Riverwood Presbyterian Church

Faith and Science

Day and Night Suddenly Make Sense

by Tim Lien

Rest is good. Sleeping in on Saturdays does help.

But you don’t need me telling you that. Trust the Wall Street Journal instead, by clicking here.

Christian Chaff

Actual Results May Vary

by Tim Lien

We know that Jesus said that he was the “Living Water.” But he didn’t copyright “Spiritual Water.” And that’s where these misguided capitalists step into the picture.

A sampling from their website:

Spiritual Water was born as bottled water with spirituality, positive thinking, prayers, God, and beliefs. You choose which bottle fits your needs and your feelings, read the prayer, drink the water, believe in God – and in yourself – and the sky’s the limit…

Please note that “God” is fourth in the list of this nutri-spirit-cocktail-o’-goodness.

Other thoughts: what makes it spiritual? The picture, the prayer, the water itself….or the positive thinking? Or is it the secret cocktail combination of every element blended with care at the packaging plant?

FREEDOM WATER NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME TO MAKE A CHANGE! Do you have freedom? Do you need more freedom? Grab a cold freedom Spiritual Water bottle, read the prayer, believe in God, believe in yourself and the sky’s the limit…

Also available in Balance, Focus, Defense, Control, Energy, Formula “J,” Essential, Power, Refresh, and Strength.

Culture Wars

“Jesus Made Me Puke”

by Tim Lien

That’s the title of an article by Matt Taibbi, appearing in Rolling Stone recently. (RS, May 1, 2008). It is an adaptation of his forthcoming book, The Great Derangement, (Random House).

The premise is this: Matt “infiltrates” (Degree of difficulty, judges? 1.5 out of 100) John Hagee’s mega-church in Texas, finally culminating in a membership retreat weekend. His stated purpose was to find out what kind of religion was driving George Bush’s foreign policy (read: Israel) and domestic policies, as well. Along the way he makes some scathing observations— some of which are very true, and some of which he misses.

It’s a longish article, but it is fascinating to hear a completely unchurched person describe a branch of evangelicalism. As with many people who have done the same, he confuses all evangelicals with John Hagee’s brand of theology, and that is where you will become most frustrated. (Warning: it also has some rougher language.)

I would insert some great quotes, but I know some of you have read it, and you may actually want to post them.

Christian Chaff

Your Word I Have Hid On or Around My Heart

by Tim Lien

Sent in by alert reader and R’wood member-in-exile, Kenny Gilbert.

Check out the Nano Bible.

Tag lines:

You can now take comfort in having the Bible with you at all times!

and

The whole bible in a tiny crystal to keep close to your heart!

Available in: KJV, The Latin Vulgate, and the Septuagint.

Arts & Aesthetics

Worship as the object of art, not vice versa

by Jeff Miller

I had mentioned in the May Salt & Light that I would post some of the content of my article on Riverblog for discussion.

Here it is, feel free to jump in!

(Greg Wilbur recently posted the following quotation on his blog. If you have opportunity, visit his site, you will find it most enjoyable and full of sound content.)

“People ask what are my intentions with my films — my aims. It is a difficult and dangerous question, and I usually give an evasive answer: I try to tell the truth about the human condition, the truth as I see it. This answer seems to satisfy everyone, but it is not quite correct. I prefer to describe what I would like my aim to be. There is an old story of how the cathedral of Chartres was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. Then thousands of people came from all points of the compass, like a giant procession of ants, and together they began to rebuild the cathedral on its old site. They worked until the building was completed — master builders, artists, labourers, clowns, noblemen, priests, burghers. But they all remained anonymous, and no one knows to this day who built the cathedral of Chartres. Regardless of my own beliefs and my own doubts, which are unimportant in this connection, it is my opinion that art lost its basic creative drive the moment it was separated from worship. It severed an umbilical cord and now lives its own sterile life, generating and degenerating itself. In former days the artist remained unknown and his work was to the glory of God. He lived and died without being more or less important than other artisans; ‘eternal values,’ ‘immortality’ and ‘masterpiece’ were terms not applicable in his case. The ability to create was a gift. In such a world flourished invulnerable assurance and natural humility. Today the individual has become the highest form and the greatest bane of artistic creation. The smallest wound or pain of the ego is examined under a microscope as if it were of eternal importance. The artist considers his isolation, his subjectivity, his individualism almost holy. Thus we finally gather in one large pen, where we stand and bleat about our loneliness without listening to each other and without realizing that we are smothering each other to death. The individualists stare into each other’s eyes and yet deny the existence of each other. We walk in circles, so limited by our own anxieties that we can no longer distinguish between true and false, between the gangster’s whim and the purest ideal. Thus if I am asked what I would like the general purpose of my films to be, I would reply that I want to be one of the artists in the cathedral on the great plain. I want to make a dragon’s head, an angel, a devil — or perhaps a saint — out of stone. It does not matter which; it is the sense of satisfaction that counts. Regardless of whether I believe or not, whether I am a Christian or not, I would play my part in the collective building of the cathedral.”

Ingmar Bergman, Swedish film director who passed away in 2007. From: Four Screenplays of Ingmar Bergman, Simon and Schuster, 1960, Introduction.

This is full of many possible points of discussion. Here are some possible ‘jumping off’ points:

1) The idea of a long-term, artisan/master builder cathedral construction is so foreign to our 21st century American mind. We want results and we want them now. One reason for that is so that way we can go on to the next project, and the next, etc. until we realize that our projects have become consumable commodities.
2) Performers/celebrities have drained (generally) any notion of or attempt at transcendent beauty that otherwise be associated with an artistic endeavor.
3) The segment beginning “The smallest wound…” and ending with “…deny the existence of each other…” is so spot-on as to be immune to any commentary from me. 4) When did art separate itself from worship? Is this what has led to much of the art which has caused difficulty for Christians in the last 100 years or so?
5) Is it beneficial (for either party) for the church to employ/utilize the skill of people regardless of their belief system? That is to say is it good to have a policy by which we (either as individuals or a body) only support other Christians, even if their work is inferior? 6) Nowadays, we would tend to eye the non believer who wanted to help build our cathedral (to stay with that analogy) with much skepticism. While that is understandable on a human level, is there any precept from the Bible about such things?

Feel free to run with any of these, or suggest your own unique ideas spawned from Bergman’s quote.