what is sin?

Last night I fearlessly led the discussion at iMMERSION - our alternative service on Wednesday nights.

The discussion for this week and the next are on Sin, and it was up to me to present the sides of the debate, open up the table to some dialogue, and hopefully get them thinking in ways they may not have imagined.And I think I did it.

For Original Sin, I wanted to start at the beginning and discuss what exactly happened in Eden. It was the beginning of things, wasn't it? So we started off with the Genesis 3 passages, followed by (thank you, YouTube!) a Born Again instructional video, whose bible verse reader sounded like Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons actually.

I could tell that their first impressions to the video were similar to my own - heads were shaking at the arrogant parts, corners of lips were twitching at the overly dramatic music. So I let them get their thoughts off their chest, then plunged straight into An Athiest's View On Original Sin - another YouTube find.

Only I read it out loud instead of playing the video (which was really just a voice and floating pictures). I saw more heads shaking and lips being nibbled in thought with this one. It asked a lot of tough questions that made you think for a second.

With the readings over with, we headed right into discussion. Thank you to all the contributors over on the Original Sin Questions topic - I got a fantastic response to all of them! I recommend popping over and reading all the suggestions, but in the end I chose these six:

1. How much of Christianity rests on the concept of Sin?

2. What is Original Sin? What was the original sin?

3. Does sin pass down through generations?

4. Is it our (humankind's) fault, God's fault, or no one's fault?

5. Does "Original Sin" mean we are inherently bad, or are we just inherently lacking something? What do these possibilities say about God?

6. Is it healthy for humans to hold the view that all people are born as sinners? How does this worldview affect our lives?

Our dialogue was great - we actually went naturally from some questions into others, and the ideas kept flowing. We wondered if God had designed us to be rebellious, or if Sin was just a human concept, or if Jesus died to remind us that we should not fear God... not to instruct what was Good or Evil.Finally, I read the story of the Garden of Eden from one of my favourite books: "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn. It was an incredible feeling, as I read nearly four full pages from the book, of everyone's eyes captivated on me. Well, not on me, but on the words. I could see the ideas unfolding new ideas in their minds as I spoke. I had feared that it might be boring, to sit and listen to me read page after page, but that fear vanished quickly as I read on. A bit of stunned silence hung in the air when I had finished. But it quickly turned back into refreshed discussion, and I actually ended up lending the book out after everything wrapped up.

All in all, a surprisingly successful night. We'll see what happens next week, when we start discussing the kind of Sin we see everyday, and whether or not God keeps track of points.

wwjs? where would jesus shop?

there is no 'right' answer but there is a wrong idea behind the current state of north-american christianity.

consumerism is our idol and the true cost is being felt more by the developing world than our own pockets.

and if you know anything about god you know that god is always with the poor. so, if our products are causing some harm to the poor what do you think that makes god feel?

so, i am not saying that jesus would never shop at wal-mart [but i never will] but i am saying that jesus would never just settle for blaming some big corporation and then moving on...jesus was nothing if not passionate about personal change.

with that in mind we would like to introduce you to 'trade as one'

t.a.o. is about bringing people with money together with tradespeople/artisans in developing nations. thus, we can purchase stuff like food, cards, purses and toys from people who are not part of some large [and lead filled] corporation. instead, our money is going to an individual trying to use their skills to support their family.

this is not the solution, but it does get us thinking about ways in which we can change lives with the stuff we buy.

that might be more in keeping with how jesus would shop.

check our their site...it's on the side of this page as well as linked in this article

commments?

psalms: and explosion of creativity

last night we walked from musical genre to musical genre as we explored the psalms.
[some of the songs played are listed on the video bar]

we had 'audio stations' in the hopes that people would become inspired by something they heard.

at each station a bible was open to a different psalm. our community was invited to read the psalm, listen to the music, watch a video solely about the face of jesus, or stare out the window and look at the waves crash on the beach, and then grab paper and pen and write some thoughts down.

the psalms capture the raw emotions of the human experience. anger, sadness, lonliness, despair, jubilation, remorse, feelings of abandonment, excitment, praise, ponderings...etc. you name it, it is in there.

so, last night we attempted to tap into that primal, creative part that links us with god and each other...and then spew that out onto paper.

for some this was not a pleasant idea...some simply sat quietly and enjoyed the music or art...some chatted and caught up with friends...others watched a jesus film...still others wrote poetry or drew pictures.

that's the great thing about experimenting in worship...you never know where you'll go.

at the end we gathered together to talk about the night and heather shared a poem that she wrote during this time. we decided to end the night with this poem as it was such a powerful example of artistic, verbal worship that we needed nothing further.

so...here it is...enjoy:

I loved her.

That was why I found sand scorching my feet, and air burning out my mouth, and a torrential shower of heat beating down from the arrogant sun.

I loved her.

I stopped eating; not because I wasn't hungry, but because I feared my appetite.

That was why I had left. I felt that appetite inside me, ready to devour all that was good and innocent about her.

She had already been through Hell.

I loved her.

I didn't want to lose her.Could the heat get worse? This -was- Hell, ready to gobble up anything cold or moist.

And then I saw her. She stood there, radiant in the glare.

In her outstretched hands was her heart.

It looked delicious and cool, and I knew that a single bite of it would fill my stomach and give me strength.But then I looked at her face. She was crying, her cheeks salty and red... and I realized that it was not her heart, but mine. "Take it," I whispered through parched lips. "You have been hungry for love longer than I have." As if she had been a cloud across the sun, she vanished and the heat returned with a vengeance.

I continued to walk.

I loved her, and though I refused her food, that gnawing appetite still remained.

I felt the sand slide through my toes as the land began to rise. Up and up I climbed, until I came to the dune's crest.

The sun glared and stole my sight in a blinding flash. I saw her again as I cowered away from the furious sky.

There she knelt at my feet, her head down, her dark hair like a shining river flowing across the sand. I loved her. She drew her hand across my sandal and tried to undo it."Show me that you love me," she breathed. I could feel the promise of cool water and fragrant oil smoothed over my hard, calloused feet. But I loved her. So instead, I knelt in front of her."Love is not a show."Again, she vanished.

I started descending the dune, stumbling through the amber grit.

The world disappeared around me in a haze of heat, and I could feel nothing but my stomach, still empty and demanding.

I loved her, and it hurt.

I wondered why I was still walking. She was a mirage - she did not exist.

She was dead. Why was I still walking?

I loved her.

But did she love me?

Would she ever love me?

Had it been yet another mirage?

I stumbled, and at that moment an overwhelming desire to stop - to lie down, to stop walking towards that hope in front of me - flooded through my body."I love... her..." I stuttered aloud. My dry tongue betrayed me - I had meant to say 'loved'. But it was right, it was true, and the words had an incredible effect on me.

I stood upright, walked straight, and raised my face defiantly towards the sun.

I love her.

She is not an appetite, she is not a craving.

I accepted the ache in my stomach as still being present,

and I continued walking. It could not tempt me, because I love her.

And she had become my need, my ache.

And all the pain, the heat and the weariness only made my love clearer and stronger.

So I walked until I came home, knowing that I love her.

And I will love her beyond giving up,

beyond despair,

beyond temptation and appetite.

No matter if she loves me or not,

I love her.

selah.

worship is not something we do...it is something we live.

become immersed in worship and nothing in life will ever be trivial again.

not music. not film. not art. not taking out the garbage. not shopping. not family. not friends. nothing..not even you.

for if we lose our life for christ...it is then that we find it.

see ya next week....