Last week I was in a week long intensive seminary class called “Learning from the History of Preaching.” Although it was a long week, the following is a summary of the interesting things I learnt through the process: 1) The idea of people “downloading” or preaching other people’s sermons isn’t new but can be traced back as far as Caesarea of Arles in the early medieval period. It would seem that although it was done for good practical reasons, it had negative long-term results. 2) I was amazed at the genius of many of the prominent preachers throughout history. These individuals, for the most part, are the cream of the top, many of them literally geniuses. 3) I was intrigued with the correlation between liturgy and preaching and the development of both throughout history. I also found the contrast between the Alexandrian school of interpretation and the Antioch school of interpretation through the Patristic period very interesting. I fact, I am doing my major research paper for the course on this. 4) I also found that knowing the history of preaching puts many of the contemporary books of preaching into context. Not that they are good or bad per se, but knowing the history of preaching puts an interesting perspective on the present and future of preaching.
All in all, it was a good class…I just hope I remember at least a fraction of what I learnt.
I have to admit I am more and more annoyed with the media coverage that the “Jesus Papers,” “Holy Blood, Holy Grail,” the “Da Vinci Code” and the “Gospel According to Judas” are getting these days. Anytime we, as a culture, begin to take our ideas and frame of reference from a fictional novel like the “Da Vinci Code” or a book like “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” (which has no real scholarly support and is based on innuendo and radical theories) we are in treacherous waters.
That being said…I think we have to be careful as the evangelical church about throwing the proverbial stones from our proverbial glass houses because I would argue that we have done it for years inside our own walls. There are those that read Frank Peretti novels (and still do) not in the genre it was intended (fiction) but instead as theology/demonology. Or people who read the “Left Behind” series as a Biblical commentary on Revelation when it is also is fiction. But I would also argue that we do it with Scripture as well when we take a book like Revelation, which is written in the genre of Jewish Apocalyptic literature, and instead of reading and interpreting it in its genre we read and interpret it as a fortune telling newspaper. I would also argue that this can, and has taken place, in the interpretations of other genres like poetry, parables, narratives, etc. in Scripture. I guess that is the challenge and I think as the Church we need to be careful as we critique the media for doing things with the “Da Vinci Code” today that we have done in the evangelical church for years.
It has been so long since I wrote in this blog that I am not sure if anyone even checks it anymore. Well…for those that still check it once and a while…I’m sorry I haven’t been keeping this up-to-date. I could make excuses like how busy life has been with Church and school stuff, which is true, but that seem to be a lame excuse when I am caught up on TV shows like House, The Unit, CSI, LOST and 24. So I confess, I have been a bit lazy about my blog but I want to get back to doing this regularly…SO…….here it goes.
So the countdown is officially on as I plan and prepare for a personal mission’s trip to Bolivia in the fall. I am not sure what exactly I will be doing once I get there but it will probably include speaking, music stuff and other ministry opportunities – we are in the process of working these details out.
I’m excited because I get the awesome privilege to watch, learn, encourage and serve alongside one of my close friends who serves there full-time with International Teams (K. Switzer).
One of the things I am committing to in my preparation is to purposely pray each day for six months for the ministry I will have while in Bolivia. I want to be used by God for his glory and purposes and so I am praying to that end.
I will no doubt be Blogging about the preparation and developments as they arise in the coming weeks/months.
I saw this story on CNN about God’s iPod and was immediately ready to go crazy. I am not against using technology – I love it, but it was the guy’s rational for using it that was getting me upset – ready to violently yell at my TV set. His rational was that if Jesus was around today, he would use all the available technology he could to reach as many people as he could. I think reaching people is admirable, but that rational doesn’t jive with the picture of Jesus seen in the gospels.
In the gospels, Jesus is seen often retreating from people and unlike others in his day, stayed out of the large theatres and instead, spoke from hills with poor acoustics and gave many of his profound messages and miracles to a select few rather than to the masses.
In terms of technology…I am for it. In terms of using it for ministry, I am also for it with some provisos. I think technology should be used only if it adds to community and our human, God created, need for it rather than replaces or detracts from it.
For the most part I am in favour of the idea of podcasts for church. I think it is great for those who attend a local community and have missed a week so they can catch up with what is happening with the community. I also think it is a great resource for additional teaching or listening to the Bible in MP3 format. But it will NEVER replace the communal element of church and if it is used to substitute it, I think it then detracts for the very message it is trying to communicate. For those reasons I am for technology but with thought and critique so we don’t blindly accept or institute something that will in fact detract from church and the Good News. The problem is we rarely reflect on the possible effects of using a certain technology before we embrace it.
Last week I was in a week long intensive seminary class called “Learning from the History of Preaching.” Although it was a long week, the following is a summary of the interesting things I learnt through the process:
