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Archive for Theology

The New Idol

By michaelcriner · Comments (0)
Wednesday, May 1st, 2013

 “The primary philosophical and spiritual problem in the West is the lie of individualism. Individualism makes church almost impossible. It makes community almost impossible.  It makes compassion almost impossible. We’ve overdone this notion of the private self; it has become the only game in town when it’s not the game at all. I need to recognize that I’m in a river that is bigger than I am. The foundation and the flow of that river is love. Life is not about me; it is about God, and God is about love. When we don’t know love, when we don’t experience love, when we experience only the insecurity and fragility of the small self, we become restless.” - Richard Rohr

From The Call of Jesus by Derek L. Worthington (loc. 443)

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Categories : Culture, Theology
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Adele and her Alabaster Jar

By michaelcriner · Comments (1)
Monday, October 1st, 2012

I have spoken often with parents about my love for the Jesus Storybook Bible, along with the way Adele enjoys reading it – in fact, she requests it every night. With it’s focus on Jesus in every story, it makes for great conversation with Adele each night about who Jesus is and why He is worthy of worship.

Currently, one of Adele’s favorite stories in the Bible is the story of the woman with the alabaster jar. Alabaster jars were expensive jars of perfume back in the day. These jars were precious to people, as they were quite expensive, up to a years worth of salary, and therefore of great value. They mattered so much to people that they would put them on shelves and store them because they didn’t want to waste it on themselves. The downside was that you could only use the jar once in its lifetime because there were no caps to reseal the perfume after each use. People held onto these things for their entire lives… some even passed them on to their children.

Jesus is eating dinner with important men and this woman who owns the jar sees Jesus. She immediately grabs the alabaster jar filled with a sweet aroma and breaks it over his feet as to anoint him… because He is worth it. She knows who Jesus is, knows that he is a better treasure. Adele loves to talk about how the perfume smells, although we don’t know what it smelled like, the Storybook Bible indicates that it smelled like lilies.

The important men grumble at the action because they could not believe how much was being wasted on Jesus’ feet. It could have been “better” used for some other project or undertaking, instead of on dirty feet. In this moment, Jesus peers into the heart of people’s lives to show He knows the motivations of a persons heart.

Jesus knew the heart of the woman, and the heart of the men – he forgave her her sins and states that she was doing that which honored Him – she knew what was really precious – she knew what was worth having. Jesus.

Here’s my point: The issue of the whole Bible is the pursuit to eradicate in us idolatry. If you were to ask me what angers God the most, I believe you would find that idolatry is very high on that list – in fact, the top. This in sum is what this battle or war that we are in is about – idolatry and worship. Who are you worshiping, what are you worshiping, how are you worshiping. God, throughout the Bible, is going to indicate to us the grave need we have to be radically different than we were before.

This woman understood that. She understood that Jesus comes into our lives and he changes us. Everything we thought important changes. That’s the point. When we look at that which we thought was our treasure, we compare it to Jesus, and He is of more value.

Last night, we read the story again, and this conversation ensued:

ADELE: Daddy, I want to give my treasure to Jesus.
ME: Well, what is your treasure?
ADELE: My jewelry box.
ME: Then you should think about giving that to Jesus like the woman with the alabaster jar.
ADELE: Okay Daddy.

What is your treasure? Are you willing to give it to Jesus?

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Categories : Faith, Family, Theology
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Sometimes we just need to be held

By michaelcriner · Comments (0)
Thursday, August 16th, 2012

The last few nights have been a bit rough in regards to the sleeping patterns for our girls. With our pending move, I’m not real sure this is the root, or teeth coming in, or what – but it seems that Adele and Ruth sure don’t mind not sleeping.

It’s been a furious stretch on Abby since she typically hears the girls first as I can sleep through most anything (I’ve slept through two earthquakes). This being said, when Abby has done all that she can do, it then turns to me to slide in and take the reigns of help.

Since I’m an early riser, naturally I take on the early morning duties. Not that big of a deal, because the hours between 4-6AM are pretty quiet in the world. It’s one of the best moment of the day I believe, of clarity and vision. But it isn’t a huge burden to fill the gaps and bring aid by letting Abby sleep.

At any rate, last night may have been one of the more troubling nights with Ruth in a while. You hold her, she is fine – you think about setting her down, she’s a hot mess. So, when Abby asked me if I could give the Ruth train a ride, I picked her up, held her and started humming a song – she was out. As I considered putting her back in the bed, she would scream like I’d personally abandoned her. Very humbling moments…

As I was sitting and rocking and humming I paused and thought – “Sometimes all we can do is be held and rocked by Jesus.”

We don’t need more Bible studies just as Ruth didn’t need any more food.
We don’t need to confess sin just as Ruth did not have a dirty diaper.

Sometimes we just needed to be held.

Often, nothing will calm us but the Never-ceasing, Always-Present, Faithful, Constant, Fervent, Loving One; Jesus.

And that’s what He provides. That is who He is. That is what He can accomplish. Unlike us, Jesus is always willing and waiting and patient to hold us. Too often, we refuse His care. I was reminded of this passage from Isaiah 41 as I was holding Ruth:

vs. 10: fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Sometimes, we just need to be held. May you know and trust in His sovereign care.

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Categories : Life, Theology
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Three critical questions Adele is asking right now from the Bible

By michaelcriner · Comments (0)
Wednesday, August 15th, 2012

1. Who was Jonah married to?
2. Where are Zacchaeus’ puppies?
3. Does Jesus have babies?

Enjoy.

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Categories : Theology
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The allure of crowds and how Jesus shows a better way

By michaelcriner · Comments (0)
Tuesday, August 14th, 2012

I’ve been thinking about crowds lately. With football season approaching, there will be many stadiums full of college students each Saturday and fans on a Sunday anticipating and cheering on their team. Crowds are exciting, and even can kick-start movements, and even enticing. I love going to live events as they add to the overall moment of the game.

People like to see full stadiums and full arenas – it increases revenue, keeps people engaged, and even makes the games more entertaining causing the Owner, General Manager, and players to feel good about themselves. But let me get personal here – Pastors, along with church leaders, really like to see full sanctuaries. Sadly, for some of the same reasons – it increases tithing, can keep people engaged, and can even affirm the decisions the leaders are making in growing the church.

The inherent danger of course, is that much of this is focused upon the praise of man, rather the praise of God. The danger is also in that aiming for big crowds is part of the flaw of consumerism, which leads to the desire for more and is never satisfied. It’s a terrible trap.

As I’ve thought about crowds, I thought about how Jesus viewed them. Jesus seemed to do much around crowds (like, you know, feed them) – but He always seemed to retreat from them as well. Jesus knew crowds could be fickle, quickly. They couldn’t be trusted at face value. Jesus would often retreat from a crowd in order to pray alone and in a quiet place. He would go to the hills or up in the mountains. He would pour out his heart to the Father and He would listen to the Father, obeying all that was asked of Him.

In fact, in Luke 5, after a crowd gathered to be healed by Jesus, we read this: “But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” The Greek construct of this sentence indicates that this was a continual practice for Jesus. He did this on a regular basis. This should indicate the grave importance for us to consider, and follow.

Why? Didn’t Jesus love people? Sure he did. But Jesus understood that the real way change was going to happen was when his communion with the Father was established – not when the crowds cheered or chanted his name (see Matthew 21:1-17). Jesus knew a better way.

As I think about becoming a Pastor of a church… which seems more real every day, I want to be careful not to become allured to just having a crowd – rather, a room full of people who are being transformed by the gospel of grace into better images of Jesus than the day before.

In sum, I want my time in prayer with Jesus to shape and sharpen my communication of the message of Jesus. When this happens, I believe a healthy church will be established and will grow – not primarily in number, but in depth… which is as it should be.

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Categories : Church, Theology
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