For those of you visiting my blog for the first time—welcome! There are now friends visiting this site from different religious backgrounds so I think I owe a new explanation of this blog.
Although only four days old, my blog already has an interesting history. It started and still is a way to turn in book reports and class reflection papers for a church planting class at Fuller Theological Seminary. So, some of the posts were and will continue to be graduate level homework written with technical language and an academic style.
A day after starting this blog my mother asked me for the address—I gave it to her—and by the next morning my father had invited a lot of people—which was awesome and I love having you all here. The first group that he invited mainly were folks who were Christian but not seminary educated. As you all stared coming I started posting more than just homework assignments, yet was still writing to a Christian audience.
Now, four days in, with more of my father’s invitations and also the fact that I was passing out the blog address at 24hourfitness, there are people of different religious backgrounds that have visited this site. I love this diversity and I appreciate everyone who has taken time to visit.
It’s possible that this diversity means this blog is already doomed—in essence I’m writing for three different audiences—often a writer’s no-no. However, the New Testament is filled with descriptions of a motley and highly diverse group following Jesus and then an even more diverse group starting the first churches. So, I say we all should give this a whirl. The diversity excites me.
So the question then becomes, “what is my hope for this conversation?”
Maybe the best explanation is to look at the url of my site—brokenandcrushed7. This comes from a Bible verse in the book of Psalms verse 34:18 “The Lord is near the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” So at this point you’re all probably thinking that I’m heart broken over some girl I was smitten over. And at one level that would sort of be a fair assessment—the first time I read this verse seven years ago repeated romantic failure was the context.
However, it’s much bigger. Especially, for those of you who were born after 1975, like myself, I think you will relate to a life long feeling that life just never has been quite right. To quote from Fight Club:
“Man, I see in Fight Club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see it squandered. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables – slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars, but we won't. We're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.
So what I hope this conversation will be about is how we might all find peace.
I am aware that this will be a difficult if not impossible project. The overall culture is arrayed against us. And, much of the contemporary American church has also failed us. To those of you who feel Christians “are a giant pile of shit eaters” I deeply apologize and hope that in part this conversation will teach us how to change our ways.
But despite the long odds, I see one hope. Despite the church’s failure God has been tremendously good to me over the last seven years.
So, I cast myself in our conversation as one who has tasted goodness and peace. I have spied the land out in which I hope we might all head together. Yet, to live in the land by myself would be a lonely experiment indeed.
So this blog is conversation about God, peace, and all the adversity we will face to get there.
If you have other friends that want in on this journey/conversation I hope you will invite them to come with us. All our welcome!
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