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You can listen to a dialogue sermon Patrick Mead and I did on “heaven” (May 3rd) from a scientific (Patrick) and theological (moi) perspective. I also did the first week in this series (April 19th) at Rochester Church.

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I really appreciate Barbara Brown Taylor’s question in An Altar in the World: “What is saving my life right now? What is saving my life today?” For me the answer changes. Today: Kara’s love for Lucas is saving me today. Definition of save–rescue from my propensity to live according to the wrong story. That is, I play the wrong part, I take on the wrong role.

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Rochester College has launched a MRE degree in missional church leadership. Mike Cope wrote a good blog about this recently. Mark Love is a perfect fit to lead this focus and for Rochester College in general. The program can be done long distance. If you are a minister/lay person interested in learning more about the missional church perspective, you will want to investigate this program.

Lucas is four weeks old today. Here’s a fun photo for you.

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Kara and I are reading through Genesis together right now. We stumbled upon this about a week ago. In Genesis 2:18-20, the text reads, “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.’ ¹⁹So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. ²⁰The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner.”

There are too many things that jump off the page in these few verses to unpack. But, the part that grabbed me, for the first time, was the last line in verse 20: “there was not found a helper as his partner.” I tried to read the text closely. So, the question surrounds the search for the suitable partner. Did God host a try-out ala American Idol. “Right. Cheetah, you bring a lot to the table. However, we are looking for some more stability. . . . Hippo, you would be a formidable opponent to Adam. But, we don’t know how Adam will feel if he’s the physically inferior member of the house.”

Apparently, God looked for a helpmate (some translations use this word) but could not find one appropriate. Perhaps, none of them had strengths that would match Adam’s weaknesses. Perhaps none of them had weaknesses that would fit with Adam’s strengths.

More on this text later.

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Anne Lamott records a conversation she’s sharing with a lesbian atheist friend (her description, not mine). After mocking her friend (”What do you pagan homos do at your midnight celebrations–put a of dogs in wicker baskets and push them off cliffs . . .?” )–she remembered the story she had now committed to living. “And she [Lamott's friend] looked over at my big Italian crucifix on the kitchen wall, at the thorns, at the bloody wound, the nails through his palms, and then she turned to me with a look of such amused condescension that all I could do was laugh. As soon as she left, though, I went and stared at the crucifix for a long time and breathed it in. I believe in it, and it’s so nuts. . . . But I have a photograph on my wall of this ancient crucifix at a church over in Corte Madera, tall splintering wooden Christ with his arms blown off in some war, under which someone long ago, wrote, ‘Jesus has no arms but ours to do his work and to show his love,” and every time I read that, I always end up thinking that these are the only operating instructions I’ll ever need,” (161).

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According to Randy, there are two kinds of Christians you should not trust: ” . . . the ones who think God is doing nothing and the ones who think they know exactly what God is doing,” (91).

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The Cowboys suffered a brutal loss to the Eagles yesterday. Besides the Lions, that might have been the biggest story of the day. I thought Romo was going to light them up. Did Jessica make the trip?

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I’ve been doing a good deal of research on the ancient city of Corinth for an upcoming Wednesday Night series Patrick and I are doing from First Corinthians at Rochester Church.

What a fascinating city.

On the “honor and shame” culture of Corinth.

*”Public recognition was more important than facts and where the worst thing that could happen was for one’s reputation to be publicly tarnished. In such a culture a person’s sense of worth is based upon recognition by other’s of one’s accomplishments,” (B. Witherington). This sounds strangely familiar.

*”To be Corinthianized” was to be immoral and materialistic. Corinth was known for being one of the most competitive cities in all of the Roman Empire. It was the first Greek city to have Roman Gladiator contests.

*Some temple meals were followed by sexual favors by hired women.

And, for some reason, Paul thought this was the urban context in which the Jesus Story could flourish. Who would have guessed that a vibrant, diverse (albeit messy) church could emerge from such a place?