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.

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.

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.

Response: Chris' Blog [Week 7]

Oh, it's on, Chris! Now you've gone and started a conversation. Oh, wait, that's probably the goal of this whole internets exercise. Okay, then touche, Bolger. Touche.

Of course, I agree that the Great Commission without a solid foundation in faith is not an ideal situation. The Great Commission should be paired with the Great Commandment in ever step of ones spiritual journey. The great commandment is loving God with everything that belongs to us-the heart, soul, and mind. Furthermore, the great commandment of loving God with your heart, soul, and mind therefore reduces to the great commission term, "go". The obedience of the command "go" depends on the love you have for God; just as Jesus said written, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15).

Along the same lines, we must be sure to prepare ourselves for mission in prayer. Whatever mission we are called to or find ourselves in, from working hard at our job to flying to Africa to help kids, prayer can aid our efforts. Like a spiritual tag team, the Holy Spirit is ready to tag in into the match. And now, like me, you'll picture the Spirit as Mr. T to my Hulk Hogan.

Response: Todd's Blog [Week 6]

Last week, I discussed my second disagreement in response to a classmates blog. This week, I'll bust out my third and final critique of a fellow Fuller seminarian to complete the required amount in the syllabus and get back to happiness and fellowship of responding freely without requirement or restriction.

Todd Blackham's reflection on Monday's class session focused on the group work. He believes that the corporate learning process isn't helpful because it doesn't give us time to critique the contextual models in a group setting. I disagree with this reaction on a few levels.

First, the group work is a different learning process that may or may not be a better way of learning for one person over another. Changing up the teaching medium is a proven tactic to absorb information in teaching. In addition, by personalizing each contextual model, in this case the anthropological method, the group members have a better understanding of each model and thus a stronger base to critique the same models. Finally, Todd mentioned that the group work "provides a great experience," but furthermore, by learning to apply the cultural and theological theories into a real world setting, we are applying the knowledge in a practical exercise. And for most, learning in doing. Otherwise, most of the time you can feel like you are alone on an island.

Response: Chris' Blog [Week 5]

We are supposed to disagree with at least 3 posts according to the syllabus for MP520. A difficult task since we are all reading the same material and listening to the same class lectures. That, coupled with the fact that most students blogs just summarize each reading or lecture and raise a few questions without giving any opinions of there own... people are sticking close to the vest. Hey, I'm not sayin' people aren't being truthful, but I'd just like to see a provocateur bust one lose here or there. I'm just sayin'...


Last week I disagreed with what Aaron said, so one disagreement is down. Here goes #2. We'll see who #2 works for... Chris posted last week about how Barker believes we are defined by our culture and he feels that strategic essentialism can be valuable "for the improvement of the human condition" (Barker 2003, 244). Chris lamented that "progress in this direction seems unlikely if we are to take Barker seriously in that no one truly knows the essential nature of the human. Who is to define what improvement is?"

I think we can define what improvement to the human condition is by looking at the social injustice around the world and calculating whether or not it is increasing of decreasing. Currently, injustice in the form of war, famine, disease, and oppression happen daily. Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur, AIDS, and civil wars clearly show that the human condition isn't perfect. But if one looks back on only the 20th Century, one would see enormous strides in the civil rights movement, womens suffrage, and the fall of communism... all which would point towards the improvement of the human condition. As I have already mentioned, there are still atrocities that occur every day worldwide. That being said, if we are to be defined by our culture, from a historical perspective, we have made progress.

Response: Aaron's Blog [Week 4]

Although it is true that it is grossly unrealistic to expect people to be transformed into the character of Christ at the rate of one hour a week. I have to disagree with Aaron's overall assessment and point out that the majority of churches, including mega-churches aren't shaping their Sunday services to engage today's postmodern culture well enough to create experiences where the church goer can commune, experience, and meet with God.

Personally, I have created Sunday services that were full of visual, auditory, and experiential elements that require the attendee to engage their faith. With well thought out live painting, expressive original music, and prayer stations an [extra]ordinary Sunday service can move from the routine to a personal and powerful faith experience. Yes, discipleship, small groups and missions are powerful tools in their own right. But a well thought out Sunday service can move from a ritualistic, mundane, and traditional nature into an [extra]traditional transformational tool.

Response: Harmony's Blog [Week 3]

Harmony made a strong point this week when she noticed that Bevans made a point to state that God is not necessarily a male but in the church people tend to use the metaphor “father.” She continued in observation that some Fuller faculty fail to use gender inclusive language when speaking in class. I have seen the same behavior and applaud Harmony for calling out those responsible. Some may say its a small thing and doesn't really matter. But each little step towards gender equality is important, especially in a field like the Church where many still hold onto archaic doctrine formed out of cultural bias.

I started my Fuller experience up at the Northwest campus and found the faculty there to follow the gender inclusive line fairly well overall, to the point where some professors would mention when your paper had a "father" or "mankind" that needed to be fixed.

Although the models theory that Bevans is presenting here does go into detail about how individuals can be shaped by there past and further emphasizes the need to study our models of theology and philosophical underpinnings. So basically the particular faculty guilty of not following rules are just following what they have learned.

Response: Brian's Blog [Week 2]

Brian's thoughts this past week on whether or not Jesus would be involved in culture in the highly visible media outlet or a counter culture setting is an very interesting one. Personally, when I think about how Jesus would act in today's culture, I always think of the Jesus who lives in South Park. For better or worse. Okay, it's definitely worse with South Park most of the time.

The South Park Jesus has a cable access show and every one in a while takes on characters the likes of Satan or Santa in some episodes. Okay, maybe it's not the "artfully done iconic rebellion" Brian was thinking of in his blog post, but you have to admit it's rebellious in it's own shape and form. But regardless of the medium, I tend to agree that Jesus wouldn't stay close to the vest, appear on Leno, or do things by the book. Besides... in my mind, Jesus is more of a Letterman guy anyways.

Response: Michael Huang's Blog [Week 1]

You had me at Pedro. Michael Huang's observation on his January 9th blog post caught my eye for more reasons than the Pedro The Lion reference. Yes, I find myself at time like one of the Bob's on Office Space saying, "I celebrate his entire collection," about Pedro's music. But I too echo Michael's questions about "witnessing" and believe that your life is the best witness you can have rather than preaching the Good News to your friends and family. Sometimes just following the wise words of Matthew McConaughey's Wooderson [McConaughey's best and most famous role, probably due to the distinct possibility that he's not acting and just playing himself in the film] in Dazed and Confused is a much nobler path:

"The older you get the more rules they are going to try and get you to follow. You just gotta keep on livin man! L-I-V-I-N!"


The reason I am drawn to Pedro The Lion is because David Bazan is a Christian believer that stays out of the Christian music scene, instead choosing to play his music to the popular culture at large. It's a testament both to his struggle with the institutional systems of church and his believe that his faith is better served in song outside the corporate structure of Christian labels. I've had the blessing of being able to commune with David and other Seattle musicians through old roommates in the local Seattle music "scene." The musicians that choose to be musicians in popular music over the Christian music scene have my utmost respect, for they are in effect "witnessing" through their lives to many more people than you or I can on a daily basis. From David Bazan to Rosie Thomas to Sufjan Stevens to The Pale Pacific, musicians of faith struggling with the same life questions that we struggle with in lyrical harmony is a wonderful thing.