Spring Training Report

Scott Chamberlain and I met in Arizona for Spring Training earlier this week to catch a couple of games in the sun. It was a little over a 5 hour trip out to the desert from LA. It is my Spring Break this week, so I took full advantage of the close vicinity to Spring Baseball and made the journey out.

Monday afternoon we saw the Cubs edge out Texas in Mesa 7-6 as Dempster looked horrible starting for Chicago. DeRosa, Lee and Ramirez all handled the bat really well for the Cubbies, but Japanese newcomer Fukudome didn't play. My boy Josh Hamilton went 1-3 with an RBI... he hit the ball hard in all 3 AB's though. He's oing to hit 35 HR this year.

Tuesday afternoon we drove up to Maryville, AZ to the Brewers Spring Training facilities and caught their game versus the "visiting" Dodgers. I use quotes because there were as many Dodgers fans out from LA-LA land as there were Brewers fans. Scott and I both got a little burn while laying out on the grass in the outfield. The game ended in a 3-3 tie. Penny looked decent only giving up 1 run on 1 hit in 5 innings, but he walked 5. Furcal, Loney and Ethier handled the bat well for the Dodgers, and Juan Pierre looked old. Pierre did have a bunt infield hit in the 8th though. Andruw Jones looked like he was at least 20 pounds overweight. Scott labeled him "chubby". That's all Scott said all day... so you know Jones looked fat.

The Brew Crew looked like a solid lineup, although they only have 1 LH bat in Prince Fielder in their lineup, which isn't much balance. Weeks looked really good though leading off. Prince looked about 280 lbs and 5'10" tall, about the same height as Weeks. He's going to hit 40+ this year though. Good player in person. Braun lost a fly-ball to left in the sun in the 3rd (which they didn't give him an error), but then redeemed himself and made a nice running catch a few innings later. He should be fine in his transition from 3B.

I'll be back next week with an update from my first week of classes for my last quarter at Fuller.

Paper: Re-Revised Outline

I. The Christian & The Homosexual: Can These Communities Co-Exist?

1. Introduction focusing on the "issue" of homosexuality within the Church community. The Christian community must rethink its views towards homosexuality. Thesis: Within this paper, I will demonstrate that the Christian community has used rhetoric & social stigma to ignore, marginalize and ostracize the homosexual community. Furthermore, I will attempt to use the countercultural model of contextual theology to bridge the communication gap and express the Gospel message between the Christian and homosexual communities.


2. My experience with the gay community. How personal relationships change ones understanding of homosexuality.


3. Public discussion of the subject of homosexuality has been controlled mostly by ideological extremes: the extreme gay left and the extreme antigay right.

II. Models of Contextual Theology by Stephen B. Bevans: Countercultural Model

1. Define countercultural model.


2. A place of centrality is given to the Gospel within this model.


3. The core of the Gospel, according to Jesus, is “love”.

III. What are some ways the Christians community can address the issue in a progressive and practical ways?

1. Jay Bakker & Sundance Channel’s One Punk Under God documentary series.


2. Communities like these are a practical embodiment of the countercultural model of contextual theology discussed earlier.


3. Conclusion: “Brokenness” is indeed a hidden virtue. The Church needs to embrace and support this group of people, not despite scripture and tradition, but in light of scripture and tradition. Is the church welcoming the uninvited?

Reflection: Week 10 [Wednesday]

Fan and participatory culture is a fascinating evolution of entertainment and popular culture. When Trekkies and Star Wars junkies start recycling and creating their own stories, films and characters out of the original canon of material, a phenomenon is born and a cyclical relationship to the medium is generated.

When reflecting on this class overall, I believe understanding historical and contemporary culture is vital to understanding the individual, youth and contributors to our popular culture and world.

The church cannot remain in a bubble and ignore how the world has and is working. Too often, I believe the church tries to create Christian alternatives to culture, rather than embracing popular culture. And more often than not, the Christian product is crap. Christian media tries to package the crap to make it look and sound the same, but in the end it's still crap. You can't polish a turd.

Response: Denise's Blog [Week 10]

Denise Bogard brings it in her critique of Bevans Chapter 9 and how Bevans: "...errs in its tendency to centralize 'community' over and above the gospel itself. (This is not to belittle community as a central part of the Christian life, but only to assert that it is a rightful outflowing of the gospel, rather than its source or its equivalent)."

Denise, since you've sat behind me the entire quarter and have been a great small group partner in conversation and presentation, I feel obligated to chime in on a blog of yours before the quarter wraps. In regards to Bevans, I would wholeheartedly agree that community should flow out of the "gospel" rather than visa-versa.


But I believe this is where the Church has gotten it wrong [for the most part], and the new "Emerging Church" has gotten it right. The Emerging Church emphasizes the biblical principles behind mission, church planting, outreach and community endeavor. Critics of the emergent movement believe that many modern church initiatives lack true biblical grounding, choosing community over gospel truth, whilst traditional churches often lack both and that their way is the middle way. And like Denise, I believe God's story in the Gospel message is a powerful one.

That being said, I tend to fall on the side of something new rather than something old... even if this fuzzy image of community over truth is part of the package. It all comes down to the old not resonating with people who have been "burned" by the Church. And because sometimes the doors are closed by the elements of our fallen world, I'll side with community and believe that God's story can be seen through the lives and love of God's people.

Reflection: Week 10 [Monday]

As we continue to watch Merchants Of Cool, I am reminded of Amy Kaherl's guest lecture about "body image" during Barry Taylor's Pop Culture class... specifically, body-image issues women deal with every day. Being married to a feminist, I have discussed these issues previous to our class sessions, previously viewed the aforementioned film on target marketing, and continue to see everyday evidence of a culture of perfection promoted by today’s corporate culture and mass-media outlets.

We are still in the middle of a women’s rights movement within the Church. And representation of women in leadership is still not universally accepted. Whereas, a hot button issue like segregation has moved from universally accepted, to cultural taboo, and finally to unacceptable within the past 200 years – women's leadership in the Church is still not to that point. There are many denominations that still are not accepting of women in pastoral leadership roles, carefully "allowing" women to lead ministries within the church without "allowing" women in lead pastor roles. We still have a long way to go. And seeing women in leadership positions in all areas of culture is a step that will help young women who see body image as supreme, to view being a woman as something more than a pretty face.

Response: Annie's Blog [Week 9]

In response to Annie McLaren's response to Emmet's blog post on young women's identity as sexual objects the Merchants Of Cool video labeled "midriff" in the investigative piece we have been watching in class, I would like to echo Annie's thoughts and add another avenue where the Church can communicate to this youth going down a typically plastic path.


I would propose focusing on each person's talent and beauty as an individual. Last week, I attended the screening of the video documentary Soul Searching: A Movie about Teenagers and God, shown in Fuller's own Travis Auditorium. The film, based on research and a book by Christian Smith, offered a survey of the ways teenagers perceive God and religion. One of the main themes that emerged from the footage was societies obsession with performance and how today's teenagers are depressed about how they stack up to this performance driven culture and are increasingly turning to suicide as a final answer.

It is a scary correlation to the same epidemic we have been discussing. By focusing on each person's self worth and talent, teenagers can find their passion their gifts, and more importantly passion for life. I believe everyone has a passion and purpose for their beautifully created unique self just waiting to be discovered and unleashed. As concerned citizens of the Church and the Earth, we must find alternative means of finding and cultivating these passions in our youth.

Reading: Cobb [Life Everlasting]

Cobb mentions the "communion of saints", found in the Apostles' Creed, during his prose on life everlasting. When I hear the phrase "life everlasting", I immediately think of the creed.

I loved the show Six Feet Under and was ecstatic that Cobb included the daring, dark & smart show in his diatribe. You can't beat it when death, homosexuality, drugs & family issues are all thrown into a weekly script and come out as an eloquent timepiece that reflects both hope and fear in life's beautiful struggle.

If you haven't seen the HBO creation, I implore you to give it a go. You will not be disappointed. Well, unless you can't take the swearing. If that's the case, stick to your American Idol or whatever else you people watch.

Reading: Bevans [Conclusion]

Is one model better than the other? Bevans has broken down five different models of contextual theology, each with both it's pros and cons. He also reminds us that each example of the individual models do not stay exclusively true to their model but borrow a little from other models as they apply their personal influence on the particular community they evangelizing to.


Bevans ends his book appropriately by mentioning that "within today's world of radical plurality and ambiguity, the best answer to the question can only be: 'It depends on the context.'" The context of this comic book illustration becomes funny due to it being out of context. Context, context, context. A text without a context is a pretext. The context of scripture, of course, but also the contemporary context—the Bible in one hand, the broadsheet in the other. The clash of two worlds: scriptura probat mundum.

Reflection: Week 9 [Wednesday]

The Merchants of Cool has been previously discussed here on the blog earlier in the quarter. By tapping into the youth market through market research targeting youth trends and belief systems, retrieving information to adapt and stay ahead of the curve. It is a commercial corporate mindset that is highly influential yet still remarkably unseen to the common person.

The "mook" and the "midriff" still permeate our culture in highly influential ways. And even though Britney Spears has moved from singing "Crazy" with bare midriff to literally being crazy, the midriff is still going strong. Amy brought up the fact that women today are dealing with body image at unseen levels. Check out her cause Beauty From Within if you'd like to read more about the issue.

Paper: Revised Outline

1. The topic that I will write about is on homosexuality and how this subculture is ignored marginalized, or ostracized by the Church as a whole.

• Discuss the gay, lesbian, and transgender community
• The gay community as a culture
• The gay community in culture
• The gay community spiritually

• Discuss the church community
• The church views historically towards other marginalized subcultures
• The church views historically towards the gay community
• Discuss homosexuality as it relates currently to the church community
• Questions of inclusion and exclusion
• Issues of the power
• Separation in the church
  

2. Discuss the few diverse church communities that are including the gay community through the “Countercultural Model” as presented by Bevans would be the best model to present the Gospel.

• The Bible needs to be looked at in context
• Church should cross all cultures not condemning a culture of a certain sexual orientation
• Stress the insufficiency of all humanity
• Gospel is to for all people
  

• Church would be accepting of all sexual orientations and promote community awareness and integration
• Church would promote diversity in the leadership including age diversity
• Encourage participation in cross cultural events

Reflection: Week 9 [Monday]

Carnivalesque is significant, for Bakhtin offers a legitimate, state sanctioned space for otherness of "world upside-down" in which the rules are broken, alternative truths are visualized and difference is embraced. It is in this space that the marginalized community disrupts the stable silence of official lives and identities.

The small group that I started in Seattle was called "outkast" and based our identity on similar thoughts. Moreover the Church doesn't appeal to the outcasts in society and many young people in their 20's and 30's feel on the outside looking in most of the time. The Emerging Church movement is keying on some of the marginalized people, but the Church as a whole has a long way to go.

Paper: Outline

The topic that I will write about is on homosexuality and how this subculture is ignored marginalized, or ostracized by the Church as a whole. I will discuss the gay, lesbian, and transgender community and how the church community has viewed the gay community historically, discussing questions of inclusion and exclusion. A few diverse church communities that are including the gay community will be mentioned. I think I'll use the “Countercultural Model” as presented by Bevans as it seems to be the best model to bridge the message of JC between the Church and the gay community. I will outline how the Bible needs to be looked at in context, the Church should cross all cultures not condemning a culture of a certain sexual orientation<, further stressing the insufficiency of all humanity, Jesus' message is for all people, the Church should be accepting of all sexual orientations and promote community awareness and integration, and the Church should promote diversity in the leadership including age diversity, encouraging participation in cross cultural events.

Response: Simon's Blog [Week 8]

Simon Castagna mentioned in his post on Bevans breakdown of the transcendental model of contextual theology that, "I think God reveals himself to people who genuinely search for him, but in my opinion we can't rely only on subjectivity." In the end, I tend to agree with his analysis that, "We have sinful natures and our subjectivity is flawed."

But Simon's comments got me thinking that, if you drill down further, one could argue that the power of the Word of God transforming people that search is bigger than subjectivity itself. And when Paul describes this dramatic change in our hearts and minds as Jesus Christ living within us, we "put off the old man with his deeds" and "put on the new man" and we are "renewed" in knowledge and in the spirit of our minds (Colossians 3:9-10). Of course, the creation of righteous character is a two-way process. God gives us the knowledge and all the power we need. But we supply the choice to live righteously.