day two i was introduced to someone new in anna carter florence. i am not sure if anna was somewhat dry or i was just starting to get tired. however, as i look over notes i really do enjoy her voice. these notes might be more sporadic than usual as i know i tuned out a time or two.
- "God" this is the subject of your preaching. "You" this is not. your job is to remember this. it is the hardest thing you will have to do week in and week out and you will fight to remember this.
- the real battle is not between you and the listeners, but between the draw of speaking of you & God.
- an observation: our students are more driven by fear than by faith.
- they will then change the subject of the sermon. it is the great cosmic battle of the preacher.
- all the blurriness of post-modernness makes this harder.
- end of mark: fear is not the last word. we need to acknowledge that both endings are possible.
- preaching is a narration of events and a confession of faith. it can only be believed or rejected. it demands that we go deeper into the text then we ever want to go. to keep God at the forefront.
- people are dying for a deeper engagement with the scriptures. it is about what we see, where we see God in the world..
- fear.. the fear of the preacher
- the fear that holds us captive week to week, is an invention of the system/deceiver/principalities/etc. it is intended to keep us and the word apart. when it succeeds in its aim and changes to the focus of subject, it wins.
- testimony is the opposite of fear based preaching. it tells the great advertising machine of our society to take a flying leap.
- if all the warnings of the cultural shift in some way serve the systems purpose?
- why is it the perception that, unless it is more entertaining then it is not gospel? the preacher has change the subject. separating the word and preaching
- fear twists simple questions into fearful ones. to where we become broken.
- it sets up a false dichotomy where we have to choose between our fear and our own testimony.
- how does fear take root?
- how do we teach the bible?
- biblical literacy versus the love of reading. we are taught that biblical illiteracy is apparent part of our congregations. that people don't know much. our sermons have to make a lot of introductions and bring people up to speed.
- meanwhile no one ever reads their bible and the fall of sunday school attendance. and people grow up never hearing the stories.
- but is the problem we face biblical illiteracy at all? in early school there is a lot of skills taught to read. but just because a child can read does not mean they actually will. now we need to instill a love of reading into our children.
- reading is something you do with people who care for you. books are filled with stories that you can imagine and understand. it is something to look forward too.
- the system has distracted us from something far worse than biblical illiteracy.
- we have been scared about sharing information about the text.
- we haven't shown our people flight. we've shown them our fear of flying. is it a wonder that our churches lack imagination.
- readers should not shame others for skills they have not gained for love that they have not developed.
- we have a lot to gain from biblical illiteracy. if we are the only readers in our community, then we get to call the shots. we hold the power, but not the lords power, its the system power.
- if we can instill a love for the text then we are insuring the love of text and it is then the lords power.
- the saddest things is someone afraid to go to bible study because they do not know the answers.
- we live in a culture of time restraints. we have to choose some specializations for the good of the whole. we need experts
- there is a difference between an expert that dispenses and one who engages
- the fear of failing... when any system sets itself up as rigid absolutes, we are in a lot of trouble and finds itself rising up in violence.
- religious fundamentalism is always addressed as a "they" issue. we & they....
- while fundamentalist churches are increasing and mainline are decreasing. but it is not necessarily a bad thing. their success is not our failure. we have set up an adversarial set up. competing to win.. but win what and whose terms? the system is winning. putting its own spin on our numbers.
- we will assume that worship attendance is the key statistic. the loosing church will be driven to adopt the winning church identity. the failing ones need to imitate the winning ones..
- less tolerant for ambiguity. want to be told what to believe.
- success by numbers is totally rigged. rigged by the system
- the happy listener is the one who is being told.. that is the system. the happy listener is the one who is being seen. being known and being seen is communion
- fear of fighting...
- preachers who get all worked up about illiteracy, worship.. preaching takes its cues from the entertainment industry...
- we now see institutional survival and least objectionable, which is not the gospel.
- if we can be convince that conflict in the church is what we need then we will look for ways to engage the conflict in "true speech" brueggemann
- the church will become a gathering of critics.
- our environment won't sustain us to speak the truth and a pastor who can sustain truth will die on the vine.
- welcome the struggle of this text. to see and be seen. the struggle to become miraculously human.
