lose out when we don’t.  There is so much that we don\'t learn when we divide into groups by our comfortable similarities.\n<h2>What about Tribes?</h2>\nOne of my husband tribes is <strong>Musical Geeks</strong> and they cross many apparent differences, women and men, young and old, it matters not at all, as long as you want to \"geek out\" about all sorts of really boring musical minutia. (That is not my tribe, clearly.)  Not my <em>need, </em>but <em>he needs and loves to be with those people because they have like interests</em>!\n\nThis is important.  We feel connection, solidarity and even strength when we connect from time to time with our tribe.  One must find a balance.\n\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 20px;font-weight: bold\">What about in the Church?</span>\n\n<strong><em>It feels like there are a million obstacles to women experiencing true equity within the Christian evangelical church and separating ourselves by gender simply perpetuates the stereotypes and encourages a lack of creativity when it comes to the gifts and talents that people have.</em></strong>\n\nI know that I am not your typical evangelical Christian woman nor married to the typical man.  We divide our household chores by talents and interests, as well as what brings us joy.  For example, you will not find my husband outside on the weekend mowing the lawn or in the yard at all.  I do it because I love being outside, love the physical effort and I care about our yard.  He can typically be found inside either cleaning or down in his studio working on music.   When we got married, rather than fall into the typical gender stereotypes we just thought about it pragmatically.  Why can’t we do that in the Church?\n\nI believe that men and women should be using their skills and abilities and spiritual gifts in the whole Church.  They were given to us by Yahweh.  I believe he chose my skills, abilities and spiritual gifts.  God is the one that <em>made me this way. I should be serving.  I should be using the abilities and talents that He gave me. It would be wrong for me to sit back and not use them. </em>\n\n<strong>This is complicated when you haven\'t had your abilities affirmed in the church.  But some day, women will come to know themselves capable.  I think it is time for us to begin again, to rethink women and men’s ministry and know that we are the body of Christ, at is says in 1 Corinthians 12</strong>.\n<blockquote> <strong><sup>4</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. <strong><sup>5</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of service, but the same Lord. <strong><sup>6</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of working, but in all of them and <strong><em>in everyone</em></strong> it is the same God at work.\n\n<strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Now <em>to each one</em> the manifestation of the Spirit is given <strong><em>for the common good.</em></strong> <strong><sup>8</sup></strong> To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <strong><sup>9</sup></strong> to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <strong><sup>10</sup></strong> to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote a\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645a\">a</a>]</sup></strong> and to still another the interpretation of tongues.<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote b\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645b\">b</a>]</sup></strong> <strong><sup>11</sup></strong> All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them <strong><em>to each one</em></strong>, just as he determines. (NIV, <strong><em>emphasis mine</em></strong>.)</blockquote>\nI am so encouraged reading those verses, which were written to us, yes each one, yes <em>to everyone,</em> in the Church.\n\n<a title=\"Mimi Haddad\" href=\"http://www.cbeinternational.org/?q=content/leadership#dr-mimi-haddad\" target=\"_blank\">Mimi Haddad</a> puts it so well:\n<blockquote>“<strong>…</strong> Women need to learn the power and validity of their voices. Women have been given voices as instruments that God intends for them to use—not in anger, but with the grace and dignity with which Jesus spoke. When I look through the pages of Scripture, I see that the words of women and men throughout history have been beautiful gifts from God. It is time we remember that our voices carry weight, that we hold truth from God on our tongues. The world needs to hear from us.”</blockquote>\n<strong><em>I believe God is calling women to come forth and speak to the Church not just to women.</em></strong>','Why Ministry \"For Women\" is Not \"For Me\"','','inherit','open','open','','1411-revision-8','','','2011-10-29 12:54:06','2011-10-29 19:54:06','',1411,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1411-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(1426,64,'2011-10-29 12:54:19','2011-10-29 19:54:19','<blockquote>A popular post at<a title=\"Sharon Hodde Miller\" href=\"http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7ya3xT/blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/10/why_its_your_job_to_break_the.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Hermeneutics</a>, titled <em>Why it’s Your Job to Break the Women’s Ministry Stereotype </em>by Sharon Hodde Miller, reminded me of something I wrote earlier this year.  If you don\'t read her blog <a title=\"She Worships\" href=\"http://sheworships.com\" target=\"_blank\">She Worships</a> you are missing hearing from one of the more wise and intelligent female voices of my generation.</blockquote>\r\n<h2>I just want to know what you think.</h2>\r\nFor seven years I attended Women’s Bible studies offered at my church.  I learned a lot and my love for scripture grew deeper.   Over the years, as I refined my ability to study scripture for myself I began to notice an odd trend.  These women who taught with clear outward self-assurance were basically parroting the commentary and words of other (usually male) authors.   I found myself counting the times in a lecture they would say “So and so says ... in such and such commentary.”  <strong><em>I longed to hear what these wise women thought and more importantly what God was saying to them as they studied scripture.</em>   </strong>I believe these women were essentially shuffled to the side of the church “to teach women.”  Noticeably they had not received coaching comparable to the “teaching team” (of men) who taught Sunday mornings.  <em>Subsequently these women lacked the confidence and training to speak with authority. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>By writing this essay I am not saying that there is no place for women’s ministry in the church, but after all these years <em>I know it is not for me.  Here\'s why.</em></strong>\r\n<h2>My life is incredibly diverse and I\'ll do everything I can to keep it that way.</h2>\r\nI guess the saying is true, “People of a feather flock together.”\r\n\r\nA good friend who is a leader at church told me that <em>people ask for groupings</em> when they come to church.  They <em>want</em> to be with those that are <em>like them</em> – whether it is women or men, youth or college-aged, young marrieds with or without kids, or singles gathering together.  I understand that this is what we are used and more comfortable with but does that mean it is <em>good</em>?\r\n\r\n<strong><em>I have deep concerns with that when it comes to separating men and women.</em></strong><strong> </strong>\r\n\r\nFirst of all, fundamentally it comes out of this notion that men and women are <em>so very different.  </em> We certainly have our differences, but that sort of thinking is divisive and unproductive. It hurts us more than helps as we try to work out our faith together.  Separation of men and women in the church might have begun when women were for the most part at-home and looking for things to do.  That is no longer the case, as people today divide up their lives and work and time very differently.  And today the church is full of the divorced, single parents,  men at home and women working in the marketplace, as well as more and more single men and women who are choosing to remain so longer, not to mention the younger retired boomers who make up the church.\r\n\r\n<strong>S<em>cripture isn’t </em>\"for women\" or \"for men.” </strong>\r\n\r\nWe don’t need to separate to study the Word.  When we split up it only perpetuates gender stereotypes.  Ah, the stereotypes, women want to be treated like princesses and men are all tough guys.  Women love to talk and are more emotional.  Men are stone and are afraid of being vulnerable and all have pornography problems.  Next thing you know, when women get together we are all making crafts and men are playing basketball.\r\n\r\nI think we benefit as we<strong> </strong>mix generations and genders, hipsters and bikers and soccer moms, boomers, silent gen, teens, single and married with those with higher education or not.  We need to cross all those cultural barriers and learn together.  We are strengthened as people and as a community when we do.  We lose out when we don’t.  There is so much that we don\'t learn when we divide into groups by our comfortable similarities.\r\n<h2>What about Tribes?</h2>\r\nOne of my husband tribes is <strong>Musical Geeks</strong> and they cross many apparent differences, women and men, young and old, it matters not at all, as long as you want to \"geek out\" about all sorts of really boring musical minutia. (That is not my tribe, clearly.)  Not my <em>need, </em>but <em>he needs and loves to be with those people because they have like interests</em>!\r\n\r\nThis is important.  We feel connection, solidarity and even strength when we connect from time to time with our tribe.  One must find a balance.\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 20px;font-weight: bold\">What about in the Church?</span>\r\n\r\n<strong><em>It feels like there are a million obstacles to women experiencing true equity within the Christian evangelical church and separating ourselves by gender simply perpetuates the stereotypes and encourages a lack of creativity when it comes to the gifts and talents that people have.</em></strong>\r\n\r\nI know that I am not your typical evangelical Christian woman nor married to the typical man.  We divide our household chores by talents and interests, as well as what brings us joy.  For example, you will not find my husband outside on the weekend mowing the lawn or in the yard at all.  I do it because I love being outside, love the physical effort and I care about our yard.  He can typically be found inside either cleaning or down in his studio working on music.   When we got married, rather than fall into the typical gender stereotypes we just thought about it pragmatically.  Why can’t we do that in the Church?\r\n\r\nI believe that men and women should be using their skills and abilities and spiritual gifts in the whole Church.  They were given to us by Yahweh.  I believe he chose my skills, abilities and spiritual gifts.  God is the one that <em>made me this way. I should be serving.  I should be using the abilities and talents that He gave me. It would be wrong for me to sit back and not use them. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>This is complicated when you haven\'t had your abilities affirmed in the church.  But some day, women will come to know themselves capable.  I think it is time for us to begin again, to rethink women and men’s ministry and know that we are the body of Christ, at is says in 1 Corinthians 12</strong>.\r\n<blockquote> <strong><sup>4</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. <strong><sup>5</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of service, but the same Lord. <strong><sup>6</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of working, but in all of them and <strong><em>in everyone</em></strong> it is the same God at work.\r\n\r\n<strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Now <em>to each one</em> the manifestation of the Spirit is given <strong><em>for the common good.</em></strong> <strong><sup>8</sup></strong> To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <strong><sup>9</sup></strong> to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <strong><sup>10</sup></strong> to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote a\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645a\">a</a>]</sup></strong> and to still another the interpretation of tongues.<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote b\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645b\">b</a>]</sup></strong> <strong><sup>11</sup></strong> All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them <strong><em>to each one</em></strong>, just as he determines. (NIV, <strong><em>emphasis mine</em></strong>.)</blockquote>\r\nI am so encouraged reading those verses, which were written to us, yes each one, yes <em>to everyone,</em> in the Church.\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Mimi Haddad\" href=\"http://www.cbeinternational.org/?q=content/leadership#dr-mimi-haddad\" target=\"_blank\">Mimi Haddad</a> puts it so well:\r\n<blockquote>“<strong>…</strong> Women need to learn the power and validity of their voices. Women have been given voices as instruments that God intends for them to use—not in anger, but with the grace and dignity with which Jesus spoke. When I look through the pages of Scripture, I see that the words of women and men throughout history have been beautiful gifts from God. It is time we remember that our voices carry weight, that we hold truth from God on our tongues. The world needs to hear from us.”</blockquote>\r\n<strong><em>I believe God is calling women to come forth and speak to the Church not just to women.</em></strong>','Why Ministry \"For Women\" is Not \"For Me\"','','inherit','open','open','','1411-revision-9','','','2011-10-29 12:54:19','2011-10-29 19:54:19','',1411,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1411-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(1427,64,'2011-10-29 12:55:12','2011-10-29 19:55:12','<blockquote>A popular post at<a title=\"Sharon Hodde Miller\" href=\"http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7ya3xT/blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/10/why_its_your_job_to_break_the.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Hermeneutics</a>, titled <em>Why it’s Your Job to Break the Women’s Ministry Stereotype </em>by Sharon Hodde Miller, reminded me of something I wrote earlier this year.  You must read her blog <a title=\"She Worships\" href=\"http://sheworships.com\" target=\"_blank\">She Worships</a>.  She is one of the more wise and intelligent female voices of my generation.</blockquote>\r\n<h2>I just want to know what you think.</h2>\r\nFor seven years I attended Women’s Bible studies offered at my church.  I learned a lot and my love for scripture grew deeper.   Over the years, as I refined my ability to study scripture for myself I began to notice an odd trend.  These women who taught with clear outward self-assurance were basically parroting the commentary and words of other (usually male) authors.   I found myself counting the times in a lecture they would say “So and so says ... in such and such commentary.”  <strong><em>I longed to hear what these wise women thought and more importantly what God was saying to them as they studied scripture.</em>   </strong>I believe these women were essentially shuffled to the side of the church “to teach women.”  Noticeably they had not received coaching comparable to the “teaching team” (of men) who taught Sunday mornings.  <em>Subsequently these women lacked the confidence and training to speak with authority. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>By writing this essay I am not saying that there is no place for women’s ministry in the church, but after all these years <em>I know it is not for me.  Here\'s why.</em></strong>\r\n<h2>My life is incredibly diverse and I\'ll do everything I can to keep it that way.</h2>\r\nI guess the saying is true, “People of a feather flock together.”\r\n\r\nA good friend who is a leader at church told me that <em>people ask for groupings</em> when they come to church.  They <em>want</em> to be with those that are <em>like them</em> – whether it is women or men, youth or college-aged, young marrieds with or without kids, or singles gathering together.  I understand that this is what we are used and more comfortable with but does that mean it is <em>good</em>?\r\n\r\n<strong><em>I have deep concerns with that when it comes to separating men and women.</em></strong><strong> </strong>\r\n\r\nFirst of all, fundamentally it comes out of this notion that men and women are <em>so very different.  </em> We certainly have our differences, but that sort of thinking is divisive and unproductive. It hurts us more than helps as we try to work out our faith together.  Separation of men and women in the church might have begun when women were for the most part at-home and looking for things to do.  That is no longer the case, as people today divide up their lives and work and time very differently.  And today the church is full of the divorced, single parents,  men at home and women working in the marketplace, as well as more and more single men and women who are choosing to remain so longer, not to mention the younger retired boomers who make up the church.\r\n\r\n<strong>S<em>cripture isn’t </em>\"for women\" or \"for men.” </strong>\r\n\r\nWe don’t need to separate to study the Word.  When we split up it only perpetuates gender stereotypes.  Ah, the stereotypes, women want to be treated like princesses and men are all tough guys.  Women love to talk and are more emotional.  Men are stone and are afraid of being vulnerable and all have pornography problems.  Next thing you know, when women get together we are all making crafts and men are playing basketball.\r\n\r\nI think we benefit as we<strong> </strong>mix generations and genders, hipsters and bikers and soccer moms, boomers, silent gen, teens, single and married with those with higher education or not.  We need to cross all those cultural barriers and learn together.  We are strengthened as people and as a community when we do.  We lose out when we don’t.  There is so much that we don\'t learn when we divide into groups by our comfortable similarities.\r\n<h2>What about Tribes?</h2>\r\nOne of my husband tribes is <strong>Musical Geeks</strong> and they cross many apparent differences, women and men, young and old, it matters not at all, as long as you want to \"geek out\" about all sorts of really boring musical minutia. (That is not my tribe, clearly.)  Not my <em>need, </em>but <em>he needs and loves to be with those people because they have like interests</em>!\r\n\r\nThis is important.  We feel connection, solidarity and even strength when we connect from time to time with our tribe.  One must find a balance.\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 20px;font-weight: bold\">What about in the Church?</span>\r\n\r\n<strong><em>It feels like there are a million obstacles to women experiencing true equity within the Christian evangelical church and separating ourselves by gender simply perpetuates the stereotypes and encourages a lack of creativity when it comes to the gifts and talents that people have.</em></strong>\r\n\r\nI know that I am not your typical evangelical Christian woman nor married to the typical man.  We divide our household chores by talents and interests, as well as what brings us joy.  For example, you will not find my husband outside on the weekend mowing the lawn or in the yard at all.  I do it because I love being outside, love the physical effort and I care about our yard.  He can typically be found inside either cleaning or down in his studio working on music.   When we got married, rather than fall into the typical gender stereotypes we just thought about it pragmatically.  Why can’t we do that in the Church?\r\n\r\nI believe that men and women should be using their skills and abilities and spiritual gifts in the whole Church.  They were given to us by Yahweh.  I believe he chose my skills, abilities and spiritual gifts.  God is the one that <em>made me this way. I should be serving.  I should be using the abilities and talents that He gave me. It would be wrong for me to sit back and not use them. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>This is complicated when you haven\'t had your abilities affirmed in the church.  But some day, women will come to know themselves capable.  I think it is time for us to begin again, to rethink women and men’s ministry and know that we are the body of Christ, at is says in 1 Corinthians 12</strong>.\r\n<blockquote> <strong><sup>4</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. <strong><sup>5</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of service, but the same Lord. <strong><sup>6</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of working, but in all of them and <strong><em>in everyone</em></strong> it is the same God at work.\r\n\r\n<strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Now <em>to each one</em> the manifestation of the Spirit is given <strong><em>for the common good.</em></strong> <strong><sup>8</sup></strong> To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <strong><sup>9</sup></strong> to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <strong><sup>10</sup></strong> to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote a\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645a\">a</a>]</sup></strong> and to still another the interpretation of tongues.<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote b\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645b\">b</a>]</sup></strong> <strong><sup>11</sup></strong> All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them <strong><em>to each one</em></strong>, just as he determines. (NIV, <strong><em>emphasis mine</em></strong>.)</blockquote>\r\nI am so encouraged reading those verses, which were written to us, yes each one, yes <em>to everyone,</em> in the Church.\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Mimi Haddad\" href=\"http://www.cbeinternational.org/?q=content/leadership#dr-mimi-haddad\" target=\"_blank\">Mimi Haddad</a> puts it so well:\r\n<blockquote>“<strong>…</strong> Women need to learn the power and validity of their voices. Women have been given voices as instruments that God intends for them to use—not in anger, but with the grace and dignity with which Jesus spoke. When I look through the pages of Scripture, I see that the words of women and men throughout history have been beautiful gifts from God. It is time we remember that our voices carry weight, that we hold truth from God on our tongues. The world needs to hear from us.”</blockquote>\r\n<strong><em>I believe God is calling women to come forth and speak to the Church not just to women.</em></strong>','Why Ministry \"For Women\" is Not \"For Me\"','','inherit','open','open','','1411-revision-10','','','2011-10-29 12:55:12','2011-10-29 19:55:12','',1411,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1411-revision-10/',0,'revision','',0),(1428,64,'2011-11-02 11:30:27','2011-11-02 18:30:27','A popular post at<a title=\"Sharon Hodde Miller\" href=\"http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7ya3xT/blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/10/why_its_your_job_to_break_the.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Her.meneutics</a>, <em>Why it’s Your Job to Break the Women’s Ministry Stereotype</em> by Sharon Hodde Miller, reminded me of something I wrote earlier this year.  You must read her blog <a title=\"She Worships\" href=\"http://sheworships.com\" target=\"_blank\">She Worships</a>.  She is one of the more wise and intelligent female voices of my generation.\n<h2>I just want to know what you think.</h2>\nFor seven years I attended Women’s Bible studies offered at my church.  I learned a lot and my love for scripture grew deeper.   Over the years, as I refined my ability to study scripture for myself I began to notice an odd trend.  These women who taught with clear outward self-assurance were basically parroting the commentary and words of other (usually male) authors.   I found myself counting the times in a lecture they would say “So and so says ... in such and such commentary.”  <strong><em>I longed to hear what these wise women thought and more importantly what God was saying to them as they studied scripture.</em>   </strong>I believe these women were essentially shuffled to the side of the church “to teach women.”  Noticeably they had not received coaching comparable to the “teaching team” (of men) who taught Sunday mornings.  <em>Subsequently these women lacked the confidence and training to speak with authority. </em>\n\n<strong>By writing this essay I am not saying that there is no place for women’s ministry in the church, but after all these years <em>I know it is not for me.  Here\'s why.</em></strong>\n<h2>My life is incredibly diverse and I\'ll do everything I can to keep it that way.</h2>\nI guess the saying is true, “People of a feather flock together.”\n\nA good friend who is a leader at church told me that <em>people ask for groupings</em> when they come to church.  They <em>want</em> to be with those that are <em>like them</em> – whether it is women or men, youth or college-aged, young marrieds with or without kids, or singles gathering together.  I understand that this is what we are used and more comfortable with but does that mean it is <em>good</em>?\n\n<strong><em>I have deep concerns with that when it comes to separating men and women.</em></strong><strong> </strong>\n\nFirst of all, fundamentally it comes out of this notion that men and women are <em>so very different.  </em> We certainly have our differences, but that sort of thinking is divisive and unproductive. It hurts us more than helps as we try to work out our faith together.  Separation of men and women in the church might have begun when women were for the most part at-home and looking for things to do.  That is no longer the case, as people today divide up their lives and work and time very differently.  And today the church is full of the divorced, single parents,  men at home and women working in the marketplace, as well as more and more single men and women who are choosing to remain so longer, not to mention the younger retired boomers who make up the church.\n\n<em><strong>Scripture isn’t \"for women\" or \"for men.” </strong></em>\n\nWe don’t need to separate to study the Word.  When we split up it only perpetuates gender stereotypes.  Ah, the stereotypes, women want to be treated like princesses and men are all tough guys.  Women love to talk and are more emotional.  Men are stone and are afraid of being vulnerable and all have pornography problems.  Next thing you know, when women get together we are all making crafts and men are playing basketball.\n\nI think we benefit as we<strong> </strong>mix generations and genders, hipsters and bikers and soccer moms, boomers, silent gen, teens, single and married with those with higher education or not.  We need to cross all those cultural barriers and learn together.  We are strengthened as people and as a community when we do.  We lose out when we don’t.  There is so much that we don\'t learn when we divide into groups by our comfortable similarities.\n<h2>What about Tribes?</h2>\nOne of my husband tribes is <strong>Musical Geeks</strong> and they cross many apparent differences, women and men, young and old, it matters not at all, as long as you want to \"geek out\" about all sorts of really boring musical minutia. (That is not my tribe, clearly.)  Not my <em>need, </em>but <em>he needs and loves to be with those people because they have like interests</em>!\n\nThis is important.  We feel connection, solidarity and even strength when we connect from time to time with our tribe.  One must find a balance.\n\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 20px;font-weight: bold\">What about in the Church?</span>\n\n<strong><em>It feels like there are a million obstacles to women experiencing true equity within the Christian evangelical church and separating ourselves by gender simply perpetuates the stereotypes and encourages a lack of creativity when it comes to the gifts and talents that people have.</em></strong>\n\nI know that I am not your typical evangelical Christian woman nor married to the typical man.  We divide our household chores by talents and interests, as well as what brings us joy.  For example, you will not find my husband outside on the weekend mowing the lawn or in the yard at all.  I do it because I love being outside, love the physical effort and I care about our yard.  He can typically be found inside either cleaning or down in his studio working on music.   When we got married, rather than fall into the typical gender stereotypes we just thought about it pragmatically.  Why can’t we do that in the Church?\n\nI believe that men and women should be using their skills and abilities and spiritual gifts in the whole Church.  They were given to us by Yahweh.  I believe he chose my skills, abilities and spiritual gifts.  God is the one that <em>made me this way. I should be serving.  I should be using the abilities and talents that He gave me. It would be wrong for me to sit back and not use them. </em>\n\n<strong>This is complicated when you haven\'t had your abilities affirmed in the church.  But some day, women will come to know themselves capable.  I think it is time for us to begin again, to rethink women and men’s ministry and know that we are the body of Christ, at is says in 1 Corinthians 12</strong>.\n<blockquote> <strong><sup>4</sup></strong> There are <em><strong>different kinds of gifts</strong></em>, but the same Spirit distributes them. <strong><sup>5</sup></strong> There are <strong><em>different kinds</em></strong> of service, but the same Lord. <strong><sup>6</sup></strong> There are <strong><em>different kinds</em></strong> of working, but in all of them and <strong><em>in everyone</em></strong> it is the same God at work.\n\n<strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Now <strong><em>to each one</em></strong> the manifestation of the Spirit is given <strong><em>for the common good.</em></strong> <strong><sup>8</sup></strong> To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <strong><sup>9</sup></strong> to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <strong><sup>10</sup></strong> to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote a\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645a\">a</a>]</sup></strong> and to still another the interpretation of tongues.<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote b\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645b\">b</a>]</sup></strong> <strong><sup>11</sup></strong> All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them <strong><em>to each one</em></strong>, just as he determines. (NIV, <strong><em>emphasis mine</em></strong>.)</blockquote>\nI am so encouraged reading those verses, which were written to us, yes each one, yes <em>to everyone,</em> in the Church.\n\n<a title=\"Mimi Haddad\" href=\"http://www.cbeinternational.org/?q=content/leadership#dr-mimi-haddad\" target=\"_blank\">Mimi Haddad</a> puts it so well:\n<blockquote>“<strong>…</strong> Women need to learn the power and validity of their voices. Women have been given voices as instruments that God intends for them to use—not in anger, but with the grace and dignity with which Jesus spoke. When I look through the pages of Scripture, I see that the words of women and men throughout history have been beautiful gifts from God. It is time we remember that our voices carry weight, that we hold truth from God on our tongues. The world needs to hear from us.”</blockquote>\n<strong><em>I believe God is calling women to come forth and speak to the Church not just to women.</em></strong>\n\n<em>Photo Credit: Alesa Dam</em>','Why Ministry \"For Women\" is Not \"For Me\"','','inherit','open','open','','1411-autosave','','','2011-11-02 11:30:27','2011-11-02 18:30:27','',1411,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1411-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(1429,64,'2011-10-29 12:55:53','2011-10-29 19:55:53','<blockquote>A popular post at<a title=\"Sharon Hodde Miller\" href=\"http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7ya3xT/blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/10/why_its_your_job_to_break_the.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Hermeneutics</a>, titled <em>Why it’s Your Job to Break the Women’s Ministry Stereotype </em>by Sharon Hodde Miller, reminded me of something I wrote earlier this year.  You must read her blog <a title=\"She Worships\" href=\"http://sheworships.com\" target=\"_blank\">She Worships</a>.  She is one of the more wise and intelligent female voices of my generation.</blockquote>\r\n<h2>I just want to know what you think.</h2>\r\nFor seven years I attended Women’s Bible studies offered at my church.  I learned a lot and my love for scripture grew deeper.   Over the years, as I refined my ability to study scripture for myself I began to notice an odd trend.  These women who taught with clear outward self-assurance were basically parroting the commentary and words of other (usually male) authors.   I found myself counting the times in a lecture they would say “So and so says ... in such and such commentary.”  <strong><em>I longed to hear what these wise women thought and more importantly what God was saying to them as they studied scripture.</em>   </strong>I believe these women were essentially shuffled to the side of the church “to teach women.”  Noticeably they had not received coaching comparable to the “teaching team” (of men) who taught Sunday mornings.  <em>Subsequently these women lacked the confidence and training to speak with authority. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>By writing this essay I am not saying that there is no place for women’s ministry in the church, but after all these years <em>I know it is not for me.  Here\'s why.</em></strong>\r\n<h2>My life is incredibly diverse and I\'ll do everything I can to keep it that way.</h2>\r\nI guess the saying is true, “People of a feather flock together.”\r\n\r\nA good friend who is a leader at church told me that <em>people ask for groupings</em> when they come to church.  They <em>want</em> to be with those that are <em>like them</em> – whether it is women or men, youth or college-aged, young marrieds with or without kids, or singles gathering together.  I understand that this is what we are used and more comfortable with but does that mean it is <em>good</em>?\r\n\r\n<strong><em>I have deep concerns with that when it comes to separating men and women.</em></strong><strong> </strong>\r\n\r\nFirst of all, fundamentally it comes out of this notion that men and women are <em>so very different.  </em> We certainly have our differences, but that sort of thinking is divisive and unproductive. It hurts us more than helps as we try to work out our faith together.  Separation of men and women in the church might have begun when women were for the most part at-home and looking for things to do.  That is no longer the case, as people today divide up their lives and work and time very differently.  And today the church is full of the divorced, single parents,  men at home and women working in the marketplace, as well as more and more single men and women who are choosing to remain so longer, not to mention the younger retired boomers who make up the church.\r\n\r\n<strong>S<em>cripture isn’t </em>\"for women\" or \"for men.” </strong>\r\n\r\nWe don’t need to separate to study the Word.  When we split up it only perpetuates gender stereotypes.  Ah, the stereotypes, women want to be treated like princesses and men are all tough guys.  Women love to talk and are more emotional.  Men are stone and are afraid of being vulnerable and all have pornography problems.  Next thing you know, when women get together we are all making crafts and men are playing basketball.\r\n\r\nI think we benefit as we<strong> </strong>mix generations and genders, hipsters and bikers and soccer moms, boomers, silent gen, teens, single and married with those with higher education or not.  We need to cross all those cultural barriers and learn together.  We are strengthened as people and as a community when we do.  We lose out when we don’t.  There is so much that we don\'t learn when we divide into groups by our comfortable similarities.\r\n<h2>What about Tribes?</h2>\r\nOne of my husband tribes is <strong>Musical Geeks</strong> and they cross many apparent differences, women and men, young and old, it matters not at all, as long as you want to \"geek out\" about all sorts of really boring musical minutia. (That is not my tribe, clearly.)  Not my <em>need, </em>but <em>he needs and loves to be with those people because they have like interests</em>!\r\n\r\nThis is important.  We feel connection, solidarity and even strength when we connect from time to time with our tribe.  One must find a balance.\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 20px;font-weight: bold\">What about in the Church?</span>\r\n\r\n<strong><em>It feels like there are a million obstacles to women experiencing true equity within the Christian evangelical church and separating ourselves by gender simply perpetuates the stereotypes and encourages a lack of creativity when it comes to the gifts and talents that people have.</em></strong>\r\n\r\nI know that I am not your typical evangelical Christian woman nor married to the typical man.  We divide our household chores by talents and interests, as well as what brings us joy.  For example, you will not find my husband outside on the weekend mowing the lawn or in the yard at all.  I do it because I love being outside, love the physical effort and I care about our yard.  He can typically be found inside either cleaning or down in his studio working on music.   When we got married, rather than fall into the typical gender stereotypes we just thought about it pragmatically.  Why can’t we do that in the Church?\r\n\r\nI believe that men and women should be using their skills and abilities and spiritual gifts in the whole Church.  They were given to us by Yahweh.  I believe he chose my skills, abilities and spiritual gifts.  God is the one that <em>made me this way. I should be serving.  I should be using the abilities and talents that He gave me. It would be wrong for me to sit back and not use them. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>This is complicated when you haven\'t had your abilities affirmed in the church.  But some day, women will come to know themselves capable.  I think it is time for us to begin again, to rethink women and men’s ministry and know that we are the body of Christ, at is says in 1 Corinthians 12</strong>.\r\n<blockquote> <strong><sup>4</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. <strong><sup>5</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of service, but the same Lord. <strong><sup>6</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of working, but in all of them and <strong><em>in everyone</em></strong> it is the same God at work.\r\n\r\n<strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Now <em>to each one</em> the manifestation of the Spirit is given <strong><em>for the common good.</em></strong> <strong><sup>8</sup></strong> To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <strong><sup>9</sup></strong> to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <strong><sup>10</sup></strong> to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote a\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645a\">a</a>]</sup></strong> and to still another the interpretation of tongues.<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote b\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645b\">b</a>]</sup></strong> <strong><sup>11</sup></strong> All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them <strong><em>to each one</em></strong>, just as he determines. (NIV, <strong><em>emphasis mine</em></strong>.)</blockquote>\r\nI am so encouraged reading those verses, which were written to us, yes each one, yes <em>to everyone,</em> in the Church.\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Mimi Haddad\" href=\"http://www.cbeinternational.org/?q=content/leadership#dr-mimi-haddad\" target=\"_blank\">Mimi Haddad</a> puts it so well:\r\n<blockquote>“<strong>…</strong> Women need to learn the power and validity of their voices. Women have been given voices as instruments that God intends for them to use—not in anger, but with the grace and dignity with which Jesus spoke. When I look through the pages of Scripture, I see that the words of women and men throughout history have been beautiful gifts from God. It is time we remember that our voices carry weight, that we hold truth from God on our tongues. The world needs to hear from us.”</blockquote>\r\n<strong><em>I believe God is calling women to come forth and speak to the Church not just to women.</em></strong>','Why Ministry \"For Women\" is Not \"For Me\"','','inherit','open','open','','1411-revision-11','','','2011-10-29 12:55:53','2011-10-29 19:55:53','',1411,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1411-revision-11/',0,'revision','',0),(1430,78,'2011-10-31 08:00:58','2011-10-31 15:00:58','<strong>The first year of marriage is like wet cement — the impressions made in it are much harder to change once it has set. </strong><em>\r\n<strong>-Robert Wolgemuth</strong></em>\r\n\r\n<em></em>I got married, a little over a year ago, at the ripe old age of 19 to my 22-year-old fiancé.\r\n\r\nMy fiancé was from Michigan and I lived in Washington. He moved here 3 months before our wedding with no job, no place to live and only enough money to get himself over here. I was living with my parents working a temporary summer job and about to start my second year of college.\r\n\r\nNeedless to say, we started building our lives together from the ground up. Maybe even below the ground.\r\n\r\nI have a friend who got married, a little over a year ago, also at age 19. The man she married is 12 years her senior.\r\n\r\nHe has an established career, makes a decent living and owns a nice home.\r\n\r\nMany would say she got the better deal. She walked into her first year of marriage looking forward to job stability, financial stability, a nice house and being able to avoid a lot of the problems my husband and I faced during our first year of marriage. She recently had an adorable baby boy and was able to do so without having to worry about how they were going to pay for the costs of health care. I\'m not suggesting that they didn\'t have their share of troubles that inevitably come about from two people learning to be work together as one, but the outside stressors were relatively limited for them.\r\n\r\nAs for me? Well, I walked into my first year of marriage living in a tiny one-bedroom apartment inside of a mansion that had been converted into separate living spaces. My kitchen was no more than a hallway and our \"bedroom\" was so small that we decided to make it our living room since it really only fit our TV. We lived in one of the worst neighborhoods in town since it had the cheapest rent. The neighbor across the hall was a \"sweet old lady\" and also a drug dealer. The man who lived next to us sung along drunkenly to Journey at 1:00 in the morning, which I could hear very clearly through our paper-thin walls. Upstairs there was even a prostitute who liked to loudly discuss her ventures, in great detail, outside our front window.\r\n\r\nDuring our first year, we had our front window bashed in with a rock, our car was broken into and we witnessed multiple assaults outside our front door in the hall. Our apartment was flooded (from the ceiling) two separate times because the lady two floors above us left the house with her clogged toilet running.\r\n\r\nMy husband worked two jobs: an on-call overnight shift and another day job. He would sometimes go for five days straight with no more than seven or eight hours of combined sleep. I went to school full time and worked part time. We somehow managed, through our cheap rent and eating spaghetti all the time, to make ends meet.\r\n\r\nMaybe it’s our personalities, but we somehow managed to find ways to laugh about all of it (sometimes after a few tears).\r\n\r\nWe didn\'t have it easy by any means, but our marriage is so much stronger because of it. We learned so much about each other, about how to more effectively communicate, about leaning on each other for support and most of all-- how to trust God who came through for us more times than I can count. This first year has laid an incredibly solid foundation for the rest of our future. There are so many insights into each other that we would have missed out on had our situation been like my friend\'s.\r\n\r\nReflecting on our first year of marriage, I can see just how far we’ve come. We now live in a nice house in a wonderful quiet neighborhood, my husband has a great full-time job with regular hours that he enjoys and we have a beautiful newborn daughter who has made us a family. My husband and I are still each other\'s best friends and we talk about everything. We know that, if we survived the last 12 months, we can survive anything life throws at us.\r\n\r\nThat year seemed like something out of a bad sitcom, but I wouldn\'t trade it for the world. If I had the option to go back in time and choose between having it be picture-perfect, or the insane mess that it was...I would choose the insane mess. I honestly can\'t fathom how a couple can manage to experience the closeness that my husband and I have <em>without </em>the cliché difficult first year of marriage; I would even go so far as to say that it is an important part of establishing that life-long bond.\r\n\r\nMarriage is more than sharing a life together; it is building a life together. Every “for worse” makes the “for better”…even better.\r\n\r\nPhoto Credit: <a href=\"http://www.sxc.hu/profile/cjhallman\">cjhallman</a>','For better or for worse?','','publish','open','open','','for-better-or-for-worse','','','2011-10-30 16:36:44','2011-10-30 23:36:44','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1430',0,'post','',14),(1431,4,'2011-10-29 07:02:39','2011-10-29 14:02:39','“And I’m not going to stand and wait,\r\nNot gonna leave until it’s much too late.\r\nOn a platform, I’m gonna stand and say\r\nthat I’m nothing on my own.  And I love you please come home.”  --  “A Message, by Coldplay\r\n\r\n[embed width=500 height=284]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_4hp_KxO48[/embed]\r\n\r\nThe person in the video is one of the Distillery’s (my faith community) Copastors and founders, Carolyn Turnidge, an asset to our little community in Albany.  She brought this song to us as “A Message” so to speak, and we got the message.  But, we got so much more than that. I apologize that the song starts so abruptly, but our camera operator started the recording a bit late.\r\n\r\nThe idea behind the song for us as a church is that we truly are nothing on our own.  We were meant to be with each other.  I have often heard people say things like “all I need is my Bible and my Heavenly Father to be whole,”  “I don’t listen to anyone but the Holy Spirit,” and “The Bible is the only friend I need.”  All of those statements and statements like them in my experience are false.  As in “not true.”\r\n\r\nWe need each other.  It’s a given.  This is one of those things that God says from the beginning in the simplest of statements, \"It is not good for the man to be alone.” (Gen 2:18)  God was with “Man” at the time by the way, so what was God talking about?  For the man was certainly not alone with the Holy Trinity by his side day after day.  Was God merely saying that man needs a single partner?  Was he only talking about Eve?  I don’t think so.  What we do know is that God created man (woman) not to be exclusive of other men (women).   In fact he created us to be with others like us.\r\n\r\nJesus himself gathers together 12 disciples.  Twelve people to share his day-to-day with, not to mention all of the folks he surrounded himself with on a regular basis.  Yes there were periods of time that Jesus separated himself from the crowds and the disciples, but for the most part Jesus seems to be saying to humanity, “I am nothing on my own.”\r\n\r\nNow before you get offended, think about it. On his own, Jesus would have been a no one. No one would have even known who he was. He needed the people around him as much as they needed him. If Jesus did not have such a huge following -- if he was not constantly surrounded by people, the Pharisees would not even have noticed him. He may not have even been crucified.\r\n\r\nAlso found in scriptures are the classic lines “Where two or three or gathered in my name, there I will be also,” (Matt 18:20) almost as if to insinuate that God prefers to deal with us in numbers or crowds rather than as single solitary individuals.  There is certainly evidence of this in the scriptures.  In fact there are indications in the early history of the church that the Bible itself was not meant for a single reader scenario but was created and distributed to communities of followers.\r\n\r\nOn Saturday the communities would go through the scriptures together as friends and often times as combative family members when they disagreed.  So it seems to me that Christianity, the Bible, and God are all meant to be approached in groups of people, not as single solitary individuals.\r\n\r\nIt is only in America in the last 60 years or so that we have even heard the words “personal savior” used in relation to Jesus.  The whole concept of a personal savior is exclusively American in that we are all about the individual here aren’t we?  “Personal” property, “Personal” space, “Personal” brand --  these are all American terms born out of capitalism and the idea of independence.  These terms and things associated with them are not bad in and of themselves, but we have to acknowledge that they and the ideas behind them come from our individualistic culture, and did not exist in the time of Jesus.\r\n\r\nBack then everyone shared, worked together for the community’s success, and worshiped together a God of the community, not of the individual.\r\n\r\nSo we come back to Carolyn’s song.  Well, the song by Coldplay I mean.  There is something so beautiful about the kind of desperation in which we approach each other.  Part of the verse says “I am not going to stand and wait,” while the other part says “..not gonna leave until it’s much too late.”  It’s that part of each of us that want to keep whatever dignity we seem to have, while at the same time desperately and almost pathetically we cling to each other.   We are nothing on our own.  We all need each other as much as we need God, and as much as we need the Bible.\r\n\r\nNow you might think that this is an argument for church, or that I am saying that you have to go to church to be a good Christian.  No, I am not saying that.  There are other ways for us to be with each other that do not include church.  For me, my little community of faith gives me the “we” I need in order to approach God and the Bible on a regular basis, for others it may be your work crowd, or your family or a circle of good friends.  What do you think about the whole “Personal Savior” phrase and what do you do as far as being with others that works for you? Keep in mind that I am not speaking out against personal time with God here, but merely speaking exclusively about community in this post.','I\'m nothing on my own','','inherit','open','open','','1342-revision-8','','','2011-10-29 07:02:39','2011-10-29 14:02:39','',1342,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1342-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(1432,78,'2011-10-29 14:21:14','2011-10-29 21:21:14','','married_couple','','inherit','open','open','','1249095_71334214','','','2011-10-29 14:21:14','2011-10-29 21:21:14','',1430,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/1249095_71334214.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1433,78,'2011-10-29 14:20:49','2011-10-29 21:20:49','<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><strong>The first year of marriage is like wet cement — the impressions made in it are much harder to change once it has set. </strong><em>\n<strong>-Robert Wolgemuth</strong></em></p>\n<em></em>I got married, a little over a year ago, at the ripe old age of 19 to my 22-year-old fiancé.\n\nMy fiancé was from Michigan and I lived in Washington. He moved here 3 months before our wedding with no job, no place to live and only enough money to get himself over here. I was living with my parents working a temporary summer job and about to start my second year of college.\n\nNeedless to say, we started building our lives together from the ground up. Maybe even below the ground.\n\nI have a friend who got married, a little over a year ago, also at age 19. The man she married is 12 years her senior.\n\nHe has an established career, makes a decent living and owns a nice home.\n\nMany would say she got the better deal. She walked into her first year of marriage looking forward to job stability, financial stability, a nice house and being able to avoid a lot of the problems my husband and I faced during our first year of marriage. She recently had an adorable baby boy and was able to do so without having to worry about how they were going to pay for the costs of health care. I\'m not suggesting that they didn\'t have their share of troubles that inevitably come about from two people learning to be work together as one, but the outside stressors were relatively limited for them.\n\nAs for me? Well, I walked into my first year of marriage living in a tiny one-bedroom apartment inside of a mansion that had been converted into separate living spaces. My kitchen was no more than a hallway and our \"bedroom\" was so small that we decided to make it our living room since it really only fit our TV. We lived in one of the worst neighborhoods in town since it had the cheapest rent. The neighbor across the hall was a \"sweet old lady\" and also a drug dealer. The man who lived next to us sung along drunkenly to Journey at 1:00 in the morning, which I could hear very clearly through our paper-thin walls. Upstairs there was even a prostitute who liked to loudly discuss her ventures, in great detail, outside our front window.\n\nDuring our first year, we had our front window bashed in with a rock, our car was broken into and we witnessed multiple assaults outside our front door in the hall. Our apartment was flooded (from the ceiling) two separate times because the lady two floors above us left the house with her clogged toilet running.\n\nMy husband worked two jobs: an on-call overnight shift and another day job. He would sometimes go for five days straight with no more than seven or eight hours of combined sleep. I went to school full time and worked part time. We somehow managed, through our cheap rent and eating spaghetti all the time, to make ends meet.\n\nMaybe it’s our personalities, but we somehow managed to find ways to laugh about all of it (sometimes after a few tears).\n\nWe didn\'t have it easy by any means, but our marriage is so much stronger because of it. We learned so much about each other, about how to more effectively communicate, about leaning on each other for support and most of all-- how to trust God who came through for us more times than I can count. This first year has laid an incredibly solid foundation for the rest of our future. There are so many insights into each other that we would have missed out on had our situation been like my friend\'s.\n\nReflecting on our first year of marriage, I can see just how far we’ve come. We now live in a nice house in a wonderful quiet neighborhood, my husband has a great full-time job with regular hours that he enjoys and we have a beautiful newborn daughter who has made us a family.\n\nThat year seemed like something out of a bad sitcom, but I wouldn\'t trade it for the world. If I had the option to go back in time and choose between having it be picture-perfect, or the insane mess that it was...I would choose the insane mess. I honestly can\'t fathom how a couple can manage to experience the closeness that my husband and I have <em>without </em>the cliché difficult first year of marriage; I would even go so far as to say that it is an important part of establishing that life-long bond.\n\nMarriage is more than sharing a life together; it is building a life together. Every “for worse” makes the “for better”…even better.','For better or for worse?','','inherit','open','open','','1430-revision','','','2011-10-29 14:20:49','2011-10-29 21:20:49','',1430,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1430-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1434,1,'2011-10-29 14:55:25','2011-10-29 21:55:25','<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><strong>The first year of marriage is like wet cement — the impressions made in it are much harder to change once it has set. </strong><em>\r\n<strong>-Robert Wolgemuth</strong></em></p>\r\n<em></em>I got married, a little over a year ago, at the ripe old age of 19 to my 22-year-old fiancé.\r\n\r\nMy fiancé was from Michigan and I lived in Washington. He moved here 3 months before our wedding with no job, no place to live and only enough money to get himself over here. I was living with my parents working a temporary summer job and about to start my second year of college.\r\n\r\nNeedless to say, we started building our lives together from the ground up. Maybe even below the ground.\r\n\r\nI have a friend who got married, a little over a year ago, also at age 19. The man she married is 12 years her senior.\r\n\r\nHe has an established career, makes a decent living and owns a nice home.\r\n\r\nMany would say she got the better deal. She walked into her first year of marriage looking forward to job stability, financial stability, a nice house and being able to avoid a lot of the problems my husband and I faced during our first year of marriage. She recently had an adorable baby boy and was able to do so without having to worry about how they were going to pay for the costs of health care. I\'m not suggesting that they didn\'t have their share of troubles that inevitably come about from two people learning to be work together as one, but the outside stressors were relatively limited for them.\r\n\r\nAs for me? Well, I walked into my first year of marriage living in a tiny one-bedroom apartment inside of a mansion that had been converted into separate living spaces. My kitchen was no more than a hallway and our \"bedroom\" was so small that we decided to make it our living room since it really only fit our TV. We lived in one of the worst neighborhoods in town since it had the cheapest rent. The neighbor across the hall was a \"sweet old lady\" and also a drug dealer. The man who lived next to us sung along drunkenly to Journey at 1:00 in the morning, which I could hear very clearly through our paper-thin walls. Upstairs there was even a prostitute who liked to loudly discuss her ventures, in great detail, outside our front window.\r\n\r\nDuring our first year, we had our front window bashed in with a rock, our car was broken into and we witnessed multiple assaults outside our front door in the hall. Our apartment was flooded (from the ceiling) two separate times because the lady two floors above us left the house with her clogged toilet running.\r\n\r\nMy husband worked two jobs: an on-call overnight shift and another day job. He would sometimes go for five days straight with no more than seven or eight hours of combined sleep. I went to school full time and worked part time. We somehow managed, through our cheap rent and eating spaghetti all the time, to make ends meet.\r\n\r\nMaybe it’s our personalities, but we somehow managed to find ways to laugh about all of it (sometimes after a few tears).\r\n\r\nWe didn\'t have it easy by any means, but our marriage is so much stronger because of it. We learned so much about each other, about how to more effectively communicate, about leaning on each other for support and most of all-- how to trust God who came through for us more times than I can count. This first year has laid an incredibly solid foundation for the rest of our future. There are so many insights into each other that we would have missed out on had our situation been like my friend\'s.\r\n\r\nReflecting on our first year of marriage, I can see just how far we’ve come. We now live in a nice house in a wonderful quiet neighborhood, my husband has a great full-time job with regular hours that he enjoys and we have a beautiful newborn daughter who has made us a family.\r\n\r\nThat year seemed like something out of a bad sitcom, but I wouldn\'t trade it for the world. If I had the option to go back in time and choose between having it be picture-perfect, or the insane mess that it was...I would choose the insane mess. I honestly can\'t fathom how a couple can manage to experience the closeness that my husband and I have <em>without </em>the cliché difficult first year of marriage; I would even go so far as to say that it is an important part of establishing that life-long bond.\r\n\r\nMarriage is more than sharing a life together; it is building a life together. Every “for worse” makes the “for better”…even better.','For better or for worse?','','inherit','open','open','','1430-revision-2','','','2011-10-29 14:55:25','2011-10-29 21:55:25','',1430,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1430-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(1435,1,'2011-10-29 07:04:14','2011-10-29 14:04:14','<em>This is part four in my series about the six reasons why I left the church based off of the article <a href=\"http://www.barna.org/teens-next-gen-articles/528-six-reasons-young-christians-leave-church\" target=\"_blank\">\"Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church\"</a> by the <a href=\"http://www.barna.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Barna Group</a>.</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>Reason #4: \"The church feels unfriendly to those who doubt.\"</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter being frustrated with the <a href=\"http://www.soullikeaspider.com/blog/2011/10/9/where-the-church-lost-me-part-i.html\" target=\"_blank\">lack of challenging content for my age group</a>, realizing how <a href=\"http://www.soullikeaspider.com/blog/2011/10/12/where-the-church-lost-me-part-ii.html\" target=\"_blank\">clueless I was about other religions and their beliefs</a>, and starting to open my eyes as to the <a href=\"http://www.soullikeaspider.com/blog/2011/10/16/where-the-church-lost-me-part-iii.html\" target=\"_blank\">overly simplistic nature of sexuality</a> I had been presented with, I began feeling discontent. Each one of these things would have been excusable on their own, but all together I began to get a feel of the nature of what I had grown up. There were rumblings in my bones that I couldn’t ignore anymore.\r\n\r\nThe one thing that finally sent me throttling to the face of disillusionment was when my mother wasn’t allowed to work in the youth group. After going on a youth retreat as a chaperone, she wanted to take the next step and be a regular youth leader. When she spoke to the pastor about this, they said she couldn’t work with the youth without her husband. My father is not a social butterfly by any stretch of the imagination, and my mom is an absolute social butterfly, so it was a little bit crazy to expect my dad to come along to something that she was very clearly suited for and he wasn’t.\r\n\r\nMy mom decided that maybe they would change their minds once they saw her working with the kids so she decided just to start showing up. The second week she came to youth group they had someone standing outside of the door to the youth group guarding to prohibit her from coming in.\r\n\r\nI understand why they would put the couples-only stipulation on youth workers: they want the couples to show kids how to have healthy romantic relationships and be able to go to either adult for advice if need be. I would have been fine with married leaders principle had they followed it. Less than a month after my mother was literally barred from the room, the single son of the events manager of the church showed back and they let him start working immediately with the kids, and he was one of seven other single individuals working in the youth group during this time (most of which were kids of the pastors or deacons).\r\n\r\nHow could they do this to her? They punished her because my father isn’t social-inclined? How could they preach Sunday after Sunday about how they needed people to get into ministry and then <em>physically block</em> her from even entering the room? If someone has the desire and the ability wouldn’t you be tripping over yourself to get them? I want to give the staff the benefit of the doubt that maybe something else was going on behind the scenes that I don’t know about, but it appeared as blatant favoritism.\r\n\r\nBy the time I hit sophomore year of high school I was craving content I could wrestle with and people who could really get into my head that I made the mistake of opening my mouth. All I wanted was more. I could have bowed out quietly (like smarter people after me did), but I thought that if I started voicing some of my opinions to the right people that they could help me find what I was looking for or find ways to improve what was going on. But instead of seeing my questions and feelings as a desire for something more, it was taken as a <em>personal</em> attack on the staff and the church.\r\n\r\nIt didn’t take long before friends and leaders were each asking me what was wrong, and afterward I told them each one of them clobbered me. Some lectured me, some got offended, and some chose to yell right over me. I was reminded a few times that \"Pastor John is not Billy Graham.\" I wasn’t expecting Billy Graham. When someone talks for twenty full minutes about how he is going to step on some toes, how he didn’t want to offend anyone, but that he needed to share the truth, I just want there to be something more substantial than telling me to do my devotions.\r\n\r\nMy doubt was perceived as a threat. Even though I was at church every time the doors were open, was actively involved in ministry, worked with the elementary kids in <a href=\"http://awana.org/\" target=\"_blank\">AWANA</a>, was on the worship team, and was very active in Sunday School, the <em>moment</em> I started asking questions and challenging the status quo I was voted off the island. I did everything right by them. I followed all of the rules and expectations put in front of me but once I questioned things I became a black sheep.\r\n\r\nI remember telling the whole story to one of my best friends while working on desserts for the giant Christmas dinner we put on every year. The kitchen refrigerators were already full so we opened all the windows in the children’s classrooms and then shut the doors to create make-shift refrigerators. We were filling crepes when I told him what was going on and then told him I was considering trying out a different youth group. I remember shivering and the dull smell of confectionary sugar filling my nostrils as he told me how I couldn’t do that because I would be \"divorcing the church\" and that I would practically be breaking a blood contract with the body if I left.\r\n\r\nLater, Mr. Darren, one of the leaders, set aside some time to talk to me to see what was wrong. He had been hearing things but wanted to hear the whole story from me. I felt particularly close to Mr. Darren and his wife; aside from having the mother of all crushes on their son, I spent a lot of time with them at church and outside of church. I would go over to their house occasionally and they always made a point to talk to me when they saw me. They even called me their niece on a couple of occasions.  They made me feel loved and important.\r\n\r\nI skipped out on the last few minutes of youth group one night sat in the small church library across the table from Mr. Darren. He said he could sense something was off about me over the last couple of weeks and wanted to know what was happening. I had kept this information from him mostly because I needed time to figure it out and I didn’t want him and his wife to be disappointed in me. But since he took the time out to ask me, I took it as a sign that he cared and I could be honest with him, so I shared my story.\r\n\r\nHe proceeded to tell me that he had been in youth ministry for twenty years and that this was as good as it got. Pastor John was the best he had ever seen and I wasn\'t going to find anyone better. He told me that my role in the church was changing and that from here on out I would never get anything from church and would need to start spending all my time making sure <em>other</em> people got \"fed\" at church.\r\n\r\nIn a sense he had a point. I can’t expect to be spoon fed or fuel my entire spiritual journey on sermons but I was still devastated. Name after name flew by of leaders I had offended and friend after friend crossed me off their lists. I thought Darren and his wife would be the ones who, even if they couldn’t relate, would still love on me and help me through. But instead I was told to just buck up, be content and to stop expecting things. (This was accidentally the last time we ever spoke, which makes me even sadder.)\r\n\r\nI was crushed. I guess more than anything I felt hung out to dry. For years my superiors told me not to just be spoon-fed by the stuff I hear on Sundays but to desire to know more and take learning into my own hands. So, when I tell them that I’m hungry and I want something more, I’m abandoned? If you are going to talk about sparks be prepared for the fire if it catches.\r\n\r\nI was left alone. The leaders weren\'t there for me when I needed them the most. Even if they thought I was just being a bratty teenager, nothing was worse there than them crushing the eager spirit that I thought they wanted to see in me. The message was loud and clear: they wanted fair weather youth, and me and my questions were no longer welcome.\r\n\r\nPeter Rollins talks about how important doubt is in a religious setting in his book <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Speak-Peter-Rollins/dp/1557255059/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1319866840&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">\"How (Not) to Speak of God\"</a>:\r\n<blockquote>\"For instance, take the example of two people getting married with the firm conviction that the union will last as long as they both live. In this state of obvious delusion no real decision needs to be made. The future is believed to be so certain that the decision to marry requires no decision at all. Yet if two people understand that their relationship will face various hardships, that the future is uncertain and that there are no guarantees, then, far from preventing a decision, this is the very point when a real decision needs to be made. The vows of marriage are not so much affirmations of what one believes will take place but rather the promises that one will work towards ensuring that it will indeed happen. […] A love that requires contracts and absolute assurance in order to act is no love at all.\"</blockquote>\r\nIn the aftermath, there were four people who didn’t toss me out like a dead fashion trend. One was a leader who listened to me and said that he could relate to me a little and then showed me some note-taking tips to help him extract more meaning out of sermons. The other three were friends who treated me no differently after admitting to my doubt. These are the friends I have carried with me for the last decade and who, even if we grow apart, I will always feel grateful for. They each in their own words said \"You’re not crazy. I don’t feel the exact same way, but you’re definitely not crazy.\"\r\n\r\n<em>The fifth and final installment will be about how the church is over-protective.</em>','Where the Church Lost Me: Part IV','','inherit','open','open','','1376-revision-6','','','2011-10-29 07:04:14','2011-10-29 14:04:14','',1376,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1376-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(1436,1,'2011-10-28 11:34:23','2011-10-28 18:34:23','A five-part series exploring the tensions of church life, by <a href=\"../author/deannaogle/\">Deanna Ogle</a>.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://wp.me/p1CKLQ-gJ\">Where the Church Lost Me: Part 1: Shallow and Antagonistic</a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"../2011/10/26/where-the-church-lost-me-part-ii/\">Where the Church Lost Me: Part 2: Exclusivity</a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2011/10/28/where-the-church-lost-me-part-iii/\">Where the Church Lost Me: Part 3: Simplistic Sexuality</a>\r\n\r\nWhere the Church Lost Me: Part 4:\r\n\r\nWhere the Church Lost Me: Part 5:','Where The Church Lost Me','','inherit','open','open','','1241-revision-6','','','2011-10-28 11:34:23','2011-10-28 18:34:23','',1241,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/28/1241-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(1437,1,'2011-11-02 08:36:08','2011-11-02 15:36:08','A five-part series exploring the tensions of church life, by <a href=\"../author/deannaogle/\">Deanna Ogle</a>.\n\n<a href=\"http://wp.me/p1CKLQ-gJ\">Where the Church Lost Me: Part 1: Shallow and Antagonistic</a>\n\n<a href=\"../2011/10/26/where-the-church-lost-me-part-ii/\">Where the Church Lost Me: Part 2: Exclusivity</a>\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2011/10/28/where-the-church-lost-me-part-iii/\">Where the Church Lost Me: Part 3: Simplistic Sexuality</a>\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/where-the-church-lost-me-part-iv/\">Where the Church Lost Me: Part 4: Unfriendly to Doubt</a>\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2011/11/02/where-the-church-lost-me-part-v-over-protective/\">Where the Church Lost Me: Part 5: Over-protective</a>','Where The Church Lost Me','','inherit','open','open','','1241-autosave','','','2011-11-02 08:36:08','2011-11-02 15:36:08','',1241,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1241-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(1438,78,'2011-10-29 15:13:29','2011-10-29 22:13:29','<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><strong>The first year of marriage is like wet cement — the impressions made in it are much harder to change once it has set. </strong><em>\r\n<strong>-Robert Wolgemuth</strong></em></p>\r\n<em></em>I got married, a little over a year ago, at the ripe old age of 19 to my 22-year-old fiancé.\r\n\r\nMy fiancé was from Michigan and I lived in Washington. He moved here 3 months before our wedding with no job, no place to live and only enough money to get himself over here. I was living with my parents working a temporary summer job and about to start my second year of college.\r\n\r\nNeedless to say, we started building our lives together from the ground up. Maybe even below the ground.\r\n\r\nI have a friend who got married, a little over a year ago, also at age 19. The man she married is 12 years her senior.\r\n\r\nHe has an established career, makes a decent living and owns a nice home.\r\n\r\nMany would say she got the better deal. She walked into her first year of marriage looking forward to job stability, financial stability, a nice house and being able to avoid a lot of the problems my husband and I faced during our first year of marriage. She recently had an adorable baby boy and was able to do so without having to worry about how they were going to pay for the costs of health care. I\'m not suggesting that they didn\'t have their share of troubles that inevitably come about from two people learning to be work together as one, but the outside stressors were relatively limited for them.\r\n\r\nAs for me? Well, I walked into my first year of marriage living in a tiny one-bedroom apartment inside of a mansion that had been converted into separate living spaces. My kitchen was no more than a hallway and our \"bedroom\" was so small that we decided to make it our living room since it really only fit our TV. We lived in one of the worst neighborhoods in town since it had the cheapest rent. The neighbor across the hall was a \"sweet old lady\" and also a drug dealer. The man who lived next to us sung along drunkenly to Journey at 1:00 in the morning, which I could hear very clearly through our paper-thin walls. Upstairs there was even a prostitute who liked to loudly discuss her ventures, in great detail, outside our front window.\r\n\r\nDuring our first year, we had our front window bashed in with a rock, our car was broken into and we witnessed multiple assaults outside our front door in the hall. Our apartment was flooded (from the ceiling) two separate times because the lady two floors above us left the house with her clogged toilet running.\r\n\r\nMy husband worked two jobs: an on-call overnight shift and another day job. He would sometimes go for five days straight with no more than seven or eight hours of combined sleep. I went to school full time and worked part time. We somehow managed, through our cheap rent and eating spaghetti all the time, to make ends meet.\r\n\r\nMaybe it’s our personalities, but we somehow managed to find ways to laugh about all of it (sometimes after a few tears).\r\n\r\nWe didn\'t have it easy by any means, but our marriage is so much stronger because of it. We learned so much about each other, about how to more effectively communicate, about leaning on each other for support and most of all-- how to trust God who came through for us more times than I can count. This first year has laid an incredibly solid foundation for the rest of our future. There are so many insights into each other that we would have missed out on had our situation been like my friend\'s.\r\n\r\nReflecting on our first year of marriage, I can see just how far we’ve come. We now live in a nice house in a wonderful quiet neighborhood, my husband has a great full-time job with regular hours that he enjoys and we have a beautiful newborn daughter who has made us a family.\r\n\r\nThat year seemed like something out of a bad sitcom, but I wouldn\'t trade it for the world. If I had the option to go back in time and choose between having it be picture-perfect, or the insane mess that it was...I would choose the insane mess. I honestly can\'t fathom how a couple can manage to experience the closeness that my husband and I have <em>without </em>the cliché difficult first year of marriage; I would even go so far as to say that it is an important part of establishing that life-long bond.\r\n\r\nMarriage is more than sharing a life together; it is building a life together. Every “for worse” makes the “for better”…even better.','For better or for worse?','','inherit','open','open','','1430-revision-3','','','2011-10-29 15:13:29','2011-10-29 22:13:29','',1430,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1430-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(1439,1,'2011-10-30 16:36:31','2011-10-30 23:36:31','<strong>The first year of marriage is like wet cement — the impressions made in it are much harder to change once it has set. </strong><em>\n<strong>-Robert Wolgemuth</strong></em>\n\n<em></em>I got married, a little over a year ago, at the ripe old age of 19 to my 22-year-old fiancé.\n\nMy fiancé was from Michigan and I lived in Washington. He moved here 3 months before our wedding with no job, no place to live and only enough money to get himself over here. I was living with my parents working a temporary summer job and about to start my second year of college.\n\nNeedless to say, we started building our lives together from the ground up. Maybe even below the ground.\n\nI have a friend who got married, a little over a year ago, also at age 19. The man she married is 12 years her senior.\n\nHe has an established career, makes a decent living and owns a nice home.\n\nMany would say she got the better deal. She walked into her first year of marriage looking forward to job stability, financial stability, a nice house and being able to avoid a lot of the problems my husband and I faced during our first year of marriage. She recently had an adorable baby boy and was able to do so without having to worry about how they were going to pay for the costs of health care. I\'m not suggesting that they didn\'t have their share of troubles that inevitably come about from two people learning to be work together as one, but the outside stressors were relatively limited for them.\n\nAs for me? Well, I walked into my first year of marriage living in a tiny one-bedroom apartment inside of a mansion that had been converted into separate living spaces. My kitchen was no more than a hallway and our \"bedroom\" was so small that we decided to make it our living room since it really only fit our TV. We lived in one of the worst neighborhoods in town since it had the cheapest rent. The neighbor across the hall was a \"sweet old lady\" and also a drug dealer. The man who lived next to us sung along drunkenly to Journey at 1:00 in the morning, which I could hear very clearly through our paper-thin walls. Upstairs there was even a prostitute who liked to loudly discuss her ventures, in great detail, outside our front window.\n\nDuring our first year, we had our front window bashed in with a rock, our car was broken into and we witnessed multiple assaults outside our front door in the hall. Our apartment was flooded (from the ceiling) two separate times because the lady two floors above us left the house with her clogged toilet running.\n\nMy husband worked two jobs: an on-call overnight shift and another day job. He would sometimes go for five days straight with no more than seven or eight hours of combined sleep. I went to school full time and worked part time. We somehow managed, through our cheap rent and eating spaghetti all the time, to make ends meet.\n\nMaybe it’s our personalities, but we somehow managed to find ways to laugh about all of it (sometimes after a few tears).\n\nWe didn\'t have it easy by any means, but our marriage is so much stronger because of it. We learned so much about each other, about how to more effectively communicate, about leaning on each other for support and most of all-- how to trust God who came through for us more times than I can count. This first year has laid an incredibly solid foundation for the rest of our future. There are so many insights into each other that we would have missed out on had our situation been like my friend\'s.\n\nReflecting on our first year of marriage, I can see just how far we’ve come. We now live in a nice house in a wonderful quiet neighborhood, my husband has a great full-time job with regular hours that he enjoys and we have a beautiful newborn daughter who has made us a family. My husband and I are still each other\'s best friends and we talk about everything. We know that, if we survived the last 12 months, we can survive anything life throws at us.\n\nThat year seemed like something out of a bad sitcom, but I wouldn\'t trade it for the world. If I had the option to go back in time and choose between having it be picture-perfect, or the insane mess that it was...I would choose the insane mess. I honestly can\'t fathom how a couple can manage to experience the closeness that my husband and I have <em>without </em>the cliché difficult first year of marriage; I would even go so far as to say that it is an important part of establishing that life-long bond.\n\nMarriage is more than sharing a life together; it is building a life together. Every “for worse” makes the “for better”…even better.\n\nPhoto Credit: <a href=\"http://www.sxc.hu/profile/cjhallman\">cjhallman</a>','For better or for worse?','','inherit','open','open','','1430-autosave','','','2011-10-30 16:36:31','2011-10-30 23:36:31','',1430,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1430-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(1480,0,'2011-10-30 14:50:36','2011-10-30 21:50:36','Faith: Feminine Spirituality\r\nLife: Family + Motherhood + Divine Feminine\r\nSocial Justice: In The Home + Gender Equality\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: Vina\nAUTHOR EMAIL: vinajoybarham@gmail.com\nAUTHOR URL: http://anourishinghome.com\nSUBJECT: Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\nIP: 98.225.35.21\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; Vina\n    [Email] =&gt; vinajoybarham@gmail.com\n    [Existing Blog or Website] =&gt; anourishinghome.com\n    [List the topic you are interested writing about] =&gt; Faith: Feminine Spirituality\r\nLife: Family + Motherhood + Divine Feminine\r\nSocial Justice: In The Home + Gender Equality\n    [Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)] =&gt; vinajoywrites\n)\n','Vina - 2011-10-30 14:50:36','','publish','open','open','','87c56f251d7361cb190e8c049dbb578d','','','2011-10-30 14:50:36','2011-10-30 21:50:36','',358,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=1480',0,'feedback','',0),(1830,38,'2011-11-05 13:44:25','2011-11-05 20:44:25','Flannel graphs were the height of fun for me growing up in church. For those of you who aren’t from a church that used them relentlessly in Sunday School, they are basically large boards with panels of felt-like material covering them that are used to tell Bible stories. The flannel graph has a base scene of the sky and water, and then has various landscapes you could put over top of it for the appropriate story like a shoreline, golden streets, and a generic grassy knoll. There were cut-out felt pieces of Bible characters that the teacher would smooth onto the board once they were introduced into the story.\n\nI was born into a Christian family; everyone from my immediate family all the way up into two of my living sets of great-grandparents and all the way out into second cousins are members of the faith. I remember seeing home videos of my prune-y little newborn self in my father’s arms all ready to go to my first day of church when I was only a few days old. So almost from day one I started learning about Flannel Graph Robot Jesus in church.\n\nNow, since moving into adulthood I’ve realized that there are <a href=\"http://www.revolutionnyc.com/this-unknown-god/\">different Jesus’</a>, but I’ll tell you about the one I knew growing up. He’s got long, dark wavy locks of hair whose beauty rivals that of Fabio. His eyes are even gentler than <a href=\"http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001029/\">Jim Caviezel’s</a>, and he is always wearing impeccably white robes that make him look like he might be friends with <a href=\"http://www.meijer.com/s/dionysus-mens-plus-costume/_/R-136222;jsessionid=3701FC431A596FDCFA94290446D86120.instance04?CAWELAID=895421131&amp;cmpid=goobase\">Dionysus</a> or <a href=\"http://www.meijer.com/s/caesar-mens-plus-costume/_/R-116666\">Julius Caesar</a>.\n\nThe reason I call him “Flannel Graph Robot Jesus” is because until college I didn’t really regard him as human. Of course, everyone says he was fully human and fully God, but I mostly stuck to the God part. The way I always read passages from Bible, it seemed like Jesus was always standing around and monologuing to his disciples in his best “Thank you for shopping at Home Depot, we hope you enjoyed your stay” manly robot voice.  For example, in Luke 11 a little while after Jesus casts out a demon that was making a man mute, he says this:\n\n\"No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.\" (Luke 11:33-35,ESV)\n\nIf someone asked me what this means I would tell them that what we choose to look at goes into our minds and informs not only our bodies but our character. Things we see don’t usually leave us; you can’t “un-see” something. So Jesus here is warning us to be cautious about looking at things that might not be wholesome because you can’t really remove that image once it’s in your mind.\n\nI can say that, having internalized the message and paraphrasing it, but I can’t quite picture Jesus saying in a human way, like someone like my Dad would. I can imagine my Dad telling me this, using his hands when he talked, his hazel eyes engaged in the conversation, and chuckling slightly as he says “You can’t ‘un-see’ something.” In my mind, Jesus has a robot voice, occasionally extends his hand like a Ken doll to illustrate his point, and then is done. I don’t see him chuckling, or see a glint in his eye or any emotion attached to the verse. This isn’t anyone fault—it’s just a product of the language structure in the verses—but it does become a barrier to having a “relationship” with Jesus. I think this is why The Message translation of the Bible was so revolutionary to people when it came out. It was full of the emotion and regular English we could all relate to that we struggled to find in mainstream translations.\n\nIt wasn’t until after I came home from a mission trip and started hanging out in an informal Bible study with some of my team members that I realized that Jesus was full of emotion and expression just like I am.  For example, when Salome, the mother of James and John comes to Jesus and asks that her sons be placed either side of Jesus in his kingdom, Robot Jesus says: \"You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink […]You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.\" (Matthew 20:20-23, ESV)\n\nHuman Jesus might have been a bit flabbergasted, maybe laughed nervously and then said “Well… You have no idea what you just asked for. Do you think they can handle the journey that I’m meant to take? Well, in that case, you’ll come with me on this path, but I can’t guarantee anyone seats and my right and left hand because those are reserved for my Dad to pick.”\n\nDo you see how much more human that is? When the language is brought into forms that you and I can relate to, we suddenly can hear the emotions that he might have expressed. We see countless other examples of situations like this where Jesus is frustrated, sarcastic, cryptic, sweet, protective, and angry. If I don’t remember to do this mental translation on a regular basis I forget the part about Jesus being fully human.  Now, this doesn’t mean that Robot Jesus is bad or that the Bible is written improperly because it’s not. I only bring this up because this kind of robot-to-human translation was really critical for me to move from seeing Jesus as a 2D flannel character to seeing him as a real man who understands the human experience.\n\nIf Jesus didn’t experience a wide range of feelings just like the rest of us do, he becomes an actor just going through the motions on our stage.  Without a blood pumping muscle, he becomes just another cold guy monologuing like any good cartoon character.\n\nI think the author of “<a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Flunking-Sainthood-Breaking-Forgetting-Neighbor/dp/1557256608/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1320525173&amp;sr=8-1\">Flunking Sainthood</a>”, Jana Reiss, said it best when <a href=\"http://blog.beliefnet.com/flunkingsainthood/2011/11/jesus-and-superman-do-we-really-need-the-backstory.html#ixzz1cqYthmuM\">she said</a> “I like my Jesus like I like my Superman: socially conscious, tough, and super-powered, sure, but still relatable, still someone who suffers the same heartache we all do, simultaneously completely super and completely human.”','Flannel Graph Robot Jesus','','inherit','open','open','','1826-revision-3','','','2011-11-05 13:44:25','2011-11-05 20:44:25','',1826,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/05/1826-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(2221,96,'2011-11-14 07:26:24','0000-00-00 00:00:00','A year ago my husband and I did a 4-part series on Islam at a large church in the greater Boston area. We had been asked to do the series for a couple of reasons, one being my husband\'s position as an Administrative officer for an Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University. The second, more important reason was our background of living in the Middle East and Pakistan and our work and friendships with Muslims for many years.\r\n\r\nWe knew before beginning the series that we could be walking into difficult territory. The misconceptions and media misinformation on Islam since 9/11 is prolific and we have found few who have traveled, lived and worked in Muslim countries willing to speak into the issue with truth and grace.','The Mystery and Miracle of Grace','','draft','open','open','','','','','2011-11-14 07:26:24','2011-11-14 15:26:24','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=2221',0,'post','',0),(1443,58,'2011-10-29 16:52:04','2011-10-29 23:52:04','&nbsp;\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Recently, I heard a speaker make reference to Schrodinger’s Cat. For those who don’t know, or don’t care to look it up on Wikipedia, Schrodinger’s Cat references a hypothetical experiment which supposes that a cat, placed into a sealed box containing a tablet of cyanide as well as a small vial of acid dripping onto the tablet, could, during the duration of and/or at the conclusion of the experiment, be either alive or dead - or in a state of flux of both states at the same time - because we are uncertain if the tablet has or has not broken open and therefore killed the cat. Since we cannot know for certain, the cat is simultaneously both dead and alive according to quantum law, in a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and learn the condition of the cat that the superposition is lost, and the cat becomes one or the other (dead or alive). This situation is sometimes called quantum indeterminacy or the observer\'s paradox: the observation or measurement itself affects an outcome, so that the outcome as such does not exist unless the measurement is made. That is, there is no single outcome unless it is observed.</span></span>\n\n</div>\n&nbsp;\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\">\n</span>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\"><strong>And we thought that when it came to boxes, Pandora had it bad. </strong></span></span>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\">\n</span>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Individuals such as myself who grew up reading comic books as well as watching and reading science fiction tend to be a bit comfortable discussing concepts like Schrodinger’s Cat, mainly because we’ve already opened our minds up to the probability of an infinite diversity of infinite combinations. When the answer to a question of “Is it A, or is it B?” turns out to be “Yes,” it can be maddening to some people who are more dualistic in their thinking, especially in their theology.</span></span>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\">\n</span>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\">To take this analogy to a point of a spiritual parallel, imagine yourself as the cat, the redemptive grace of the cross as the cyanide pellet, and the dripping acid as the Holy Spirit. For believers, at some point in our life’s journey, we invite grace (Christ) into the box of our lives. The acid drip comes with the grace, and interacts with and releases the power contained in the pellet. However, some individuals - with every head bowed and every eye closed – may simply raise a hand and have a sealed pellet placed into their box. The power remains there, waiting. The power remains there, offered. But the power remains not acted upon. Ironically enough, releasing the power within the cyanide pellet, which normally would kill, allows the “cat” to become alive, but only when it dies to self.</span></span>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\">\n</span>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Grace tends to express itself as a more pluralistic concept than a dualistic one. Again, for some, this can be maddening, and yet somehow simultaneously comforting in the inexplicable nature of it all. However, if this same grace, which is freely offered and freely taken, is not acted upon, in, and within our lives, our grace is basically dead.<strong> Cheap, some might call it. </strong></span></span>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\">\n</span>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Sometimes the boxes we live in are sealed by us to guard against the prying eyes of others. Maybe we simply haven’t learned that it’s okay to take off the box lid for others to see the experiment take place. We may be afraid of letting others discover that our cat isn’t the full-blooded Persian we have made it out to be, but is instead a mixed tabby. Regardless, we are called to show and display this grace we have invited in to be active. Matthew 5:14-16 states,<em> “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”</em></span></span>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\">\n</span>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Observing the experiment does indeed change the outcome. Observing someone who claims to be a follower should affect both how the observed and the observer interact with one other as well as what can be inferred about the presence of grace within the believer’s life. We’re called to be observed, and not live in sealed boxes. 2 Corinthians 9:13 states, <em>“Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” </em>This is the essence of community life, which we as believers are made to live and serve in.</span></span>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\">\n</span>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\">We can’t just live in our box, looking at the pellet, pawing it every so often. We have to actively allow the pellet be broken, releasing what it contains and letting it spill into and over us. We have to let observations take place, no matter how much it might inconvenience or annoy us to be observed. </span></span>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\">\n</span>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Otherwise our faith, our grace, and our redemption is like nothing more than a dead cat in a sealed box.</span></span>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\">\n</span>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\"><strong>Both of which, after a short time, will stink.</strong></span></span>\n<div><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\"><strong>\n</strong></span></span></div>\n</div>\n<div></div>','Schrodinger\'s Cross','','inherit','open','open','','1442-revision','','','2011-10-29 16:52:04','2011-10-29 23:52:04','',1442,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1442-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1445,58,'2011-10-29 16:52:41','2011-10-29 23:52:41','&nbsp;\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Recently, I heard a speaker make reference to Schrodinger’s Cat. For those who don’t know, or don’t care to look it up on Wikipedia, Schrodinger’s Cat references a hypothetical experiment which supposes that a cat, placed into a sealed box containing a tablet of cyanide as well as a small vial of acid dripping onto the tablet, could, during the duration of and/or at the conclusion of the experiment, be either alive or dead - or in a state of flux of both states at the same time - because we are uncertain if the tablet has or has not broken open and therefore killed the cat. Since we cannot know for certain, the cat is simultaneously both dead and alive according to quantum law, in a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and learn the condition of the cat that the superposition is lost, and the cat becomes one or the other (dead or alive). This situation is sometimes called quantum indeterminacy or the observer\'s paradox: the observation or measurement itself affects an outcome, so that the outcome as such does not exist unless the measurement is made. That is, there is no single outcome unless it is observed.</span></span>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\">\r\n</span>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\"><strong>And we thought that when it came to boxes, Pandora had it bad. </strong></span></span>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\">\r\n</span>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Individuals such as myself who grew up reading comic books as well as watching and reading science fiction tend to be a bit comfortable discussing concepts like Schrodinger’s Cat, mainly because we’ve already opened our minds up to the probability of an infinite diversity of infinite combinations. When the answer to a question of “Is it A, or is it B?” turns out to be “Yes,” it can be maddening to some people who are more dualistic in their thinking, especially in their theology.</span></span>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\">\r\n</span>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\">To take this analogy to a point of a spiritual parallel, imagine yourself as the cat, the redemptive grace of the cross as the cyanide pellet, and the dripping acid as the Holy Spirit. For believers, at some point in our life’s journey, we invite grace (Christ) into the box of our lives. The acid drip comes with the grace, and interacts with and releases the power contained in the pellet. However, some individuals - with every head bowed and every eye closed – may simply raise a hand and have a sealed pellet placed into their box. The power remains there, waiting. The power remains there, offered. But the power remains not acted upon. Ironically enough, releasing the power within the cyanide pellet, which normally would kill, allows the “cat” to become alive, but only when it dies to self.</span></span>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\">\r\n</span>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Grace tends to express itself as a more pluralistic concept than a dualistic one. Again, for some, this can be maddening, and yet somehow simultaneously comforting in the inexplicable nature of it all. However, if this same grace, which is freely offered and freely taken, is not acted upon, in, and within our lives, our grace is basically dead.<strong> Cheap, some might call it. </strong></span></span>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\">\r\n</span>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Sometimes the boxes we live in are sealed by us to guard against the prying eyes of others. Maybe we simply haven’t learned that it’s okay to take off the box lid for others to see the experiment take place. We may be afraid of letting others discover that our cat isn’t the full-blooded Persian we have made it out to be, but is instead a mixed tabby. Regardless, we are called to show and display this grace we have invited in to be active. Matthew 5:14-16 states,<em> “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”</em></span></span>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\">\r\n</span>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Observing the experiment does indeed change the outcome. Observing someone who claims to be a follower should affect both how the observed and the observer interact with one other as well as what can be inferred about the presence of grace within the believer’s life. We’re called to be observed, and not live in sealed boxes. 2 Corinthians 9:13 states, <em>“Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” </em>This is the essence of community life, which we as believers are made to live and serve in.</span></span>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\">\r\n</span>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\">We can’t just live in our box, looking at the pellet, pawing it every so often. We have to actively allow the pellet be broken, releasing what it contains and letting it spill into and over us. We have to let observations take place, no matter how much it might inconvenience or annoy us to be observed. </span></span>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\">\r\n</span>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Otherwise our faith, our grace, and our redemption is like nothing more than a dead cat in a sealed box.</span></span>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\">\r\n</span>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\"><strong>Both of which, after a short time, will stink.</strong></span></span>\r\n<div><span style=\"font-family: Verdana, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-family: Verdana\"><strong>\r\n</strong></span></span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div></div>','Schrodinger\'s Cross','','inherit','open','open','','1442-revision-2','','','2011-10-29 16:52:41','2011-10-29 23:52:41','',1442,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1442-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(1444,20,'2011-10-29 16:57:32','2011-10-29 23:57:32','I’m usually pretty good about being conscious of what I buy and what I eat – taking an interest in where things are made, by who, for how much, and so on.  And yet, I’m still a consumer.  I might purchase fair trade coffee and chocolate, but I’m still addicted to coffee and chocolate.  My wife tries to shop only for clothes made in the U.S., but she still really likes to shop.   So I started wondering how much of this is just human, and how much of it is culturally constructed.\n\nDespite the fact that many Christians themselves get caught up in this pattern of behavior, there seems to at least be some level of awareness in the church about the problem.  This is a good thing.  Less understood though is the extent to which society is able to increasingly produce in us an insatiable desire for consumption in the first place.  You also hear the word materialism, but this could be a misnomer.  Material-ism implies the absolutization of the material, when in fact the lie we are fed is that the material offers something else: happiness, fulfillment... a certain image or experience.In their genuine intent to encourage counter-culturalism, we might hear pastors talk about the innate human drive to always want more.  But how much of this is rooted in a universal anthropology vs. just a modern Western phenomenon now gone viral?  I mean, people aren\'t just born with preferences for television sets.  Our preferences typically  emerge from a context of social relations.\n\nOf course there is a difference between our basic needs and deepest desires.  Theological anthropology has said that human beings live with a kind of openness directed toward possibility in the world, always becoming and searching.  Some people say there is a \"God-shaped hole\" in each us - a void.  This too can be a good a thing.  But this desire can be distorted.  It can be harnessed by globalizing market forces in such a way as to induce complacency in our individualism and trivialize any concern about our unsustainable standard of living.\n\nEven more troubling, this desire is very difficult to control.  Theologian <a title=\"Joerg Rieger homepage\" href=\"http://www.joergrieger.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Joerg Rieger</a> argues that in today\'s world the drive to consume is frequently propelled by economic mechanisms and reinforced by the advertising industry.  The deceit of this system is increasingly taken for granted.  Obviously recognizing this, one of my former seminary professors Roger Olson recently wrote a <a title=\"Can a Christian Work in the Marketing Field?\" href=\"www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2011/10/can-a-christian-work-in-the-marketing-field/\" target=\"_blank\">blog post</a> asking whether Christians should even work in the marketing field at all!  Rieger further contends that economic and religious desires often parallel each other.  This is illustrated by the way we tend to project our desires and ideals from the physical world onto the divine and thus replace the transcendent God with an idol.  If desire is shaped by the production of wealth in a given society, this process can have a subconscious effect on people’s deepest convictions and ultimate values.  This means that the way culture teaches us to view wealth has a tremendous impact on the kind of people we become - not to even mention the potential social costs that can be incurred on society\'s most vulnerable citizens as a result.\n\nAs communities that are supposed to be convicting, healing and nurturing us on the path to holiness, churches have a vital part to play in resisting co-optation by the marketplace.  Sadly it’s not uncommon, however, for Christian congregations to become complicit in the cycle of consuming and selling as well, even if only in very subtle ways.  To a degree this might be unavoidable, but it’s imperative for us to be sensitized and attentive to how we succumb to various addictive, superimposed desires.  I’m interested in how the church can be a place that enables Christians to subvert the status quo in this regard.  I know there are many tangible ways to do this, but I’m curious as to what others have seen and discovered about how our local practice can transcend systems that resist and suppress change.   And this is the other questions I\'m really wrestling with right now: should our faith communities primarily strive to create alternative economies under the shadow of empire, so to speak, or should we actually strive to have transformative agency at the state-political level?  Is it both/and?  Does the latter usually risk too much division and compromise?  What am I missing?','That to Which Your Heart Clings, Part I: Diagnosing Consumerism   ','','inherit','open','open','','1148-revision-25','','','2011-10-29 16:57:32','2011-10-29 23:57:32','',1148,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1148-revision-25/',0,'revision','',0),(2788,1,'2011-11-30 00:17:06','2011-11-30 08:17:06','','Jim_Palmer1','','inherit','open','open','','jim_palmer1','','','2011-11-30 00:17:06','2011-11-30 08:17:06','',2679,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Jim_Palmer1.png',0,'attachment','image/png',0),(2789,1,'2011-11-28 13:26:04','2011-11-28 21:26:04','<a href=\"http://www.facebook.com/Nobody.JimPalmer\" target=\"_blank\">Jim Palmer</a> has always been an <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iconoclast\" target=\"_blank\">iconoclast</a> of sorts. A wildly popular writer of the book <em><a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Nobodies-Shedding-Religion-unlikely/dp/0849913985\" target=\"_blank\">Divine Nobodies</a></em>, which asked what it meant to shed religion and follow Jesus, Jim emblazoned a new but very old trail and captured the imagination of a restless and growing audience. With his follow up work, <em><a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Wide-Open-Spaces-Paint-Number/dp/0849913993\" target=\"_blank\">Wide Open Spaces</a></em>, Jim continued the the journey he started by asking what it meant to discover and experience God beyond religion.  Those two books led Jim into a wild journey of highs and lows, and eventually to his newest project, <em><a href=\"With the upcoming release of Jim\'s newest book, Being Jesus In Nashville\" target=\"_blank\">Being Jesus In Nashville.</a></em>\r\n\r\nJim is now launching into new territory as a writer, a human being, and a self-published author.  In this three part interview, I got to ask Jim some questions about his experience as a writer, his latest book fiasco, and what it means to self-publish outside the system.\r\n\r\n[question]You’ve experienced some of the ultimate highs and lows as a writer and as a human being.  Can you share a little about these experiences and what did you learn through that experience?[/question]\r\n\r\n[answer]\r\n\r\nIt makes me nervous to be referred to as a “widely acclaimed author.” After writing <em>Divine Nobodies</em> in 2006 I was declared the “next Don Miller,” and following <em>Wide Open Spaces </em>I was dubbed the “next great spiritual writer.” That’s a lot of pressure for a guy who wrote his first two books in his one-car garage, using the hunt and peck method on his decrepit laptop!\r\n\r\nI didn’t plan to be an author and wasn’t seeking to be published when a guy at a publishing house began reading my blog and asked if I’d ever thought of writing a book.  One thing led to another and a major publisher took the risk of signing an unknown nobody author like me.  I was so stoked about my new career as a writer that my <em>Divine Nobodies</em> manuscript was 10,000 words over the prescribed word count. Word count, shmord count – I had something to say that humankind needed to hear, however long it was!! I was sure my publisher would agree. Well, not exactly. I remember the morning my editor informed me of all the chapters that would be nixed. Humankind survived somehow… barely.\r\n\r\n[/answer]\r\n\r\n[question]Was your next book easier?[/question]\r\n\r\n[answer]\r\n\r\nYou’d think with one book under my belt, the next one would be easier. It wasn’t. I didn’t want to be one of those “one-hit-wonders.” I had to live up to <em>Divine Nobodies</em>, which had unusual success as the first book of a largely unknown author… okay, COMPLETELY unknown author. Whereas my first book told my shedding religion story, the follow-up book, <em>Wide Open Spaces</em>, was the story of living into the alternative. Of all the chapters I expected to be problematic, it was the chapter about church that my publisher asked that I re-write.  There was also a lot of attention placed on how I was wording things because they feared it sounded too “universalistic.”\r\n\r\nIt was during the writing of <em>Wide Open Spaces</em> that I first began feeling hemmed in. I recognized that there might be a battle brewing between my spiritual evolution and what a conservative Christian publishing house would allow. Despite my Masters of Divinity degree, I’m a storyteller, not a theologian, but increasingly I was being asked to clarify my doctrine.\r\n\r\n[/answer]\r\n\r\n[question]Did this process affect you?[/question]\r\n\r\n[answer]\r\n\r\nBeing an author didn’t line up well with my neurosis, which included wanting everyone to like me, and taking everything personally. I don’t do constructive criticism so well either. I didn’t sleep for two nights after my first negative Amazon review. I wanted to contact him try to explain what he took issue with. I’ve never read another review since then. I don’t want to know.\r\n\r\n[/answer]\r\n\r\n[question]What makes you a great writer?[/question]\r\n\r\n[answer]\r\n\r\nI don’t think I’m such a great writer. My first drafts are normally a train wreck, and I do a ton of re-write. I think people probably like my books because they can relate to my kooky humanity. I seem to embolden people to press deeper and permission to be who they are, however messy that might seem to some.\r\n\r\n[/answer]\r\n\r\n[question]But your first book did really, really well?[/question]\r\n\r\n[answer]\r\n\r\nIt was strange after <em>Wide Open Spaces</em> to have multiple publishers bidding for my next book contract. They were particularly interested upon hearing about my 1-year experiment to be Jesus in Nashville – not Jesus <em>and</em> Jim but Jesus <em>as </em>Jim. I wanted to know how much of Jesus’ life could be pulled off as Jim Palmer. Where did Jesus stop and Jim begin? Or was that just an imaginary line that I created? And if it was an imaginary line, did that mean God and I could be one in the same way as Jesus? The idea had traction, especially if it meant I was going to attempt to heal people or try other Jesus-esque miracles or do something radial like live among the homeless in order to serve the “least of these.”\r\n\r\n[/answer]\r\n\r\n[question]And you published with Zondervan.[/question]\r\n\r\n[answer]\r\n\r\nUltimately I signed with Zondervan Publishing because they expressed strong interest in connecting with a reading audience beyond the typical mainstream Christian crowd. My tribe, who has shared this journey with me the last several years, are ordinary people, mostly from a Christian background, who have been shedding religion and no longer support the view of Jesus and Christian living promoted by the institutional church. Many in my tribe follow Jesus but do not subscribe to organized Christianity.\r\n\r\nI signed that contract with Zondervan in August of 2008. It was a 2-book deal; the first book, <em>Being Jesus in Nashville</em>. I could have never predicted what transpired in living and writing this book. The deaths of my mother and close friend were devastating. Shortly after, I had two near-death experiences of my own. To this day, I don’t know how I managed to have survived either one of them.\r\n\r\nDespite the heartache and turmoil of these and other experiences, I turned in my manuscript to Zondervan Publishing on February 21, 2011. Though they undergone considerable turnover, I had worked with 3 different managing editors, I had never received any indication that there was a problem with my manuscript. But on March 29<sup>th</sup> I received an email from Zondervan claiming that my book, similar to the firestorm of heresy charges leveled against Bell, did not “lie within the bounds of biblical, orthodox Christianity.” Zondervan rejected my manuscript and then informed me they were canceling my contract, to which I had no recourse because of a no-arbitration clause in the contract.\r\n\r\n[/answer]\r\n\r\n[question]That must have been devastating.[/question]\r\n\r\n[answer]\r\n\r\nHaving only received an initial advance when I signed the contract in 2008, I was eager to be paid my next installment. As a self-employed author, it was customary for me to live on credit and pay off my balance each time I received my next book payment. I had done almost three years of writing without getting paid and I desperately needed that next check to straighten out my financial obligations. In addition to not being paid, Zondervan demanded I pay back the advance I received in 2008. The combination of all of that meant I lost $80,000 one flail swoop. It was too much to absorb. I either faced eviction and becoming homeless, or file bankruptcy.\r\n\r\n[/answer]\r\n\r\n[question]How did you respond?[/question]\r\n\r\n[answer]\r\n\r\nHonestly, if it was just me I might have opted to become homeless or sleep on a friend’s couch for an extended period of time. But it wasn’t just me; I have a 12-year-old daughter. There are several things I just figured would never happen in my life. Filing bankruptcy was one of them. Once I dealt with my personal feelings of failure about it, I became more aware and compassionate for those in financial crisis. I discovered a side of humanity that I had not known before in bankruptcy court as I sat and heard the stories of those who went before us.\r\n\r\n[/answer]\r\n\r\n[question]In other words, you lived some of the same suffering as Jesus.[/question]\r\n\r\n[answer]\r\n\r\nThe whole ordeal of losing my book contract and filing bankruptcy forced me to confront a story about myself that I’ve been carrying since childhood that I’m a failure. I’m not out of the woods on that one yet; some stories die hard. Surviving my two near-death experiences was transformational, which I write about in the book. There was a Jim Palmer who died in that car, and someone different who was pulled out alive.\r\n\r\n[/answer]\r\n\r\nIn part 2, we\'ll allow Jim to unpack his writing experience with Zondervan a little more and why his book was rejected.  Stay tuned.','Author Jim Palmer Uncensored - Part 1','','inherit','open','open','','2679-revision-13','','','2011-11-28 13:26:04','2011-11-28 21:26:04','',2679,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/28/2679-revision-13/',0,'revision','',0),(1842,96,'2011-11-07 07:27:33','2011-11-07 15:27:33','Eid Al Adha is celebrated by Muslims around the world today. The number of Muslims in the United States is estimated in the millions, many quiet about their faith for fear of repercussions and misunderstanding. Learning about the truth claims of this faith is an important piece to building bridges. Just as Christians do not want to be stereotyped, so it is with Muslims. Stereotyping puts people into a sealed box, disallowing real conversation and putting up a barrier to grace and understanding.\r\n\r\nOur family spent many years living in the Muslim world and as I think about this celebration for Muslims, I am taken back to our years in Cairo where we learned valuable lessons on community and faith, one time through the love of a sheep.\r\n\r\nThe sheep had made it’s home in the bottom of our stairwell. With pleading brown eyes and a plaintive “BAA” it made its way into the hearts of our kids, an instant love affair. With the absence of a pet of their own, they were vulnerable to this beast, seemingly brought by God to their stairwell.\r\n\r\nThe trouble is, the sheep had an ordained purpose. It would serve as the sacrificial sheep for Eid Al Adha, Feast of Sacrifice, and the most important religious feast of the year for Muslims. Eid Al Adha is a big deal. The Eid celebration concludes the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca and one of the five pillars of Islam. New clothes, days off from work and school, visiting, and a feast were all part of the celebration.\r\n\r\nWe were living in Cairo, Egypt and our small walk-up apartment was in the middle of a regular neighborhood. Our friends and neighbors were beginning the preparations for the feast which would be in a couple of weeks. The preparation included the purchase and fattening of a sheep, goat, camel or cow, depending on the availability of any or all of those animals. We were guests in the country of Egypt, brought there for a job at the American University in Cairo. We had fallen in love with the people and city of Cairo. It was big, it was crazy, it was loud, it was dirty, it was chaotic and in a few short months it had become home. We were slowly building friendships with both expatriates from all over the world as well as Egyptians. Our children were magnets for friendship and had helped us navigate our new world simply by their wide-eyed acceptance of all of life.\r\n\r\nThe sheep was posing a different sort of problem. I knew that this was not a pet. The sheep was blissfully being fattened, unaware of the imminent slaughter as our neighbors counted down the days to the celebration. Daily leftovers from the sheep’s diet could be seen in the stairwell and we had to dodge bits of vegetables every time we went up or down the stairs. And then the day came.\r\n\r\nAs we walked out of our apartment, the silence was evidence that the sheep was no more. “Where’s our sheep? What happened to the sheep? Will it come back” The questions came rapidly through the mouths of confused kindergarten and pre-schoolers. I took a deep breath. I wanted to lie. But we were living in this country for a purpose, we didn’t want to live in a bubble of western thought and belief, we wanted to build friendships and with the friendships, increase understanding.\r\n\r\nI began to explain to my children that the sheep had been killed. That it was symbolic of sacrifice for our Muslim friends and that on this, their feast day, they would eat the sheep and invite us to eat with them. As is often the case with children, when allowed to hear the truth, they accepted the reality. The neighbors were important to all of us. We were living in neighborhood and community, and that meant eating a “pet” sheep for an Eid celebration.  I needn\'t have worried. There was an acceptance, indicative of kids who already knew the world was bigger then their particular safety zone, and after a few sniffles we were ready to go out and wish people an \"<em>Eid Mubarak</em>\"\r\n\r\nI often think about those years and my children’s trusting acceptance of the fate of the sheep, understanding that our neighbors and friends were of far more value than the sheep that had made its way into our stairwell and our hearts. It seemed like a little thing at the time, but I don\'t think it was. It was part of the daily commitment to seeing people as more important than ideas, or arguments, or sheep, and in doing so slowly pulling out a nail from the coffin of misunderstanding.','Eid Al Adha: Loving Our Neighbor More than His Sheep ','','publish','open','open','','eid-al-adha-loving-our-neighbor-more-than-his-sheep','','','2011-11-07 07:28:00','2011-11-07 15:28:00','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1842',0,'post','',2),(1449,81,'2011-10-31 08:00:01','2011-10-31 15:00:01','Place yourself into the position of the soldiers that went to battle alongside Gideon. You are part of the biggest army that the nation of Israel has ever been able to assemble, and you are going to defend your nation against these enemies that seemingly never stop coming to attack your nation.\r\n\r\nAll of a sudden Gideon comes from some quiet time, and he tells half of the army to go home. You are still one of the lucky ones that will be part of the army to defend your nation.\r\n\r\nThis scenario plays itself out a couple of time, until there is only about 300 men left. The hope that you had to win this battle is all but gone, you are starting to shake in your sandals, but still you keep a little bit of faith. You do however think how crazy this Gideon is, this man that was nothing before this battle.\r\n\r\nAll of a sudden this man comes from another session of quiet time, and he tells these 300 men to leave their swords at home.\r\n\r\nWhat the heck!\r\n\r\nIs this man totally crazy?\r\n\r\nAfter the battle these 300 men can\'t stop talking about how amazing God is. That He helped them defeat this army with vases filled with fire and some trumpets. All of these men have forgotten about the doubt that they had before they walked into this battle, with no weapons but musical instruments.\r\n\r\nIf you read the Bible, it is filled with heretics. With people that went against all common sense, but in the end did great things. These people changed their immediate world by being a heretic. By going against everything they are told to do by the authorities at the time.\r\n\r\nWhy did they do it?\r\n\r\nTo understand why Gideon was completely obedient to what God told is, is probably because God showed Himself to Gideon through the sheep skin, without a doubt, and Gideon simply did not have any other choice but to have faith.\r\n\r\nIn the day we live in, we seldom get confirmation like Gideon did, but do we still have faith to follow God\'s call? When God says go, do we go, or do we rather say things like: what about my job, what about my family, what about this, what about that?\r\n\r\nI firmly believe we need to get back to following the heretics of out time. By following those that does the easy thing, we are missing out on so much. There is more to life than sitting in a office all day, dreaming about doing other things. If you truly believe you have to do something, go after it, in spite of what the person in the cubicle next to you say.\r\n\r\n<em><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> By no means am I saying that doing a normal job is wrong, it is after all also given by God. I simply encounter so many people in my life that want something else, but are to afraid to pursue their God given dreams.</em>','Following the Heretic','','publish','open','open','','following-the-heretic','','','2011-10-30 16:39:39','2011-10-30 23:39:39','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1449',0,'post','',1),(1450,81,'2011-10-30 00:28:26','2011-10-30 07:28:26','Place yourself into the position of the soldiers that went to battle alongside Gideon. You are part of the biggest army that the nation of Israel has ever been able to assemble, and you are going to defend your nation against these enemies that seemingly never stop coming to attack your nation.\n\nAll of a sudden Gideon comes from some quiet time, and he tells half of the army to go home. You are still one of the lucky ones that will be part of the army to defend your nation.\n\nThis scenario plays itself out a couple of time, until there is only about 300 men left. The hope that you had to win this battle is all but gone, you are starting to shake in your sandals, but still you keep a little bit of faith. You do however think how crazy this Gideon is, this man that was nothing before this battle.\n\nAll of a sudden this man comes from another session of quiet time, and he tells these 300 men to leave their swords at home.\n\nWhat the heck!\n\nIs this man totally crazy?\n\nAfter the battle these 300 men can\'t stop talking about how amazing God is. That He helped them defeat this army with vases filled with fire and some trumpets. All of these men have forgotten about the doubt that they had before they walked into this battle, with no weapons but musical instruments.\n\nIf you read the Bible, it is filled with heretics. With people that went against all common sense, but in the end did great things.','Following the Heretic','','inherit','open','open','','1449-revision','','','2011-10-30 00:28:26','2011-10-30 07:28:26','',1449,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1449-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1451,81,'2011-10-30 00:48:59','2011-10-30 07:48:59','','follow heretic','Photo by Mohamed Riffath','inherit','open','open','','follow-heretic','','','2011-10-30 00:48:59','2011-10-30 07:48:59','',1449,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/follow-heretic.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1452,81,'2011-10-30 00:43:15','2011-10-30 07:43:15','Place yourself into the position of the soldiers that went to battle alongside Gideon. You are part of the biggest army that the nation of Israel has ever been able to assemble, and you are going to defend your nation against these enemies that seemingly never stop coming to attack your nation.\n\nAll of a sudden Gideon comes from some quiet time, and he tells half of the army to go home. You are still one of the lucky ones that will be part of the army to defend your nation.\n\nThis scenario plays itself out a couple of time, until there is only about 300 men left. The hope that you had to win this battle is all but gone, you are starting to shake in your sandals, but still you keep a little bit of faith. You do however think how crazy this Gideon is, this man that was nothing before this battle.\n\nAll of a sudden this man comes from another session of quiet time, and he tells these 300 men to leave their swords at home.\n\nWhat the heck!\n\nIs this man totally crazy?\n\nAfter the battle these 300 men can\'t stop talking about how amazing God is. That He helped them defeat this army with vases filled with fire and some trumpets. All of these men have forgotten about the doubt that they had before they walked into this battle, with no weapons but musical instruments.\n\nIf you read the Bible, it is filled with heretics. With people that went against all common sense, but in the end did great things. These people changed their immediate world by being a heretic. By going against everything they are told to do by the authorities at the time.\n\nWhy did they do it?\n\nTo understand why Gideon was completely obedient to what God told is, is probably because God showed Himself to Gideon through the sheep skin, without a doubt, and Gideon simply did not have any other choice but to have faith.\n\nIn the day we live in, we seldom get confirmation like Gideon did, but do we still have faith to follow God\'s call? When God says go, do we go, or do we rather say things like: what about my job, what about my family, what about this, what about that?\n\nI firmly believe we need to get back to following the heretics of out time. By following those that does the easy thing, we are missing out on so much. There is more to life than sitting in a office all day, dreaming about doing other things. If you truly believe you have to do something, go after it, in spite of what the person in the cubicle next to you say.\n\n<em><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> By no means am I saying that doing a normal job is wrong, it is after all also given by God. I simply encounter so many people in my life that want something else, but are to afraid to pursue their God given dreams.</em>','Following the Heretic','','inherit','open','open','','1449-revision-2','','','2011-10-30 00:43:15','2011-10-30 07:43:15','',1449,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1449-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(1453,81,'2011-10-30 00:53:25','2011-10-30 07:53:25','Place yourself into the position of the soldiers that went to battle alongside Gideon. You are part of the biggest army that the nation of Israel has ever been able to assemble, and you are going to defend your nation against these enemies that seemingly never stop coming to attack your nation.\n\nAll of a sudden Gideon comes from some quiet time, and he tells half of the army to go home. You are still one of the lucky ones that will be part of the army to defend your nation.\n\nThis scenario plays itself out a couple of time, until there is only about 300 men left. The hope that you had to win this battle is all but gone, you are starting to shake in your sandals, but still you keep a little bit of faith. You do however think how crazy this Gideon is, this man that was nothing before this battle.\n\nAll of a sudden this man comes from another session of quiet time, and he tells these 300 men to leave their swords at home.\n\nWhat the heck!\n\nIs this man totally crazy?\n\nAfter the battle these 300 men can\'t stop talking about how amazing God is. That He helped them defeat this army with vases filled with fire and some trumpets. All of these men have forgotten about the doubt that they had before they walked into this battle, with no weapons but musical instruments.\n\nIf you read the Bible, it is filled with heretics. With people that went against all common sense, but in the end did great things. These people changed their immediate world by being a heretic. By going against everything they are told to do by the authorities at the time.\n\nWhy did they do it?\n\nTo understand why Gideon was completely obedient to what God told is, is probably because God showed Himself to Gideon through the sheep skin, without a doubt, and Gideon simply did not have any other choice but to have faith.\n\nIn the day we live in, we seldom get confirmation like Gideon did, but do we still have faith to follow God\'s call? When God says go, do we go, or do we rather say things like: what about my job, what about my family, what about this, what about that?\n\nI firmly believe we need to get back to following the heretics of out time. By following those that does the easy thing, we are missing out on so much. There is more to life than sitting in a office all day, dreaming about doing other things. If you truly believe you have to do something, go after it, in spite of what the person in the cubicle next to you say.\n\n<em><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> By no means am I saying that doing a normal job is wrong, it is after all also given by God. I simply encounter so many people in my life that want something else, but are to afraid to pursue their God given dreams.</em>','Following the Heretic','','inherit','open','open','','1449-revision-3','','','2011-10-30 00:53:25','2011-10-30 07:53:25','',1449,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1449-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(1454,81,'2011-10-30 01:00:23','2011-10-30 08:00:23','Place yourself into the position of the soldiers that went to battle alongside Gideon. You are part of the biggest army that the nation of Israel has ever been able to assemble, and you are going to defend your nation against these enemies that seemingly never stop coming to attack your nation.\n\nAll of a sudden Gideon comes from some quiet time, and he tells half of the army to go home. You are still one of the lucky ones that will be part of the army to defend your nation.\n\nThis scenario plays itself out a couple of time, until there is only about 300 men left. The hope that you had to win this battle is all but gone, you are starting to shake in your sandals, but still you keep a little bit of faith. You do however think how crazy this Gideon is, this man that was nothing before this battle.\n\nAll of a sudden this man comes from another session of quiet time, and he tells these 300 men to leave their swords at home.\n\nWhat the heck!\n\nIs this man totally crazy?\n\nAfter the battle these 300 men can\'t stop talking about how amazing God is. That He helped them defeat this army with vases filled with fire and some trumpets. All of these men have forgotten about the doubt that they had before they walked into this battle, with no weapons but musical instruments.\n\nIf you read the Bible, it is filled with heretics. With people that went against all common sense, but in the end did great things. These people changed their immediate world by being a heretic. By going against everything they are told to do by the authorities at the time.\n\nWhy did they do it?\n\nTo understand why Gideon was completely obedient to what God told is, is probably because God showed Himself to Gideon through the sheep skin, without a doubt, and Gideon simply did not have any other choice but to have faith.\n\nIn the day we live in, we seldom get confirmation like Gideon did, but do we still have faith to follow God\'s call? When God says go, do we go, or do we rather say things like: what about my job, what about my family, what about this, what about that?\n\nI firmly believe we need to get back to following the heretics of out time. By following those that does the easy thing, we are missing out on so much. There is more to life than sitting in a office all day, dreaming about doing other things. If you truly believe you have to do something, go after it, in spite of what the person in the cubicle next to you say.\n\n<em><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> By no means am I saying that doing a normal job is wrong, it is after all also given by God. I simply encounter so many people in my life that want something else, but are to afraid to pursue their God given dreams.</em>','Following the Heretic','','inherit','open','open','','1449-revision-4','','','2011-10-30 01:00:23','2011-10-30 08:00:23','',1449,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1449-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(1456,1,'2011-10-30 08:07:07','2011-10-30 15:07:07','','nba_lockout','','inherit','open','open','','nba_lockout-2','','','2011-10-30 08:07:07','2011-10-30 15:07:07','',0,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/nba_lockout1.png',0,'attachment','image/png',0),(1457,1,'2011-10-30 08:28:45','2011-10-30 15:28:45','The NBA just <a href=\"http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7153136/nba-lockout-david-stern-announces-more-game-cancellations\" target=\"_blank\">cancelled games</a> through November 30. Owners and players couldn\'t agree to on how to <a href=\"http://www.nba.com/2011/news/07/22/bri-audit/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">split 3.8 billion</a> dollars, which is kind of like watching billionaire reality television.  When money is involved, people lose their mind.  David Stern makes a great point when he says:\r\n<blockquote>\"In order to have revenue sharing you have to have profit.\"</blockquote>\r\nWhat\'s interesting about the logic of this lockout is that players begin with their salary and are fighting over 2% of the net revenue.  That 2% is spread out over the total of the players, with an obvious portion going towards higher salaries for the premium players.  But for the owners, that 2% is essentially their only profit.  The rest of the revenue goes towards expenses.  In other words the owners have a lot more to fight for in that 2%.  Part of the problem is that the owners (and this is true in most major sports) don\'t know how to stop paying players too much money. (It\'s why I think the NHL has the best contract in the business.  Tie salary cap to revenues.)\r\n\r\nUnder the last agreement, the NBA said <a href=\"http://www.nba.com/2011/news/07/01/nba-labor-lockout.ap/index.html\">they lost money</a> every single year.  But after David Stern talked about some of the concessions and stipulations of the conflict, Adam Silver (NBA Deputy Commissioner) went into accounting mode and rattled off some interested statistics, one of which is jobs.  In order to make a 50/50 split work, it still means cutting huge costs. And he said:\r\n<blockquote>\"And (we) have in fact lost hundreds of jobs in other areas.\"</blockquote>\r\nSo as players and owners fight over billions of dollars, the average Joe is the one actually getting locked out. It\'s kind of sad to me that the players and owners don\'t realize their own greed.  Their cutting off their own noses to spite the face. The last lockout realistically took 5 years to recovery from.  What they players need to realize is the ill-will being created in the lockout. And I don\'t feel sorry for the players because they don\'t really have to hold the cost of doing business.','Who Really Loses In The NBA Lockout','','publish','open','open','','who-really-loses-in-the-nba-lockout','','','2011-10-30 08:28:45','2011-10-30 15:28:45','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1457',0,'post','',0),(1459,1,'2011-10-30 08:22:15','2011-10-30 15:22:15','The NBA just <a href=\"http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7153136/nba-lockout-david-stern-announces-more-game-cancellations\" target=\"_blank\">cancelled games</a> through November 30. Owners and players couldn\'t agree to on how to <a href=\"http://www.nba.com/2011/news/07/22/bri-audit/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">split 3.8 billion</a> dollars, which is kind of like watching billionaire reality television.  When money is involved, people lose their mind.  David Stern makes a great point when he says:\n<blockquote>\"In order to have revenue sharing you have to have profit.\"</blockquote>\nWhat\'s interesting about the logic of this lockout is that players begin with their salary and are fighting over 2% of the net revenue.  That 2% is spread out over the total of the players, with an obvious portion going towards higher salaries for the premium players.  But for the owners, that 2% is essentially their only profit.  The rest of the revenue goes towards expenses.  In other words the owners have a lot more to fight for in that 2%.  Part of the problem is that the owners (and this is true in most major sports) don\'t know how to stop paying players too much money. (It\'s why I think the NHL has the best contract in the business.  Tie salary cap to revenues.)\n\nBut after David Stern talked about some of the concessions and stipulations of the conflict, Adam Silver (NBA Deputy Commissioner) went into accounting mode and rattled off some interested statistics, one of which is jobs.  In order to make a 50/50 split work, it still means cutting huge costs. And he said:\n<blockquote>\"And (we) have in fact lost hundreds of jobs in other areas.\"</blockquote>\nSo as players and owners fight over billions of dollars, the average Joe is the one actually getting locked out. It\'s kind of sad to me that the players and owners don\'t realize their own greed.  Their cutting off their own noses to spite their face. And I don\'t feel sorry for the players because they don\'t really have to hold the cost of doing business.\n\n&nbsp;','The NBA Greed Is Costing The Average Job','','inherit','open','open','','1457-revision','','','2011-10-30 08:22:15','2011-10-30 15:22:15','',1457,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1457-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1460,1,'2011-10-30 08:26:01','2011-10-30 15:26:01','The NBA just <a href=\"http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7153136/nba-lockout-david-stern-announces-more-game-cancellations\" target=\"_blank\">cancelled games</a> through November 30. Owners and players couldn\'t agree to on how to <a href=\"http://www.nba.com/2011/news/07/22/bri-audit/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">split 3.8 billion</a> dollars, which is kind of like watching billionaire reality television.  When money is involved, people lose their mind.  David Stern makes a great point when he says:\n<blockquote>\"In order to have revenue sharing you have to have profit.\"</blockquote>\nWhat\'s interesting about the logic of this lockout is that players begin with their salary and are fighting over 2% of the net revenue.  That 2% is spread out over the total of the players, with an obvious portion going towards higher salaries for the premium players.  But for the owners, that 2% is essentially their only profit.  The rest of the revenue goes towards expenses.  In other words the owners have a lot more to fight for in that 2%.  Part of the problem is that the owners (and this is true in most major sports) don\'t know how to stop paying players too much money. (It\'s why I think the NHL has the best contract in the business.  Tie salary cap to revenues.)\n\nUnder the last agreement, the NBA said <a href=\"http://www.nba.com/2011/news/07/01/nba-labor-lockout.ap/index.html\">they lost money</a> every single year.  But after David Stern talked about some of the concessions and stipulations of the conflict, Adam Silver (NBA Deputy Commissioner) went into accounting mode and rattled off some interested statistics, one of which is jobs.  In order to make a 50/50 split work, it still means cutting huge costs. And he said:\n<blockquote>\"And (we) have in fact lost hundreds of jobs in other areas.\"</blockquote>\nSo as players and owners fight over billions of dollars, the average Joe is the one actually getting locked out. It\'s kind of sad to me that the players and owners don\'t realize their own greed.  Their cutting off their own noses to spite the face. The last lockout realistically took 5 years to recovery from.  And I don\'t feel sorry for the players because they don\'t really have to hold the cost of doing business.\n\n&nbsp;','The NBA Greed Is Costing The Average Job','','inherit','open','open','','1457-revision-2','','','2011-10-30 08:26:01','2011-10-30 15:26:01','',1457,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1457-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(1461,1,'2011-10-30 08:28:35','2011-10-30 15:28:35','The NBA just <a href=\"http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7153136/nba-lockout-david-stern-announces-more-game-cancellations\" target=\"_blank\">cancelled games</a> through November 30. Owners and players couldn\'t agree to on how to <a href=\"http://www.nba.com/2011/news/07/22/bri-audit/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">split 3.8 billion</a> dollars, which is kind of like watching billionaire reality television.  When money is involved, people lose their mind.  David Stern makes a great point when he says:\n<blockquote>\"In order to have revenue sharing you have to have profit.\"</blockquote>\nWhat\'s interesting about the logic of this lockout is that players begin with their salary and are fighting over 2% of the net revenue.  That 2% is spread out over the total of the players, with an obvious portion going towards higher salaries for the premium players.  But for the owners, that 2% is essentially their only profit.  The rest of the revenue goes towards expenses.  In other words the owners have a lot more to fight for in that 2%.  Part of the problem is that the owners (and this is true in most major sports) don\'t know how to stop paying players too much money. (It\'s why I think the NHL has the best contract in the business.  Tie salary cap to revenues.)\n\nUnder the last agreement, the NBA said <a href=\"http://www.nba.com/2011/news/07/01/nba-labor-lockout.ap/index.html\">they lost money</a> every single year.  But after David Stern talked about some of the concessions and stipulations of the conflict, Adam Silver (NBA Deputy Commissioner) went into accounting mode and rattled off some interested statistics, one of which is jobs.  In order to make a 50/50 split work, it still means cutting huge costs. And he said:\n<blockquote>\"And (we) have in fact lost hundreds of jobs in other areas.\"</blockquote>\nSo as players and owners fight over billions of dollars, the average Joe is the one actually getting locked out. It\'s kind of sad to me that the players and owners don\'t realize their own greed.  Their cutting off their own noses to spite the face. The last lockout realistically took 5 years to recovery from.  What they players need to realize is the ill-will being created in the lockout. And I don\'t feel sorry for the players because they don\'t really have to hold the cost of doing business.','Who Really Loses In The NBA Lockout','','inherit','open','open','','1457-revision-3','','','2011-10-30 08:28:35','2011-10-30 15:28:35','',1457,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1457-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(1462,1,'2011-10-29 13:59:30','2011-10-29 20:59:30','“And I’m not going to stand and wait,\r\nNot gonna leave until it’s much too late.\r\nOn a platform, I’m gonna stand and say\r\nthat I’m nothing on my own.  And I love you please come home.”  --  “A Message, by Coldplay\r\n\r\n[embed width=500 height=284]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_4hp_KxO48[/embed]\r\n\r\nThe person in the video is one of the Distillery’s (my faith community) Copastors and founders, Carolyn Turnidge, an asset to our little community in Albany.  She brought this song to us as “A Message” so to speak, and we got the message.  But, we got so much more than that. I apologize that the song starts so abruptly, but our camera operator started the recording a bit late.\r\n\r\nThe idea behind the song for us as a church is that we truly are nothing on our own.  We were meant to be with each other.  I have often heard people say things like “all I need is my Bible and my Heavenly Father to be whole,”  “I don’t listen to anyone but the Holy Spirit,” and “The Bible is the only friend I need.”  All of those statements and statements like them in my experience are false.  As in “not true.”\r\n\r\nWe need each other.  It’s a given.  This is one of those things that God says from the beginning in the simplest of statements, \"It is not good for the man to be alone.” (Gen 2:18)  God was with “Man” at the time by the way, so what was God talking about?  For the man was certainly not alone with the Holy Trinity by his side day after day.  Was God merely saying that man needs a single partner?  Was he only talking about Eve?  I don’t think so.  What we do know is that God created man (woman) not to be exclusive of other men (women).   In fact he created us to be with others like us.\r\n\r\nJesus himself gathers together 12 disciples.  Twelve people to share his day-to-day with, not to mention all of the folks he surrounded himself with on a regular basis.  Yes there were periods of time that Jesus separated himself from the crowds and the disciples, but for the most part Jesus seems to be saying to humanity, “I am nothing on my own.”\r\n\r\nNow before you get offended, think about it. On his own, Jesus would have been a no one. No one would have even known who he was. He needed the people around him as much as they needed him. If Jesus did not have such a huge following -- if he was not constantly surrounded by people, the Pharisees would not even have noticed him. He may not have even been crucified.\r\n\r\nAlso found in scriptures are the classic lines “Where two or three or gathered in my name, there I will be also,” (Matt 18:20) almost as if to insinuate that God prefers to deal with us in numbers or crowds rather than as single solitary individuals.  There is certainly evidence of this in the scriptures.  In fact there are indications in the early history of the church that the Bible itself was not meant for a single reader scenario but was created and distributed to communities of followers.\r\n\r\nOn Saturday the communities would go through the scriptures together as friends and often times as combative family members when they disagreed.  So it seems to me that Christianity, the Bible, and God are all meant to be approached in groups of people, not as single solitary individuals.\r\n\r\nIt is only in America in the last 60 years or so that we have even heard the words “personal savior” used in relation to Jesus.  The whole concept of a personal savior is exclusively American in that we are all about the individual here aren’t we?  “Personal” property, “Personal” space, “Personal” brand --  these are all American terms born out of capitalism and the idea of independence.  These terms and things associated with them are not bad in and of themselves, but we have to acknowledge that they and the ideas behind them come from our individualistic culture, and did not exist in the time of Jesus.\r\n\r\nBack then everyone shared, worked together for the community’s success, and worshiped together a God of the community, not of the individual.\r\n\r\nSo we come back to Carolyn’s song.  Well, the song by Coldplay I mean.  There is something so beautiful about the kind of desperation in which we approach each other.  Part of the verse says “I am not going to stand and wait,” while the other part says “..not gonna leave until it’s much too late.”  It’s that part of each of us that want to keep whatever dignity we seem to have, while at the same time desperately and almost pathetically we cling to each other.   We are nothing on our own.  We all need each other as much as we need God, and as much as we need the Bible.\r\n\r\nNow you might think that this is an argument for church, or that I am saying that you have to go to church to be a good Christian.  No, I am not saying that.  There are other ways for us to be with each other that do not include church.  For me, my little community of faith gives me the “we” I need in order to approach God and the Bible on a regular basis, for others it may be your work crowd, or your family or a circle of good friends.  What do you think about the whole “Personal Savior” phrase and what do you do as far as being with others that works for you? Keep in mind that I am not speaking out against personal time with God here, but merely speaking exclusively about community in this post.','I\'m nothing on my own','','inherit','open','open','','1342-revision-9','','','2011-10-29 13:59:30','2011-10-29 20:59:30','',1342,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1342-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(1464,89,'2011-10-30 16:41:56','2011-10-30 23:41:56','<em><a href=\"http://coopersdell.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Red State</a></em>, director’s Kevin Smith’s recent venture, is a mess of a movie, and he should be applauded for it.\r\n\r\nSeriously, I hold Kevin Smith in higher regard after seeing <em>Red State</em>. (It still isn’t a good movie.) He abandoned every crutch from his earlier films—genre, character, dick jokes—and set out to make a film that pushed his creative and technical abilities.  The story sets out on three different narratives—three boys pushing the boundaries of a normal sexual dalliance online, a family that entangles their faith with extreme violence, and an ATF officer who wants to reach beyond the role that petty politics and rigid government policies play in decision-making. Each narrative takes the time to develop and propose certain theories on how societal structures oppress us.\r\n\r\nThe married small town Sheriff who’s gay.\r\n\r\nThe daughter who wants to save her siblings, even if it means betraying her God.\r\n\r\nThe ATF Agent who follows orders not based on the tactical reality—even if he wants to save the occultists.\r\n\r\nSmith places these characters right on the brink. Almost pushing the audience into different and exciting philosophical and cinematic territory.  Ready to push the film into a clever, thought-provoking examination of the human condition.\r\n\r\nThen Kevin Smith killed it.\r\n\r\nIf Kevin Smith was trying to highlight the uselessness of existence, that everything we do here is all for naught because at any point you could inexplicably and arbitrarily die then he succeeded.  All the interesting character and story beats evaporate into nothing.  (Maybe Smith was paralleling the story in Ecclesiastes, and everything <em>is</em> meaningless.)\r\n\r\nSmith sets up to examine the Gods of modern America—sex, religion, and politics—and the frightening similarities that exist between the three even as the different sects try to separate them.  He comes right up to the steps of the temple and bails. That’s why <em>Red State</em>—despite all its post-modern genre bending, impressive acting, and beautifully crafted dialogue—fails. At the moment it is ready to really challenge its audience—and creator—it backs off. Too scared to examine the implications of its story.  Too uncertain of the structures it wanted to challenge, and instead comes back to the strong and certain ground of blood and gore.','Red State: The Almost (but Not Quite) Guide to Killing Your God','','publish','open','open','','red-state-the-almost-but-not-quite-guide-to-killing-your-god','','','2011-10-30 16:42:12','2011-10-30 23:42:12','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1464',0,'post','',0),(1466,89,'2011-10-30 09:25:58','2011-10-30 16:25:58','<em>Red State</em>, director’s Kevin Smith’s recent venture, is a mess of a movie, and he should be applauded for it.\r\n\r\nSeriously, I hold Kevin Smith in higher regards after seeing <em>Red State</em>. (It still isn’t a good movie.) He abandoned every crutch from his earlier films—genre, character, dick jokes—and set out to make a film that pushed his creative and technical abilities.  The story sets out on three different narratives—three boys pushing the boundaries of a normal sexual dalliance online, a family that entangles their faith with extreme violence, and an ATF officer who reaches beyond the role that petty politics and rigid government policies play in decision-making. Each narrative takes the time to develop and propose certain theories on how societal structures oppress us.\r\n\r\nThe married small town Sheriff who’s gay.\r\n\r\nThe daughter who wants to save her siblings, even if it means betraying her God.\r\n\r\nThe ATF Agent who follows orders not based on the tactical reality—even if he wants to save the occultists.\r\n\r\nSmith places these characters right on the brink. Almost pushing the audience into different and exciting philosophical and cinematic territory.  Ready to push the film into a clever, thought-provoking examination of the human condition.\r\n\r\nThen Kevin Smith killed it.\r\n\r\nIf Kevin Smith was trying to highlight the uselessness of existence, that everything we do here is all for naught because at any point you could inexplicably and arbitrarily die then he succeeded.  All the interesting character and story beats evaporate into nothing.  (Maybe Smith was paralleling the story in Ecclesiastes, and everything is meaningless.)\r\n\r\nSmith sets up to examine the Gods of modern America—sex, religion, and politics—and the frightening similarities that exist between them even as the different sects try to separate them.  He comes right up to the steps of the temple and bails. That’s why <em>Red State</em>—despite all its post-modern genre bending, impressive acting, and beautifully crafted dialogue—fails. At the moment it is ready to really challenge its audience—and creator—it backs off. Too scared to examine the implications of its story.  Too uncertain of the structures it wanted to challenge, and instead comes back to the strong and certain ground of blood and gore.','','','inherit','open','open','','1464-revision-2','','','2011-10-30 09:25:58','2011-10-30 16:25:58','',1464,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1464-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(1465,89,'2011-10-30 09:25:36','2011-10-30 16:25:36','<em>Red State</em>, director’s Kevin Smith’s recent venture, is a mess of a movie, and he should be applauded for it.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nSeriously, I hold Kevin Smith in higher regards after seeing <em>Red State</em>. (It still isn’t a good movie.) He abandoned every crutch from his earlier films—genre, character, dick jokes—and set out to make a film that pushed his creative and technical abilities.  The story sets out on three different narratives—three boys pushing the boundaries of a normal sexual dalliance online, a family that entangles their faith with extreme violence, and an ATF officer who reaches beyond the role that petty politics and rigid government policies play in decision-making. Each narrative takes the time to develop and propose certain theories on how societal structures oppress us.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nThe married small town Sheriff who’s gay.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nThe daughter who wants to save her siblings, even if it means betraying her God.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nThe ATF Agent who follows orders not based on the tactical reality—even if he wants to save the occultists.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nSmith places these characters right on the brink. Almost pushing the audience into different and exciting philosophical and cinematic territory.  Ready to push the film into a clever, thought-provoking examination of the human condition.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nThen Kevin Smith killed it.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nIf Kevin Smith was trying to highlight the uselessness of existence, that everything we do here is all for naught because at any point you could inexplicably and arbitrarily die then he succeeded.  All the interesting character and story beats evaporate into nothing.  (Maybe Smith was paralleling the story in Ecclesiastes, and everything is meaningless.)\n\n&nbsp;\n\nSmith sets up to examine the Gods of modern America—sex, religion, and politics—and the frightening similarities that exist between them even as the different sects try to separate them.  He comes right up to the steps of the temple and bails. That’s why <em>Red State</em>—despite all its post-modern genre bending, impressive acting, and beautifully crafted dialogue—fails. At the moment it is ready to really challenge its audience—and creator—it backs off. Too scared to examine the implications of its story.  Too uncertain of the structures it wanted to challenge, and instead comes back to the strong and certain ground of blood and gore.','','','inherit','open','open','','1464-revision','','','2011-10-30 09:25:36','2011-10-30 16:25:36','',1464,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1464-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1467,89,'2011-10-30 09:41:11','2011-10-30 16:41:11','','Red State','','inherit','open','open','','redstate3','','','2011-10-30 09:41:11','2011-10-30 16:41:11','',1464,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/redstate3.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1468,89,'2011-10-30 09:26:36','2011-10-30 16:26:36','<em>Red State</em>, director’s Kevin Smith’s recent venture, is a mess of a movie, and he should be applauded for it.\n\nSeriously, I hold Kevin Smith in higher regards after seeing <em>Red State</em>. (It still isn’t a good movie.) He abandoned every crutch from his earlier films—genre, character, dick jokes—and set out to make a film that pushed his creative and technical abilities.  The story sets out on three different narratives—three boys pushing the boundaries of a normal sexual dalliance online, a family that entangles their faith with extreme violence, and an ATF officer who reaches beyond the role that petty politics and rigid government policies play in decision-making. Each narrative takes the time to develop and propose certain theories on how societal structures oppress us.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nThe married small town Sheriff who’s gay.\n\nThe daughter who wants to save her siblings, even if it means betraying her God.\n\nThe ATF Agent who follows orders not based on the tactical reality—even if he wants to save the occultists.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nSmith places these characters right on the brink. Almost pushing the audience into different and exciting philosophical and cinematic territory.  Ready to push the film into a clever, thought-provoking examination of the human condition.\n\nThen Kevin Smith killed it.\n\nIf Kevin Smith was trying to highlight the uselessness of existence, that everything we do here is all for naught because at any point you could inexplicably and arbitrarily die then he succeeded.  All the interesting character and story beats evaporate into nothing.  (Maybe Smith was paralleling the story in Ecclesiastes, and everything is meaningless.)\n\nSmith sets up to examine the Gods of modern America—sex, religion, and politics—and the frightening similarities that exist between them even as the different sects try to separate them.  He comes right up to the steps of the temple and bails. That’s why <em>Red State</em>—despite all its post-modern genre bending, impressive acting, and beautifully crafted dialogue—fails. At the moment it is ready to really challenge its audience—and creator—it backs off. Too scared to examine the implications of its story.  Too uncertain of the structures it wanted to challenge, and instead comes back to the strong and certain ground of blood and gore.','','','inherit','open','open','','1464-revision-3','','','2011-10-30 09:26:36','2011-10-30 16:26:36','',1464,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1464-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(1469,89,'2011-10-30 09:42:48','2011-10-30 16:42:48','<em><a href=\"http://coopersdell.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Red State</a></em>, director’s Kevin Smith’s recent venture, is a mess of a movie, and he should be applauded for it.\r\n\r\nSeriously, I hold Kevin Smith in higher regards after seeing <em>Red State</em>. (It still isn’t a good movie.) He abandoned every crutch from his earlier films—genre, character, dick jokes—and set out to make a film that pushed his creative and technical abilities.  The story sets out on three different narratives—three boys pushing the boundaries of a normal sexual dalliance online, a family that entangles their faith with extreme violence, and an ATF officer who wants to reach beyond the role that petty politics and rigid government policies play in decision-making. Each narrative takes the time to develop and propose certain theories on how societal structures oppress us.\r\n\r\nThe married small town Sheriff who’s gay.\r\n\r\nThe daughter who wants to save her siblings, even if it means betraying her God.\r\n\r\nThe ATF Agent who follows orders not based on the tactical reality—even if he wants to save the occultists.\r\n\r\nSmith places these characters right on the brink. Almost pushing the audience into different and exciting philosophical and cinematic territory.  Ready to push the film into a clever, thought-provoking examination of the human condition.\r\n\r\nThen Kevin Smith killed it.\r\n\r\nIf Kevin Smith was trying to highlight the uselessness of existence, that everything we do here is all for naught because at any point you could inexplicably and arbitrarily die then he succeeded.  All the interesting character and story beats evaporate into nothing.  (Maybe Smith was paralleling the story in Ecclesiastes, and everything is meaningless.)\r\n\r\nSmith sets up to examine the Gods of modern America—sex, religion, and politics—and the frightening similarities that exist between the three even as the different sects try to separate them.  He comes right up to the steps of the temple and bails. That’s why <em>Red State</em>—despite all its post-modern genre bending, impressive acting, and beautifully crafted dialogue—fails. At the moment it is ready to really challenge its audience—and creator—it backs off. Too scared to examine the implications of its story.  Too uncertain of the structures it wanted to challenge, and instead comes back to the strong and certain ground of blood and gore.','Red State: The Almost (but Not Quite) Guide to Killing Your God','','inherit','open','open','','1464-revision-4','','','2011-10-30 09:42:48','2011-10-30 16:42:48','',1464,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1464-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(1470,89,'2011-10-30 09:48:36','2011-10-30 16:48:36','<em><a href=\"http://coopersdell.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Red State</a></em>, director’s Kevin Smith’s recent venture, is a mess of a movie, and he should be applauded for it.\r\n\r\nSeriously, I hold Kevin Smith in higher regard after seeing <em>Red State</em>. (It still isn’t a good movie.) He abandoned every crutch from his earlier films—genre, character, dick jokes—and set out to make a film that pushed his creative and technical abilities.  The story sets out on three different narratives—three boys pushing the boundaries of a normal sexual dalliance online, a family that entangles their faith with extreme violence, and an ATF officer who wants to reach beyond the role that petty politics and rigid government policies play in decision-making. Each narrative takes the time to develop and propose certain theories on how societal structures oppress us.\r\n\r\nThe married small town Sheriff who’s gay.\r\n\r\nThe daughter who wants to save her siblings, even if it means betraying her God.\r\n\r\nThe ATF Agent who follows orders not based on the tactical reality—even if he wants to save the occultists.\r\n\r\nSmith places these characters right on the brink. Almost pushing the audience into different and exciting philosophical and cinematic territory.  Ready to push the film into a clever, thought-provoking examination of the human condition.\r\n\r\nThen Kevin Smith killed it.\r\n\r\nIf Kevin Smith was trying to highlight the uselessness of existence, that everything we do here is all for naught because at any point you could inexplicably and arbitrarily die then he succeeded.  All the interesting character and story beats evaporate into nothing.  (Maybe Smith was paralleling the story in Ecclesiastes, and everything is meaningless.)\r\n\r\nSmith sets up to examine the Gods of modern America—sex, religion, and politics—and the frightening similarities that exist between the three even as the different sects try to separate them.  He comes right up to the steps of the temple and bails. That’s why <em>Red State</em>—despite all its post-modern genre bending, impressive acting, and beautifully crafted dialogue—fails. At the moment it is ready to really challenge its audience—and creator—it backs off. Too scared to examine the implications of its story.  Too uncertain of the structures it wanted to challenge, and instead comes back to the strong and certain ground of blood and gore.','Red State: The Almost (but Not Quite) Guide to Killing Your God','','inherit','open','open','','1464-revision-5','','','2011-10-30 09:48:36','2011-10-30 16:48:36','',1464,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1464-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(1471,89,'2011-10-30 09:53:30','2011-10-30 16:53:30','<em><a href=\"http://coopersdell.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Red State</a></em>, director’s Kevin Smith’s recent venture, is a mess of a movie, and he should be applauded for it.\r\n\r\nSeriously, I hold Kevin Smith in higher regard after seeing <em>Red State</em>. (It still isn’t a good movie.) He abandoned every crutch from his earlier films—genre, character, dick jokes—and set out to make a film that pushed his creative and technical abilities.  The story sets out on three different narratives—three boys pushing the boundaries of a normal sexual dalliance online, a family that entangles their faith with extreme violence, and an ATF officer who wants to reach beyond the role that petty politics and rigid government policies play in decision-making. Each narrative takes the time to develop and propose certain theories on how societal structures oppress us.\r\n\r\nThe married small town Sheriff who’s gay.\r\n\r\nThe daughter who wants to save her siblings, even if it means betraying her God.\r\n\r\nThe ATF Agent who follows orders not based on the tactical reality—even if he wants to save the occultists.\r\n\r\nSmith places these characters right on the brink. Almost pushing the audience into different and exciting philosophical and cinematic territory.  Ready to push the film into a clever, thought-provoking examination of the human condition.\r\n\r\nThen Kevin Smith killed it.\r\n\r\nIf Kevin Smith was trying to highlight the uselessness of existence, that everything we do here is all for naught because at any point you could inexplicably and arbitrarily die then he succeeded.  All the interesting character and story beats evaporate into nothing.  (Maybe Smith was paralleling the story in Ecclesiastes, and everything <em>is</em> meaningless.)\r\n\r\nSmith sets up to examine the Gods of modern America—sex, religion, and politics—and the frightening similarities that exist between the three even as the different sects try to separate them.  He comes right up to the steps of the temple and bails. That’s why <em>Red State</em>—despite all its post-modern genre bending, impressive acting, and beautifully crafted dialogue—fails. At the moment it is ready to really challenge its audience—and creator—it backs off. Too scared to examine the implications of its story.  Too uncertain of the structures it wanted to challenge, and instead comes back to the strong and certain ground of blood and gore.','Red State: The Almost (but Not Quite) Guide to Killing Your God','','inherit','open','open','','1464-revision-6','','','2011-10-30 09:53:30','2011-10-30 16:53:30','',1464,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1464-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(2787,1,'2011-11-28 15:34:08','2011-11-28 23:34:08','I am sure you’ve heard about the ongoing series of demonstrations in the Wall Street financial district. What is Occupy Wall Street or<strong> </strong>(OWS) for short anyway? A paradigm shift or “blame-game” perhaps? In a nutshell, it’s a growing worldwide movement loosely based upon social and economic inequality. Some consider this movement highly controversial.\r\n\r\nMaybe, to some who are reading, <em>this article</em> will seem “controversial.”  But, as they say, “the proof is in the pudding.”  The realization I’m pointing to can only be known once we recognize the open, relaxed, non-separate way of being of what is known as non-duality. Occupy Wall Street, along with the frustration and desire for change that lots of people are experiencing these days, is a prime example of how the belief in separation can be seen as the root of human problems.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p align=\"center\"><strong>What is the belief in separation?</strong></p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nFor starters here is a simple metaphor:  the painter and his painting are inseparable.  Translated, this means that the consciousness we are carrying around, which is the belief in being separate people, determines the world we see.  The painter “me” is inseparable from the world I see out there.\r\n\r\nThe Occupy Wall Street movement is certainly shaking things up, while attempting to provide a much-needed balance in our world. It appears that lots of people are “fed up” these days with corporate greed and the appearance that the rich keep getting richer while the poorer keep getting poorer.  It’s <em>quite</em> natural to want change when this is believed.  And it’s also quite <em>natural</em> to look outward into the world, believing that the problem exists (solely) out there.  In some sense, it does!  In the appearance of life, there are people and organizations who are acting from a sense of lack, fear, and greed—taking more than giving.  It’s much like any addiction.  The taking begets more taking, ad nauseum.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2719\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"266\" caption=\"Pic Aaron Bauer\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2719 \" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Occupy-Wallstreet-Sign-Aaron-Bauer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"266\" height=\"400\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p align=\"center\"><strong>Let’s look at it a different way.</strong></p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nMany times in my meetings I get questions about the financial state of our world.  And almost always, I can sense in the questioner fear or anxiety below the surface of the words.  Yet the focus of the questioner is in pointing <em>out there</em>, in the world (in the “painting”), as if the solution lies solely there.\r\n\r\nWe can take all sorts of practical steps to change our world, and even improve it in many ways.  But if we are not in touch with the fear, anxiety, frustration, lack, and greed within each of us, then in some ways we are <em>only boxing our own shadows </em>when we point outward to Wall Street.  If the painter—me—is experiencing fear, frustration, anger or anxiety but only pointing outward towards the world, the question is this:  what am I looking to accomplish through that pointing?\r\n\r\nWhat I find time and again when the question of Wall Street pops up is that this outward pointing is the perfect opportunity to go <em>inward</em>.  By bringing someone’s attention—the bare observation of naked awareness—directly to the frustration, anger, fear or anxiety he or she is feeling, this inseparability between the painter and his painting becomes crystal clear.  Although we don’t always see it that way, we are looking for relaxation and well-being.  We are looking to rearrange the world (the painting) so that we can finally relax and not have to feel this frustration, anger, fear or anxiety.\r\n\r\nWhen I suggest to the questioner that true transformation of the world starts with the self (or inner voice), it can appear controversial, counterintuitive, and even repulsive at first.  I’m inviting the questioner to Occupy Awareness first, so to speak.  This means to rest without viewpoints over and over, throughout the day, letting all the afflictive emotions that arise with those viewpoints be as they are, without trying to understand, neutralize or get rid of them.   When we begin to do this, insight begins to arise automatically.  We see that our bodies, when they are troubled by these afflictive emotions, cause a sort of automated response in the mind.  That response shows up as a pointing outward into the world in some attempt to change that world so that the emotions can relax.  However, that outward pointing only goes so far.\r\n\r\nFor any transformation to happen, it is helpful to see through the sense of self that is identifying so strongly with viewpoints, no matter what they are.  As these viewpoints are relaxed, over and over, we start to feel energy in the body very directly.  That energy is allowed to come and go, bringing about a natural healing in our experience.  This is a deep and profound healing precisely because it deals with the very source of suffering, the ego or self.\r\n\r\nAs we relax as awareness (or Occupy Awareness), the sense of being a person cut off from a hostile world “out there” begins to soften and relax.   Insights and clarity begin to pave the way automatically.  We lose the sense of an us v. them attitude and this frees us up to take a more comprehensive perspective of our world, illuminating the way in which the painter is inseparable from his painting.\r\n\r\nAs we begin to relax and heal, the world and the sense of inherent “others” also begin to relax.  We start to move and act in the world with a fearless, compassionate love and peace.  This is not a love and peace that just sits quietly as the so-called others “destroy the world.”  It is not by its nature passive at all.\r\n\r\nWe can continue trying to point outwardly, believing that the problem is solely out there.  Yet this blinds us to the direct experience of what is happening in our own bodies and minds.  If we look inward, the fear, lack, anger, frustration, and anxiety that we are feeling as separate selves actually creates a sort of addiction for goods or for other vices that we believe will satisfy our suffering.  And so, in a very direct way, we created Wall Street by not experiencing and healing our own afflictive emotions.\r\n\r\nThe painter is inseparable from his painting.  So, as we change, from the belief in being a<em> separate</em> person, into a more fluid, non-separate, non-referential way of experiencing, the painting (the world) begins to change automatically.  Everyone we meet is then affected by the change within us.  Deep change is very contagious.  We don’t settle for Occupying Wall Street or any other street for that matter.  We occupy every moment with this new-found openness and direct experience of non-separation.  The world cannot help but change at that point simply because the world is a reflection of our own consciousness.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2720\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"300\" caption=\"Pic Wendy Annibell\"]<img class=\"size-medium wp-image-2720\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Wallstreet-Wendy-Annibell-300x196.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"196\" />[/caption]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nFurthermore, do not take this as an invitation to stop protesting or speaking your mind about what you perceive in the world.  The recognition of the inward freedom that I am attempting to demonstrate here in no way outlaws taking practical action to change things in our relative experience.  I’m merely offering you, the reader, <a title=\"An invitation to Living Realization\" href=\"http://livingrealization.org/\" target=\"_blank\">an invitation</a> to look in a different way, seeing that what we have created as something out there is a reflection of our own, interior experience as humans.  As that interior experience begins to be illuminated more and more, it’s quite natural for an outward expression of that to take place.  We are only ever tending to the world we created through our own thoughts, feelings, sensations and perceptions.\r\n\r\nWhy not start in our own backyard?','Occupy Awareness','','inherit','open','open','','2713-revision-8','','','2011-11-28 15:34:08','2011-11-28 23:34:08','',2713,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/28/2713-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(2782,1,'2011-11-30 00:01:09','2011-11-30 08:01:09','','shopping_mall','','inherit','open','open','','shopping_mall','','','2011-11-30 00:01:09','2011-11-30 08:01:09','',2730,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/shopping_mall.png',0,'attachment','image/png',0),(1473,58,'2011-10-30 10:08:18','2011-10-30 17:08:18','','Schrodinger\'s Cat','Image (c) 2011 Bennett. ','inherit','open','open','','schr_dinger_s_cat_sleeping_awake','','','2011-10-30 10:08:18','2011-10-30 17:08:18','',1442,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Schr_dinger_s_cat_sleeping_awake.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1474,58,'2011-10-29 17:06:59','2011-10-30 00:06:59','<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Recently, I heard a speaker make reference to Schrodinger’s Cat. For those who don’t know, or don’t care to look it up on Wikipedia, Schrodinger’s Cat references a hypothetical experiment which supposes that a cat, placed into a sealed box containing a tablet of cyanide as well as a small vial of acid dripping onto the tablet, could, during the duration of and/or at the conclusion of the experiment, be either alive or dead - or in a state of flux of both states at the same time - because we are uncertain if the tablet has or has not broken open and therefore killed the cat. Since we cannot know for certain, the cat is simultaneously both dead and alive according to quantum law, in a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and learn the condition of the cat that the superposition is lost, and the cat becomes one or the other (dead or alive). This situation is sometimes called quantum indeterminacy or the observer\'s paradox: the observation or measurement itself affects an outcome, so that the outcome as such does not exist unless the measurement is made. That is, there is no single outcome unless it is observed.</span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\"><strong>And we thought that when it came to boxes, Pandora had it bad. </strong></span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Individuals such as myself who grew up reading comic books as well as watching and reading science fiction tend to be a bit comfortable discussing concepts like Schrodinger’s Cat, mainly because we’ve already opened our minds up to the probability of an infinite diversity of infinite combinations. When the answer to a question of “Is it A, or is it B?” turns out to be “Yes,” it can be maddening to some people who are more dualistic in their thinking, especially in their theology.</span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">To take this analogy to a point of a spiritual parallel, imagine yourself as the cat, the redemptive grace of the cross as the cyanide pellet, and the dripping acid as the Holy Spirit. For believers, at some point in our life’s journey, we invite grace (Christ) into the box of our lives. The acid drip comes with the grace, and interacts with and releases the power contained in the pellet. However, some individuals - with every head bowed and every eye closed – may simply raise a hand and have a sealed pellet placed into their box. The power remains there, waiting. The power remains there, offered. But the power remains not acted upon. Ironically enough, releasing the power within the cyanide pellet, which normally would kill, allows the “cat” to become alive, but only when it dies to self.</span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Grace tends to express itself as a more pluralistic concept than a dualistic one. Again, for some, this can be maddening, and yet somehow simultaneously comforting in the inexplicable nature of it all. However, if this same grace, which is freely offered and freely taken, is not acted upon, in, and within our lives, our grace is basically dead.<strong> Cheap, some might call it. </strong></span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Sometimes the boxes we live in are sealed by us to guard against the prying eyes of others. Maybe we simply haven’t learned that it’s okay to take off the box lid for others to see the experiment take place. We may be afraid of letting others discover that our cat isn’t the full-blooded Persian we have made it out to be, but is instead a mixed tabby. Regardless, we are called to show and display this grace we have invited in to be active. Matthew 5:14-16 states,<em> “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”</em></span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Observing the experiment does indeed change the outcome. Observing someone who claims to be a follower should affect both how the observed and the observer interact with one other as well as what can be inferred about the presence of grace within the believer’s life. We’re called to be observed, and not live in sealed boxes. 2 Corinthians 9:13 states, <em>“Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” </em>This is the essence of community life, which we as believers are made to live and serve in.</span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">We can’t just live in our box, looking at the pellet, pawing it every so often. We have to actively allow the pellet be broken, releasing what it contains and letting it spill into and over us. We have to let observations take place, no matter how much it might inconvenience or annoy us to be observed. </span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Otherwise our faith, our grace, and our redemption is like nothing more than a dead cat in a sealed box.</span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\"><strong>Both of which, after a short time, will stink.</strong></span>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Schrodinger\'s Cross','','inherit','open','open','','1442-revision-3','','','2011-10-29 17:06:59','2011-10-30 00:06:59','',1442,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1442-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(1475,58,'2011-10-30 10:10:56','2011-10-30 17:10:56','&nbsp;\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_1473\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"300\" caption=\"Image (c) 2011 Bennett.\"]<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Schr_dinger_s_cat_sleeping_awake.jpg\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-1473\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Schr_dinger_s_cat_sleeping_awake-300x224.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" /></a>[/caption]\n\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Recently, I heard a speaker make reference to Schrodinger’s Cat. For those who don’t know, or don’t care to look it up on Wikipedia, Schrodinger’s Cat references a hypothetical experiment which supposes that a cat, placed into a sealed box containing a tablet of cyanide as well as a small vial of acid dripping onto the tablet, could, during the duration of and/or at the conclusion of the experiment, be either alive or dead - or in a state of flux of both states at the same time - because we are uncertain if the tablet has or has not broken open and therefore killed the cat. Since we cannot know for certain, the cat is simultaneously both dead and alive according to quantum law, in a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and learn the condition of the cat that the superposition is lost, and the cat becomes one or the other (dead or alive). This situation is sometimes called quantum indeterminacy or the observer\'s paradox: the observation or measurement itself affects an outcome, so that the outcome as such does not exist unless the measurement is made. That is, there is no single outcome unless it is observed.</span>\n\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\"><strong>And we thought that when it came to boxes, Pandora had it bad. </strong></span>\n\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Individuals such as myself who grew up reading comic books as well as watching and reading science fiction tend to be a bit comfortable discussing concepts like Schrodinger’s Cat, mainly because we’ve already opened our minds up to the probability of an infinite diversity of infinite combinations. When the answer to a question of “Is it A, or is it B?” turns out to be “Yes,” it can be maddening to some people who are more dualistic in their thinking, especially in their theology.</span>\n\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">To take this analogy to a point of a spiritual parallel, imagine yourself as the cat, the redemptive grace of the cross as the cyanide pellet, and the dripping acid as the Holy Spirit. For believers, at some point in our life’s journey, we invite grace (Christ) into the box of our lives. The acid drip comes with the grace, and interacts with and releases the power contained in the pellet. However, some individuals - with every head bowed and every eye closed – may simply raise a hand and have a sealed pellet placed into their box. The power remains there, waiting. The power remains there, offered. But the power remains not acted upon. Ironically enough, releasing the power within the cyanide pellet, which normally would kill, allows the “cat” to become alive, but only when it dies to self.</span>\n\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Grace tends to express itself as a more pluralistic concept than a dualistic one. Again, for some, this can be maddening, and yet somehow simultaneously comforting in the inexplicable nature of it all. However, if this same grace, which is freely offered and freely taken, is not acted upon, in, and within our lives, our grace is basically dead.<strong> Cheap, some might call it. </strong></span>\n\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Sometimes the boxes we live in are sealed by us to guard against the prying eyes of others. Maybe we simply haven’t learned that it’s okay to take off the box lid for others to see the experiment take place. We may be afraid of letting others discover that our cat isn’t the full-blooded Persian we have made it out to be, but is instead a mixed tabby. Regardless, we are called to show and display this grace we have invited in to be active. Matthew 5:14-16 states,<em> “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”</em></span>\n\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Observing the experiment does indeed change the outcome. Observing someone who claims to be a follower should affect both how the observed and the observer interact with one other as well as what can be inferred about the presence of grace within the believer’s life. We’re called to be observed, and not live in sealed boxes. 2 Corinthians 9:13 states, <em>“Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” </em>This is the essence of community life, which we as believers are made to live and serve in.</span>\n\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">We can’t just live in our box, looking at the pellet, pawing it every so often. We have to actively allow the pellet be broken, releasing what it contains and letting it spill into and over us. We have to let observations take place, no matter how much it might inconvenience or annoy us to be observed. </span>\n\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Otherwise our faith, our grace, and our redemption is like nothing more than a dead cat in a sealed box.</span>\n\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\"><strong>Both of which, after a short time, will stink.</strong></span>\n\n&nbsp;','Schrodinger\'s Cross','','inherit','open','open','','1442-revision-4','','','2011-10-30 10:10:56','2011-10-30 17:10:56','',1442,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1442-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(1486,1,'2011-10-30 16:06:46','2011-10-30 23:06:46','Recently, I heard a speaker make reference to Schrodinger’s Cat. For those who don’t know, or don’t care to look it up on Wikipedia, Schrodinger’s Cat references a hypothetical experiment which supposes that a cat, placed into a sealed box containing a tablet of cyanide as well as a small vial of acid dripping onto the tablet, could, during the duration of and/or at the conclusion of the experiment, be either alive or dead - or in a state of flux of both states at the same time - because we are uncertain if the tablet has or has not broken open and therefore killed the cat. Since we cannot know for certain, the cat is simultaneously both dead and alive according to quantum law, in a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and learn the condition of the cat that the superposition is lost, and the cat becomes one or the other (dead or alive). This situation is sometimes called quantum indeterminacy or the observer\'s paradox: the observation or measurement itself affects an outcome, so that the outcome as such does not exist unless the measurement is made. That is, there is no single outcome unless it is observed.\r\n<h4>And we thought that when it came to boxes, Pandora had it bad.</h4>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1473\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"300\" caption=\"Image (c) 2011 Bennett.\"]<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Schr_dinger_s_cat_sleeping_awake.jpg\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-1473\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Schr_dinger_s_cat_sleeping_awake-300x224.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nIndividuals such as myself who grew up reading comic books as well as watching and reading science fiction tend to be a bit comfortable discussing concepts like Schrodinger’s Cat, mainly because we’ve already opened our minds up to the probability of an infinite diversity of infinite combinations. When the answer to a question of “Is it A, or is it B?” turns out to be “Yes,” it can be maddening to some people who are more dualistic in their thinking, especially in their theology.\r\n\r\nTo take this analogy to a point of a spiritual parallel, imagine yourself as the cat, the redemptive grace of the cross as the cyanide pellet, and the dripping acid as the Holy Spirit. For believers, at some point in our life’s journey, we invite grace (Christ) into the box of our lives. The acid drip comes with the grace, and interacts with and releases the power contained in the pellet. However, some individuals - with every head bowed and every eye closed – may simply raise a hand and have a sealed pellet placed into their box. The power remains there, waiting. The power remains there, offered. But the power remains not acted upon. Ironically enough, releasing the power within the cyanide pellet, which normally would kill, allows the “cat” to become alive, but only when it dies to self.\r\n\r\nGrace tends to express itself as a more pluralistic concept than a dualistic one. Again, for some, this can be maddening, and yet somehow simultaneously comforting in the inexplicable nature of it all. However, if this same grace, which is freely offered and freely taken, is not acted upon, in, and within our lives, our grace is basically dead. Cheap, some might call it.\r\n\r\nSometimes the boxes we live in are sealed by us to guard against the prying eyes of others. Maybe we simply haven’t learned that it’s okay to take off the box lid for others to see the experiment take place. We may be afraid of letting others discover that our cat isn’t the full-blooded Persian we have made it out to be, but is instead a mixed tabby. Regardless, we are called to show and display this grace we have invited in to be active. Matthew 5:14-16 states, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”\r\n\r\nObserving the experiment does indeed change the outcome. Observing someone who claims to be a follower should affect both how the observed and the observer interact with one other as well as what can be inferred about the presence of grace within the believer’s life. We’re called to be observed, and not live in sealed boxes. 2 Corinthians 9:13 states, “Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” This is the essence of community life, which we as believers are made to live and serve in.\r\n\r\nWe can’t just live in our box, looking at the pellet, pawing it every so often. We have to actively allow the pellet be broken, releasing what it contains and letting it spill into and over us. We have to let observations take place, no matter how much it might inconvenience or annoy us to be observed.\r\n\r\nOtherwise our faith, our grace, and our redemption is like nothing more than a dead cat in a sealed box.\r\n\r\n<strong>Both of which, after a short time, will stink.</strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Schrodinger\'s Cross','','inherit','open','open','','1442-revision-6','','','2011-10-30 16:06:46','2011-10-30 23:06:46','',1442,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1442-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(1476,80,'2011-11-03 08:24:10','2011-11-03 15:24:10','\"You just don\'t understand.\"\r\n\r\nIn some way, we\'ve all been on one side or another of that phrase.  Chances are good that you\'ve said it to your parents at some point in your life.  And, if you\'re a parent, chances are even better that it\'s been said to you.  Most of the time, we use it to blow-off someone we\'re tired of dealing with, a nice way of saying \"I\'m tired of wasting my time trying to convince someone as thick as you, so I\'m done\".\r\n\r\nTrust me, I\'m not trying to blow anyone off, here.  I said it because, in the case of the Occupy protests, it fits.  I\'m sure you\'re wondering, \"Is he talking about me?\"  Maybe, it depends on who you are.  If you\'re a young adult burdened with excessive college debt, a former home owner who got burned in the collapse of the housing bubble, an unemployed (or under-employed) individual who\'s struggling to make ends meet, or any other person whose situation has been adversely affected by the current economy, no, I\'m not talking about you. You most certainly <em>get it.</em>  If you\'re younger, say under 30, and make extensive use of social media, I\'m probably not talking about you, either.  If, however, you\'re an older person, especially my generation (I\'m 50), still own your own home, have a little money in the bank, a retirement account, maybe even have enough extra to invest, I <em>am</em> talking about you.\r\n\r\nAll too many people my age don\'t get what\'s going on with the Occupy protests.  Even though most of us are at least old enough to remember the counterculture movement of the 60\'s, this new thing is different.  It freaks us out and we just want it to go away.\r\n\r\nIt\'s different because it hits in that most vulnerable spot: the pocketbook.  In 1968, we had nothing invested in the system, so changing it didn\'t really bother us.  That\'s not that the case anymore.  Like our parents and grandparents forty-three years ago, we\'re the ones benefiting from the status quo.  Because of that, most of my peer group has had less than good things to say about the phenomenon occurring on Wall Street and across the country.  Most seem to think the protesters are clueless rich kids sitting around bitching about capitalism on their iPhones and computers; things produced by the very thing they\'re against.\r\n\r\nJust a few days ago, in my Sunday school class, someone said the protesters weren\'t poor because they didn\'t have jobs, yet they were equipped with all sorts of electronics and such.  Someone else suggested if they really wanted to help the poor, they should go volunteer in a shelter or something.  They just didn\'t get it.\r\n\r\nThe fact is these protests aren\'t about hand outs for poor people; which, let\'s face it, are band aids at best.  They\'re about fixing a broken economic system so hand outs won\'t be necessary.  Evidently, that\'s a hard concept to grasp when your job is relatively secure, your bills are caught up and you\'re not on the ragged edge of foreclosure.\r\n\r\nFor some reason, whether it\'s fear, loathing or apathy, too many Americans don\'t understand what\'s happening all over America.  Fear because, if this catches on, we might not be able to keep all our money.  Apathy because fixing something as big and broken as the economy is hard and it\'s so much easier to ignore it.  Loathing because people seem to think the protesters are a collection of wannabe hippies, commies, anarchists and general nut jobs that want our stuff.  They\'re right about the first two; it is going to be hard to fix this broken, corrupt system and, yes, it\'s going to require some sacrifice on our part.  As for who\'s doing the protesting, listen to what Bill Maher said on his show, <em>Real Time</em>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>\"These people down there, they\'re not the counter-culture.\"</em></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>\"They\'re the culture.\"</em></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>\"They don\'t want free love, they want paid employment.\"</em></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>\"They don\'t hate capitalism, they hate what\'s been done to it.\"</em></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>\"And they resent the Republican mantra that the market perfectly rewards the hardworking and punishes the lazy.  And the poor are just jealous moochers who want a hand out.\"</em></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>\"Yeah, cuz if there\'s one group of people who hate hand outs it\'s Wall Street.\"</em></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"> Now, there\'s someone who <em>gets it</em>.</p>','You Just Don\'t Understand','','publish','open','open','','you-just-dont-understand','','','2011-11-03 08:24:10','2011-11-03 15:24:10','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1476',0,'post','',3),(1477,80,'2011-10-30 11:05:18','2011-10-30 18:05:18','','There is no \'they\' and \'us\'; there is just \'we\'.\"','','inherit','open','open','','1476-revision','','','2011-10-30 11:05:18','2011-10-30 18:05:18','',1476,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1476-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1478,38,'2011-10-29 15:17:50','2011-10-29 22:17:50','<em>This is part four in my series about the six reasons why I left the church based off of the article <a href=\"http://www.barna.org/teens-next-gen-articles/528-six-reasons-young-christians-leave-church\" target=\"_blank\">\"Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church\"</a> by the <a href=\"http://www.barna.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Barna Group</a>.</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>Reason #4: \"The church feels unfriendly to those who doubt.\"</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter being frustrated with the <a href=\"http://www.soullikeaspider.com/blog/2011/10/9/where-the-church-lost-me-part-i.html\" target=\"_blank\">lack of challenging content for my age group</a>, realizing how <a href=\"http://www.soullikeaspider.com/blog/2011/10/12/where-the-church-lost-me-part-ii.html\" target=\"_blank\">clueless I was about other religions and their beliefs</a>, and starting to open my eyes as to the <a href=\"http://www.soullikeaspider.com/blog/2011/10/16/where-the-church-lost-me-part-iii.html\" target=\"_blank\">overly simplistic nature of sexuality</a> I had been presented with, I began feeling discontent. Each one of these things would have been excusable on their own, but all together I began to get a feel of the nature of what I had grown up. There were rumblings in my bones that I couldn’t ignore anymore.\r\n\r\nThe one thing that finally sent me throttling to the face of disillusionment was when my mother wasn’t allowed to work in the youth group. After going on a youth retreat as a chaperone, she wanted to take the next step and be a regular youth leader. When she spoke to the pastor about this, they said she couldn’t work with the youth without her husband. My father is not a social butterfly by any stretch of the imagination, and my mom is an absolute social butterfly, so it was a little bit crazy to expect my dad to come along to something that she was very clearly suited for and he wasn’t.\r\n\r\nMy mom decided that maybe they would change their minds once they saw her working with the kids so she decided just to start showing up. The second week she came to youth group they had someone standing outside of the door to the youth group guarding to prohibit her from coming in.\r\n\r\nI understand why they would put the couples-only stipulation on youth workers: they want the couples to show kids how to have healthy romantic relationships and be able to go to either adult for advice if need be. I would have been fine with married leaders principle had they followed it. Less than a month after my mother was literally barred from the room, the single son of the events manager of the church showed back and they let him start working immediately with the kids, and he was one of seven other single individuals working in the youth group during this time (most of which were kids of the pastors or deacons).\r\n\r\nHow could they do this to her? They punished her because my father isn’t social-inclined? How could they preach Sunday after Sunday about how they needed people to get into ministry and then <em>physically block</em> her from even entering the room? If someone has the desire and the ability wouldn’t you be tripping over yourself to get them? I want to give the staff the benefit of the doubt that maybe something else was going on behind the scenes that I don’t know about, but it appeared as blatant favoritism.\r\n\r\nBy the time I hit sophomore year of high school I was craving content I could wrestle with and people who could really get into my head that I made the mistake of opening my mouth. All I wanted was more. I could have bowed out quietly (like smarter people after me did), but I thought that if I started voicing some of my opinions to the right people that they could help me find what I was looking for or find ways to improve what was going on. But instead of seeing my questions and feelings as a desire for something more, it was taken as a <em>personal</em> attack on the staff and the church.\r\n\r\nIt didn’t take long before friends and leaders were each asking me what was wrong, and afterward I told them each one of them clobbered me. Some lectured me, some got offended, and some chose to yell right over me. I was reminded a few times that \"Pastor John is not Billy Graham.\" I wasn’t expecting Billy Graham. When someone talks for twenty full minutes about how he is going to step on some toes, how he didn’t want to offend anyone, but that he needed to share the truth, I just want there to be something more substantial than telling me to do my devotions.\r\n\r\nMy doubt was perceived as a threat. Even though I was at church every time the doors were open, was actively involved in ministry, worked with the elementary kids in <a href=\"http://awana.org/\" target=\"_blank\">AWANA</a>, was on the worship team, and was very active in Sunday School, the <em>moment</em> I started asking questions and challenging the status quo I was voted off the island. I did everything right by them. I followed all of the rules and expectations put in front of me but once I questioned things I became a black sheep.\r\n\r\nI remember telling the whole story to one of my best friends while working on desserts for the giant Christmas dinner we put on every year. The kitchen refrigerators were already full so we opened all the windows in the children’s classrooms and then shut the doors to create make-shift refrigerators. We were filling crepes when I told him what was going on and then told him I was considering trying out a different youth group. I remember shivering and the dull smell of confectionary sugar filling my nostrils as he told me how I couldn’t do that because I would be \"divorcing the church\" and that I would practically be breaking a blood contract with the body if I left.\r\n\r\nLater, Mr. Darren, one of the leaders, set aside some time to talk to me to see what was wrong. He had been hearing things but wanted to hear the whole story from me. I felt particularly close to Mr. Darren and his wife; aside from having the mother of all crushes on their son, I spent a lot of time with them at church and outside of church. I would go over to their house occasionally and they always made a point to talk to me when they saw me. They even called me their niece on a couple of occasions.  They made me feel loved and important.\r\n\r\nI skipped out on the last few minutes of youth group one night sat in the small church library across the table from Mr. Darren. He said he could sense something was off about me over the last couple of weeks and wanted to know what was happening. I had kept this information from him mostly because I needed time to figure it out and I didn’t want him and his wife to be disappointed in me. But since he took the time out to ask me, I took it as a sign that he cared and I could be honest with him, so I shared my story.\r\n\r\nHe proceeded to tell me that he had been in youth ministry for twenty years and that this was as good as it got. Pastor John was the best he had ever seen and I wasn\'t going to find anyone better. He told me that my role in the church was changing and that from here on out I would never get anything from church and would need to start spending all my time making sure <em>other</em> people got \"fed\" at church.\r\n\r\nIn a sense he had a point. I can’t expect to be spoon fed or fuel my entire spiritual journey on sermons but I was still devastated. Name after name flew by of leaders I had offended and friend after friend crossed me off their lists. I thought Darren and his wife would be the ones who, even if they couldn’t relate, would still love on me and help me through. But instead I was told to just buck up, be content and to stop expecting things. (This was accidentally the last time we ever spoke, which makes me even sadder.)\r\n\r\nI was crushed. I guess more than anything I felt hung out to dry. For years my superiors told me not to just be spoon-fed by the stuff I hear on Sundays but to desire to know more and take learning into my own hands. So, when I tell them that I’m hungry and I want something more, I’m abandoned? If you are going to talk about sparks be prepared for the fire if it catches.\r\n\r\nI was left alone. The leaders weren\'t there for me when I needed them the most. Even if they thought I was just being a bratty teenager, nothing was worse there than them crushing the eager spirit that I thought they wanted to see in me. The message was loud and clear: they wanted fair weather youth, and me and my questions were no longer welcome.\r\n\r\nPeter Rollins talks about how important doubt is in a religious setting in his book <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Speak-Peter-Rollins/dp/1557255059/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1319866840&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">\"How (Not) to Speak of God\"</a>:\r\n<blockquote>\"For instance, take the example of two people getting married with the firm conviction that the union will last as long as they both live. In this state of obvious delusion no real decision needs to be made. The future is believed to be so certain that the decision to marry requires no decision at all. Yet if two people understand that their relationship will face various hardships, that the future is uncertain and that there are no guarantees, then, far from preventing a decision, this is the very point when a real decision needs to be made. The vows of marriage are not so much affirmations of what one believes will take place but rather the promises that one will work towards ensuring that it will indeed happen. […] A love that requires contracts and absolute assurance in order to act is no love at all.\"</blockquote>\r\nIn the aftermath, there were four people who didn’t toss me out like a dead fashion trend. One was a leader who listened to me and said that he could relate to me a little and then showed me some note-taking tips to help him extract more meaning out of sermons. The other three were friends who treated me no differently after admitting to my doubt. These are the friends I have carried with me for the last decade and who, even if we grow apart, I will always feel grateful for. They each in their own words said \"You’re not crazy. I don’t feel the exact same way, but you’re definitely not crazy.\"\r\n\r\n<em>The fifth and final installment will be about how the church is over-protective.</em>','Where the Church Lost Me: Part IV','','inherit','open','open','','1376-revision-7','','','2011-10-29 15:17:50','2011-10-29 22:17:50','',1376,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1376-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(1479,38,'2011-10-29 15:17:50','2011-10-29 22:17:50','<em>This is part four in my series about the six reasons why I left the church based off of the article <a href=\"http://www.barna.org/teens-next-gen-articles/528-six-reasons-young-christians-leave-church\" target=\"_blank\">\"Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church\"</a> by the <a href=\"http://www.barna.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Barna Group</a>.</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>Reason #4: \"The church feels unfriendly to those who doubt.\"</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter being frustrated with the <a href=\"http://www.soullikeaspider.com/blog/2011/10/9/where-the-church-lost-me-part-i.html\" target=\"_blank\">lack of challenging content for my age group</a>, realizing how <a href=\"http://www.soullikeaspider.com/blog/2011/10/12/where-the-church-lost-me-part-ii.html\" target=\"_blank\">clueless I was about other religions and their beliefs</a>, and starting to open my eyes as to the <a href=\"http://www.soullikeaspider.com/blog/2011/10/16/where-the-church-lost-me-part-iii.html\" target=\"_blank\">overly simplistic nature of sexuality</a> I had been presented with, I began feeling discontent. Each one of these things would have been excusable on their own, but all together I began to get a feel of the nature of what I had grown up. There were rumblings in my bones that I couldn’t ignore anymore.\r\n\r\nThe one thing that finally sent me throttling to the face of disillusionment was when my mother wasn’t allowed to work in the youth group. After going on a youth retreat as a chaperone, she wanted to take the next step and be a regular youth leader. When she spoke to the pastor about this, they said she couldn’t work with the youth without her husband. My father is not a social butterfly by any stretch of the imagination, and my mom is an absolute social butterfly, so it was a little bit crazy to expect my dad to come along to something that she was very clearly suited for and he wasn’t.\r\n\r\nMy mom decided that maybe they would change their minds once they saw her working with the kids so she decided just to start showing up. The second week she came to youth group they had someone standing outside of the door to the youth group guarding to prohibit her from coming in.\r\n\r\nI understand why they would put the couples-only stipulation on youth workers: they want the couples to show kids how to have healthy romantic relationships and be able to go to either adult for advice if need be. I would have been fine with married leaders principle had they followed it. Less than a month after my mother was literally barred from the room, the single son of the events manager of the church showed back and they let him start working immediately with the kids, and he was one of seven other single individuals working in the youth group during this time (most of which were kids of the pastors or deacons).\r\n\r\nHow could they do this to her? They punished her because my father isn’t social-inclined? How could they preach Sunday after Sunday about how they needed people to get into ministry and then <em>physically block</em> her from even entering the room? If someone has the desire and the ability wouldn’t you be tripping over yourself to get them? I want to give the staff the benefit of the doubt that maybe something else was going on behind the scenes that I don’t know about, but it appeared as blatant favoritism.\r\n\r\nBy the time I hit sophomore year of high school I was craving content I could wrestle with and people who could really get into my head that I made the mistake of opening my mouth. All I wanted was more. I could have bowed out quietly (like smarter people after me did), but I thought that if I started voicing some of my opinions to the right people that they could help me find what I was looking for or find ways to improve what was going on. But instead of seeing my questions and feelings as a desire for something more, it was taken as a <em>personal</em> attack on the staff and the church.\r\n\r\nIt didn’t take long before friends and leaders were each asking me what was wrong, and afterward I told them each one of them clobbered me. Some lectured me, some got offended, and some chose to yell right over me. I was reminded a few times that \"Pastor John is not Billy Graham.\" I wasn’t expecting Billy Graham. When someone talks for twenty full minutes about how he is going to step on some toes, how he didn’t want to offend anyone, but that he needed to share the truth, I just want there to be something more substantial than telling me to do my devotions.\r\n\r\nMy doubt was perceived as a threat. Even though I was at church every time the doors were open, was actively involved in ministry, worked with the elementary kids in <a href=\"http://awana.org/\" target=\"_blank\">AWANA</a>, was on the worship team, and was very active in Sunday School, the <em>moment</em> I started asking questions and challenging the status quo I was voted off the island. I did everything right by them. I followed all of the rules and expectations put in front of me but once I questioned things I became a black sheep.\r\n\r\nI remember telling the whole story to one of my best friends while working on desserts for the giant Christmas dinner we put on every year. The kitchen refrigerators were already full so we opened all the windows in the children’s classrooms and then shut the doors to create make-shift refrigerators. We were filling crepes when I told him what was going on and then told him I was considering trying out a different youth group. I remember shivering and the dull smell of confectionary sugar filling my nostrils as he told me how I couldn’t do that because I would be \"divorcing the church\" and that I would practically be breaking a blood contract with the body if I left.\r\n\r\nLater, Mr. Darren, one of the leaders, set aside some time to talk to me to see what was wrong. He had been hearing things but wanted to hear the whole story from me. I felt particularly close to Mr. Darren and his wife; aside from having the mother of all crushes on their son, I spent a lot of time with them at church and outside of church. I would go over to their house occasionally and they always made a point to talk to me when they saw me. They even called me their niece on a couple of occasions.  They made me feel loved and important.\r\n\r\nI skipped out on the last few minutes of youth group one night sat in the small church library across the table from Mr. Darren. He said he could sense something was off about me over the last couple of weeks and wanted to know what was happening. I had kept this information from him mostly because I needed time to figure it out and I didn’t want him and his wife to be disappointed in me. But since he took the time out to ask me, I took it as a sign that he cared and I could be honest with him, so I shared my story.\r\n\r\nHe proceeded to tell me that he had been in youth ministry for twenty years and that this was as good as it got. Pastor John was the best he had ever seen and I wasn\'t going to find anyone better. He told me that my role in the church was changing and that from here on out I would never get anything from church and would need to start spending all my time making sure <em>other</em> people got \"fed\" at church.\r\n\r\nIn a sense he had a point. I can’t expect to be spoon fed or fuel my entire spiritual journey on sermons but I was still devastated. Name after name flew by of leaders I had offended and friend after friend crossed me off their lists. I thought Darren and his wife would be the ones who, even if they couldn’t relate, would still love on me and help me through. But instead I was told to just buck up, be content and to stop expecting things. (This was accidentally the last time we ever spoke, which makes me even sadder.)\r\n\r\nI was crushed. I guess more than anything I felt hung out to dry. For years my superiors told me not to just be spoon-fed by the stuff I hear on Sundays but to desire to know more and take learning into my own hands. So, when I tell them that I’m hungry and I want something more, I’m abandoned? If you are going to talk about sparks be prepared for the fire if it catches.\r\n\r\nI was left alone. The leaders weren\'t there for me when I needed them the most. Even if they thought I was just being a bratty teenager, nothing was worse there than them crushing the eager spirit that I thought they wanted to see in me. The message was loud and clear: they wanted fair weather youth, and me and my questions were no longer welcome.\r\n\r\nPeter Rollins talks about how important doubt is in a religious setting in his book <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Speak-Peter-Rollins/dp/1557255059/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1319866840&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">\"How (Not) to Speak of God\"</a>:\r\n<blockquote>\"For instance, take the example of two people getting married with the firm conviction that the union will last as long as they both live. In this state of obvious delusion no real decision needs to be made. The future is believed to be so certain that the decision to marry requires no decision at all. Yet if two people understand that their relationship will face various hardships, that the future is uncertain and that there are no guarantees, then, far from preventing a decision, this is the very point when a real decision needs to be made. The vows of marriage are not so much affirmations of what one believes will take place but rather the promises that one will work towards ensuring that it will indeed happen. […] A love that requires contracts and absolute assurance in order to act is no love at all.\"</blockquote>\r\nIn the aftermath, there were four people who didn’t toss me out like a dead fashion trend. One was a leader who listened to me and said that he could relate to me a little and then showed me some note-taking tips to help him extract more meaning out of sermons. The other three were friends who treated me no differently after admitting to my doubt. These are the friends I have carried with me for the last decade and who, even if we grow apart, I will always feel grateful for. They each in their own words said \"You’re not crazy. I don’t feel the exact same way, but you’re definitely not crazy.\"\r\n\r\n<em>The fifth and final installment will be about how the church is over-protective.</em>','Where the Church Lost Me: Part IV','','inherit','open','open','','1376-revision-8','','','2011-10-29 15:17:50','2011-10-29 22:17:50','',1376,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1376-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(2846,1,'2011-11-29 10:24:54','2011-11-29 18:24:54','<div>\r\n<div>\r\n<div>\r\n<div>God decided He was tired of humanity, tired of the incessant selfish requests. He called His angels in for advice. \"I would like to go somewhere were these humans will not find me.\"\r\nOne angel spoke up, \"Hide on the highest mountain, they will not find you there.\"\r\nAnother angel said, \"The bottom of the deepest ocean.\"\r\nOne angel shouted, \"The dark side of the moon, they cannot see you there.\"\r\nGod not satisfied that these suggestions would hide Him, He summoned His wisest angel and asked him, \"Where can I hide so that these humans will not find me?\"\r\nThe angel smiled and replied, \"hide in their hearts, for they fear to look within.\"\r\n\r\nMy intention is to introduce a point out a view that invites one to lose interest in getting something from this world and become aware of a Reality that demands nothing, asks for nothing; One which simply Is.</div>\r\n</div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\nTake a moment to pay attention the happenings of the world around you without commenting on it. What do you see? What do you hear? Is it personal?\r\n\r\nThe world changes in appearance as we progressively remove the personal self from the world. As a practice, instead of commenting on how the world effects you, watch your colleague\'s, your wife or husband and children. Treat them as though they have no past history with you, they are simply present. Be with this moment with the intention to be kind to everything.\r\n\r\nFor some this is too simple, or boring. They are far more interested in solving problems, fixing others and (subconsciously) entertaining themselves via the drama of their lives.\r\n\r\nTo understand the addiction we have to the drama of this world think of how someone would react if we walked  into a room of people watching their favorite soap opera and turned off the TV right at the climax. Now just imagine the response. Anger, yelling, pushing and shoving are the likely effects of disconnecting people from their entertainment. Another example would be, walking into a crowded bar on a playoff night, turn the power off just prior to the end of a close game. Would you see the same reactions?\r\n\r\nTranscendence does not mean condemnation of this addiction we see so prevalent in society; at some point one just decides whether or not to continue to participate in it.\r\n\r\nThose of you who were raised in any sort of religion, culture/ethnicity, sports team loyalists, soap opera drama  fanatics upbringing were usually programmed what to believe, in many cases the reason being “because that\'s the way it is.” Even if you were not told directly it was obvious by the behavior of your family.  \"We are Bronco fans because we live in Colorado.\" We hate the Raiders and Chargers with a passion!\"  We are Catholics?Protestants/ Buddhists etc.  because our parents were and theirs before them for generations.\r\n\r\nHow do we know if anything is true? Can our thoughts, perceptions, families beliefs and customs be trusted as Truth?\r\n\r\n<strong>\"Man is intrinsically innocent because he can only choose what he perceives to be good.\" - Socrates</strong>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/YoungOldWoman.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-1976\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/YoungOldWoman-210x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"300\" /></a>Looking at this picture, what do you see?\r\nIs this your wife or mother-in-law?\r\nWhich perception is real?\r\nDoes one negate the other?\r\nDo both exist simultaneously?\r\n\r\nI John 2: 9-11 Anyone who claims to live in God\'s light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. It\'s the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God\'s light and doesn\'t block the light from others. But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn\'t know which end is up, blinded by the darkness.\r\n\r\nLook around the room you are in. Is it possible to see the light? Or can you only see that with which the light illuminates?\r\n\r\nA person\'s way of speaking, behavior and thought process simply reveals what they are aligned with, it does not make them what they are. Light does not judge or condemn, it\'s simply reveals what is. God is light and in Him there is no shadow or darkness. So evil is not the opposite or antithesis of God, but simply the state in which He is not being acknowledged and allowed. Perception is therefore extremely subjective as it usually involves with duality, opposites and either-or situations.\r\n\r\nOur perceptions are derived from a mind that searches for the meaning of what it perceives or, in other words, identifies with. If the mind is programmed to desire that which it perceives to be valuable. Thoughts and feelings arise from desire, and the mind uses them as a tool to get what it views as a ‘need.’\r\n\r\n<strong>You either believe what you think or you question it. There’s no other choice. - Byron Katie</strong>\r\n\r\nOur minds, like children, are innocent. They are analogous to a brand new Mac Book Pro without any software. As we observe our families and our culture we pick up the software that runs our minds’ value system which is called perception.<img src=\"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/plOB4PsoyoXsnIc0THdPhc-xSEWVLpDugXnQAUsnpD6NtlQuatHkFHb8dzSGGDi4cDOP-YoVJylmZjzSTLL1RXDz1Z8GhnUJdnG5B8Oz8jIxbYL2-2E\" alt=\"\" width=\"400px;\" height=\"248px;\" />\r\nLike this prism, perception, derived from programming, interprets the light and breaks it into categories. We then judge, evaluate and determine if what we see is valuable or deemed something we would like to avoid.\r\n\r\nPerhaps the statement Jesus made in Matthew is an invitation to return to that innocence. To shed our ideas of ourselves and this world. To give up trying to fix everything out there and simply turning within to explore what we fear the most, our heart.\r\n\r\n<strong>Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. - Jesus</strong>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n</div>','The Deception in Perception','','inherit','open','open','','1975-revision-36','','','2011-11-29 10:24:54','2011-11-29 18:24:54','',1975,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/29/1975-revision-36/',0,'revision','',0),(1483,1,'2011-10-30 16:19:35','2011-10-30 23:19:35','Recently, I heard a speaker make reference to Schrodinger’s Cat. For those who don’t know, or don’t care to look it up on Wikipedia, Schrodinger’s Cat references a hypothetical experiment which supposes that a cat, placed into a sealed box containing a tablet of cyanide as well as a small vial of acid dripping onto the tablet, could, during the duration of and/or at the conclusion of the experiment, be either alive or dead - or in a state of flux of both states at the same time - because we are uncertain if the tablet has or has not broken open and therefore killed the cat. Since we cannot know for certain, the cat is simultaneously both dead and alive according to quantum law, in a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and learn the condition of the cat that the superposition is lost, and the cat becomes one or the other (dead or alive). This situation is sometimes called quantum indeterminacy or the observer\'s paradox: the observation or measurement itself affects an outcome, so that the outcome as such does not exist unless the measurement is made. That is, there is no single outcome unless it is observed.\n<h4>And we thought that when it came to boxes, Pandora had it bad.</h4>\n[caption id=\"attachment_1473\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"300\" caption=\"Image (c) 2011 Bennett.\"]<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Schr_dinger_s_cat_sleeping_awake.jpg\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-1473\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Schr_dinger_s_cat_sleeping_awake-300x224.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nIndividuals such as myself who grew up reading comic books as well as watching and reading science fiction tend to be a bit comfortable discussing concepts like Schrodinger’s Cat, mainly because we’ve already opened our minds up to the probability of an infinite diversity of infinite combinations. When the answer to a question of “Is it A, or is it B?” turns out to be “Yes,” it can be maddening to some people who are more dualistic in their thinking, especially in their theology.\n\nTo take this analogy to a point of a spiritual parallel, imagine yourself as the cat, the redemptive grace of the cross as the cyanide pellet, and the dripping acid as the Holy Spirit. For believers, at some point in our life’s journey, we invite grace (Christ) into the box of our lives. The acid drip comes with the grace, and interacts with and releases the power contained in the pellet. However, some individuals - with every head bowed and every eye closed – may simply raise a hand and have a sealed pellet placed into their box. The power remains there, waiting. The power remains there, offered. But the power remains not acted upon. Ironically enough, releasing the power within the cyanide pellet, which normally would kill, allows the “cat” to become alive, but only when it dies to self.\n\nGrace tends to express itself as a more pluralistic concept than a dualistic one. Again, for some, this can be maddening, and yet somehow simultaneously comforting in the inexplicable nature of it all. However, if this same grace, which is freely offered and freely taken, is not acted upon, in, and within our lives, our grace is basically dead. Cheap, some might call it.\n\nSometimes the boxes we live in are sealed by us to guard against the prying eyes of others. Maybe we simply haven’t learned that it’s okay to take off the box lid for others to see the experiment take place. We may be afraid of letting others discover that our cat isn’t the full-blooded Persian we have made it out to be, but is instead a mixed tabby. Regardless, we are called to show and display this grace we have invited in to be active. Matthew 5:14-16 states, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”\n\nObserving the experiment does indeed change the outcome. Observing someone who claims to be a follower should affect both how the observed and the observer interact with one other as well as what can be inferred about the presence of grace within the believer’s life. We’re called to be observed, and not live in sealed boxes. 2 Corinthians 9:13 states, “Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” This is the essence of community life, which we as believers are made to live and serve in.\n\nWe can’t just live in our box, looking at the pellet, pawing it every so often. We have to actively allow the pellet be broken, releasing what it contains and letting it spill into and over us. We have to let observations take place, no matter how much it might inconvenience or annoy us to be observed.\n\nOtherwise our faith, our grace, and our redemption is like nothing more than a dead cat in a sealed box.\n\n<strong>Both of which, after a short time, will stink.</strong>\n\n<em>Photo Credit: Jean-Marie Huet</em>','Schrodinger\'s Cross','','inherit','open','open','','1442-autosave','','','2011-10-30 16:19:35','2011-10-30 23:19:35','',1442,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1442-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(1485,1,'2011-10-30 10:16:53','2011-10-30 17:16:53','&nbsp;\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1473\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"300\" caption=\"Image (c) 2011 Bennett.\"]<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Schr_dinger_s_cat_sleeping_awake.jpg\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-1473\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Schr_dinger_s_cat_sleeping_awake-300x224.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Recently, I heard a speaker make reference to Schrodinger’s Cat. For those who don’t know, or don’t care to look it up on Wikipedia, Schrodinger’s Cat references a hypothetical experiment which supposes that a cat, placed into a sealed box containing a tablet of cyanide as well as a small vial of acid dripping onto the tablet, could, during the duration of and/or at the conclusion of the experiment, be either alive or dead - or in a state of flux of both states at the same time - because we are uncertain if the tablet has or has not broken open and therefore killed the cat. Since we cannot know for certain, the cat is simultaneously both dead and alive according to quantum law, in a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and learn the condition of the cat that the superposition is lost, and the cat becomes one or the other (dead or alive). This situation is sometimes called quantum indeterminacy or the observer\'s paradox: the observation or measurement itself affects an outcome, so that the outcome as such does not exist unless the measurement is made. That is, there is no single outcome unless it is observed.</span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\"><strong>And we thought that when it came to boxes, Pandora had it bad. </strong></span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Individuals such as myself who grew up reading comic books as well as watching and reading science fiction tend to be a bit comfortable discussing concepts like Schrodinger’s Cat, mainly because we’ve already opened our minds up to the probability of an infinite diversity of infinite combinations. When the answer to a question of “Is it A, or is it B?” turns out to be “Yes,” it can be maddening to some people who are more dualistic in their thinking, especially in their theology.</span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">To take this analogy to a point of a spiritual parallel, imagine yourself as the cat, the redemptive grace of the cross as the cyanide pellet, and the dripping acid as the Holy Spirit. For believers, at some point in our life’s journey, we invite grace (Christ) into the box of our lives. The acid drip comes with the grace, and interacts with and releases the power contained in the pellet. However, some individuals - with every head bowed and every eye closed – may simply raise a hand and have a sealed pellet placed into their box. The power remains there, waiting. The power remains there, offered. But the power remains not acted upon. Ironically enough, releasing the power within the cyanide pellet, which normally would kill, allows the “cat” to become alive, but only when it dies to self.</span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Grace tends to express itself as a more pluralistic concept than a dualistic one. Again, for some, this can be maddening, and yet somehow simultaneously comforting in the inexplicable nature of it all. However, if this same grace, which is freely offered and freely taken, is not acted upon, in, and within our lives, our grace is basically dead.<strong> Cheap, some might call it. </strong></span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Sometimes the boxes we live in are sealed by us to guard against the prying eyes of others. Maybe we simply haven’t learned that it’s okay to take off the box lid for others to see the experiment take place. We may be afraid of letting others discover that our cat isn’t the full-blooded Persian we have made it out to be, but is instead a mixed tabby. Regardless, we are called to show and display this grace we have invited in to be active. Matthew 5:14-16 states,<em> “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”</em></span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Observing the experiment does indeed change the outcome. Observing someone who claims to be a follower should affect both how the observed and the observer interact with one other as well as what can be inferred about the presence of grace within the believer’s life. We’re called to be observed, and not live in sealed boxes. 2 Corinthians 9:13 states, <em>“Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.” </em>This is the essence of community life, which we as believers are made to live and serve in.</span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">We can’t just live in our box, looking at the pellet, pawing it every so often. We have to actively allow the pellet be broken, releasing what it contains and letting it spill into and over us. We have to let observations take place, no matter how much it might inconvenience or annoy us to be observed. </span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\">Otherwise our faith, our grace, and our redemption is like nothing more than a dead cat in a sealed box.</span>\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-family: Verdana\"><strong>Both of which, after a short time, will stink.</strong></span>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Schrodinger\'s Cross','','inherit','open','open','','1442-revision-5','','','2011-10-30 10:16:53','2011-10-30 17:16:53','',1442,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1442-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(1484,1,'2011-10-30 16:04:04','2011-10-30 23:04:04','','Schroeders_cat','','inherit','open','open','','schroeders_cat','','','2011-10-30 16:04:04','2011-10-30 23:04:04','',1442,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Schroeders_cat.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1488,33,'2011-10-30 19:50:16','2011-10-31 02:50:16','<p align=\"left\">I quit my job recently.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"> It was a good job...a relatively well-paying job with good benefits and a dental plan.  I liked my boss and enjoyed my colleagues.  I found the work interesting as it frequently provided a chance to be creative, innovative and kept the cat in kibble.  On the surface, everything appeared as though I was on the path to upward mobility and the good life.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">But inside, I was dying a little bit each day.  Each day for the last several months, my soul was being diminished rather than enlarged and I was finding the emotional, spiritual, and even physical demands of the job outpaced the returns.  It became a bad trade...the exchange rate was too high and the return on investment steadily got smaller.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"> I thought I could manage the dissonance between not being in the right place but staying for reasons that seemed logical – security, stability, a fancy title and an office with windows that opened.  But each day as I put on my dress slacks and slipped into my shiny black shoes, I was dressing up like an actor to play a character whose motivation I simply couldn’t understand.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">So I prayed for wisdom and guidance.  I prayed for clarity and insight.  I waited for the voice from Heaven to shout down the next step of the grand plan.  I waited.  But the voice never came.   I wondered what was causing God to be silent - apparently disinterested in the petty details of my frustrated work life.  I wondered if the lines of communication were clogged on my end...perhaps it was me who was unable or unwilling to open my ears to the voice of the shepherd whom I so desperately hoped would lead me out of the arid desert and into greener pastures and beside still waters.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">I grew fearful of making the wrong decision lest I chose the wrong road.  I had grown up being taught that the “human heart is wicked and deceitful above all else”, yet paradoxically encouraged to “commit all your ways to the Lord and he will make your paths straight”.  Apparently my sinful human anthropology meant my own interests, goals and desires were unreliable and suspicious whereas my Christian faith simultaneously called me to trust in a God who has promised to show the way.  And it is in this apparent duality – the implied distrust of self and a faith in self-revealing, communicative God that I got stuck...afraid to move...growing more miserable each day while trusting the clarity would come in due time.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">It was during a long, slow recovery from a life-altering health challenge that I had the opportunity to cut through the noise, give voice to the frustrations surrounding career ambiguity, and to seek out other ways to gain some perspective on issues of career and calling.  Of all the things I had the opportunity to read while lying on my couch, <em>Let Your Life Speak</em> by Parker J. Palmer was the most transformative.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">In this short yet profound book, Palmer flips the tables on the commonplace evangelical notion that career and calling come from the ‘outside’ by instead suggesting that the secret to discovering one’s purpose in life is to let your life speak its truth from the inside out.  According to the beginning of Genesis, man and woman were made in God’s image – a notion that insinuates that people enter the world bearing a resemblance to their creator and imbued with aspects of personhood that reflect the heart and nature of the One who gives life.  The key to happiness and fulfillment is to take time to reflect on your life, let it tell you what it was created to do…what moves it, what brings it joy, what breaks its heart and what causes it to rise up in holy anger.</p>\n<p align=\"left\"> Palmer writes:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\">Vocation does not come from wilfulness. It comes from listening.  I must listen to my life and try to understand what it is truly about-quite apart from what I would like it to be about-or my life will never represent anything real in the world, no matter how earnest my intentions. (p.4)</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\">Parker encourages his readers to reflect on their childhoods – back to a time before they started putting on the masks worn by people consumed with cares of career advancement, social standing, and 401K plans.  These times of innocence, of play, of genuine curiosity and emotion…these contain the silent whispers of a life’s calling.  Spend time away from the noise, from the iPhone and email, and let your life tell you about you.  Let the God-ness in you move you towards how you might be an authentic God-ness in the world.  And for all those who challenge this approach as being self-indulgent and disrespectful of God’s perspective on career choice and vocational calling, Parker simply raises the question of whether it is not equally disrespectful to ignore the person you were created to be by failing to stop and tune in for a while.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\">Discovering vocation does not come from a voice ‘out there’ calling me to be something I am not.  It comes from a voice ‘in here’ calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God. (p.10)</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\">So I did as Parker encouraged and started on a journey of listening inwardly.  At first it was strange but then the memories started coming like a flood.  Memories of the simple joy that came from creating things – a song on the piano, a short story about a dog named Tinsey, or a whole universe out of Lego.  I remembered the tug of compassion towards a friend who had life-saving surgery in eighth grade as well as my awakening to the needs of others brought on by being encouraged to give my old toys to a family that didn’t have enough money to buy their own.  I recalled that I always loved Jesus and was moved by his heart of generosity and acceptance.  I realized that I am a poet, a writer, an encourager, a creator.   The more that the memories came…the more I started to see patterns of attraction and affinity.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\"> From the beginning, our lives lay down clues to selfhood and vocation, though the clues may be hard to decode.  But trying to interpret them is profoundly worthwhile – especially when we are lost in our twenties, thirties, or forties, feeling profoundly lost, having wandered, or been dragged, far away from our birthright gifts. (p.15)</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\">I realized that I am all of these things and so much more.  Many of these things I am because of experiences I have had, but I think that listening to my life has led me back to my core – to patterns of behaviour, disposition and interests that have always been part of me.  Perhaps more importantly, I started to see where my life was not leading and started to be thankful for its intuitive avoidance of things that had the potential for harm.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">And in the final analysis, I realized that although the pay was good and the benefits were generous, I wasn’t living in authenticity.  My life had spoken and realized I wasn’t who I wanted to be anymore.  So I stepped out of one life and back into my own.  I feel like I am standing in Robert Frost’s yellow wood at the juncture of the two roads that diverge into different directions.  I quit my job so I might take the road less travelled.  And I am trusting that it will make all the difference in the end.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">Feature Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net</p>','Use Your Inside Voice','','inherit','open','open','','1420-autosave','','','2011-10-30 19:50:16','2011-10-31 02:50:16','',1420,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1420-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(1491,1,'2011-10-29 12:29:49','2011-10-29 19:29:49','<p align=\"left\">I quit my job recently.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\"> It was a good job...a relatively well-paying job with good benefits and a dental plan.  I liked my boss and enjoyed my colleagues.  I found the work interesting as it frequently provided a chance to be creative, innovative and kept the cat in kibble.  On the surface, everything appeared as though I was on the path to upward mobility and the good life.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\"> But inside, I was dying a little bit each day.  Each day for the last several months, my soul was being diminished rather than enlarged and I was finding the emotional, spiritual, and even physical demands of the job outpaced the returns.  It became a bad trade...the exchange rate was too high and the return on investment steadily got smaller.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\"> I thought I could manage the dissonance between not being in the right place but staying for reasons that seemed logical – security, stability, a fancy title and an office with windows that opened.  But each day as I put on my dress slacks and slipped into my shiny black shoes, I was dressing up like an actor to play a character whose motivation I simply couldn’t understand.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\"> So I prayed for wisdom and guidance.  I prayed for clarity and insight.  I waited for the voice from Heaven to shout down the next step of the grand plan.  I waited.  But the voice never came.   I wondered what was causing God to be silent - apparently disinterested in the petty details of my frustrated work life.  I wondered if the lines of communication were clogged on my end...perhaps it was me who was unable or unwilling to open my ears to the voice of the shepherd whom I so desperately hoped would lead me out of the arid desert and into greener pastures and beside still waters.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\"> I grew fearful of making the wrong decision lest I chose the wrong road.  I had grown up being taught that the “human heart is wicked and deceitful above all else”, yet paradoxically encouraged to “commit all your ways to the Lord and he will make your paths straight”.  Apparently my sinful human anthropology meant my own interests, goals and desires were unreliable and suspicious whereas my Christian faith simultaneously called me to trust in a God who has promised to shows the way.  And it is in this apparent duality – the implied distrust of self and a faith in self-revealing, communicative God that I got stuck...afraid to move...growing more miserable each day while trusting the clarity would come in due time.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">It was during a long, slow recovery from a life-altering health challenge that I had the opportunity to cut through the noise, give voice to the frustrations surrounding career ambiguity, and to seek out other ways to gain some perspective on issues of career and calling.  Of all the things I had the opportunity to read while lying on my couch, <em>Let Your Life Speak</em> by Parker J. Palmer was the most transformative.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">In this short yet profound book, Palmer flips the tables on the commonplace evangelical notion that career and calling come from the ‘outside’ by instead suggesting that the secret to discovering one’s purpose in life is to let your life speak its truth from the inside out.  According to the beginning of Genesis, man and woman were made in God’s image – a notion that insinuates that people enter the world bearing a resemblance to their creator and imbued with aspects of personhood that reflect the heart and nature of the One who gives life.  The key to happiness and fulfillment is to take time to reflect on your life, let it tell you what it was created to do…what moves it, what brings it joy, what breaks its heart and what causes it to rise up in holy anger.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\"> Palmer writes:</p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Vocation does not come from wilfulness. It comes from listening.  I must listen to my life and try to understand what it is truly about-quite apart from what I would like it to be about-or my life will never represent anything real in the world, no matter how earnest my intentions. (p.4)</p>\r\n</blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\"></p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Parker encourages his readers to reflect on their childhoods – back to a time before they started putting on the masks worn by people consumed with cares of career advancement, social standing, and 401K plans.  These times of innocence, of play, of genuine curiosity and emotion…these contain the silent whispers of a life’s calling.  Spend time away from the noise, from the iPhone and email, and let your life tell you about you.  Let the God-ness in you move you towards how you might be an authentic God-ness in the world.  And for all those who challenge this approach as being self-indulgent and disrespectful of God’s perspective on career choice and vocational calling, Parker simply raises the question of whether it is not equally disrespectful to ignore the person you were created to be by failing to stop and tune in for a while.</p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Discovering vocation does not come from a voice ‘out there’ calling me to be something I am not.  It comes from a voice ‘in here’ calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God. (p.10)</p>\r\n</blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\"></p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">So I did as Parker encouraged and started on a journey of listening inwardly.  At first it was strange but then the memories started coming like a flood.  Memories of the simple joy that came from creating things – a song on the piano, a short story about a dog named Tinsey, or a whole universe out of Lego.  I remembered the tug of compassion towards a friend who had life-saving surgery in Grade eight as well as my awakening to the needs of others brought on by being encouraged to give my old toys to a family that didn’t have enough money to buy their own.  I recalled that I always loved Jesus and was moved by his heart of generosity and acceptance.  I realized that I am a poet, a writer, an encourager, a creator.   The more that the memories came…the more I started to see patterns of attraction and affinity.</p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\"> From the beginning, our lives lay down clues to selfhood and vocation, though the clues may be hard to decode.  But trying to interpret them is profoundly worthwhile – especially when we are lost in our twenties, thirties, or forties, feeling profoundly lost, having wandered, or been dragged, far away from our birthright gifts. (p.15)</p>\r\n</blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\"></p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I realized that I am all of these things and so much more.  Many of these things I am because of experiences I have had, but I think that listening to my life has led me hack to my core – to patterns of behaviour, disposition and interests that have always been part of me.  Perhaps more importantly, I started to see where my life was not leading and started to be thankful for it’s intuitive avoidance of things that had the potential for harm.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\"> And in the final analysis, I realized that although the pay was good and the benefits were generous, I wasn’t living in authenticity.  My life had spoken and realized I wasn’t who I wanted to be anymore.  So I stepped out of one life and back into my own.  I feel like I am standing in Robert Frost’s yellow wood at the juncture of the two roads that diverge into different directions.  I quit my job so I might take the road less travelled.  And I am trusting that it will make all the difference in the end.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\"></p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Feature Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net</p>','Use Your Inside Voice','','inherit','open','open','','1420-revision-3','','','2011-10-29 12:29:49','2011-10-29 19:29:49','',1420,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1420-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(1493,1,'2011-10-28 11:29:03','2011-10-28 18:29:03','<div>\r\n\r\nFeminism to me is the crazy belief that women and men are both created in God’s image and that each of us deserves a life of freedom and opportunity inside or outside the Church.\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<strong>It began like any other day by </strong><strong>logging on to the internet, as I gratefully sipped my coffee and slowly woke up.</strong>\r\n\r\nScouring various sources, I saw a new book on women was out titled <a href=\"http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F1414337302%2Fref%3Das_li_ss_tl%3Fie%3DUTF8%26tag%3Dhansresodevei-20%26linkCode%3Das2%26camp%3D217145%26creative%3D399373%26creativeASIN%3D1414337302&amp;h=cAQF09IvWAQHLC8jkQwJq03PMm3_t4ngP4ePDIj1gc6-nYg\" target=\"_blank\">The Resignation of Eve: What If Adam\'s Rib Is No Longer Willing to Be the Church\'s Backbone?</a> (I have to admit that is a clever title.)  It has women’s stories of their experiences in the Church written <em>by a man</em>?  Giving it very little further thought, I wrote this comment on Facebook:\r\n<blockquote>“While I find it highly ironic that it requires a man to tell these women\'s stories to in order for them to be heard, and though I have not obviously read this book since it is not yet out, still there must be something important here if he does as he alleges and has <em>listened to women</em> talk about their experience in the Church.   It seems sketchy to me though ...”</blockquote>\r\nI copied a few friends and that began the banter, then a lively discussion about women and access, why women don’t trust their own voices, why it takes a man for women’s stories to be \"heard\", how men (may) self-promote more than women, and why the only thing women are invited to write and speak on are soft topics, and we even discussed our theological grounding for our perspectives.  It was <em>much</em> more civil than many internet discussions, as several of my friends across the globe, and locally, began to discuss!\r\n\r\n<strong>But I have to go back, even further.</strong>\r\n\r\nThis story really began a few weeks ago as I sat perched on the edge of my chair, once again at the computer.  I was trying to gather my thoughts.  Sighing deeply and knowing that being on the computer was the last thing I needed.  I needed time alone.\r\n\r\n<strong>And the<em> </em><em>lack of it</em><em> </em>was weighing heavily on my spirit. </strong> I knew that what I really needed was to turn it all off, especially the technological barrage, and find – time – to – think.  And <em>not</em> time while doing last night\'s dishes, or throwing another load in, or while picking up the endless socks, books and dog toys.  <em>Not</em> time driving my son to the doctor or waiting.  Time spent on the responsibilities of home life can be a meditation, but <em>not</em> what I needed.\r\n\r\n<strong>I needed noiseless, exclusive solitary time with Yahweh.  </strong>\r\n\r\n<strong></strong>How often do we really find this kind of time? I cannot underscore how important solitary thinking time is for me spiritually and creatively.  It helps me be less impulsive.  It centers me.  It makes the anxiety, anger, and disappointments of life fade away, lacking the importance I might have given them.  My priorities sift and sort and I am more circumspect.  In that place, I find my quavering voice.\r\n\r\n<strong>Here’s what I had been thinking about.  </strong>When it all first occurred I definitely tried to ignore it.  I kept thinking how <em>obsessive</em> I was being.  I kept telling myself I was being ridiculous, absurd, unreasonable, and even disagreeable.  Doubting my own inner voice is a frequent problem that I have.  I had tried to ignore the nagging voice inside me until finally I accepted that this was not going away!\r\n\r\n<strong>I\'ve been thinking about</strong> <strong>the lack of </strong><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">presence and example</span></strong><strong> of</strong> <strong>women in <em>the Church</em>.</strong><strong>  That Sunday at my church in particular, women were </strong><strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">simply spectators</span></em></strong><strong>, the audience, the bystanders, the recipients and beneficiaries.  </strong>\r\n\r\nAnd the more I thought I could not remember the last time one of the teaching pastors suggested a book they were reading written by a woman.  Women are never quoted in my church.  Female theologians or scholars are never referenced or even mentioned, probably because the pastors don’t read them.  I can\'t remember the last time, if ever, a pastor in my church has suggested or referred to or quoted a female theologian, religious author, or historian.  <em>Am I the only one that notices these things?</em>\r\n\r\n<strong><em>T</em><em>he entire thing</em><em> </em></strong><em><strong>makes me very sad</strong></em><strong>.  And so tired. <strong> I am tired of the male dominated culture on the platform, as authors, as experts, as theologians, as speakers at conferences and in the Church at large. </strong></strong>Considering women are half the church (some would say more) I do not buy the argument that there aren\'t capable women to select from, though I\'ve been told that very thing.  \"The women haven\'t risen up who have the gift of teaching.\"\r\n\r\n<strong><em>Risen up</em><em>?</em></strong>   To be honest, one would think in a service-by-gifts based church there must not<em> be</em> any qualified gifted female teachers.   I attend an EFCA church of 5,000. You do the math.\r\n\r\nI would guess that many people, but especially women, will not put themselves forward (i.e. rise up) because of self-doubt, true humility or a combination of motivations.\r\n\r\nI think it is very likely that <em>there are</em> gifted, wise articulate women who are not yet comfortable with their own voice, but have natural instincts for leadership or teaching that could be taught, mentored, helped to find their voice.  Who knows?\r\n\r\n<strong><em>Will we ever know if they are not given the opportunity? And what a loss not to hear from them!  </em></strong>\r\n\r\nI believe it harms us to rarely hear the spiritual voices of women and for me personally, it hampers my faith and my journey with Christ.  Thank God that we have the example of Jesus who took risks for women, ministered with, received from and listened to women.  He was our example of reconciliation and grace in the lives of women.  If only the church modeled their behavior toward women after Jesus. Sadly the Church is ignoring the stories of women in the Bible, and of women historically and in the Church worldwide today.  Women have been actively participating in the work of the church since its inception.  Women are missionaries, teaching in seminaries, running nonprofits and leading in higher education.  Women are writing and want to write on more than “soft or women’s issues.”  But in the Church women are still finding their voice.\r\n\r\n<strong>I have to confess that I do not want my feminist radar (that\'s what my daughter calls it) to always go off in church.</strong>  It is distracting, sometimes painful and it is utterly exhausting.  It steals some of the joy out of my spiritual life, like recently when we attended a one man show at church.  The actor introduced us to eight characters (both in the Bible and fictional) who had met Jesus.  It was powerful.  <a title=\"Curt Cloninger\" href=\"http://curtcloninger.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Curt Cloninger</a> is supremely talented.  Sadly, in the entire two and a half hour show, women were invisible – utterly missing – other than being mentioned as briefly as whores and spinsters.  I tried hard, I really did.  I used all kind of energy that night trying to forget that I was <em>the invisible woman</em> and simply experience the show.  And it worked -- almost.\r\n\r\nYes, I tire of voicing what I believe.  And I have considered asking God to take it away – this feminist awareness – to either shut it up or get me out – but for now I stay.  And I continue to work to find my voice and listen, getting those times alone so that I can have something solid to say with a circumspect and healthy heart.  I hold on tight to Jesus in those moments when I want to quit the Church.  And I consider that as long as I can think out loud on my <strong><a title=\"Logic and Imagination\" href=\"http://logicandimagination.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">blog</a></strong> and places like <strong>Provoketive</strong> and as long as I have a few people in my life that I can express my pain and rancor to, I\'ll survive, for now.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo Credit: <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/llimaorosa/1351327769/\" target=\"_blank\">Llima Orosa</a></em>','The Voice Of The Feminine','','inherit','open','open','','1258-revision-7','','','2011-10-28 11:29:03','2011-10-28 18:29:03','',1258,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/28/1258-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(1494,1,'2011-10-29 12:57:27','2011-10-29 19:57:27','<blockquote>A popular post at<a title=\"Sharon Hodde Miller\" href=\"http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7ya3xT/blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/10/why_its_your_job_to_break_the.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Her.meneutics</a>, <em>Why it’s Your Job to Break the Women’s Ministry Stereotype </em>by Sharon Hodde Miller, reminded me of something I wrote earlier this year.  You must read her blog <a title=\"She Worships\" href=\"http://sheworships.com\" target=\"_blank\">She Worships</a>.  She is one of the more wise and intelligent female voices of my generation.</blockquote>\r\n<h2>I just want to know what you think.</h2>\r\nFor seven years I attended Women’s Bible studies offered at my church.  I learned a lot and my love for scripture grew deeper.   Over the years, as I refined my ability to study scripture for myself I began to notice an odd trend.  These women who taught with clear outward self-assurance were basically parroting the commentary and words of other (usually male) authors.   I found myself counting the times in a lecture they would say “So and so says ... in such and such commentary.”  <strong><em>I longed to hear what these wise women thought and more importantly what God was saying to them as they studied scripture.</em>   </strong>I believe these women were essentially shuffled to the side of the church “to teach women.”  Noticeably they had not received coaching comparable to the “teaching team” (of men) who taught Sunday mornings.  <em>Subsequently these women lacked the confidence and training to speak with authority. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>By writing this essay I am not saying that there is no place for women’s ministry in the church, but after all these years <em>I know it is not for me.  Here\'s why.</em></strong>\r\n<h2>My life is incredibly diverse and I\'ll do everything I can to keep it that way.</h2>\r\nI guess the saying is true, “People of a feather flock together.”\r\n\r\nA good friend who is a leader at church told me that <em>people ask for groupings</em> when they come to church.  They <em>want</em> to be with those that are <em>like them</em> – whether it is women or men, youth or college-aged, young marrieds with or without kids, or singles gathering together.  I understand that this is what we are used and more comfortable with but does that mean it is <em>good</em>?\r\n\r\n<strong><em>I have deep concerns with that when it comes to separating men and women.</em></strong><strong> </strong>\r\n\r\nFirst of all, fundamentally it comes out of this notion that men and women are <em>so very different.  </em> We certainly have our differences, but that sort of thinking is divisive and unproductive. It hurts us more than helps as we try to work out our faith together.  Separation of men and women in the church might have begun when women were for the most part at-home and looking for things to do.  That is no longer the case, as people today divide up their lives and work and time very differently.  And today the church is full of the divorced, single parents,  men at home and women working in the marketplace, as well as more and more single men and women who are choosing to remain so longer, not to mention the younger retired boomers who make up the church.\r\n\r\n<strong>S<em>cripture isn’t </em>\"for women\" or \"for men.” </strong>\r\n\r\nWe don’t need to separate to study the Word.  When we split up it only perpetuates gender stereotypes.  Ah, the stereotypes, women want to be treated like princesses and men are all tough guys.  Women love to talk and are more emotional.  Men are stone and are afraid of being vulnerable and all have pornography problems.  Next thing you know, when women get together we are all making crafts and men are playing basketball.\r\n\r\nI think we benefit as we<strong> </strong>mix generations and genders, hipsters and bikers and soccer moms, boomers, silent gen, teens, single and married with those with higher education or not.  We need to cross all those cultural barriers and learn together.  We are strengthened as people and as a community when we do.  We lose out when we don’t.  There is so much that we don\'t learn when we divide into groups by our comfortable similarities.\r\n<h2>What about Tribes?</h2>\r\nOne of my husband tribes is <strong>Musical Geeks</strong> and they cross many apparent differences, women and men, young and old, it matters not at all, as long as you want to \"geek out\" about all sorts of really boring musical minutia. (That is not my tribe, clearly.)  Not my <em>need, </em>but <em>he needs and loves to be with those people because they have like interests</em>!\r\n\r\nThis is important.  We feel connection, solidarity and even strength when we connect from time to time with our tribe.  One must find a balance.\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 20px;font-weight: bold\">What about in the Church?</span>\r\n\r\n<strong><em>It feels like there are a million obstacles to women experiencing true equity within the Christian evangelical church and separating ourselves by gender simply perpetuates the stereotypes and encourages a lack of creativity when it comes to the gifts and talents that people have.</em></strong>\r\n\r\nI know that I am not your typical evangelical Christian woman nor married to the typical man.  We divide our household chores by talents and interests, as well as what brings us joy.  For example, you will not find my husband outside on the weekend mowing the lawn or in the yard at all.  I do it because I love being outside, love the physical effort and I care about our yard.  He can typically be found inside either cleaning or down in his studio working on music.   When we got married, rather than fall into the typical gender stereotypes we just thought about it pragmatically.  Why can’t we do that in the Church?\r\n\r\nI believe that men and women should be using their skills and abilities and spiritual gifts in the whole Church.  They were given to us by Yahweh.  I believe he chose my skills, abilities and spiritual gifts.  God is the one that <em>made me this way. I should be serving.  I should be using the abilities and talents that He gave me. It would be wrong for me to sit back and not use them. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>This is complicated when you haven\'t had your abilities affirmed in the church.  But some day, women will come to know themselves capable.  I think it is time for us to begin again, to rethink women and men’s ministry and know that we are the body of Christ, at is says in 1 Corinthians 12</strong>.\r\n<blockquote> <strong><sup>4</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. <strong><sup>5</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of service, but the same Lord. <strong><sup>6</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of working, but in all of them and <strong><em>in everyone</em></strong> it is the same God at work.\r\n\r\n<strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Now <em>to each one</em> the manifestation of the Spirit is given <strong><em>for the common good.</em></strong> <strong><sup>8</sup></strong> To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <strong><sup>9</sup></strong> to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <strong><sup>10</sup></strong> to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote a\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645a\">a</a>]</sup></strong> and to still another the interpretation of tongues.<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote b\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645b\">b</a>]</sup></strong> <strong><sup>11</sup></strong> All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them <strong><em>to each one</em></strong>, just as he determines. (NIV, <strong><em>emphasis mine</em></strong>.)</blockquote>\r\nI am so encouraged reading those verses, which were written to us, yes each one, yes <em>to everyone,</em> in the Church.\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Mimi Haddad\" href=\"http://www.cbeinternational.org/?q=content/leadership#dr-mimi-haddad\" target=\"_blank\">Mimi Haddad</a> puts it so well:\r\n<blockquote>“<strong>…</strong> Women need to learn the power and validity of their voices. Women have been given voices as instruments that God intends for them to use—not in anger, but with the grace and dignity with which Jesus spoke. When I look through the pages of Scripture, I see that the words of women and men throughout history have been beautiful gifts from God. It is time we remember that our voices carry weight, that we hold truth from God on our tongues. The world needs to hear from us.”</blockquote>\r\n<strong><em>I believe God is calling women to come forth and speak to the Church not just to women.</em></strong>','Why Ministry \"For Women\" is Not \"For Me\"','','inherit','open','open','','1411-revision-12','','','2011-10-29 12:57:27','2011-10-29 19:57:27','',1411,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1411-revision-12/',0,'revision','',0),(1495,1,'2011-10-30 16:27:51','2011-10-30 23:27:51','A popular post at<a title=\"Sharon Hodde Miller\" href=\"http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7ya3xT/blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/10/why_its_your_job_to_break_the.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Her.meneutics</a>, <em>Why it’s Your Job to Break the Women’s Ministry Stereotype</em> by Sharon Hodde Miller, reminded me of something I wrote earlier this year.  You must read her blog <a title=\"She Worships\" href=\"http://sheworships.com\" target=\"_blank\">She Worships</a>.  She is one of the more wise and intelligent female voices of my generation.\r\n<h2>I just want to know what you think.</h2>\r\nFor seven years I attended Women’s Bible studies offered at my church.  I learned a lot and my love for scripture grew deeper.   Over the years, as I refined my ability to study scripture for myself I began to notice an odd trend.  These women who taught with clear outward self-assurance were basically parroting the commentary and words of other (usually male) authors.   I found myself counting the times in a lecture they would say “So and so says ... in such and such commentary.”  <strong><em>I longed to hear what these wise women thought and more importantly what God was saying to them as they studied scripture.</em>   </strong>I believe these women were essentially shuffled to the side of the church “to teach women.”  Noticeably they had not received coaching comparable to the “teaching team” (of men) who taught Sunday mornings.  <em>Subsequently these women lacked the confidence and training to speak with authority. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>By writing this essay I am not saying that there is no place for women’s ministry in the church, but after all these years <em>I know it is not for me.  Here\'s why.</em></strong>\r\n<h2>My life is incredibly diverse and I\'ll do everything I can to keep it that way.</h2>\r\nI guess the saying is true, “People of a feather flock together.”\r\n\r\nA good friend who is a leader at church told me that <em>people ask for groupings</em> when they come to church.  They <em>want</em> to be with those that are <em>like them</em> – whether it is women or men, youth or college-aged, young marrieds with or without kids, or singles gathering together.  I understand that this is what we are used and more comfortable with but does that mean it is <em>good</em>?\r\n\r\n<strong><em>I have deep concerns with that when it comes to separating men and women.</em></strong><strong> </strong>\r\n\r\nFirst of all, fundamentally it comes out of this notion that men and women are <em>so very different.  </em> We certainly have our differences, but that sort of thinking is divisive and unproductive. It hurts us more than helps as we try to work out our faith together.  Separation of men and women in the church might have begun when women were for the most part at-home and looking for things to do.  That is no longer the case, as people today divide up their lives and work and time very differently.  And today the church is full of the divorced, single parents,  men at home and women working in the marketplace, as well as more and more single men and women who are choosing to remain so longer, not to mention the younger retired boomers who make up the church.\r\n\r\n<strong>S<em>cripture isn’t </em>\"for women\" or \"for men.” </strong>\r\n\r\nWe don’t need to separate to study the Word.  When we split up it only perpetuates gender stereotypes.  Ah, the stereotypes, women want to be treated like princesses and men are all tough guys.  Women love to talk and are more emotional.  Men are stone and are afraid of being vulnerable and all have pornography problems.  Next thing you know, when women get together we are all making crafts and men are playing basketball.\r\n\r\nI think we benefit as we<strong> </strong>mix generations and genders, hipsters and bikers and soccer moms, boomers, silent gen, teens, single and married with those with higher education or not.  We need to cross all those cultural barriers and learn together.  We are strengthened as people and as a community when we do.  We lose out when we don’t.  There is so much that we don\'t learn when we divide into groups by our comfortable similarities.\r\n<h2>What about Tribes?</h2>\r\nOne of my husband tribes is <strong>Musical Geeks</strong> and they cross many apparent differences, women and men, young and old, it matters not at all, as long as you want to \"geek out\" about all sorts of really boring musical minutia. (That is not my tribe, clearly.)  Not my <em>need, </em>but <em>he needs and loves to be with those people because they have like interests</em>!\r\n\r\nThis is important.  We feel connection, solidarity and even strength when we connect from time to time with our tribe.  One must find a balance.\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold;\">What about in the Church?</span>\r\n\r\n<strong><em>It feels like there are a million obstacles to women experiencing true equity within the Christian evangelical church and separating ourselves by gender simply perpetuates the stereotypes and encourages a lack of creativity when it comes to the gifts and talents that people have.</em></strong>\r\n\r\nI know that I am not your typical evangelical Christian woman nor married to the typical man.  We divide our household chores by talents and interests, as well as what brings us joy.  For example, you will not find my husband outside on the weekend mowing the lawn or in the yard at all.  I do it because I love being outside, love the physical effort and I care about our yard.  He can typically be found inside either cleaning or down in his studio working on music.   When we got married, rather than fall into the typical gender stereotypes we just thought about it pragmatically.  Why can’t we do that in the Church?\r\n\r\nI believe that men and women should be using their skills and abilities and spiritual gifts in the whole Church.  They were given to us by Yahweh.  I believe he chose my skills, abilities and spiritual gifts.  God is the one that <em>made me this way. I should be serving.  I should be using the abilities and talents that He gave me. It would be wrong for me to sit back and not use them. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>This is complicated when you haven\'t had your abilities affirmed in the church.  But some day, women will come to know themselves capable.  I think it is time for us to begin again, to rethink women and men’s ministry and know that we are the body of Christ, at is says in 1 Corinthians 12</strong>.\r\n<blockquote> <strong><sup>4</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. <strong><sup>5</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of service, but the same Lord. <strong><sup>6</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of working, but in all of them and <strong><em>in everyone</em></strong> it is the same God at work.\r\n\r\n<strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Now <em>to each one</em> the manifestation of the Spirit is given <strong><em>for the common good.</em></strong> <strong><sup>8</sup></strong> To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <strong><sup>9</sup></strong> to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <strong><sup>10</sup></strong> to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote a\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645a\">a</a>]</sup></strong> and to still another the interpretation of tongues.<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote b\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645b\">b</a>]</sup></strong> <strong><sup>11</sup></strong> All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them <strong><em>to each one</em></strong>, just as he determines. (NIV, <strong><em>emphasis mine</em></strong>.)</blockquote>\r\nI am so encouraged reading those verses, which were written to us, yes each one, yes <em>to everyone,</em> in the Church.\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Mimi Haddad\" href=\"http://www.cbeinternational.org/?q=content/leadership#dr-mimi-haddad\" target=\"_blank\">Mimi Haddad</a> puts it so well:\r\n<blockquote>“<strong>…</strong> Women need to learn the power and validity of their voices. Women have been given voices as instruments that God intends for them to use—not in anger, but with the grace and dignity with which Jesus spoke. When I look through the pages of Scripture, I see that the words of women and men throughout history have been beautiful gifts from God. It is time we remember that our voices carry weight, that we hold truth from God on our tongues. The world needs to hear from us.”</blockquote>\r\n<strong><em>I believe God is calling women to come forth and speak to the Church not just to women.</em></strong>','Why Ministry \"For Women\" is Not \"For Me\"','','inherit','open','open','','1411-revision-13','','','2011-10-30 16:27:51','2011-10-30 23:27:51','',1411,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1411-revision-13/',0,'revision','',0),(1496,1,'2011-10-30 16:34:22','2011-10-30 23:34:22','','mushrooms','','inherit','open','open','','mushrooms','','','2011-10-30 16:34:22','2011-10-30 23:34:22','',1411,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/mushrooms.png',0,'attachment','image/png',0),(1497,1,'2011-10-30 16:28:33','2011-10-30 23:28:33','A popular post at<a title=\"Sharon Hodde Miller\" href=\"http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7ya3xT/blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/10/why_its_your_job_to_break_the.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Her.meneutics</a>, <em>Why it’s Your Job to Break the Women’s Ministry Stereotype</em> by Sharon Hodde Miller, reminded me of something I wrote earlier this year.  You must read her blog <a title=\"She Worships\" href=\"http://sheworships.com\" target=\"_blank\">She Worships</a>.  She is one of the more wise and intelligent female voices of my generation.\r\n<h2>I just want to know what you think.</h2>\r\nFor seven years I attended Women’s Bible studies offered at my church.  I learned a lot and my love for scripture grew deeper.   Over the years, as I refined my ability to study scripture for myself I began to notice an odd trend.  These women who taught with clear outward self-assurance were basically parroting the commentary and words of other (usually male) authors.   I found myself counting the times in a lecture they would say “So and so says ... in such and such commentary.”  <strong><em>I longed to hear what these wise women thought and more importantly what God was saying to them as they studied scripture.</em>   </strong>I believe these women were essentially shuffled to the side of the church “to teach women.”  Noticeably they had not received coaching comparable to the “teaching team” (of men) who taught Sunday mornings.  <em>Subsequently these women lacked the confidence and training to speak with authority. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>By writing this essay I am not saying that there is no place for women’s ministry in the church, but after all these years <em>I know it is not for me.  Here\'s why.</em></strong>\r\n<h2>My life is incredibly diverse and I\'ll do everything I can to keep it that way.</h2>\r\nI guess the saying is true, “People of a feather flock together.”\r\n\r\nA good friend who is a leader at church told me that <em>people ask for groupings</em> when they come to church.  They <em>want</em> to be with those that are <em>like them</em> – whether it is women or men, youth or college-aged, young marrieds with or without kids, or singles gathering together.  I understand that this is what we are used and more comfortable with but does that mean it is <em>good</em>?\r\n\r\n<strong><em>I have deep concerns with that when it comes to separating men and women.</em></strong><strong> </strong>\r\n\r\nFirst of all, fundamentally it comes out of this notion that men and women are <em>so very different.  </em> We certainly have our differences, but that sort of thinking is divisive and unproductive. It hurts us more than helps as we try to work out our faith together.  Separation of men and women in the church might have begun when women were for the most part at-home and looking for things to do.  That is no longer the case, as people today divide up their lives and work and time very differently.  And today the church is full of the divorced, single parents,  men at home and women working in the marketplace, as well as more and more single men and women who are choosing to remain so longer, not to mention the younger retired boomers who make up the church.\r\n\r\n<em><strong>Scripture isn’t \"for women\" or \"for men.” </strong></em>\r\n\r\nWe don’t need to separate to study the Word.  When we split up it only perpetuates gender stereotypes.  Ah, the stereotypes, women want to be treated like princesses and men are all tough guys.  Women love to talk and are more emotional.  Men are stone and are afraid of being vulnerable and all have pornography problems.  Next thing you know, when women get together we are all making crafts and men are playing basketball.\r\n\r\nI think we benefit as we<strong> </strong>mix generations and genders, hipsters and bikers and soccer moms, boomers, silent gen, teens, single and married with those with higher education or not.  We need to cross all those cultural barriers and learn together.  We are strengthened as people and as a community when we do.  We lose out when we don’t.  There is so much that we don\'t learn when we divide into groups by our comfortable similarities.\r\n<h2>What about Tribes?</h2>\r\nOne of my husband tribes is <strong>Musical Geeks</strong> and they cross many apparent differences, women and men, young and old, it matters not at all, as long as you want to \"geek out\" about all sorts of really boring musical minutia. (That is not my tribe, clearly.)  Not my <em>need, </em>but <em>he needs and loves to be with those people because they have like interests</em>!\r\n\r\nThis is important.  We feel connection, solidarity and even strength when we connect from time to time with our tribe.  One must find a balance.\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold;\">What about in the Church?</span>\r\n\r\n<strong><em>It feels like there are a million obstacles to women experiencing true equity within the Christian evangelical church and separating ourselves by gender simply perpetuates the stereotypes and encourages a lack of creativity when it comes to the gifts and talents that people have.</em></strong>\r\n\r\nI know that I am not your typical evangelical Christian woman nor married to the typical man.  We divide our household chores by talents and interests, as well as what brings us joy.  For example, you will not find my husband outside on the weekend mowing the lawn or in the yard at all.  I do it because I love being outside, love the physical effort and I care about our yard.  He can typically be found inside either cleaning or down in his studio working on music.   When we got married, rather than fall into the typical gender stereotypes we just thought about it pragmatically.  Why can’t we do that in the Church?\r\n\r\nI believe that men and women should be using their skills and abilities and spiritual gifts in the whole Church.  They were given to us by Yahweh.  I believe he chose my skills, abilities and spiritual gifts.  God is the one that <em>made me this way. I should be serving.  I should be using the abilities and talents that He gave me. It would be wrong for me to sit back and not use them. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>This is complicated when you haven\'t had your abilities affirmed in the church.  But some day, women will come to know themselves capable.  I think it is time for us to begin again, to rethink women and men’s ministry and know that we are the body of Christ, at is says in 1 Corinthians 12</strong>.\r\n<blockquote> <strong><sup>4</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. <strong><sup>5</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of service, but the same Lord. <strong><sup>6</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of working, but in all of them and <strong><em>in everyone</em></strong> it is the same God at work.\r\n\r\n<strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Now <em>to each one</em> the manifestation of the Spirit is given <strong><em>for the common good.</em></strong> <strong><sup>8</sup></strong> To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <strong><sup>9</sup></strong> to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <strong><sup>10</sup></strong> to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote a\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645a\">a</a>]</sup></strong> and to still another the interpretation of tongues.<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote b\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645b\">b</a>]</sup></strong> <strong><sup>11</sup></strong> All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them <strong><em>to each one</em></strong>, just as he determines. (NIV, <strong><em>emphasis mine</em></strong>.)</blockquote>\r\nI am so encouraged reading those verses, which were written to us, yes each one, yes <em>to everyone,</em> in the Church.\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Mimi Haddad\" href=\"http://www.cbeinternational.org/?q=content/leadership#dr-mimi-haddad\" target=\"_blank\">Mimi Haddad</a> puts it so well:\r\n<blockquote>“<strong>…</strong> Women need to learn the power and validity of their voices. Women have been given voices as instruments that God intends for them to use—not in anger, but with the grace and dignity with which Jesus spoke. When I look through the pages of Scripture, I see that the words of women and men throughout history have been beautiful gifts from God. It is time we remember that our voices carry weight, that we hold truth from God on our tongues. The world needs to hear from us.”</blockquote>\r\n<strong><em>I believe God is calling women to come forth and speak to the Church not just to women.</em></strong>','Why Ministry \"For Women\" is Not \"For Me\"','','inherit','open','open','','1411-revision-14','','','2011-10-30 16:28:33','2011-10-30 23:28:33','',1411,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1411-revision-14/',0,'revision','',0),(1498,1,'2011-10-29 15:20:00','2011-10-29 22:20:00','<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><strong>The first year of marriage is like wet cement — the impressions made in it are much harder to change once it has set. </strong><em>\r\n<strong>-Robert Wolgemuth</strong></em></p>\r\n<em></em>I got married, a little over a year ago, at the ripe old age of 19 to my 22-year-old fiancé.\r\n\r\nMy fiancé was from Michigan and I lived in Washington. He moved here 3 months before our wedding with no job, no place to live and only enough money to get himself over here. I was living with my parents working a temporary summer job and about to start my second year of college.\r\n\r\nNeedless to say, we started building our lives together from the ground up. Maybe even below the ground.\r\n\r\nI have a friend who got married, a little over a year ago, also at age 19. The man she married is 12 years her senior.\r\n\r\nHe has an established career, makes a decent living and owns a nice home.\r\n\r\nMany would say she got the better deal. She walked into her first year of marriage looking forward to job stability, financial stability, a nice house and being able to avoid a lot of the problems my husband and I faced during our first year of marriage. She recently had an adorable baby boy and was able to do so without having to worry about how they were going to pay for the costs of health care. I\'m not suggesting that they didn\'t have their share of troubles that inevitably come about from two people learning to be work together as one, but the outside stressors were relatively limited for them.\r\n\r\nAs for me? Well, I walked into my first year of marriage living in a tiny one-bedroom apartment inside of a mansion that had been converted into separate living spaces. My kitchen was no more than a hallway and our \"bedroom\" was so small that we decided to make it our living room since it really only fit our TV. We lived in one of the worst neighborhoods in town since it had the cheapest rent. The neighbor across the hall was a \"sweet old lady\" and also a drug dealer. The man who lived next to us sung along drunkenly to Journey at 1:00 in the morning, which I could hear very clearly through our paper-thin walls. Upstairs there was even a prostitute who liked to loudly discuss her ventures, in great detail, outside our front window.\r\n\r\nDuring our first year, we had our front window bashed in with a rock, our car was broken into and we witnessed multiple assaults outside our front door in the hall. Our apartment was flooded (from the ceiling) two separate times because the lady two floors above us left the house with her clogged toilet running.\r\n\r\nMy husband worked two jobs: an on-call overnight shift and another day job. He would sometimes go for five days straight with no more than seven or eight hours of combined sleep. I went to school full time and worked part time. We somehow managed, through our cheap rent and eating spaghetti all the time, to make ends meet.\r\n\r\nMaybe it’s our personalities, but we somehow managed to find ways to laugh about all of it (sometimes after a few tears).\r\n\r\nWe didn\'t have it easy by any means, but our marriage is so much stronger because of it. We learned so much about each other, about how to more effectively communicate, about leaning on each other for support and most of all-- how to trust God who came through for us more times than I can count. This first year has laid an incredibly solid foundation for the rest of our future. There are so many insights into each other that we would have missed out on had our situation been like my friend\'s.\r\n\r\nReflecting on our first year of marriage, I can see just how far we’ve come. We now live in a nice house in a wonderful quiet neighborhood, my husband has a great full-time job with regular hours that he enjoys and we have a beautiful newborn daughter who has made us a family. My husband and I are still each other\'s best friends and we talk about everything. We know that, if we survived the last 12 months, we can survive anything life throws at us.\r\n\r\nThat year seemed like something out of a bad sitcom, but I wouldn\'t trade it for the world. If I had the option to go back in time and choose between having it be picture-perfect, or the insane mess that it was...I would choose the insane mess. I honestly can\'t fathom how a couple can manage to experience the closeness that my husband and I have <em>without </em>the cliché difficult first year of marriage; I would even go so far as to say that it is an important part of establishing that life-long bond.\r\n\r\nMarriage is more than sharing a life together; it is building a life together. Every “for worse” makes the “for better”…even better.\r\n\r\nPhoto Credit: <a href=\"http://www.sxc.hu/profile/cjhallman\">cjhallman</a>','For better or for worse?','','inherit','open','open','','1430-revision-4','','','2011-10-29 15:20:00','2011-10-29 22:20:00','',1430,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/1430-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(1499,81,'2011-10-31 08:41:04','2011-10-31 15:41:04','Place yourself into the position of the soldiers that went to battle alongside Gideon. You are part of the biggest army that the nation of Israel has ever been able to assemble, and you are going to defend your nation against these enemies that seemingly never stop coming to attack your nation.\n\nAll of a sudden Gideon comes from some quiet time, and he tells half of the army to go home. You are still one of the lucky ones that will be part of the army to defend your nation.\n\nThis scenario plays itself out a couple of time, until there is only about 300 men left. The hope that you had to win this battle is all but gone, you are starting to shake in your sandals, but still you keep a little bit of faith. You do however think how crazy this Gideon is, this man that was nothing before this battle.\n\nAll of a sudden this man comes from another session of quiet time, and he tells these 300 men to leave their swords at home.\n\nWhat the heck!\n\nIs this man totally crazy?\n\nAfter the battle these 300 men can\'t stop talking about how amazing God is. That He helped them defeat this army with vases filled with fire and some trumpets. All of these men have forgotten about the doubt that they had before they walked into this battle, with no weapons but musical instruments.\n\nIf you read the Bible, it is filled with heretics. With people that went against all common sense, but in the end did great things. These people changed their immediate world by being a heretic. By going against everything they are told to do by the authorities at the time.\n\nWhy did they do it?\n\nTo understand why Gideon was completely obedient to what God told is, is probably because God showed Himself to Gideon through the sheep skin, without a doubt, and Gideon simply did not have any other choice but to have faith.\n\nIn the day we live in, we seldom get confirmation like Gideon did, but do we still have faith to follow God\'s call? When God says go, do we go, or do we rather say things like: what about my job, what about my family, what about this, what about that?\n\nI firmly believe we need to get back to following the heretics of out time. By following those that does the easy thing, we are missing out on so much. There is more to life than sitting in a office all day, dreaming about doing other things. If you truly believe you have to do something, go after it, in spite of what the person in the cubicle next to you say.\n\n<em><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> By no means am I saying that doing a normal job is wrong, it is after all also given by God. I simply encounter so many people in my life that want something else, but are to afraid to pursue their God given dreams.</em>','Following the Heretic','','inherit','open','open','','1449-autosave','','','2011-10-31 08:41:04','2011-10-31 15:41:04','',1449,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1449-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),