Integrating Missionally

Sunday Psalm: Ps. 63:1-8

David Phillips — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:06:42 +0000

A psalm of David, regarding a time when David was in the wilderness of Judah.

1 O God, you are my God;
I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
where there is no water.

2 I have seen you in your sanctuary
and gazed upon your power and glory.

3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself;
how I praise you!

4 I will praise you as long as I live,
lifting up my hands to you in prayer.

5 You satisfy me more than the richest feast.
I will praise you with songs of joy.

6 I lie awake thinking of you,
meditating on you through the night.

7 Because you are my helper,
I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.

8 I cling to you;
your strong right hand holds me securely.

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Is climate change causing all this snow?

David Phillips — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:22:26 +0000

I live in the Mid-Atlantic. Since December 19, 2009, we have received almost 6 feet of snow. We set records for snowfall this year. I am asking God to move me back South as a result.

I admit that I’m not a climatologist. But I am a scientist. I read scientific literature. My doctoral dissertation integrated emerging brain research and theology. I have a computer science degree and spent 6 years in the IT industry. All this intrigues me.

Climate change is a difficult subject, and a contentious one. It’s a charged debate with people on the left and right politically and socially at each other’s throat. With the winter storms that have roared through this year, and with the Cap and Trade bill before Congress and being pushed through by the White House, the debate has only grown louder and more angry, if that is possible.

This week, both sides of the debate politically have gone after each other in the media. Those on the right are considering putting out an amber alert for Al Gore because he has been silent with all this snow and with ClimateGate. They have made fun of the former Vice President and those on the Left because global warming couldn’t be happening with all this snow. The Left has now fired back saying that all this snow is actually evidence of global warming. Just this week, MSNBC anchors and Fox News anchors have lobbed shots at each other over this.

Here is a sampling of video clips of this week’s action. First, Rachael Maddow interviews the lovable Bill Nye, the Science Guy. Nye appeared on MSNBC’s Feb. 10 “Rachel Maddow Show” and aired his disapproval of manmade climate change skeptics and labeled them “unpatriotic.”

MSNBC Anchor Dylan Ratigan got into the act, stating: ‘Snowpocalypses’ that have been going through D.C. and other weather events are precisely what climate scientists have been predicting, fearing, and anticipating because of global warming … In fact you could argue these storms are not evidence of a lack of global warming, but evidence of global warming.” That clip is here.

Glenn Beck responds to this clip on the radio and on his Fox News program. The transcript of what he said on the radio program can be found here.

Not to be out done, Ratigan responds to Beck with what appears to be scientific evidence. Note that clip here:

The IPCC report that Bill Nye notes received a Nobel Prize for their work has been exposed by ClimateGate. The IPCC has had to announce this week that errors were made. Britian has called for an inquiry. India has pulled out because of the manipulation of the data. And despite some claiming the science is settled, it certainly doesn’t appear to be.

I know two things. First, in 2002, I participated in a doctoral class where one of my colleague worked for an environmental group. She was, herself, an environmentalist. During part of her research, however, she came to the conclusion that the environmental movement had little to do with the environment and more to do with the money. In fact, it was primarily a money movement.

Second, the science that Ratigan & Nye use to validate their claim that global warming is the cause of the record snow falls, has recently been proven incorrect. A recent study by Susan Solomon,Karen Rosenlof,Robert Portmann,John Daniel,Sean Davis, Todd Sanford, and Gian-Kasper Plattner, published in the journal Science, states:

Stratospheric water vapor concentrations decreased by about 10% after the year 2000. Here, we show that this acted to slow the rate of increase in global surface temperature over 2000 to 2009 by about 25% compared to that which would have occurred due only to carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. More limited data suggest that stratospheric water vapor probably increased between 1980 and 2000, which would have enhanced the decadal rate of surface warming during the 1990s by about 30% compared to estimates neglecting this change.

This article was generated by scientists with the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences in Colorado and the Physics Institute in Bern, Switzerland. These are hardly groups associated with any high level of climate change skepticism.

If the water vapor concentrations were increasing, with more water in the atmosphere there could be more rain and snow, depending on the temperature. However, water is decreasing; therefore there should be reduced rain and reduced snow falls. That is just not happening.

Another article was published in Geophysical Research Letters by two scientists with the National Climatic Data Center in North Carolina and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. The article is entitled “Is the climate warming or cooling?” Easterling and Wehner basically show that with little-to-no external forcing of global climate, we will still get decades of warming and cooling. They note that no real cause is needed to produce a decade of cooling – it is all just part of the natural variability of climate.

Has there been a trend towards an increase in temperature? Since 1975, yes there has. It is, however, now trending downward.

As a Christian, I believe it is important to be good stewards of creation. I want to be off the grid (except for internet) in 10 years, using solar, wind, and geo-thermal energies and the grid as back-up power only. At the same time, I also believe in the sovereignty of God and in that I believe that God can take care of this planet without my help or my harm. So while I support environmentalism to a point, I also reject the rabid environmentalists trying to cap and tax (~~trade~~) and destroy economies and jobs.

Q4U:

1. Will extreme environmentalism hurt our economies? If so, how?
2. What are you doing to be more aware environmentally, and a better steward of the earth’s resources?

The loss of innocence

David Phillips — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:59:16 +0000

In this short video, I look at Genesis 3:1-7, the story of the temptation of Adam and Eve. In it I show how the story is a loss of innocence and is destructive of community. I also compare the temptation of the first Adam to the second Adam -- Jesus Christ.

10 minutes long…

Where you never expected to be

David Phillips — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:05:37 +0000

Dr. Thomas Long, Professor of Preaching at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, shares a message called “Where You Never Expected to Be.” He says God calls us to tasks we never imagined for ourselves and places we never expected to be. If we know how to listen, we can hear God’s call right now.

Q4U:

How have you found your calling?
What are you doing to fulfill your calling?

Has there ever been a Christian worldview?

David Phillips — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:09:58 +0000

An interesting question, don’t you think?

The definition of worldview
According to Wikipedia, a worldview “is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing natural philosophy, fundamental existential and normative postulates or themes, values, emotions, and ethics. The term is a loan translation or calque of German Weltanschauung, composed of Welt, ‘world’, and Anschauung, ‘view’ or ‘outlook’. It is a concept fundamental to German philosophy and epistemology and refers to a wide world perception. Additionally, it refers to the framework of ideas and beliefs through which an individual interprets the world and interacts with it.”

What is a Christian worldview?
A Christian worldview “is identified primarily as a set of doctrines or a system of beliefs” [1]

Francis Beckwith offers a definition of worldview. He says,

What we mean is that the Christian faith is a philosophical tapestry of interdependent ideas, principles, and metaphysical claims that are derived from the Hebrew-Christian Scriptures as well as the creeds, theologies, communities, ethical norms, and institutions that have flourished under the authority of these writings. These beliefs are not mere utterances of private religious devotion but are propositions whose proponents claim accurately instruct us on the nature of the universe, human persons, our relationship with God, human communities and the moral life. [2]

Christian thinker James W. Sire defines a worldview as “a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true, or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic construction of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being.” He suggests that “we should all think in terms of worldviews, that is, with a consciousness not only of our own way of thought but also that of other people, so that we can first understand and then genuinely communicate with others in our pluralistic society.” [3]

The impact of a Christian worldview
This construction of a Christian worldview creates a Christian faith that is dualistic and reductionistic. It reduces the Christian faith primarily to a set of ideas, principles, claims and propositions that are known and believed. The goal of this is to create “correct” thinking. This relies on the description of Descartes: thinking things that are containers for ideas. This generates a rationalistic view of self where we are not only reduced to thinking things but are seen as things whose bodies are nonessential containers for our minds. This also creates our dualistic approach: There is a distinction between our bodies and minds and neither affects the other. [4]

Humans, however, are fundamentally desiring creatures. We are what we love, and our love is shaped, primed, and aimed by liturgical practices that take hold of our heart and aim it to certain ends. Humans are primarily lovers, not thinkers or believers.

Being a disciple of Jesus, therefore, is not primarily about getting the right ideas and doctrines and beliefs into the mind in order to develop the correct behavior. It is a matter of being the kind of person who loves rightly – who loves God and neighbor and is oriented to the world by the primacy of that love. We are made to be such people by our immersion in the material practices of Christian worship.

There are two correlates to a cognitive emphasis of humanity. First, the focus on a Christian worldview as beliefs and doctrines marginalizes or ignores the centrality of distinctly Christian practices that constitute worship – arguably the single more important thing a Christian does. Second, it marginalizes the body and all that makes up the body, including imagination. The focus on the cognitive reduces the need for a community. In fact, there is no need for the body. The body focuses on practices and rituals, what Christians do. Worldview as beliefs and doctrines focus on what people believe, on an assent to ideas and thoughts, not actions.

In my next post, I will look at an alternate concept to worldview thinking.

NOTES
[1] James K.A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (Cultural Liturgies), 31.
[2] Francis Beckwith,To Everyone an Answer: A Case for the Christian Worldview: Essays in Honor of Norman L. Geisler as quoted in James K.A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (Cultural Liturgies), 31-32.
[3] James W. Sire The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog, 5th Edition, 15-16
[4] Smith, 32.

Homo Liturgicus – Philosophical Anthropology and Education

Concentrate for better productivity (mac only)

David Phillips — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:49:31 +0000

I have ADD. I may actually have ADHD, according to my coach, who is also a Christian counselor. I can get distracted by the smallest thing. My mind can think of something and quickly I’m diverted. I have a problem with concentration and focus. I admit it. I blame the 6 years in the IT industry. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. You know, stress can cause issues with short-term memory. It also is an accelerator of ADD/ADHD, though not a cause. And during the startup days of the internet, stress was very real.

I can’t remember where I found this (like I said, memory issues), but recently I ran upon an app for the mac called Concentrate. Concentrate “helps you work and study more productively by eliminating distractions.” It is a simple application with a really nice interface. Concentrate offers a number of options to help you get down to business. With it you can

Quit applications that distract you
Run applications, and only the ones you need for your task
Open websites you need to use for work
Block websites that you know will distract you such as social media sites

In addition to helping keep you on task, Concentrate takes it also records spoken messages that help to keep you going, play sounds to let you know how long you’ve been concentrating, and alters your iChat and/or Skype status to keep people from bugging you.

Concentrate has a 60 hour free trial and is $29 to purchase.

I really love this app. I have different tasks set up and in each task certain programs are allowed to run, certain programs and automatically shut down. Some websites are allowed and some are blocked. It really helps me get things done and allows me to “concentrate”.

If you have a mac, pick up a copy. Then use it. It’s worth the $29.

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Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:00:00 PST

Images of Truth

David Phillips — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:24:59 +0000

The following is a two part series on the images of knowing. Today I look at the images that form the idea of truth.

The message education should convey is not identified by words like “fact,” “theory,” or “objective”. Instead, the message is called “truth.” The English word for “truth” comes from a Germanic root that also gives rise to the word “troth,” as in the ancient vow “I pledge thee my troth.” With this word, one person enters a covenant with another, a pledge to engage in a mutually accountable and transforming relationship. To know something or someone in truth is to enter troth with the known. To know truth is to become betrothed, to engage the known with one’s whole self. To know in truth is to allow one’s self to be known as well, to be vulnerable to the challenges and changes any true relationship brings. To know in truth is to enter into the life of that which we know and allow it to enter into ours. Truthful knowing weds the know and the known; even in separation, the two become part of each other’s life and fate.

Therefore, truth has nothing to do with manufacturing a world, keeping it at a distance, or manipulating it to suit our needs. Truth involves entering in to a relationship with someone or something genuinely other than us, but with whom we are intimately bound. Truth contains the image we are seeking – the image of community in which we were first created, the image of relatedness between knower and known.

Educating towards truth does not mean turning away from facts and theories and objective realities. If we devote ourselves to truth, the facts will not necessarily change. What will change is our relation to the facts. Truth requires the knower to become interdependent with the known.

The following was adapted from Parker Palmer’s book To Know as We Are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey

Images of Objectivism and Knowing

David Phillips — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:17:47 +0000

The following is a two part series on the images of knowing. Today I look at the images that form the idea of objectivism.

The shape of our knowledge becomes the shape of our living. Seeing people as thinkers requires that we acquire knowledge in a certain way, a way much different than seeing people as lovers. It also shapes the knowledge we trust and value.

If we are thinkers, we value worlds like “fact” and “theory” and “objective.” The images and metaphors developed from these words give us insight into not only on the knowledge we value, but also in how we understand our world and shape our lives.

The word “fact” is vital. Finding the “facts’ marks the turn from primitive superstition to modern science, from subjective knowledge based on feeling, intuition, and faith to objective knowledge that can be tested by our senses. Fact comes from the Lain facere, “to make.” This image of “making” suggests that a fact is something created by the human hand – meaning that is most clearly seen in our words manufacture and artifact. This tells us something interesting about our way of knowing: we are busily engaged in trying to construct a livable world with our facts.

Another key word is “theory”. Our facts do not arrange themselves automatically into structures we can inhabit. So we spin theories, webs of connective logic, to order and integrate our facts. Theory is the thread that weaves our factual world together.

“Theory” comes from the Greek theoros, or “spectator,” one of a complex of Greek words having to do with the sort of viewing and observing that characterize a theatre audience. This image suggests another feature of modern knowing: we regard what we know as “out there,” on a stage, and we relate to it from a distance. Our knowledge does not draw us into a relationship with the known, into participation in the drama. Instead, it holds us at arm’s length as detached analysts, commentators, evaluators of each other and the world. The Greeks regarded drama as integral to life, not a spectator sport but a soul-making force. We, however, made a rigid distinction between the observer and the observed for the sake of objectivity. Where Greek audiences were able to put themselves at the center of the play – literally allowing it to “play” upon them – we hold ourselves apart for fear of distorting the objective facts with our subjective needs.

Objective is another word central to our way of knowing. The Latin root of “objective” means “to put against, to oppose.” This image uncovers another quality of modern knowledge: it puts us in an adversarial relationship with each other and our world. We seek knowledge in order to resist chaos, to rearrange reality, or to alter the constructions others have made. We value knowledge that enables us to coerce the world into meeting our needs.

There is much about modern knowledge we must honor. It has provided great benefits in the areas of applied sciences and in culture as well. Our daily lives influenced heavily by the achievements of technology. The insights of social science have eliminated some of the cruelties of life. However, in the attempt to free knowledge from the tendency towards subjectivity, we have broken the knower loose from the web of life itself. It has led to the collapse of community and accountability between the knowing elf and the known world.

The following was adapted from Parker Palmer’s book To Know as We Are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey

Journeying with Zephaniah: Macro-Structure

David Phillips — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:40:11 +0000

Zephaniah

This is a continuation of my series on Journeying with Zephaniah. I am looking at the book through the lens of rhetorical structure. Today I want to focus on the books macro-structure, or overarching themes.

This book is enclosed by the speaking of God. In 1:1, the verse begins, hwhy-rbd, “the word of the Lord.” The book ends in 3:20 with hwhy rma, “says the Lord”. It all comes from the Lord. Zephaniah may add some comment or speak for God, but the message is all from God. Because it is from God, it is a surety. It will happen just as he said.

This book also has two movements that climax in 2:1-3 and 3:10-20. From 1:2-1:18, there is the judgment of God upon all the earth and then upon Judah. In 2:4-3:7, there is judgment upon the area countries and upon the city of Jerusalem. So a pattern exists with judgment. But in between the judgement, there is hope. In 2:1-3, the hope is conditional. In 3:10-20, the hope is promised and unconditional. Therefore, the two movements are judgment then conditional hope, 1:2-2:3, then judgment and the promise of unconditional restoration in 2:4-3:20.

This book is intriguing in that it is constantly moving from the general to the specific. In 1:2-3, there is judgment upon the entire earth, and in 1:4-18, there is judgement upon the nation of Judah. Then, in 2:4-15, judgment comes upon specific nations, and in 3:1-7, judgment is on “the oppressing city.” In 1:8-13, judgment is first spoken to the religious and political leaders, which represent the nation, then to specific people in specific places.

Another intriguing aspect of this book is the fluctuation of the speaker. At times, Yahweh is speaking, at others, Zephaniah, though not referred to as speaking, comments. At times he continues the judgment; at others, he simply seems to comment. It is noted that Paul Brand wrote a commentary on the book that explores the idea. Though not developed by this writer, it is an interesting fluctuation.

With all that, an outline of the book can be determined. It is as follows:

Superscription – 1:1
Judgement – 1:2-1:18
- Judgment against all the earth – 1:2-3
- Judgment against Judah – 1:4-18
Offer of conditional hope – 2:1-3
Judgment against the nations – 2:4-15
Judgment against Jerusalem – 3:1-7
Image of restoration – 3:8-9
Promise of unconditional hope – 3:10-20

Read It Later

David Phillips — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:20:22 +0000

At the end of 2009, I was doing a test of the beta google browser Chrome. I am notorious for opening a bunch of browser tabs, and on this night I had 41 open. That’s 41 websites that I wanted to look through and read. And then it happened.

Have you ever worked on a document for hours and forgotten to save it only to have the program crash? If you’re a PC user, you know what I’m talking about to well! Well, with 41 browser tabs open, my beta browser crashed. Now, I didn’t lose my tabs because google chrome has a nice little feature that will open the last tabs you had open when you start it up. But just as I have learned to save my documents often, I now use a browser plugin to keep accidents like that from happening again. It’s called Read It Later.

Read It Later is a browser extension for Firefox and Chrome with a companion iPhone/iPod app. The browser extension sits in your browser’s toolbar with two simple icons: one to save your current page to a reading list, and another to provide your reading list for your. It’s as simple as that. If you create an account online, it will sync your reading list and you can access that list with your iPhone/iPod Touch app. While looking at your reading list, you can search through it, sort it, or remove items. Now when I go through my rss feed and open a bunch of articles I want to read, I just one click them into read it later, and I am able to declutter my browser while still having access to sites and articles I want to read later.

Read It Later is a small yet powerful extension that you should implement.

Below is a short video that discusses the Firefox extension

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Integrating Missionally

Sunday Psalm: Ps. 63:1-8

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Is climate change causing all this snow?

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The loss of innocence

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Images of Truth

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Journeying with Zephaniah: Macro-Structure

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Read It Later

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