Archive for 'Essays'
A Wedding Charge: On Being an Icon of Love and Death
Posted on 03. Jun, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
They asked me to deliver a serious charge about marriage. And after I was done and they had taken their vows they were going to be participating in the Eucharist as their first act together as husband and wife. So, I spoke to them about sacraments: about the transformative, communal, liturgical act they were engaged in and would be participating in–for the rest of their lives. I spoke about being a holy icon of the gospel for the whole world. And, since they wanted me to be serious and real, and I wanted them to be properly prepared for what was ahead, I charged them (especially the young husband-to-be) with the committment to die. Sacraments are costly and demanding things, after all.
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Desiring the Kingdom: Humans are Lovers not Thinkers
Posted on 18. May, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
Desiring the Kingdom was authored by James K. A. Smith, a philosopny professor at Calvin College and is one of the 10 most influential books I have read. It shines unrelenting light upon the deficits of the traditional perspective on Christian formation-discipleship. Its thesis can be summarized simply: Christians have been wrong for over 400 years in defining humans by placing the focus on the mind–we are thinking beings that are containers for ideas. He argues that being a disciple of Jesus is not primarily a matter of getting the right ideas and doctrines and beliefs into your head; rather, it is a matter of being the kind of person who loves rightly. We are first of all lovers not thinkers. And then he gets dangerous.
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The Glory and Scandal of Femininity
Posted on 10. May, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
Inclusivism posits that at the core of Jesus’ life and teachings is a simple, non-negotiable message of absolute love, tolerance, and acceptance. Any belief or practice that jeopardizes this message is to be rejected, even if it is stated clearly in the Bible, was practiced by the early church, and was taught and believed by nearly all Christians for 2,000 years–for example the church’s historic restriction of the priesthood to males. Egalitarianism, which is what this novel teaching is called, contends that Jesus dismantled all sexually-based role distinctions. It is premised on the desire to promote equality among all members of the body of Christ. It affirms the Western commitment to individual rights while dismissing the gloriously scandalous vocation that the Virgen Mary exemplified. It also unintentionally denigrates the humble beauty of submission and surrender that I saw incarnated in my own home by a supremely gifted wife and mother.
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Virgin Mary: The Beauty of Surrendered Rights
Posted on 17. Apr, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
With the barest flick of the wrist the gauzy veil covering Setara’s black hair slips back as she sings in front of the panel of judges and millions of Muslim viewers. It was a defiant assertion of independence from binding, dogmatic constraints. While the rebel, Son of Liberty in me raucously celebrated, that loyalist Tory in me was dismayed and repelled. I was conflicted. As if I were in a rocking boat careening on the foaming waves of personal liberty only to slide down into the quiet troughs of dutiful submission. And, oddly enough, I thought of Virgin Mary who had to navigate a storm of her own to become the mother of God.
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A LIFE APART (Why Jewish Fundamentalism is thriving in America)
Posted on 21. Mar, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
A Life Apart is a captivating documentary on the culture war between ultra-orthodox, Jewish Hasids and America. In it there is this wonderful story that illustrates the movement’s haunting attraction. It was Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. Baal Shem Tov, its founder, was praying. He stopped abruptly and after a while the congregation grew restless. Suddenly, an illiterate young shepherd, unable to restrain himself, pulled out a flute and played a single, heartfelt note. The congregation was scandalized but, as the sound died out, the Rebbe began praying as though nothing had happened. When asked about it he said, “I sensed the gates of heaven were closed to our prayers, but that one, pure note, sounded by the shepherd boy, pierced through the heavenly gates and only then were our prayers permitted to follow.”
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Part Three: Know What Your Weapons Are
Posted on 13. Mar, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
The spiritual battle we find ourselves in is not only for the young. Conscription into this war is not age-based. The battle is joined when you lay down your rebellious weaponry and surrender to Jesus as Lord. At that point you are assigned new weapons which you are required to familiarize yourselves with and become proficient in. You will need them for the rest of your time on this earth. There are two in particular that we are assured are capable of defeating our terrible enemy, Satan–by their judicious use, he will be bested and finally overcome. But, they require us to imitate our Master’s life as well as His death.
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Racebased Adoption
Posted on 22. Feb, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
While I agree with the desire to increase the number of adoptions, what is distressing is the implication, in a blog I read recently, that because trans-racial adoptions may have some negatives, it would be better to let black, Christian families adopt black, orphan children. A question comes to mind, should the social sciences be allowed to dictate Christian ethics? What if anthropologists determined that Anglo missionaries have a destructive impact on primitive tribal cultures? Should that require a moratorium on white missionaries taking the Gospel to New Guinea? Obedience not race or sociology should control.
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“Please don’t become social activists!”
Posted on 08. Feb, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
“Please, don’t become social activists!!”
This is not what I expected to hear from a “left-wing,” anti-capitalist who helped launch the Christian social-activist movement in the early 80’s. Ron Sider, author of Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, had been asked to be the devotional speaker for a conference on Faith and International Development at a local Christian College. Those opening words riveted me but settled like a foreboding fog over the mostly young and zealous audience. But it was just a warm-up for an intolerable “heresy” of scandalous proportions.
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Part Two: Knowing Who Your Enemy Is
Posted on 03. Feb, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
Our Jewish forefathers had no difficulty identifying the opposition. They were the perverse Canaanites, the Gentile nations, cruel oppressors, unjust leaders, or lying and deceptive acquaintances bent on tearing them down to nothing. But, if C.S. Lewis is correct when he notes that “Christianity is a fighting religion”; if we wake up every morning on an actual battle field, in “enemy-occupied territory,” who or what do we fight against? Who is our enemy?
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HAITI Displaced Families Works Project
Posted on 29. Jan, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
I share this post with those of you who are interested in earthquake relief that builds self-worth, strengthens broken infrastructures, protects from dependency and, best of all, is amazingly simple. It was sent to me by Ted Boers, a friend who is successful businessman and has been working in Haiti for several years in land development and job creation for the poor. He is an entrepreneur and a man of intergrity and compassion. He has access to a 15 mile stretch of coastline in Northwest Haiti and is proposing a remarkably practical project to assist the families fleeing from the capitol.
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Haiti Orphan Plane Task Force
Posted on 24. Jan, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
The precedent for humanitarian emergency measures to airlift orphans and vulnerabale children was set decades ago. The only question is, do we have the will? We have been assured that we have a strong advocate in Congress. The word we were given was “don’t worry about Washington D.C. prepare the catcher’s mitt in Michigan.”
And so we shall. We are committed to rescuing no less than 10,000 orphans, in a State that has suffered the worst from our economic recession. And perhaps the weakest will lead the way. Perhaps we will help start a flotilla of planes filled with Haitian orphans who have lost everything, including arms and legs, but who will gain the protective nurture of loving families, with room in their hearts and homes for at least one more.
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Tim Stoner: send me your address you get a book...
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Emory Hermie: So little done, a lot to accomplish. One's mind h...
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Bob Schuman: Mmmmm...........
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Sara Schimmer: I couldn't agree with him more. The Falls Church ...
