Back at it

Jesus is laid in the Holy Sepulcher - artist unkown

Well, holidays are over. Felicia took down the tree and decorations yesterday which I thought was kinda early.

I'm taking a class this week called "Practise and Piety". It's in conjunction with the Southside Interns program that I am a part of. It is taught by Bob Roxburgh. Bob and his brother Alan are sort of a 1-2 punch when it comes to talking about Christianity engaging contemporary culture. Bob was (still is?) on staff at Southside. Alan is an international consultant and speaker for churches and businesses.

I gotta tell you - this class is gold! I was reluctant to go at first because I had previous commitments this week and still have to prepare for Sunday. But, Cam (lead pastor of Southside and director of the interns program) e-mailed me the syllabus, and I knew I had to go.

It's pretty intense - 9-3:30 everyday with extra reading at night. But is is good stuff. Right now we are studying the history of spiritual formation (also known as spiritual theology). We discussed the emergence of new monastic movements that are sprouting up here and there.

I am intrigued as to why people are joining these new orders. The desert fathers began because they were troubled by christendom and wanted to be more spiritual. What are these new monks searching for? What are they escaping?

I don't want to be a monk, but I like them.

More Peterson:

Sermons take God's words, written and spoken in the past, take the human experience, ancestral and personal, of the listening congregation, then reproduces the words and experiences as a single event right now, in the present moment. A sermon changes words about into words from God. It takes what we have heard or read about God and God's ways and turn them into a personal proclamation of God's good news. A sermon changes water into wine.