about a boy

therapy

2010-01-31T09:51:00.003-07:00

--This post was written on 1-17-10--

Dear Friend,

Is your life busy right now?? Recently it seems like free weekends are hard to come by. Not just for my family, but it seems like this goes for just about everyone I know. Dealing with this “business” is for another conversation. Regardless, we all have various forms of therapy. What I mean by this is when life gets stressful, and you just need to get away, where do you go? What do you do? For example, my wife will often go to one of her favorite stores and browse the aisles looking at clothes. All she has to tell me is where she is going, and I know that she just needs to get away for a little bit.

My therapy comes from the aisles of Barnes and Noble. For the past 7 years, I have constantly been in school -- working my way through college, then working on my masters, and in just weeks, I will begin working on another masters. It seems like I have constantly been reading books, articles, and papers that have been assigned to me. So I long for those moments at Barnes and Noble, moments when I pick out books that I would read if I had the time or the opportunity.

Barnes and Noble is huge, and the store has these nooks marked off. Some of these nooks are filled with pages of Biographies, History, Religion, Cooking, etc, etc. So I make my way through all the various nooks and crannies picking out books that I would like to read. I always tell myself that I can’t buy any of the books, but normally I convince myself that I have to at least purchase one or two. Then I have a rule, no books can go on my bookshelf unless I have either read it or it is a reference book of some kind. So at the foot of my bookshelf are stacks of books that I hope to read one day. This is my therapy.

So whenever I have a week off for spring break or a couple weeks for summer, I normally pick up a few of the books off the floor and try and finish them before the next semester begins.

This past December I finished my time at Phoenix Seminary, and I knew that I had a two-month break before I started at Talbot Theology Seminary. TWO MONTHS!! During this time, Lolly and I have been getting things in order to move to California, and we also just got back from our honeymoon yesterday. But during this time off, I have had the opportunity to read some books that normally only see the toes on my feet as I look for a dictionary of some kind.

As Lolly and I were flying home yesterday, I began to wonder if anyone else had read the same books that I had read the past couple months. And then I got to thinking about how fun it would be if we got together and had some coffee or tea and spoke about the book.

I am assuming a lot here…biggest assumption being that you would even want to join me for a discussion. I am putting myself out here because I value what other people think. And if you have read the book, I think it would be interesting to hear what my friends thought of the book. Here is what I am going to do. I am going to list most of what I have read these past couple months, and if you would like to get together, contact me through an email. And even if you don’t live in Arizona, that’s no problem because neither will I beginning on January 22nd. Likewise, if you don’t live in Fullerton California, we could talk on the phone, through email, skype, iChat…

…Books (in no particular order)
1. Lone Survivor
by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson

2. The Real Benjamin Franklin
by Andrew M. Allison

3. The 5000 Year Leap
by W. Cleon Skousen

4. Meet the Rabbis: Rabbinic Thought and the Teachings of Jesus
by Brad H. Young

5. Follow Me to Freedom: Leading and Following As an Ordinary Radical
by Shane Claiborne, John Perkins

6. The Justice Project
by Brian McLaren, Elisa Padilla, Seeber Ashley Bunting

7. Going Rogue
By Sarah Palin

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

2009-08-18T12:34:00.001-07:00

My friends, I hope that this blog message finds you well. I have missed writing to you a great deal. This year has shaped into one of the busiest years of my life thus far. I am getting married this November (who is inside and out the most beautiful woman), graduating from graduate school in December, and my soon-to-be wife and I will be moving to L.A. where I will begin another masters. Within all of these great adventures there has been (...and will be) so many moments of success and failure along the way that I have wanted to write about but haven’t had the time. But I think I have found a solution…for this season of my life I am going to be leaving this blog (I look forward to the day that I can write on this blog again) and begin microblogging on twitter. You can find me @KDiRoberts.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

2009-03-23T09:59:00.005-07:00

I wrote a blog not to long ago, it was around the time of the election and some people were hanging effigies of the political candidates that we were about to vote on as to who would lead this country. This particular blog really brought out some emotions of the people who commented, and my real purpose in even writing about racism was to say that it doesn’t matter if you hang an effigy of a black or white person…it is wrong either way.

Just us a couple of days ago I was watching the Bill Maher show on HBO. Although I disagree with about everything he says, I still like to watch and hear what he has to say. On this panel you have a liberal and conservative talking with Bill Maher.

There are different segments of this dialogue on YouTube, but the one I have posted here is the opening 10 minutes. There is bad language in it so keep that in mind, and I guess as you watch the interview keep racism in mind. And watch both of their body languages and listen to their voices because I think racism comes out in a subtle but powerful way.

I think that it is plain to see, but I want you to tell me who you think is racist in this dialogue.

I look forward to reading your thoughts.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

lepers in Hawaii

2009-02-21T17:49:00.004-07:00

Two years ago I had the privilege to fly in a helicopter from Maui to the island of Molokai. Our pilot took us over this remote peninsula and told us that what we were looking at was one of the only active leprosy colonies in the world.

This is Lolly (my fiance) and I on the helicopter.

Just to the right of this huge rock is where the leper colony is.

He told us that people were able to visit the colony but that you were asked not to take pictures. The pilot even took us low enough to see the chapel where the priest lived and also where they had church.

Just today I found this article talking about how Rev. Damien de Veuster was going to be canonized as a Saint because of his work with the lepers in Molokai.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

Question

2009-02-17T17:14:00.005-07:00

If you could blot out bad memories...would you? Read here.

I think the Bible has some thoughtful words concerning "bad memories."

The Bible says, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

...I Love Jesus But I Drink A Little

2009-02-11T16:39:00.002-07:00

I found this video on a friends facebook. I watched it and thought that I would be doing laughter an injustice not to put this on my blog. I love Ellen DeGeneres. I don't have time to watch her show, but whenever I see clips of her show, laughter normally follows.

Have fun and laugh a little...or a lot.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

2009-02-03T17:11:00.002-07:00

This is a video of Helen Thomas.

Here is some background on her…thanks to Wikipedia.

“Helen Thomas (born August 4, 1920) is an American news service reporter, a Hearst Newspapers columnist, and member of the White House Press Corps. She served for fifty-seven years as a correspondent and, later, White House bureau chief for United Press International (UPI). Thomas has covered every president since John F. Kennedy. She was the first female officer of the National Press Club, the first female member and president of the White House Correspondents Association, and the first female member of the Gridiron Club. She has written four books; her latest is Watchdogs of Democracy?: The Waning Washington Press Corps and How It Has Failed the Public.”

And some people think the media isn’t really that biased. This is a great video, and I think, puts things into a great perspective with regards to the media. Make sure you at least get to minute mark 3:15 and listen from there.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

2008-12-20T10:12:00.002-07:00

There is nothing like a little snow to get you into the Holiday spirit. And since our high country received some snow from Santa, my brother and I headed up north to play in he snow for a couple of days. We even built a snowman yesterday. So I figured that since I am in the Holiday spirit I wanted to share some Holiday music with you. :)

Merry !*$#!@!%*

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

(Valley Girl)--"that's soooo last week"

2008-12-08T19:49:00.006-07:00

Christians always talk about these christianeez words, and how if we could we would remove them from our vocabulary. Well I guess some people have already beat us to it.

Are words like bishop, chapel, disciple, minister, monastery, monk, nun, parish, pew, psalm, pulpit, saint, sin, devil outdated in your opinion? Check this article out, because the latest edition of the Oxford University Press has removed all words that are associated with Christianity from its children's dictionary.

Not a big deal...right?

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

yikes...am i really writing about eHarmony?

2008-11-20T17:47:00.006-07:00

My Friends,

For those of you who have kept up with my blog over the years you know how I feel with regards to homosexuality. I have tried so hard to show compassion and love toward the homosexual community as best as I can, both as a minister and as a parishioner. Because of the way that homosexuals have been treated by the Christian community, I have even written apologies on behalf of Christians, hoping to break down barriers with homosexuals with the hope that when they are introduced to thoughts about Jesus (or even the Gospel) they might be open to at least listening.

Well today I came across an article that talked about how the company eHarmony had come to a settlement with the New Jersey Attorney General's office regarding gay and lesbian customers. Read more about it here. Later, a California Superior Court judge ruled that a separate case could proceed as a class-action. What is ironic is that eHarmony was not found in violation of any law. Read more about it here.

Okay, so what’s the big deal? Well not too long ago, I posted a letter that was on the Focus on the Family website that was addressed to us in 2008 by a Christian, who was living in the year 2012, from Obama’s America. This letter made me laugh because some people, not all, but some, couldn’t get past the Focus on the Family aspect and just read the letter. But that is another story. Inside this letter there was a whole section on the Same-sex “marriage” issue that is facing America. The letter even warned about the creating of law by the court…this struck me because eHarmony was sued and is about to be sued again by California, and they never even broke a law.

…here are some thoughts:

1. I wonder why heterosexual people don’t complain and sue homosexual companies for discriminating against straight people. It only seems fair. If heterosexual companies have to go out of their way in a free market to accommodate homosexuals, then I think homosexuals should have to do the same.

2. I have to admit, I have poked fun at eHarmony in the past, but in reality eHarmony was started by a man who claims to be a follower of Christ. I honestly don’t think I am merely being an alarmist when I say I don’t think it is far fetched to look at this as an attack on Christianity, i.e. persecution.

3. When I envisioned how this issue of Same-sex “marriage,” as described in the Letter from 2012, would affect the Christian community, I will have to admit my first thought wasn’t about eHarmony. I did however think that it would have to be a subtle attack. I can’t help but wonder what Christians will do when their church is being sued because they wouldn’t hire a pastor who is a homosexual on their staff. Or maybe there is a homosexual who doesn’t want to be on paid staff but would like to serve at your church, and they are told they can’t because of their sexual orientation.

4. I think that Christians need to go to the Bible and make sure they know what the bible teaches with regards to homosexuality. Notice, I did not say that Christians need to go to the Bible and figure out what they think about homosexuality? The topic of homosexuality is a very difficult topic, especially when you have friends that you love who struggle with homosexuality. Because of this, Christians often allow their compassion to trump what the bible says. I say this from personal experience. What I am not trying to say is that we are to approach this issue without any compassion. But rather what I am trying to say is that when we go to the bible, we need to allow ourselves to find the truth within the bible, even if it goes against how we feel.

Like always, I would love to hear some of your thoughts.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

who is really racist anyway?

2008-11-01T14:51:00.006-07:00

I have noticed for some time now (especially with this particular election) a double standard when it comes to race. I wasn’t planning on saying anything about it, but I feel as though the elephant needs to be exposed. Not in the “exposed” sense where no one has noticed it, but rather “exposed” so people can start to talk about it more. Even if some think it isn’t politically correct.

Not too long ago there was an article written about how harmless it was that someone had placed an effigy (a sculpture or model of someone) of Sarah Palin being hung by the neck from their house, and a John McCain effigy being burned in the chimney. No one said anything about how it was a hate crime, or that it was racist. And when I read the article I couldn’t help but think that I hope someone in America hangs an effigy of Obama and Biden from their house too. Knowing full well the chaos it would cause.

Sure enough days later I read where a student and another man were arrested for hanging an effigy of Obama from a tree. But what shocked me was what happened to the men who did it. They were immediately arrested. This my friends is a double standard. I am confused, and would love for someone to explain to me how it is reasonable, and harmless…or dare I say just “Halloween décor” to hang Palin and burn McCain, but the moment someone hangs an effigy of Obama it is racist, and a hate crime, and the people are arrested.

I know that things are not looking good for Palin and McCain right now, BUT one of the reasons I hope they win on Tuesday is because I want to see how the American people respond. If Obama loses, there will be people all over crying that he lost because he is an African American. I keep hearing people saying that this election isn’t about race, but you know what…if McCain loses it won’t be, BUT if McCain wins…it will be because of the racism in America. Funny how that works.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

2008-10-26T11:15:00.003-07:00

My friends,

For whatever my opinion is worth...there is an article titled, Letter from 2012 in Obama’s America and I hope that this catches wind...I actually pray that it brings about a storm.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

what is creativity to a watchmaker?

2008-07-10T11:27:00.003-07:00

I have this thing for watches…I love watches. It has been with me for as long as I can remember. It started with a Mickey Mouse watch, and still today I am fascinated by all the different brands of watches, and even more specifically with the people who create (literally), with their hands, the movements that are inside of these beautiful pieces of art.

To fill this craving for watches I buy watch magazines. A lot of them. And inside are all kinds of photographs of new and old watches, stories of people who collect watches, and the people who create these intricate timepieces. A lot of times the magazines have Q and A’s with the various designers and owners of these watch companies. And the answers always seem to refuel and inspire my imagination.

Just a couple of weeks ago I was reading through one of my favorite magazines…it is called REVOLUTION and this particular issue was devoted to one of my favorite watch brands called Panerai. If you check out Panerai’s website I would recommend reading about their history. It is a great story.

I highlighted a lot in this particular issue of REVOLUTION about Panerai. I found that it related a lot to ministry. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it will relate a lot to anyone who desires to be creative. And maybe not just relate but possibly inspire. So I want to write down a couple (2) sections of the ideas and thoughts that were my favorite from the issue...I hope you like them.

[But what was the exact moment when the brand made the jump from military tool to the most exciting watch brand on the planet? The term “flashpoint” refers to the lowest temperature at which a liquid will ignite, causing a massive chemical change. Fittingly, Panerai’s flashpoint from tool to timepiece occurred in the land of its birth, the glorious nation of Italy. Italy has traditionally been a land of engineer-artist who, through imagination and will, transformed functional objects into works of such alluring beauty as to make the gods weep. Because of this unique ability to merge function and design grandeur, Italy is the only place in the world that could have given birth to Panerai.]

[Says Franco Cologni, “The true story behind Panerai is that, one day, Mr. Rupert saw this big watch and asked what it was. He was told that it is an Italian watch called Lumionor.” This was Rupert’s first encounter with Panerai. But already, the magical heroism was alive in Panerai; and now, it seduced the single most powerful man in the luxury watch world and awoke in him a dream. To make his dream a reality, Rupert handpicked a team of three Italians, whose blood Rupert knew resonated with the same creativity encoded in the brand. When asked what appealed to him about the opportunity Rupert provided, Panerai’s CEO Angelo Bonati said, “When I met Johann Rupert for the first time, he told me something remarkable. He said, “I won’t ask you to make business with Panerai, but I ask you to build up a brand.” This was amazing because we had the opportunity to create a brand without having to think about providing results at every instant. This lack of immediate financial pressure created precisely the right environment for us to be creative. Because, from the very beginning, our results were extraordinary.]

If you are willing, I would love to hear how the words of this watchmaker resonated with you.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

2008-06-03T16:52:00.007-07:00

This past week I had the chance to go to Providence, RI with Lolly. We went to Providence to visit her Brother Travis, and his wife Jyll, and their son Teagan.

Travis and his family have started a church in Providence and it was so much fun to get to see with my own eyes the culture and people that they are reaching.

Question. Have you ever seen an answered prayer?

This past month has been very busy, and so I have been very tired and stressed. Before we left for Providence I got my camera out of the closet and I decided that I was going to take my camera with me. This is a huge decision because in order for me to take my camera I have to pack a whole separate backpack with my camera and my lenses. But I was really longing to take some pictures. I also remember praying before Lolly and I left…I prayed that God would give me some opportunities to take some pictures. One thing that I have noticed about taking pictures is that it is one of the most calming and relaxing things for me to do. I might not show it on the outside but inside I notice that my soul relaxes and enjoys getting lost is the hunt for photographic moments. I love how you can’t rush the process of taking pictures. When you rush…you miss the best photographs.

So my prayers were answered…in a way in which I least expected it.

I brought my camera with me just about everywhere we went. And we went to lots of beautiful places. Normally when I think of taking good pictures it consists of nature photography. That’s my favorite. BUT this time most of my favorite photographs were the ones with people in them…

So here is some of my evidence for answered prayer…

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

2008-04-30T16:20:00.002-07:00

Do you have allergies?

I do. And I think this post will really resonate with those who have allergies…I think.

Also, I don’t know if this is defined as sacrilegious or not.

My goal is not to be sacrilegious.

I would say that I am 75/25 as far as me being serious/joking.

So—every day I have experienced something this allergy season. I wake up every morning and I walk into my bathroom and remove the eye-gunk from my eyes. Once I remove the eye-gunk I then reach down and grab this holy purifying substance….

Once I drop at least one drop into each eye I just close my eyes and it is as if my eyes are literally gulping these eye drops and I can feel my eyes being rinsed as they sting with joy knowing that they will no longer be dry and irritated.

So the sacrilegious part.

There is this verse in the bible that reads--As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for Thee, O God.

I kid you not, just the other day I was squinting my eyes after I had put some drops in my eyes, and this verse came to my mind.

I couldn’t help but think that this is kinda what my soul experiences each time I encounter God, specifically how when my human flesh interacts with God. I mean (and this is where it gets a little sacrilegious) my eyes pant for these drops.

I know this sounds crazy, but I think this is a real way to bridge the feeling of this verse to an actual tangible life experience.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

...highlighter

2008-04-29T19:09:00.002-07:00

So I was driving away from office max the other day with my brand new highlighters in hand (I bought one pack of multicolored highlighters, and one pack of the traditional yellow kind) and I had a question--"I wonder if highlighters are good for the paper in books?"

Since then I have asked some people what they thought and all of which surprisingly had no answer and some had even admitted that they themselves had wondered that very same thing too.

My fear is one day I will have all these books with all the important things that I had highlighted weathered away, or dissolved away so much so that all I am left with is the information I didn't really care about.

So can you help me?

If you know the answer to this quesiton will you please share it with me. And if you find a link will you copy it to your comment.

Thanks,

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

...places to go

2007-12-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

I think that everyone has a place that they go to. I think that this place can be in the middle of a crowded area, or in the silence of a room, this place I believe can also exist in a realm that the eye cannot see…a dimension where only the imagination can take you.

I realized just the other day as I was sitting at my desk writing that I have neglected my place. This exposed a cord deep within my soul…a note that released anger and sadness. You see my place is my desk…it is where I am surrounded by my books…my old journals…my watches…and lots of pictures and photographs, that for me, carry deep meaning, and great stories. I guess you could say that a lot of my passions surround me as I sit at my desk. These passions are some of the sources that rejuvenate me, and breath new life in me when I am dry and empty.

One of my favorite things to do is to sit at my desk early in the morning. Sometimes I just sit there...while other times I will write and journal. One constant while I am at my desk is that I tend to listen to Album Leaf and disappear for while…I sometimes imagine my desk as my Wardrobe that leads me to Narnia.

So why the anger and sadness? Well, I noticed while in the middle of my semester at the seminary that I wasn’t spending enough time in my place. Instead I was lost in books that I had to read for class, and papers that I had to write, and please don’t get me wrong…these are good things, necessary things even…but my soul was taking a beating because of it. And it wasn’t the seminaries fault…it was mine. I wasn’t making time for my place. And the sweet irony of it all was that I would sit at my desk for hours working for my classes…sitting in the exact place that had the potential to rejuvenate me, and breath new life in me…but I didn’t think I had time.

[Silence]

So where is your place?...If you are so willing would you describe it to me?...I wish there was a way to post pictures when you comment on someone’s blog because then you could post a photograph along with you description.

Look forward to hearing from you soon.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

christian radio

2007-12-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

I once was teaching at a church and it was right around Christmas, and for whatever reason I told the people that I didn’t like Christmas music. If that wasn’t bad enough to say publicly (I spell checked this word like 5 times because I didn’t want to say pubicly), the only other thing that I could think of to say next was to compare Christmas music to what would be in my opinion K-Love on steroids. It was great. About half the people just sat there looking at me. Others shook their heads (left to right) and smiled at me, and yet I got one laugh all the way in the back, but that was from one of my closest friends. Overall, I think the joke was a hit…kinda. I will never forget my friends’ laugh...it was so loud! So K-Love…For those of you who might not know, K-Love is a Christian radio station. I’m not sure what station it is all over the place, but I do know that it is 105.5 in Phoenix.

K-Love is a radio station that I think that all Christians should listen to at least once in their life. I really think that it is a experience when you listen to it. I always get the feeling that everyone working there has never had a bad day. But luckily they are there to give the people listening verses to help them get through their bad days. I just wish that one day they would at least admit that they have had a bad day in their life, and that it sucked, and that the bible helped them, or some verse in particular helped them. Anyways, that was a bit of a side note. Probably the thing that I dislike the most about K-Love is their pledge drives. They are a commercial free station, and in order to be commercial free they have to raise support from their listeners. I don’t know how often they do these pledge drives, but I feel like every time I turn on that station they are asking for more money. I think that I would rather listen to commercials. I understand that this is their livelihood and so they need to raise support, but they do it in such a way that I feel as though they guilt their listening into giving money. Here is some examples that my friend Jim wrote down during their last pledge drive. These are quotes that were said on air:

“Worship is the most evangelical thing we can do give $32 a month”

“Set up the $32 a month on monthly withdrawal…it will make it easier for you”

“Imagine withdrawing $20 from the ATM and how quickly it goes to waste”

“You have 4 minutes to call in and make your donation, then we are doing our Power Pac giveaway”

“We had ___ people come to Christ last ____”
(Praise God that people made decisions to follow Christ, but they make it sound like it was K-Love that saved them and now God.)

“Help us tell someone about Jesus, call ___ or visit our website to make your donation”
(Caller called to say how much the station helped him) “You all heard how much this station means to him, give because you care.”

“If you’re one of those very special people who cares about others, call now”

Over and over again are quotes just like these. Often you will hear callers call in and talk about how great K-Love is, and then in passing say something about God, or Jesus, or the Bible. I really wonder sometimes who is more important. I mean we know the obvious answer, but it does get cloudy sometimes.

Okay, so I just sounded really critical. Honestly, that wasn’t my intension. If anything my intention was to make us aware of some of the things that are being said on this radio station. At times I laugh, but at other times I get really frustrated, and mad because when Christian radio stations say the things that K-Love says, it often times does more harm then good. Making someone feel bad, or making someone feel as though it is their evangelistic job to give money, or making people believe that K-Love is the main source of all these peoples salvation, so that they give money…I think that is wrong. Don’t you?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Does it bother you the way that K-Love tries to get a Christians money?

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

2007-11-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

coming soon...

2007-10-01T23:35:00.001-07:00

This is only the second time that I have shown my photography like this... (kinda nervous)

And this is also the first time that I have shown my photographs at first fridays... (really nervous)

I am really excited because my good friend aubrey has collaborated with me on three pieces...She has painted over three of my photographs...and they will be there on friday...I have only seen them through a jpeg, and so I am eager to see them in person!!

If you are free on friday night and you want to come down and check out some art & photography...

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

2007-08-27T14:55:00.000-07:00

Do you need a miracle today??

Or maybe just a smack in the forehead...watch the video and it will make sense.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

2007-08-17T12:46:00.000-07:00

This summer I have been taking a class on the History of Christianity. In this course we had to prepare a paper on a historical figure throughout the History of Christianity and also write how this person contributed to the Church or yourself.

I decided to write about Constantine and how his vision for basilicas has contributed to my life as a Christian.

I wanted to share with you some excerpts from my paper…sorry for the length of this blog entry.

It would be hard to find someone throughout history that has affected the movement of Christianity as much as Constantine. With the affects ranging from both positive to negative alike, we continue to feel the affects of his leadership and his decisions well into the twentieth century.

One of the main controversies regarding Constantine as a person is that many debate and wonder if he truly ever converted to Christianity. Historian Roger E. Olson described Constantine as “general of the Roman legions in Britain and parts of Europe north of the Alps for several years and believed that he had a stronger claim to be emperor than any of his rivals” (Olson 138). Olson goes on to say that “He almost certainly was well acquainted with Christianity, but there is no evidence to it or even strong sympathy for it before his siege of Rome in 312” (Olson 138). According to Constantine’s biographer, the Christian bishop Eusebius, Constantine would appeal to any god who could help him conquer his enemy. As the story goes, Constantine saw a vision of a Christian symbol and the words “In this sign conquer.” Constantine is supposed to have gone to battle the very next day with the symbol of Christ on his battle banners and shields, and Roger E. Olson explains “his (Constantine’s) enemy Maxentius was thrown over the Milvian Bridge just outside Rome and drowned in the Po River. Eusebius, who saw Constantine as a great hero, compared Maxentius to Pharaoh and Constantine to Moses and declared the victory an act of God” (Olson 138). Historian Justo L. Gonzalez also says, “The reason for this was not only that the emperor was both powerful and irascible, but also that, in spite of his policies favoring Christianity and of his repeated confession of the power of Christ, he was not technically a Christian, for he had not been baptized. In fact, it was only on his deathbed that he was baptized” (Gonzalez 121).

As we now look at some of Constantine’s accomplishments, it is important to stop and think that aside from knowing entirely (for only God can know entirely) if Constantine was a Christian or not, he still left a remarkable impression on the Christian faith, and if it were true that he was not a Christian, then maybe he would go down as the greatest figure to NOT be a Christian to impact and fuel a religion for over a thousand years.

Throughout Constantine’s rule as sole emperor, several important events for Christianity took place. The first was just after Constantine assumed sole power as the Emperor of Rome in 313, he issued the Edict of Milan (which was named after the city from which he was ruling at that time). This edict gave “both to the Christians and all others full authority to follow whatever worship each man has desired.” It is important to note that the Edict of Milan did not enforce Christianity as the official religion of the empire, but what it did accomplish was to give the Christians protection from government persecution and to give equality for Christianity alongside the other religions. According to Roger E. Olson, the affects of the Edict of Milan were that “being Christian -at least in name- became popular and prudent. Hordes of unconverted pagans flooded into Christian churches merely to gain status in the eyes of the imperial court and the bureaucracy under Constantine” (Olson 139).
Secondly, Constantine left Rome to go and build a “new Rome” in Byzantium (today’s Istanbul in Turkey) in 330 that was located in the east and was seen as the imperial capital of the empire. Constantine’s moving of the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium placed the city on the crossroads geographically between Europe and Asia. Constantine renamed the city Constantinople, which meant, the City of Constantine. Later in 395, when the Roman Empire was split into two parts, Constantinople remained capital of the eastern empire, which also came to be known as the Byzantine Empire. It resided as the center of the church in the east long before the Great Schism in 1054. It was also in this city where the Council of Constantinople was held in 381 to help combat numerous heresies and to affirm the earlier work of the Council of Nicea. Olson says, “Throughout his life one of his main projects was to build the most beautiful city the world had ever seen and place at its center his own great palace and cathedral” (Olson 139).
Thirdly, during the reign of Constantine, Christians experienced one of the greatest schisms that church had ever seen. This schism would later become to be known as the Arian controversy, which was named after Arius, who was a church leader in the third and fourth centuries. In short, the Arians believed that Jesus was a created being, “begotten by the Father,” and so was not fully divine. As we will see in the next paragraph, the Council of Nicea condemned Arianism as a heresy in 325. It is recorded that Constantine and many of his successors were very entangled in this controversy, and they took many different sides at various times.
Fourth, Constantine summoned 380 bishops in 325 A.D. from all around the world. Constantine promised to pay their expenses and provide them with adequate protection in their travels. This council in later years came to be known as the Council of Nicea. Roger E. Olson says, “Most bishops from the East attended. Poor travel conditions and language difficulties prevented many bishops of the West from attending. Nevertheless, both East and West branches of Christianity –Orthodox and Catholic- came to acknowledge this meeting in Nicea” (Olson 152). Christendom (Catholic) was to come together at this council in order to deal with various heresies that had arisen in the 300 years since the time of Jesus Christ. Most famously, the council was to combat Arianism, which was a heresy that denied the divinity of Jesus by claiming that the Son was created by the Father and so was not of the same essence as the Father. Olson also says, “Constantine’s biographer, Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, wrote an account of the council…Apparently Constantine placed himself on a throne raised above the meeting hall where the bishops sat…Constantine made abundantly clear in his opening remarks that he intended to serve as the “Bishop of the bishops” and guide and direct the deliberations to a satisfactory conclusion” (Olson 152). The Council adopted a creed known today as the Nicene Creed, which reads:

I believe in one God the Father Almighty; Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of light, very God of very God begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried; and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spake by the Prophets. And one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

This creed over time has become one of the universal statements of faith of Christendom.

Of the many great milestones of Christendom that Constantine was either apart of or was a strong influence in, I want to now turn to yet another area of the church that Constantine influenced, and that is the Basilicas (Modernly now known throughout Christendom as Basilicas, or Church Buildings). We have touched on some key moments of influence in Constantine’s life so far, but I want to focus the remainder of this paper enveloping the effects of basilicas in my own life.

We learn from Gonzalez that “Until Constantine’s time, Christian worship had been relatively simple. At first, Christians gathered to worship in private homes. Then they began to gather in cemeteries, such as Roman catacombs. By the third century, there were structures set aside for worship” (Gonzalez, page 125). Gonzalez continues, “The oldest church that archaeologists have discovered is that of Dura-Europos, which dates from about A.D. 250. This is a fairly small room, decorated with very simple murals” (Gonzalez, page 125). We learn even more the affects that Constantine has had on the church when we come to learn that “incense, which was used as a sign of respect for the emperor, began appearing in Christian churches. Officiating ministers, who until then had worn everyday clothes, began dressing in more luxurious garments. Likewise, a number of gestures indicating respect, which were normally made before the emperor, now became part of Christian worship. The custom was also introduced of beginning services with a processional. Choirs were developed, partly in order to give body to that procession. Eventually, the congregation came to have a less active role in worship” (Gonzalez, page 125). Constantine’s vision for what a church building should look like was truly remarkable. Especially considering that his vision is still alive and well all throughout Christendom today. Just reading these descriptions one can’t help but picture the church building down the road. The church in America is far from this description of what church used to be like, look like, or feel like in Dura-Europos. So what did these churches look like? “Some of these churches had an altar in the center, and their floor plan was polygonal or almost round. But most of them followed the basic rectangular plan of the “basilica.” This was an ancient word which referred to the great public –or sometimes private- buildings whose main part was a great room divided into naves by two or more rows of columns” (Gonzalez, page 126). Within these basilicas, there were three main parts: the atrium, naves, and the sanctuary. The atrium “was the entry way, usually consisting of a rectangular area surrounded by walls. In the middle of the atrium was a fountain where the faithful could perform their ritual washing before entering the main part of the building. The side of the atrium abutting the rest of the basilica was called the narthex, and had one or more doors leading to the naves” (Gonzalez, page 126). The naves “were the most spacious section of the basilica. In the middle was the main nave, set aside from the lateral ones by rows of columns. The roof...was usually higher than the rest of the building, so that on the two rows of columns separating it from the other naves there were tall walls with windows that provided light. The lateral naves were lower and usually narrower than the main one. Since there were normally two or four rows of columns…towards the end of the main nave, near the sanctuary, there was a section reserved for a choir, usually fenced in. On each of the two sides of this section there was a pulpit, which were used for the reading and exposition of Scripture…as well as singing Psalms (Gonzalez, page 126-127). The sanctuary “was at the end of the nave…it ran on a direction perpendicular to the nave and was somewhat longer than the rest of the basilica was wide, thus giving the entire floor plan the shape of a cross or “T.” In a place near the middle of the sanctuary was the altar, where the elements were placed for the celebration of communion. The back wall of the sanctuary, directly behind the main nave, was semicircular, thus forming the apse—a concave space behind the altar. Against the wall of the apse there were benches for the officiating ministers…amid these benches there was a chair for the bishop, the “cathedra” –which gave rise to the word “cathedral” (Gonzalez, page 127).
I believe that the creation and vision of the basilicas by Constantine has made a deep contribution to my life as a Christian. Looking back throughout my 7 years of ministry work so far, I can now see a process of deconstruction happening in my life and in the lives of this young generation all around. I almost see it as a cry to retreat or to leave. But it isn’t the faith that I am or that this generation is trying to leave, rather, I think that it is the basilicas of this world or the modern mega-church building era that my generation is trying to leave, and it isn’t just what’s outside but also what’s inside them as well. In other words, I think that we are collectively looking for literal homes or Dura-Europos to worship in and to live in community with others in. From the descriptions that these various Church Historians have given us, it sounds like the church that Constantine envisioned was that of our modern mega-churches, with their enormous budgets, bookstores, coffee shops, big, beautiful buildings, and elder boards that look like corporate America, for many of these Mega-Churches have very similar organizational charts that rival that of Fortune 500 companies. So when you take a step back and look, it appears as though Constantine’s vision is alive and well. I will say, however, that these modern basilicas have made a vast contribution in my life spiritually. They have caused me to redefine what worship is and, in doing so, has helped me find a new generation of people who worship God intimately, communally, and hedonistically. Constantine also made a deep contribution to my life spiritually, as I learned that “Officiating ministers, who until then, had worn everyday clothes, began dressing in more luxurious garments (our version of Tommy Bahama t-shirts). Likewise, a number of gestures indicating respect, which were normally made before the emperor, now became part of Christian worship.” Emperor worship was very common at that time. Many emperors even enforced that you had to worship them. When these gestures and postures were directed toward the ministers, you could only image what happened. They began to be worshiped as well, for it was only natural. The people were already trained to know what these gestures and postures meant. Now, instead of directing them towards the emperor, they would direct them toward their minister (and depending if the people liked the emperor, maybe they liked the idea of worshiping their minister instead…almost as if they had an option). Constantine’s vision for the way ministers were to be treated I think still exists today. It seems like there are no more community churches, rather they are all owned by one person (theoretically). We see this take life when we hear someone refer to the church that they belong to as, “I belong to (insert senior pastor’s name) church.” I do think that this specific worship of the minister comes from a number of reasons. For example, the way that all the pews are facing towards the center of the stage, and the stage is lifted off the ground as if the senior pastor were to be looking down on the people, and the people are in turn looking up towards him. I also think that it is because the pulpit is in the center of the stage. So in a very real sense, when he teaches, the pastor is in a position that would call for people to worship and to adorn him. Equality cannot be found in this posture. The mode of communication is through a voice speaking as authority, rather than through the eyes, which communicates love. I have mentioned these specific ways because I believe that they are rooted deeply in the way that Constantine set up his basilica and the design of his building like we have already read above. Because of these observations mentioned above, I truly believe that Constantine has made a deep contribution to my life spiritually, maybe even the most when it comes to how I live my life communally as the church with other believers. This generation in which I was born is one that wants to have an active role in worship, but, like the basilica way of life in Constantine’s vision, the congregation has a less active role in worship...

These words that I write are not meant to express anger or sarcasm, but, rather, they are meant to cause awareness and give hope that we as a church can see where we have come, how we got here, and also where we want to be. I think more than anything, these words give an explanation to why so many people in their 20’s and even 30’s are leaving the church…the basilicas, but not Jesus. And the humorous irony of it all is that this vision of Constantine’s that we continue to emulate came from a man that we still to this day don’t know if he had a relationship with Jesus or simply used Christian symbols as good luck charms for battle.

Bibliography
Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity. Peabody: Prince Press, 2006.
Olson, Roger E. The Story of Christian Theology, Twenty Centuries of
Tradition & Reform. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1999.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

2007-07-31T23:26:00.000-07:00

We are the champs!

I don’t know how, or why…but we are the City of Scottsdale basketball champs!

We were missing a few guys tonight, but we still pulled off the victory!!

And I will say that victory still tastes sweat even if it is in the "has-beens" league...I mean common, it was the (A) division! :) That counts for something right?...guys, right?

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

Nudist Colony

2007-07-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

So today is Saturday.

And I am in class.

Yup.

From 8am – 4pm

I don’t have to tell you that days like today are long. But one thing that is nice is our breaks. We get a couple of them throughout the day. During these breaks I normally hang out with a good friend near the window. It is almost like we just enjoy seeing what everyone else is doing with their Saturday.

Today I noticed that there is this one house that we always seem to find ourselves in front of.

To be honest with you I don’t know why we like to stand in front of it…there could be a couple of reasons…

1. The view is great of Camelback Mountain.

2. There is something fun about looking over your neighbor’s wall. Do you know what I am talking about? It’s okay, you just don’t want to admit it. It’s so intriguing/creepy cause from our view we get to look over like 4 peoples wall, right into their backyards.

3. The pool. I think that everyone who sees this guys backyard would rather be sitting by the pool rather than being in class.

4. Apparently my good friend from class has never jumped off a diving board with a spring. So he daydreams about that.

So this guys house.

I really feel bad for him. All throughout the week he has all these seminary students looking into his backyard. That sounded really bad. I don’t want to sound like we just stand around and stare all day. But his backyard is hard to miss. No matter where you go you walk by this window that peers out over his backyard.

Rumor has it that when the seminary moved in this guy wasn’t to happy about all these people that could see into his yard. I mean who wouldn’t be pissed, right?

Well, today I was cynical.

I put myself in this guys shoe.

Before I tell you…what would you do? NOT What Would Jesus Do (WWJD), but rather, what would you do in this situation?

As I was standing by the window today, looking out into this guys backyard, I tried to place myself in his shoes…here is what I would do...

I was thinking that I would open my house up as a nudist colony. I would put together a group of people that would walk around my backyard nude. Maybe BBQ…Garden…who knows. But what I do know is that if I was that guy I would want as many nude people as possible in my backyard.

All day.

So maybe you are laughing.

Or maybe you are concerned about my salvation.

Either way though I bet the shades on the 4th floor (that is where the Seminary is) would permanently be shut and he would enjoy some privacy. Well, privacy from the 4th floor at least. There are three other floors though. :) So maybe I would just move.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

God's lighthouse....

2007-07-27T20:31:00.000-07:00

from seminary @ 7:35pm

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

Finding Never Never Land

2007-07-19T17:18:00.000-07:00

Before I loved to read, and write so much I had another passion. It was basketball. I would spend hours (literally) in the gym just shooting and dribbling. I often times think back to some of those moments in an empty gym. Those were deep times, times where many thoughts, ideas, and dreams came to life. I guess in some ways you could call my time on a basketball court as my time in Never Never Land. It was as if I never grew up when I was playing basketball. And when I wasn't alone I could be found goofing around with my "lost boys."

Well, years have past and my beer belly has begun to show and even though those hours where I once could be found on a basketball court are now spent reading or writing, I have found my way back...back to Never Never Land. About two months ago I joined a city of Scottsdale basketball league with some old "lost boys" who, like me, have since grown up.

This league has been great because it has shown me the way back to Never Never Land. It has allowed me, once again, to get into an empty gym with my basketball in hand and just play...just like a little child. And the "lost boys"...we can't forget about them. We have fun together. We play and reminisce of our old battles together.

It's amazing how an old story can either make you feel older or younger...and I'm learning that this particular aging process is just a matter of your own choice.

So I'm going to drive down to a gym in a couple of hours...and I'm going to play basketball with some "lost boys" in Never Never Land.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

Smuckers

2007-07-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

This is kinda of embarrassing to admit, but one of my favorite things to do in the morning is to watch The Today Show. I don't know why...but I just can't get enough of it.

There is this one segment of the show each day where Willard Scott celebrates people who have either turned 100 years old or are celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary. It has forever been sponsored by Smuckers. Do you know which part of the show I am talking about?? Willard always reads a quote from the people as to why/who they credit their longevity to. And it seems like each person always credits their longevity to their faith in God...or to their reading of the bible each day...or to going to church.

Well this morning as I was watching the Smuckers portion of the show I couldn't help but wonder why/who my generation will credit to their longevity of either life or marriage??? Maybe people will credit the likes of Gandhi, Joseph Smith, luck, or maybe even themselves. But it certainly won't be God, or the bible, or the church as much as these old people right?

Does this thought make anyone else feel kinda strange (not so much sad...but strange)??

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

lets go sailing...

2007-06-20T10:35:00.000-07:00

[I wrote this awhile ago...]

Okay so I finished my first ever painting late last week. I painted this photograph that I took of the ocean. So I guess that means I can say it is completely an original (or so Aubrey tells me).

The day that photograph was taken was a beautiful day…it was a blue day. Everything about that day was blue, the ocean was more blue than I had ever seen it before. But it wasn’t just one shade of blue, there must have been hundreds of different shades of blue. The Sky was no different, there was not a cloud to be seen. There was this baby blue tint that filled the backdrop that was the sky. The sky looked like it was made to compliment the ocean that day. In the middle of all this blue was this white sailboat. It moved from right to left along the horizon with such grace. And so I did what anyone would do with a camera...I captured it.

So my friend Aubrey, she taught me how to paint…you could say I was her disciple through this painting process. She was a great teacher. She began with showing me how to hold the paintbrush. Then she helped me mix all the different color blues, which by the way she said that I must have had over 200 different shades of blue in my created ocean. Then she said something that I still think about today, she told me that I would get angry at some point during this painting process (she cautioned me). She said that I would want to give up. But she said I couldn’t. She said that it was just the sign of a great painting coming to life. You know what? She was right. I hated that painting half way through the night. One thing you should know about painting is that it freezes time. Four hours in a studio feels like twenty minutes. But when you get angry those twenty minutes in a studio feels like four hours. It took me two nights to finish that painting. Two nights of Norah Jones, Madeleine Peyroux, Depeche Mode, Paul Simon, and Fat Tire…I am excited to start again.

I think a lot about that painting nevertheless. I think about being a Christian, and how often I just want to give up. Or better yet I think about being a Christian leader and how often I think about all the reason to just walk away. Do you have paintings in your life? I do. But what if I cautioned you. I told you that at some point you would want to give up. But you can’t. Rather this is only a sign of a great painting coming to life.

I want to be apart of that painting process.

heart.soul.mind
kyle diroberts

2007-06-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

I was reading an article this morning about Billy Graham’s wife Ruth. It was informing the world about how Ruth is in a coma, and is close to death.

There is something about Billy Graham that I can’t explain…I personally have never seen (with my own eyes) one man set apart for such human greatness for the cause of Christ.

Just looking at his picture in the article this morning, makes me think of what it must have been like to look at Peter, John, Paul, etc...yeah, those guys.

As I was reading this article there was one section…it read, “Graham was in Charlotte last month for the opening of the $27 million, 40,000-square-foot museum and evangelistic library. He looked frail, was brought to the site by golf cart and needed Franklin's help to reach his seat.

The emotional ceremony had such an air of finality that Graham quipped, "I feel like I've been attending my own funeral."

He told a crowd that included three former U.S. presidents - Clinton, Carter, and George H.W. Bush - that he was embarrassed by the attention and said there was "too much Billy Graham " in the exhibits.

"This building behind me is just a building," he said then. "It's an instrument, a tool for the Gospel. The primary thing is the Gospel of Christ."

After I read these words I got chills…it made me think of my favorite descriptions on the Apostle John in his final days. It reads, “The aged apostle John was so frail in his final days at Ephesus that he had to be carried into the church. One phrase was constantly on his lips: “My little children, love one another.” Asked why he always said this, he replied, “it is the Lord’s command, and if this alone be done, it is enough.”

I think that the chills came from the similarity of these men….I know their words were different…but their hearts just feel the same.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

I believe in grace.

2007-06-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

I have a cousin named Amanda. She is a Pilates instructor, and really good one I might add.

Amanda was teaching a class at the gym I work out at, so I went. And I can tell you a day removed that I hurt.

Yesterday before the class I was shooting some baskets and I lost track of time (side note: I love it when that happens). So I rushed into the classroom where Amanda was teaching and I grabbed a mat and I found an empty area and began my workout.

It wasn’t but two stretches into the workout that Amanda had us doing some form of what I think was a sit-up only to hear the lady right behind me pretty much fart as loud as I have ever heard a woman fart before.

I immediately looked down and by the grace of God I didn’t laugh.

It didn’t hit me till the next morning when I work up that 1. I was left with scars for life, and that 2. That was only the second time I have ever heard a woman fart….it was so loud I can’t get over it.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

Confession Wednesday

2007-05-25T09:03:00.000-07:00

warning: not for the faint of heart

Confession is still alive and well…it just looks/sounds a little different.

If you live in Arizona listen to 104.7 on Wednesday morning…The morning show has a segment called ‘Confession Wednesday’….let me know what you think.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

www.

2007-05-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

So we live in a .com era. I mean really, the whole world is at our fingertips.

Just about any question you have can been answered by Google. And these personal search engines like myspace, facebook, and blogger all seem to be bringing people together all over the world. Personally I think it is great (although, I don’t have a myspace, or facebook).

And have you ever noticed that all you really need anymore to appear legitimate to the world around you is a website??

I can remember awhile back when sky harbor was just getting started people obviously wanted to know the ways in which we were going to live as a community, but the second most asked question was, “what’s your webite?”

It was as if that was sky harbor’s arrival flare.

So I guess my question is…if the church community has but a window for the world (.com) to get an idea for the ways in which as a community they are going to live, what would you want people to see…feel…or know about you?

In answering this question I have become a little sad. Sad in the fact that as I look at church websites it seems as though their main target as a window to the world is for the churched people of the world. In other words I feel like the majority of church websites that I have seen are a great place for a Christian to do some church window-shopping to see if they are interested in changing churches or seeing what the “other guys” are doing.

I think this sheds light on the reason why so many churches are growing deceptively. Churches are indeed getting bigger…but I think this growth is coming from one Christian leaving one church to attend another church (I think it is important to note that I am not saying this is the ONLY reason, but rather from observation I think that this is just one reason for this deceptive growth). And if this church growth were the affect, I think that one cause would be our churches appearance to the world through the art of websites.

Here are a few (key word) observations from various church websites…
1. I noticed that just about every church website had a “What we believe” page. Which is really good, but does a person who is not a Christian really care what your church thinks about the manifestation of God, Inerrancy of Scripture, etc...I would imagine these terms and definitions would be confusing and pointless to a non-Christian.
2. Have you ever been at a church service during the time when they take the offering?? Doesn’t it always go something like…“if you are visiting us for the first time today, we ask that you would not give us your money.” Well, I noticed that on most church websites there was an online giving icon. This leads me to believe that those churches are geared toward Christians, because if they weren’t then they wouldn’t ask for money.
3. Download sermons: I honestly don’t know why any non-Christian would want to listen to a senior pastor before they came to any church. Unless that is you are a Christian looking for another church, or you might not want to leave the church you are going to so you download the sermons of another pastor you like.
4. I also noticed that a lot of church websites love to highlight their senior pastor. Almost as though they are a celebrity and you should get to know them because it is their (possessive adjective) church.
5."Christian Jargon"...church websites often use christian jargon/lingo that when realistically looking at it, christians understand (not unbelievers). For example, the word "disciple"...maybe used in phrases like "we encourage discipleship..." To a non-believer they have no real idea what this may mean....(another word would be "devotionals")
6. also, a "really cool and visually pleasing" website is not a real representation of of the people. I can go to a church website where they have great banners, awesome images, great placement....but, I may go to their actual church and find that their leadership is off....
7. E-mail me some other observations I forgot and I will add them to this list…

These are just a few quick observations that I had…my fear is that I just sounded to harsh or sarcastic. And I want you to know that isn’t my heart at all. I really think that the church has a choice to make though. And I am wondering if we have the ability to have the world at our fingertips (literally)…why not try and intrigue the world?? I think that it is okay if you want to reach Christians. In that case all these observations above (and the ones you added) are great if you are trying to intrigue a church culture.

The people of sky harbor has made the choice to attempt to intrigue the world with our website…and please know that we have not figured it all out...but you have to start somewhere right?

I look forward to your thoughts.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

thank you red squiggly lines....

2007-04-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

(random)

So I was hanging out with my little brother the other day and he was working on some school stuff, and on his desk there was this HUGE dictionary for kids. Keenan (that’s my brothers name) was telling me that he couldn’t find a word in the dictionary and he was asking for my help.

The first problem with this story is that those of you who know me well know that I can’t spell for the life of me. My argument though is that its genetics…my Dad can’t spell well either (sorry Dad).

So back to Keenan asking me to help him find a word in the kid’s dictionary. Because I am his older brother I figure I would let him struggle through it, so I told him…”keen, just look it up as you would spell it…or just sound it out and you should be able to find it.” Keenan then got all pissed at me and said, “how can I look it up if I don’t know how to spell it!”

--then it hit me-- I had just turned into my elementary school teacher that I used to get so frustrated/mad with!

I used to get so mad when I would ask my teacher what a word meant or how to spell it and she would always tell me to go look it up in the dictionary. I would tell her…“but I don’t know how to spell it…so how am I going to find it in the dictionary??!”

Anyways, do any of you remember that when you were a kid?

Or was it just me…and my Dad…and my brother…???

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

PS One of the top 10 invention of all time: those red squiggly lines under the misspelled words when you’re typing on a computer.

2007-04-12T17:49:00.000-07:00

So Don Imus was fired today from his National Radio show because of some really stupid comments he made concerning the Rutgers women’s basketball team. This to me was interesting considering Imus once was named one of the 25 Most Influential People in America by Time magazine and a member of the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

I was speaking with my Mom today and we both agreed on two things. First, we both agreed that what was said by Imus was completely stupid and was very hurtful to everyone who has heard what he said (not just African American people). And secondly we came to the conclusion that we didn’t agree with Don Imus getting fired. We didn’t agree at all.

Simply said, I don’t think that he intended to be hurtful in what he said – I don’t think he is prejudice – because if he was, he would have never said those words – he’s not an idiot. He’s simply a shock jock that says things off the cuff (which doesn't give him the right to say what he did). Granted, he should have thought a little more about what he was saying, but I don’t think he meant to attack (key word) any group or gender.

Anyways…here are a couple of articles. One is from ESPN, and the other is from MSN.

ps I am aware that a lot of people won't like the fact that I don't agree with Mr. Imus being fired. But I am really curious to know if anyone else thinks, and has the courage to speak up that he should NOT have been fired (please note that I didn't ask if anyone thought what Don Imus said was right).

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

do you feel artistic? well...you should.

2007-04-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

When you think about the areas where people can serve at church, what might come to mind is children's ministry, tech, media, meet and greet, set up, tear down, etc. All too often it sounds like service to the church is not much more than fulfilling a “honey do” list to make Sundays happen. Don’t get me wrong: those acts of service are really important! But what if, as leaders, we were to view our “servants” as artists rather than as workhorses?

First we need to answer the question, What is art? I offer this definition of art: “The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination...producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.”

I see art being very broad, regardless of whether you are a teacher, cook, athlete, lawyer, insurance salesman, pastor, or whatever…not just the more obvious painter, poet, writer, and photographer. These labels merely reflect occupations… “jobs”, if you will. But that doesn’t mean that the human behind each job isn’t creative in some way, even if their label might not indicate it. Art is beautiful because it shows the creativity of the human. Or in the Christian way of thinking it shows the creativity of the created, and only leaves the created to wonder just how creative the Creator is.

What if we viewed service to the church as using your artistic abilities in service to God and his church? What if we viewed the role of leader as being the Human Art Director? By that I mean, what would happen if we looked at the people around us and saw their skills and gifting as a form of art? What if we saw the person as art… and not just the thing they created or the skill they possessed? And as a leader, what if our job was to look at people in such a way that each individual had a skill or gift that needed to be exposed for the primary use of creating something…like art? I wonder what that church would look like, feel like, or sound like. I wonder how beautiful it would be to see all the different members coming together to create a masterpiece for all the world around to see. It reminds me of this picture that Paul paints of a body while describing the church:

You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you're still one body. It's exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13, The Message)

I think in the end we find that art is passion and where there is passion, there you will find worship. It is just a matter of who is receiving the worship at that point: the object or God. Our place as leaders and members of the church is to redirect people’s passions so that worship to God is available and expressed in servanthood. At that point people become infectious…Worship becomes contagious…God becomes contagious…and the church becomes contagious.

What a beautiful thing.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

2007-03-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

I wrote a blog a couple of days ago..it is titled i'm a liberal...no wait, i'm a conservative.... But because of a few posts I have made in the last day or so it has gotten lost towards the bottom and I wanted to bring it back in memory of Justin Timberlake's hit song "sexy back." And also because of the great dialogue that is happening…

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

i do…well that’s what they said.

2007-03-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend I was in California for my good friends wedding! I must say it was a great time…

This was also the first wedding that I was asked to lead. It was such an honor and I felt so special being such a big part of their special day!

I wanted to share with you some pictures…

this is my brother and i…he wanted to take an “old fashion” photo...haha

everyone say hi to my brother…

this is my girl ;)…and me…

these are my boys…jim…and matt

these are the flower girls…

this is me and lolly again…I was being difficult and wouldn’t smile nicely!

these are the beautiful bridesmaids…

this is jim and lolly…i told him to watch it!

this is my brother walking down the aisle with the rings…

this is our group huddle…we wanted people to think we were praying, but really we were talking about mike’s wedding night! No really, we prayed. I think.

this was mike looking at his bride…and I was trying to figure out what to say…

and.......................here.................is the bride...

So that was the wedding in a nutshell.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

ps they both said i do.

blankets

2007-03-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

My good friend Aubrey recommended me this book a while back, and I'm not one to market stuff...to be honest, I'm not really a big fan of it. But when I finished reading this illustrated novel blankets I couldn't help but think that every Christian should read it.

It draws (literally) a picture of what Christians do, and how they act. The words and pictures found in this illustrated novel are neither hateful nor bitter…their just right, and tasteful.

e-mail me if you have read it or if you are planning on reading it. I would love to talk about it. And if you live here in the Valley I would love to grab some tea and chat in person...I bet Aubrey would love to come too.

enjoy.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

my mullet mix...

2007-03-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

So I was reading some of my favorite blogs the other day and I of course I made my way to my good friend Nate's blog. I got really excited because he had a new post…and so I did what anyone would do once they realized there was a new post on one of their favorite blogs…I read it!

Okay so Nate, It was really funny (or at least I thought it was funny) because as I finished reading your blog I saw that you had tagged a few other people to take the iTunes challenge…and I was one of them along with Aubrey and Jessica Red (I don’t know Jessica, but I bet she is super neat!). And it worked out great because Aubrey and I were meeting for a glass of wine before I went in to get my Mullet cut off (long story). But Aubrey and must have spend a half hour just talking about what songs we were going to choose…

Okay so here are the steps (copied and pasted from Nate’s blog):
1. scan through your itunes or cd library. refamiliarize yourself with the nooks and crannies of your musical options. 
2. identify five categories — genres, if you will — of music. these should be as obscure and finely-articulated as you’d like. feel free to use modifiers liberally. 
3. nominate — select, really — a “perfect song” for each category. include a link for each song to something (the amazon page for the CD, or the artist’s website, or whatever). you may find it easier, as i did, to find “perfect songs”, and craft categories or genres around them. 
4. ideally, some of the songs will be nominally obscure, or, at least, not completely mainstream and overplayed. no need to tell us all about songs we all know! 

So like any redhead would do…I have risen to the challenge.

“sitting at my desk journaling and reading in the morning while the house is still asleep” Children Arrive by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek

“exploring with my camera” Streamside by The Album Leaf

“in the car with Lolly driving to dinner” I’ve Got You Under My Skin by Michael Buble

“sitting in Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf enjoying strawberry cream tea” Sail Away by David Gray

“just needing a good laugh after a long day at the Seminary” Car Accident, The BK Lounge, Speak ‘n’ Spell, Creepy Guy @ Work by Dane Cook

I tag...
Wes
Travis
Kristin

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

i’m a liberal…no wait, i’m a conservative…

2007-03-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

I am currently working on my masters at a local seminary here in Arizona.

This is where I sit.

I love sitting in the back, right-hand corner in my classes. I don’t like having people sitting behind me. All my classes are either 2 or 4 hour in length, and I can’t possibly sit down the whole time…often I will stand up in the back. I also drink a lot of tea during my class…and if you are a tea drinker, you know that you have to pee quite a bit…so sitting in the back is very helpful for those with an active batter (I just sounded like one of those commercials…do you go often? ha ha). I also like the back, right-hand corner because I can see everything that goes on. And let’s be honest, I love the window seat because it gives me the best view in the house to zone out and watch the sunset.

So, not too long ago I was studying for an exam…I don’t know how you study, but I like to make note cards. One of the note cards that I had made was about divorce. On the back of this note card was the ‘Liberal View’…and as I was walking around my house memorizing this card, it hit me.

I’m being brainwashed.

I was being forced to memorize that if you believe it is okay to get a divorce under certain circumstances, you were a Liberal.

I share this with you because this has been just one of my experiences, thus far, in seminary…

I am aware that some of you will know which seminary I attend, but my hope isn’t/wasn’t to point out just one seminary. Before I sat down to write this blog entry, I asked some friends (some new, and some old) what they thought of their seminary experience…it was encouraging to know just how similar our thoughts were.

I am wondering though (and this is the point of the blog entry) if these feelings that I am experiencing, encircle or embrace you at all at your core as a Christian???…not just seminary students.

My feeling is that I am too liberal for the church and, yet, too conservative for the world…and I’m not quite sure where I fit.

It seems like if you drink wine or beer in public places, say bad words (shit, damn, ass, etc), support/love homosexuals (notice I didn’t say condone), vote according to propositions and not according to who is the Republican or Democrat, or believe that divorce is okay, etc, that you can’t be a Christian without being labeled a ‘Liberal Christian.’ I remember in class not too long after my brainwashing experience we were talking about ‘those liberals,’ and it made me think about what the word liberal even means.

I looked it up …

liberal |ˈlib(ə)rəl| |ˌlɪb(ə)rəl| |ˌlɪb(ə)r(ə)l|
adjective
1 open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values : they have more liberal views toward marriage and divorce than some people.

2 [ attrib. ] (of education) concerned mainly with broadening a person's general knowledge and experience, rather than with technical or professional training.

3 (esp. of an interpretation of a law) broadly construed or understood; not strictly literal or exact: they could have given the 1968 Act a more liberal interpretation.

4 given, used, or occurring in generous amounts: liberal amounts of wine had been consumed.
• (of a person) giving generously : Sam was too liberal with the wine.

The first two definitions sum up every person who is actively learning, not just paying seminary students but all people who ask questions…it almost has a universal sense...

But it seems as though while Christians would like for the world to believe that they are open-minded and that they are open to expanding their knowledge, they do not consider themselves liberal thinkers…yet, according to the definitions above, if one is open to learning new ideas, then he is in fact a liberal-minded person.

How does that make you feel? Are you okay with that?

And yet the world sees me as being too conservative…mainly because of the fact that I carry the title Christian. I guess what I am trying to say is that this ‘too conservative’ mentality isn’t necessarily because of my Christ-likeness, but rather, it is because I am called a Christian. Isn’t that sad?

So where do I belong? I feel as though many think and feel like me. But we are hidden because we are too scared to speak aloud because we don’t know how people might think of us. And what is funny is that many of us who feel this way end up building great relationships with the other people who have been rejected by Christians.

Honestly, it doesn’t surprise me that those people who are not Christians always complain about how Christians are closed-minded…we are, even by definition, we are. But we (Christians) aren’t stupid either…we know the right things to say and that is why we will often tell people that we love to study or to read about the religions of other people or that we are open to the beliefs of others…we even say that it makes us stronger…Haven’t you heard this before? My fear is that if we don’t begin to develop a liberal theology (yes, I said liberal)…a liberal way of life…we will only separate ourselves even more from the world to which we are seeking to show Christ. By the definition above…I think that Jesus was Liberal.

I am wondering though (and this is the point of the blog entry) if these feelings that I am experiencing, encircles or embraces you at all at your core as a Christian???…not just seminary students

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

2007-02-19T11:32:00.000-07:00

where are you going today?

street church

2007-02-06T18:49:00.000-07:00

I found this article in the New York Times…I really liked it, and wanted to share it with you…I promise this post isn't as long as the last one. :)

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 — Homeless off and on since 1991, Rickey Robinson figures he needs to get close to God as often as he can. So on an especially icy Tuesday afternoon, as on many Tuesday afternoons, he bundled himself in a long black coat and joined a small group gathered in a corner of Franklin Square Park, where they prayed, sang a hymn and recited the 23rd Psalm.

Andrew Councill for The New York Times
Street Church’s services are led by the Rev. Anne-Marie Jeffery.
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want,” the men and few women standing in a circle said. “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters.”

Some men could not bring themselves to look up from the grass. Others could not stand still. Most are homeless. They sleep at a nearby shelter and spend the daytime, when the shelter is closed, looking for warmth and food. They are the parishioners of Street Church, an outdoor worship service held on Tuesdays by the Church of the Epiphany, a downtown Episcopal parish.

“This gives me strength to deal with things,” Mr. Robinson, 49, said of the service and the meal that follows it. “I think God is with me. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t think I could survive all this.”

While churches have long provided meals, occasional shelter and indoor worship services for the urban homeless, a small but growing number of congregations now recognize that many homeless people will not attend traditional services indoors. So these congregations now go outdoors to bring church to the homeless and anyone else who happens along.

“When you become homeless, you become very aware of how people treat you,” said the Rev. Anne-Marie Jeffery, who runs Street Church. “It’s hard to walk into a church, and it’s even harder when you are homeless because you’re worried about how you will be received, or if you smell bad. Some people never go inside at all, because they worry that they can lose all their stuff,” as in shopping carts that must be left outside, “or be sent to a mental hospital or to jail.”

Street Church began last February. Though Epiphany keeps its doors open during the day for everyone, and offers breakfast and an indoor service for the homeless on Sundays, the rector, the Rev. Randolph Charles, had wanted to expand into some type of outdoor worship, Ms. Jeffery said. So Mr. Charles met with the Rev. Deborah Little Wyman, another Episcopal priest, who started an outdoor worship mainly for the homeless in Boston 11 years ago and who wanted to find a church in Washington to begin a similar service.

Ms. Wyman, trying to introduce outdoor worship elsewhere as well, says she is working with churches and other groups, about half of them affiliated with the Episcopal Church, in 40 cities in the United States and abroad. Already some such worship is under way in cities including Asheville, N.C.; Atlanta; Cincinnati; Portland, Me.; and San Francisco.

“Our theology is to love and not try to fix them and just to be present where they are,” Ms. Wyman said of the outdoor congregants. “We’re not trying to sell any one theology or denomination.”

If people do ask for help, Street Church, like others that work with Ms. Wyman, refers them to social service agencies. In addition, an outreach worker attends the Sunday indoor breakfast at Epiphany.

A small homemade sign hanging from a shopping cart announces Street Church to people at Franklin Square Park, and volunteers hand out fliers alerting prospective congregants to the service. In the summer, Street Church has drawn 40 or so people, in winter about half that.

The worship service lasts 15 to 20 minutes. People line up for Communion (expect grape juice, not wine) and then lunch on two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches each, along with chips, fruit and water. Office workers sometimes stop by. Street Church volunteers hand out bulletins as they would to congregants at a Sunday service, and stay afterward to eat and talk with whoever shows up.

All this is not without considerable effort. Epiphany must get permits from the city, find and train volunteers, and withstand problems among the homeless that may cause some of them to ask for money, or a stay at someone’s home, or a date, or whose mental illness leads them to threaten and swear. As for the homeless themselves, they must sometimes walk for miles to get to the service. They must brave the weather. They open themselves to strangers and to God.

Billy Ray was sitting out Communion on a park bench the other day. His legs hurt from walking across the city that morning to get to Street Church. He has a hardness to him, which he admits to, but he said he considered the service a blessing.

“I was way out of touch with the Savior,” Mr. Ray said, looking at the Communion line. “This here keeps me in touch. Otherwise I’d be thinking devilish thoughts, and this helps me stay positive.”

The link to this article is... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/06/us/06homeless.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

I find it interesting that these homeless people didn’t want to go to church indoors. I love the heart of the people in this particular church, as they desired to provide a time of worship for the homeless in their area. But I also love how they found out that maybe the best thing for these homeless people isn’t what made the most sense to them (i.e. Indoors). I tried to imagine what my first reaction would be like if I were involved in that church as it was reaching out to the homeless and we were beginning to see that the homeless didn’t like the worship service we were giving them. I think I would have thought something along the lines of, “how ungrateful can these homeless people be?” or “their so picky!” or "how can they not like this?"

But all along…it just wasn’t for them…they didn’t feel comfortable.

If I were homeless, I would join them.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

Are Christians Supposed to Tithe?

2007-01-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

I was reading some articles from one of my favorite websites I like to visit called Jerusalem Perspective.

There was one article in particular…

The title alone…“Are Christians Supposed to Tithe”…captured my attention. I have worked in or around the church for 7 years now, and I have seen how money is spent. I have also seen how money was not spent -- funny how that works. Because of the things I have seen, to be very vulnerable, it has caused me to doubt tithing to the church. This article affirmed my feelings, so I wanted to share it with you. I guess I should clarify that when I say ‘tithing to the church,’ I am picturing in my head giving money during each service every Sunday to meet the required budget listed somewhere on the program.

Are Christians Supposed to Tithe?
By, Jack Poirier
Jerusalem Perspective
Within popular piety in America today, it is widely believed that the Bible instructs Christians, either explicitly or implicitly, to give ten percent of their income to their local churches. Pastors teach this in the name of the biblical notion of “tithing”, a term applied to the giving of ten percent of one’s crops and flocks to the Levite. As we will see, however, the Bible nowhere even remotely suggests that Christians are supposed to give ten percent of their income to the church, or anything. Moreover, the plain facts about biblical tithing contradict the very possibility of any sort of Christian tithing, or at least of the possibility of basing such a practice upon a biblical model. Let us leave aside the question of whether Christians are bound to the Old Testament commandments for now, and look first at some of the specifics concerning tithing during the days of the Temple.

In the Bible there are three different tithes (although the third is really a part of the second). The first (Leviticus 27) is the best known, but even it, when properly understood, does not correspond at all with the notion that a tithe represents the giving of ten percent of everyone’s income to the Temple. There are two central facts about this first tithe that contradict the common conception. First, it did not apply to everyone’s income. Rather, it consists of ten percent of the crops grown and the livestock raised by Israelite (later Jewish) farmers within the land of Canaan. Israelites living in the land of Canaan who made their living by any other means did not have to pay this tithe, and Israelites farming outside of the land of Canaan did not have to pay this tithe. This is because the first tithe was not a required payment for livelihood per se, but rather it represented payment for tenancy on God’s land. In other words, the first tithe was not a sort of thank offering for one’s livelihood, as it is commonly construed today: rather, it applied only to those farming within the land of Canaan.

The second misconception about the first tithe is just as significant: although farmers gave ten percent of their produce to the Levites, only one percent of their produce actually wound up going to the priests who minister in the Temple (Num 18:20-32), for whom it represented their livelihood, and none of it went to the administration of the Temple generally. This is because the first tithe was used primarily as a sort of social security system: the Levites were prohibited, by the Law, to own land, so God provided for their welfare by giving them ninety percent of the tithe paid by those who were land tenants. The farmer gave all his tithe to the Levites, and it was only the latter who separated out the portion going to the priests officiating in the Temple. (As far as the farmer was concerned, all the tithe went to pay for the welfare of the Levites.) In other words, if the tithe corresponds to anything in today’s society, it is not the giving of an set amount to a church, but the payment of a social security tax to the federal government. The Old Testament “church” (viz. the Temple) actually wound up with none of the farmer’s income, except insofar as the priests officiating were given a tithe of the Levites’ portion to eat as a heave offering. This is a far cry from the idea that Christians (whether they’re farmers or anything else) are supposed to give ten percent of all their income to the church.

There was also a second tithe, discussed in Deuteronomy 14. The procedures for this tithe vary according to a seven-year cycle. In the first, second, fourth, fifth, and (probably) sixth years of the cycle, a tithe of one’s produce was to be taken to Jerusalem, to be offered up and consumed (by the tither) within the holy city. If a farming family lived too far to carry its produce all the way to Jerusalem, it could redeem its tithe and bring the money (adding twenty percent extra) to Jerusalem, where they were to buy, according to the language of the King James Version, “whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink” (Deut 14:26). In other words, this tithe was not really given away, but rather consumed by the tither as an offering to the Lord. Obviously, this tithe is also a far cry from the dominant notion of tithing in the church today. It corresponds more to a sort of potluck dinner and drinking party, for farmers only. (Needless to say, few pastors are in the habit of quoting this verse: When is the last time you heard a pastor tell his flock that they should spend their tithe on a steak dinner or a bottle of liquor?)

The third tithe was simply the tithe from the third year of the seven-year cycle (Deut 14:1-29; 26:1-19). (There was no tithe in the seventh year since the land was not permitted to be farmed that year.) In this year the tithe was to be given to the Levites, the widows, and the orphans. (In Deut 26:12, the third year is called “the year of tithing”, which seems to imply that the arrangement we called the “second tithe” wasn’t really a tithe.) This also does not correspond with modern ideas about tithing. Rather, it is strictly for poverty relief. Again, none of this tithe went toward the Temple.

If none of any of the three tithes went towards the administration of the Temple, then how was that institution supported? This was done through a Temple tax, leveled on all male Israelites over twenty years of age, to help subsidize Temple operations (Exodus 30). It should be noted, however, that this Temple tax was a fixed amount, and was not based on a percentage of income. Everyone, rich and poor alike, paid the same amount.

We have not even asked about the relationship of the church to the cultic law, but we can already see a terrific problem with the idea that Christians are supposed to give ten percent of their income to the church: none of the biblical tithes even remotely corresponds to this scheme. The closest correspondence between the biblical system and any modern church practices of which I am aware is found in the relationship between the Temple tax and the present-day arrangement, used by many Eastern Orthodox churches, of charging a set annual amount for membership dues (usually around $300-$500 per family). The idea of everyone paying ten percent of their income to the local church is utterly foreign to the Bible.

We have seen that the Old Testament laws cannot be made to fit with modern ideas of tithing, but what about the question of whether these laws, in principle, can be extended to the church? Here, I will repeat what I said above: the Bible nowhere even remotely suggests that Christians are to tithe. All of the references to tithing in the Gospels refer to the Israelite/Jewish system, and when Jesus, in response to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, expounds on the proper way to tithe, that cannot be construed as a warrant for Christian tithing any more than his expounding on the proper way to offer an animal sacrifice can be construed as a warrant for Christian animal sacrifices. Jesus’ remarks about tithing (Matt 23:23) are made within a series of injunctions that cannot possibly be extended to the church in its entirety. (Two verses later Jesus affirms for the Pharisees the necessity of observing the ritual purity laws with respect to the washing of cups and plates.) This immediately raises the question of whether one can arbitrarily decide that a particular injunction is binding upon Christians. We cannot practice selective reading simply for convenience’s sake.

This goes for how we read Malachi 3: How can anyone categorically state that Malachi’s reference to tithing is relevant for Christians, when the same book speaks, in the same terms, about the proper way to sacrifice an animal upon the altar? One cannot have it both ways. Unless one actually believes that Christians should offer animals as sacrifices, one must accept the burden of proof for claiming that the references to tithing in Matthew 23 and Malachi 3 are binding on Christians. (Since pastors often quote Malachi 3 to support their beliefs on tithing, it bears mentioning that that passage is not directed at the farmers who give the tithe, but at the crooked priests, who were collecting the tithe from the farmers but taking a cut off the top before depositing it in the storehouse.)

I should also mention that Paul’s remarks about giving have nothing to do with tithing. When he told believers to put something aside at the beginning of the week, he was talking about a discretionary amount for a one-time relief offering for the poor saints in Jerusalem. There is no allusion anywhere in his writings to the giving of a set amount, nor is there any allusion to any sort of regular giving to the local congregation. (In late antiquity, synagogues and churches were built by well-to-do benefactors, who donated different parts of the building in their entirety [and were usually credited for it in an inscription].)[1] All of this, of course, calls into question the common “observation” that Jesus tithed. Unless we have good reason to think that Jesus was a farmer or a Levite (or an overscrupulous Pharisee who tithed what he ate just in case the farmer who grew it failed to tithe it), then there is correspondingly little reason to suppose that Jesus ever tithed.

How do we account for how widespread these errors in understanding are today? The obvious answer is wrapped up in the fact that pastors and other church officials have a vested interest in the income that tithing provides. God cannot be pleased with the misinformation campaigns that are being waged from pulpits, and God cannot be pleased with the financial strain that pastors are putting on church members by making them believe that tithing is a scriptural obligation. If Jesus censured the Pharisees for loading burdens upon the people that they could not bear, would he not censure today’s pastors for doing the same thing?

[1] By the way, we do have an idea when the shallow reading of these passages on tithing was first adopted by the church, that is, when the idea of Christian tithing began: it was in the sixth century. (There’s a chapter detailing the sixth-century origins of Christian tithing in R. Kottje, Studien zum Einfluss des Alten Testamentes auf Recht und Liturgie des frühen Mittelalters (6. - 8. Jahrhundert) [2nd ed.; Bonner historische Forschungen 23; Bonn, Ludwig Röhrscheid, 1970].) The practice was advocated by the Council of Tours in 567 and the second Council of Macon in 585, and it became obligatory (by law) in the Carolingian empire (in 765).

I wanted to know what you think???

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

i double dog dare you...

2006-12-21T10:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

I was reading this morning and I came across this quote. It was spoken within the context of confession.

It says,
The well-known pastor Haddon Robinson begins almost every sermon with the same brief confession: “God, if these people knew about me what you know about me, they wouldn’t listen to a word I said.”

I wonder what would happen if more pastors (of both big and small churches) began their sermons like pastor Robinson…

And so, like only a 4th grader can do…I dare you, if you’re a pastor (the preaching/teaching kind), to start your sermon this next Sunday like pastor Robinson. No wait! I double dog dare you! Yeah, I just went there.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

2006-12-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

www.skyharborpeople.com

paradise bakery church???

2006-12-06T16:47:00.000-07:00

I was having breakfast this morning at Paradise Bakery & Café. I like that place a lot. I am relatively new to the morning culture. I normally just stay home, but recently, I have been getting out more. I’ve only been going to this bakery for the past couple of months. They have lots of breakfast choices that make my belly very happy.

So I was sitting at a booth by myself -- just people watching. The people that you see in the morning are so much different than the ones you see at night or in the afternoon. Because of this, I have been trying to figure out what makes them so different…anyways...

As I was enjoying the people and the breakfast, I noticed this big sign.

After reading it…and re-reading it, I began to think about the church while I was staring at the purpose statement of this bakery.

I’m willing to bet that you have heard of a church a time or two say something similar to this before. Haven’t you? It just seems like on a very simple level this sign conveys the goal of the church in America today. I mean really, what church doesn’t want a person to have a special experience? Or, what church doesn’t want more people to come? Please know that I’m not saying ‘all’ churches. To be honest, I was thinking more about the modern church but this could apply to any kind of church I guess.

Assuming this statement echoes that of your church or a church that you know of, I couldn’t help but wonder (not sarcastically) who accomplishes this goal better -- a church or this bakery?

hmmmm...

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

clearance rack or free rack?

2006-11-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

It was such a great day today…today was the first day in a long time that I can remember that it was cold all day. I mean right when I got up at 6 this morning it was cold…and at noon, it was still cold.

On Mondays I have class at the seminary until 11:50 a.m. and didn’t have to be back for my next class until 3pm. So I had a pretty big break, and because of the cold weather, I really wanted some coffee. I don’t normally drink coffee. I prefer tea.

Well, I ended up at Borders Books and Music…I always sit in the back by the window. So today I decided to change things up when it came to my beverage of choice. I had a white chocolate mocha with no whip cream…and no white chocolate chips on top either. I must say that if you don’t order coffee that often, it is quite intimidating trying to order one, especially when there are people waiting behind you. I always try and pretend like I know what I am ordering. I think the key is that whatever you order, you just have to say it really, really fast.

So I got my coffee and started to walk back to my table. It was amazing. There was this girl, she must have been twenty, sitting at a table reading Sports Illustrated, the magazine. No offense to girls who read Sports Illustrated, but I have never seen that before. I felt like going and grabbing the latest People magazine and reading about TomCats wedding and officially throwing off everything natural in the world. But I didn’t. I thought about it though. So I sat down and called a friend of mine in Colorado. I hadn’t talked to her since last week, so I wanted to get caught up and see how her Thanksgiving was with her family. After we ended our conversation, I decided that it was time to hit the road. I felt like driving with the windows down.

I noticed something though as I was leaving. I have seen this a hundred times, but for whatever reason I stopped today and stared for a bit. I don’t know about you, but when I want to look at something that would seem odd if I were just standing there or if I wanted to listen to someone’s conversation, I always put my cell phone up to my hear and pretend like I am talking. Well, today I wanted to do both. I wanted to look at something that would seem odd if I were to be staring, and I also wanted to listen to people talk.

This is what I was looking at…

There was this mother and daughter talking right by this rack of books outside of Borders. Just as I was walking out, I heard this daughter tell her mother what a great price this cookbook was…”it was 50% off,” she said. As I grabbed my phone to stick up to my ear to pretend like I was talking to someone, all I could think of was “I got even a better price for you…just keep your money and keep walking.” Have you ever noticed that clearance rack of books outside of Borders??? I mean really. What’s from keeping someone from just taking a book? From the way Borders displays these books, it is almost like they just want you to take one or two off their chest. This particular store had the books outside. So that way if you took one, there is no buzzer to go off. They must know they aren’t going to sell these books or something. I mean, I’m a Christian, and I have thought about taking a few books before, so I can’t imagine what someone would think who doesn’t even really care what the bible says as they walk out.

Anyways…I smiled, and I hope that you did too. Maybe I’ll see you at the clearance rack...or should I say free rack at Borders.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

sacred dirty ground...

2006-11-22T00:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

Some of my favorite times of worship that I can remember have taken place on my knees…

water-made-wine...

2006-11-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

One of my favorite miracles that we have recorded in history is that of Jesus turning water into wine…I love this miracle because it would appear that it’s soul purpose was to keep the party going...and if that wasn’t enough, the first-century bartenders, who mixing up what would be the first ever 7 & 7’s and rum & cokes at this wedding party described in the bible, were amazed at the quality of the water-made-wine that Jesus had prepared.

I love to eat. I love to drink. And it seems like when you can combine these two wonderful things, it makes for a happy tummy.

I am in the process of working on my master’s degree at Phoenix Seminary, and one of my favorite things about the seminary is that it is in the middle of so many restaurants and bars. Because of this, I will often go out to eat or go have a drink after my night classes. I have been doing this for so long now that I feel like a character in the classic TV show Cheers. I think they’re right…it really does feel nice to go to a place where everyone knows your name. I love the fact that it doesn’t matter if it’s been a day or a week since I last saw them, but when I return, we pick right up with where we left off…eating, drinking, and sharing stories about our days.

Often times when I’m sitting in these restaurants and bars, I am left with a lot of time to watch people. One of my favorite moments in a restaurant or bar is watching the people interact with the servers…some people are just rude. I get very protective of my friends who are servers, and so I don’t like when people aren’t nice. They treat the servers as though they are servants, and they order them around. Or sometimes it looks like some people just ignore the servers and almost treat them like they don’t even exist or aren’t good enough to receive their attention. And, yet, to be fair, there are some people who are really nice and who seem to treat the servers like real-life people.

I think the reason why I like being in restaurants and bars so much is because it is always so much different than being in a coffee shop, a bookstore, or at seminary.

Just the other day I was at one of my favorite places to eat lunch…Red Robin. I was with my favorite person to eat lunch with…Lolly. I always get the Buffalo Style Clucks and Fries with either an Ice Tea or a Fat Tire. On this day, we were sitting in the bar area just watching people while we were waiting for our server to come over. I don’t know what his day was like before we showed up, but I am guessing that it was stressful because he didn’t look very happy. When he came over he was really short with us and kinda rude actually, and so he took our drink orders and then just walked away. As he walked away my mind started to wonder…the first thing I thought was, “this isn’t going to be easy making this guy laugh.” Then my next thought was, “Christians.” I was wondering what Lolly would say about my two thoughts, and so I asked her how many Christians she thinks would be able to interact with this waiter…or even make him laugh or smile because he was definitely a little grumpy?

I ended up thinking at the end of our conversation that Christians should hang out in bars and restaurants more often (please know that if you struggle with drinking, then I wouldn’t suggest you going to a bar). I guess it just looks like Christians have a really hard time being around normal people in the world. I mean, we always talk about the extremes…homeless people, prostitutes, drunkards…but I’m thinking more about just the normal everyday people. I feel bad because it seems like when Christians get around the normal people of the world they freak out or feel like before they leave, they have to share the gospel with them, and if they don’t then they have failed…and if they don’t share the gospel, then they feel like they can do the next best thing which would be leaving a track with the bill. This fear or panic makes my heart sad because I think that if Christians just let go and be themselves (in Christ) that the normal people of this world would find them quite interesting. I believe that we have underestimated how interesting and intriguing we (Christians) are.

The environment in a bar or restaurant isn’t easy. Actually, I think it is quite hard. I think that servers are very street-smart. They have an ability to read a person’s body language and mood really well.

At the same time, I think that as Christians we could also be street-smart [definition of street smarts: have the skills and knowledge necessary for dealing with modern urban life], and maybe being around more servers and bartenders would help. It says a lot if you can hold your own while interacting with your server or bartender. And besides…who doesn’t like good food or good beer (some prefer wine)??

I have this random reoccurring daydream…it is kinda embarrassing…but it goes like this…Jesus and I go out one night to one of our favorite wine bars, and instead of ordering wine, we just ask for water in our wine glasses…and well, you know the rest of the story.

Well hopefully I’ll see you around.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

Have You Heard of the Four Spiritual Laws?

2006-10-16T20:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

So I was at one of the local churches in Arizona the other day. I was there because I wanted to check out its bookstore. I like going to church bookstores because I enjoy seeing what they have to read. I think that you can tell a lot about a church by being in its bookstore. This particular church is really big, and so that means the bookstore is really big.

While walking around, I noticed something…something that I hadn’t seen in a really long time. It was right next to the rack with all the birthday cards (they also had encouragement cards, “thinking of you” cards, and those spiritual cards with bible verses in them). But I remember all that my eyes saw were the words “Four Spiritual Laws.”

I hadn’t seen a Four Spiritual Law track in what seemed like forever.

I pretended like I was looking at the greeting cards because these Four Spiritual Law tracks were right by the register, and so I honestly felt embarrassed at the thought of being caught looking at them. It worked out really well though because shortly after I had gotten there, the woman behind the counter left and went to the back of the store. So it was just this bright yellow booklet and me.

As I was looking through it, I was brought back to a specific time when I was working at a church…one of my jobs was to refill the track-rack in the main sanctuary! It was really funny because I remember wondering why in the world someone would come and take one of these tracks.

In this particular church, there were everyday tracks…but there were also more seasonal tracks for Christmas, Easter, and so forth.

Anyway, I want to show you a few of the things that the Four Spiritual Laws track says. In fact, I thought that I would just let the track speak for itself.

Adult?? Always BE Ready??

Free Booklets...Free Durable Vinyl Wallet...Free Easy User's Guide??

Tried and proven...Clear and biblical...Easy-to-use??

That’s just the front of it.

Inside the pamphlet is a user’s guide:

To open the conversation simply read the question on the cover of the
edition you selected. For example, ‘Have you heard of the Four Spiritual
Laws?’ Or, if you believe the person is a Christian, say, ‘I have been a
Christian for years, but I have found a way to express my faith that really
makes sense. I would like to share it with you. Have you heard of the
Four Spiritual Laws?’

The pamphlet goes on to read, ‘After presenting the Four Spiritual Laws, encourage the one with whom you have shared the ‘good news’ to receive
Christ. Do not hesitate to provide a specific opportunity to do so. Often
one who has previously appeared to be indifferent will want to pray when
he is confronted with the definite opportunity to ask Jesus Christ to be Savior
and Lord of his life. After presenting law Four, be sure to:
1. Ask, ‘Do you want a God-directed life, or a self-directed life?’
2. Read the prayer aloud at the end of the booklet and ask, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ then say, ‘if it does, you may wish to pray this prayer right now, and Christ will come into your life, as He promised.’ (Pause at this time for prayer. Make sure the person with whom you are sharing can see the prayer to read it.)
3. Pray: if the person hesitates to pray aloud, ask, ‘Would you like to repeat the prayer after me?’ If the person wishes to pray silently, suggest he end his prayer with an audible ‘Amen.’ If the person is not ready to pray, say, ‘One day I believe you will choose to receive Christ and will want to know how to do so. Do you understand how to receive Christ?’

It makes sense to me why some people don’t like Christians after reading this pamphlet. And maybe it isn’t fair to assume the idea of people not liking Christians just because of this track, so maybe it’s more of an emotion of frustration. I sometimes get this barbaric feeling that too many Christians have been tamed and can no longer survive in the real world. Especially when it comes to evangelism (the art of sharing who Jesus is). That is why people use stuff like the Four Spiritual Laws, which is sad. You would hope that telling someone about Jesus would be a little more free flowing and that you didn’t need a user’s guide (literally).

I love going to the Zoo. It is always a good time. Christmas is coming soon, and even though I’m not a big Christmas music fan (I think Christmas music is kind of like K-Love on steroids), I love going to the Phoenix Zoo during the month of December because they have this thing called ZOO Lights. But I always get sad for the animals when I’m there -- I always wonder if the animals ever think about what it was like before the Zoo (B.Z.). Back when some human didn’t feed them three times a day…but instead they had to go and prey over and hunt for food…and if they didn’t kill anything they didn’t get to eat.

If you ask me, the Animals at the Zoo always look unhappy. If I were an animal at the Zoo (I would hope I was a Lion), I wouldn’t like it.

In a sense, Christians are a lot like these animals. I’m not trying to say that Christians should go and prey on and kill people who aren’t Christians for the sake of evangelism…I just think that there is beauty in being raw and untamed. Especially when you are talking about someone like Jesus.

My fear is that the church is turning into the Zoo.

They capture people from the world, and then they tame them by taking away their natural ability to relate to people…

I just want to go to the Zoo to see Christmas lights…not Christians.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

Don King...

2006-09-28T17:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

So on Tuesday (Sept. 26th) I arrived at Barnes and Noble right when it opened up at 9 am. I had missed a few journal entries and so I wanted to get myself caught up. I think that because I got to Barnes and Noble so early I got to pick any seat in the house. I chose this table off to the right so that I could set my computer up and listen to Album Leafs new album (Into the Blue Again) while writing. Also, I needed room for my journals and a place for my new Phoenix Suns hat to rest (preseason starts on Oct. 6th and so I need to start breaking in my new hat for this season). After I got everything set up I knew that there was one more thing missing…Cream Soda! There is nothing like an ice cold Cream Soda in the morning. So I went up to the counter and got my soda (it was a twist off…yes!) and with my Barnes and Noble discount card it came out to $1.89 rather than the normal $2.11! I was pretty excited!

So I got back to the table and sat down and began to catch up with my journal. There was lots to talk about and lots that I wanted it to remember for me. It wasn’t but 30 minutes into my time journaling that I received a text message. It was from Jimbo…the conversation went like this…

Jim: I would love to hang out with Don King.
Kyle: hmm.
Jim: You know that he is a Christian?
Kyle: Is he really!? Who told you this?!
Jim: This morning on 3 TV

This was the extent of our conversation that morning. There were no “hello’s” or “good morning’s” exchanged. It was really strange because I just sat there and thought to myself…Don King? He’s a Christian? Why does 3 TV care? That’s neat…kinda weird, though. Then I started to laugh at the fact that Jim and I were just talking about Don King. But after I got over Don King and his recent conversion I started to remember how much I love text messaging. Do you send text messages often? Have you ever sent a text message before? I love text message. I know that some people just don’t like the idea. But I do. I like it a lot. I love the randomness of a text message. I love the fact that you don’t have to have long conversations with people if you don’t want to. If you need to tell them you will be 5 minutes late - just send a text. If you want to see what someone is up to, or how their day is going, or just wanted to let them know you were thinking about them - just send a text. I, in some ways, see text messages as our generations version of a note. I have never just sent a note to someone in the mail just to tell them that I was thinking about them or telling them that I hope that they have a good day. But, I would imagine it feels pretty good to receive one. I can imagine this only because when I receive a text from people and they are just letting me know that they were thinking about me…or they wanted to just let me know that they wanted to hang out with Don King - it makes me feel special! It lets me know that someone is thinking about me…and who doesn’t like that?

I was reminded this past Tuesday of my love of text messaging.

I would love to hear from you sometime…send me a text (or someone else for that matter). A simple hello…or some random thought throughout your day…480.262.2643

Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Until then…spread the word…Don King is a Christian!

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

sorry this is long...

2006-09-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

Thank you so much for your prayers…I really felt, in the truest sense of the word, like I was being prayed for. It felt good.

This past week was sad. I spent much of my time with Chad and his family. Often, I would just sit with them and not even say a word. Other times, I would offer to pick up items for them so they wouldn’t have to leave if they didn’t want to. And one time I just felt like Chad needed to get out of the house and so for a bit we left to grab a Jamba Juice. Often I would get home late in the night and, so tired and weak, I would return to the shortest verse in the bible…“Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Not that it made it any easier, but it was comforting to know that Jesus (who I believe to be God in human form) was sorrowful over the death of a friend.

My friend’s name that died was Mike. Mike committed suicide two Sundays ago (Sept 10th). Mike would always refer to me as his second big brother . . . I am close to his older brother Chad. We played basketball together all throughout high school, and ever since, I have remained good friends with Chad and the rest of the family. I don’t know all the reasons why Mike decided to take his life on that Sunday afternoon. But there is one thing I know for sure . . . he is in Heaven as we speak.

His funeral was this past Saturday (Sept 16). There were a lot of people there. Someone told me that around 1000 people showed up. The presence of that many people was actually quite powerful. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what type (Lutheran, Baptist, etc) of church it was held at, but it felt Catholic in many ways. I heard someone there refer to the officiators as ‘priests,” and, so for the sake of this blog, I will call the officiators priests.

The service itself was intended to celebrate Mike’s life. But it was still sad. I sat next to Lolly and my family at the service. A couple of days before the funeral Mike’s mom asked me to speak at the funeral. I was honored to do this for the family.

So Saturday came.

It was really awkward at one point because the priests were talking about Mike and how they remembered Mike being in confirmation classes. They were talking about how they remembered Mike getting baptized. They said that they believed Mike was in Heaven because he was confirmed and baptized.

This was hard for me to hear. I don’t know what you think on the matter of baptism my friend, but I don’t share those same thoughts as the priests.

After the priests were finished talking, some of Mike’s friends from high school and college came up and shared some funny stories . . . they were really funny too.

But once they had finished, I got to share. I wanted to share this one story that had been on my heart the whole week . . . it was an eyewitness account. About 4 or 5 years ago (I am really bad with dates and times), I was leading a house church for this youth group I was working for. We met on Wednesday nights. It was a sweet time in ministry, and I will always remember those Wednesday nights. We would worship together . . . sometimes through song . . . other times we would worship with our minds as we would challenge ourselves with different ideas and thoughts about God and who He was and is. Mike had asked me what I was up to, and so I told him about the house church. He seemed really excited and wanted to go with me one Wednesday night. I said yes, of course, but I told him that he would have to call me because I was never going to force him to go to church with me. Well, sure enough, about two weeks later, he called me up, and he told me that he wanted to go to the house church. I told him that I would pick him up so that he didn’t have to drive by himself and show up and not know too many people. He said that was cool, and so I picked him up on Wednesday. It was awesome because on the way from Mike’s house, I could take some back roads that had these really big dips -- we would drive really fast over the bumps. It’s funny (in a sad way) to think about because that is the stuff that is supposed to kill you. Anyways, we get to the house, and the house is full of kids. We walked through the door, and pretty much everyone knew Mike. I told the people at the funeral that I had Mike introduce me to people that night because he seemed to know more people than me. It was great. So at one point in the night, Mike and a few of his friends and a few other guys that he didn’t know and myself went outside and sat by the fire pit and just talked. We talked about a lot of different spiritual things. But I remember that the conversation didn’t really start until we got into the car. It seemed like just as the car door shut as we were leaving, Mike turned to me and in a really frustrated tone told me that he gets so upset at the fact that Christianity is so overwhelming. Then I remember he asked me to brake it down for him . . . he wanted the basics. I asked him to open up my bible to Acts 16:30, and I asked him to read it to me once he got there. When he finally got there he started to read, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They said, believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved….” Then I told him to go to Romans chapter 10 verse 9, and so he started to turn the pages, and, once he got there, I told him to read it out loud to me again, and so he read, “if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” There was a moment of that awkward silence, and then I told Mike that I think that’s it. I think it is that simple. Then Mike asked about this confessing . . . he asked what that looks like. I told that I think it looks like prayer. I think it looks like praying to Jesus and telling him that you love him and that you want to confess with your mouth what your heart believes and that you are Lord. There was again that kind of awkward silence. I then asked Mike if he wanted to pray that…he said he did. So I told him to go ahead and pray that out loud, and I will be right here next to you (by this time we were in his driveway at home). And so at the funeral on Saturday, I shared with everyone there my eyewitness account of Mike confessing with his mouth what he believed in his heart and that was that Jesus is Lord. Because of this moment with Mike, I know that he is in Heaven.

It was good to see lots of old faces from the past. I got to hug a lot of people that I hadn’t seen in a long time, which was good.

Thanks again for your prayers and traveling with me. And if you think about it, I know the family could still use a lot more prayer. What to pray for you ask? Pray as the Spirit leads…

I hope to write of happier tales next time we talk.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

happy birthday to you...

2006-09-12T23:14:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

James asks a question in his letter found in the New Testament (the far right half). It reads, “What is your life?” Then James goes on to say, “for you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” -james 4:14

So I have read this verse in James what seems like a hundred different times, but recently I have begun to stare at it a little differently.

Do you ever go out to dinner and at some point during your meal you see what seems like all the people that work there (even your waiter, which is weird because you need more iced tea) and they gather around a table and they sing the Happy Birthday song?? Or what is even worse (in my opinion) is if it is your birthday and they sing to you. I hate that. I always feel bad for the people singing to me and also I feel really uncomfortable being sung to. But anyways that is beside the point. The song…now that is the point…there is something about the Happy Birthday song that makes me think of death. I know. It is strange. It should be a song that makes me think of life…right?

I think the reason for my abnormal thoughts about the Happy Birthday song is because I always think of movies when I hear that song. It is always those moments in the movies when they do those flashbacks of a persons life and they always show those scenes where all the friends and family are gathered around the person singing the Happy Birthday song to them. And it is always in slow motion because the director wants to capture the fun that they were having or the laughter that was being had. It is almost like they are trying to capture what things used to be like. This is normally because in the movie the person had died, or some other kind of tragedy had happened to them.

Well I was at this Mexican restaurant last week and sure enough the servers came out and they started to sing to this little girl…her name was Hailey (I hope I spelt her name right).

Happy Birthday to you…
Happy Birthday to you…
Happy Birthday dear Hailey…
Happy Birthday to you…

Watching them sing to Hailey that night made me think about the movies and then the thoughts about the movies caused me to think about what James said about our lives and how they are like a mist that appears for just a little time and then vanishes.

These words on Sunday got a little heavier…vivid…I had someone close to me commit suicide…up until Sunday I hadn’t really known anyone who had died like that. I mean I had heard of people before, but never did I know them well.

I don’t know what to say really. I guess I just never thought that suicide could be a part of what that mist is that James is talking about…or what ‘a little time and then vanishes’ entails.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

p.s. Pray for me. I have loved a lot this week so far and there is still much more love to be given…I’m tired and a little weak. thank you.

luminous nazarene

2006-09-04T16:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

I found this in an old high school physics book…

Lesson 1: Reflection and Its Importance
The Role of Light to Sight

The objects which we see can be placed into one of two categories: luminous objects and illuminated objects. Luminous objects are objects which generate their own light. Illuminated objects are objects which are capable of reflecting light to our eyes. The sun is an example of a luminous object, while the moon is an illuminated object. During the day, the nuclear reactions on the sun’s surface generate sufficient light to illuminate objects on Earth. The blue skies, the white clouds, the green grass, the colored leaves of fall, the neighbor’s house, and the car approaching the intersection are all seen as a result of light from the sun (the luminous object) reflecting off the illuminated objects and traveling to our eyes. Without the light from the luminous objects, these illuminated objects would not be seen. During the evening when the Earth has rotated to a position where the light from the sun can no longer reach our part of the Earth (due to its inability to bend around the spherical shape of the Earth), objects on Earth appear black (or at least so dark that we could say they are nearly black). In the absence of a porch light or a street light, the neighbor’s house can no longer be seen; the grass is no longer green, but rather black; the leaves on the trees are dark; and were it not for the headlights of the car, it would not be seen approaching the intersection. Without luminous objects generating light which propagates through space to illuminate non-luminous objects, those non-luminous objects cannot be seen.

Without light, there would be no sight.

None of us are light-generating objects. We are not brilliant objects (please take no offense) like the sun; rather, we are illuminated objects like the moon. We make our presence visibly known by reflecting light to the eyes of those who look our way. It is only by reflection that we, as well as most of the other objects in our physical world, can be seen. And if reflected light is so essential to sight, then the very nature of light reflection is a worthy topic of study among students of physics.

If you are a Christian and reading this I would assume you are thinking about yourself (illuminated) in comparison to Jesus (luminous)…and if you are a person who does not follow the ways of Jesus…I want to assure you that I did not find this information from a Christian Physics textbook.

I once read that Albert Einstein often referred to Jesus as Luminous Nazarene...

I quickly fell in love with this naming of Jesus.

And so with this physics description and Einstein and his portrait of Jesus illuminated in my head I came up with this photo…

The inscription on the cross reads...Luminous Nazarene in Greek.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

VMA's

2006-08-31T19:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

So I feel really embarrassed right now admitting this but I am watching the VMA’s on MTV right now with some friends…I snuck away for a bit so I could write you and tell you about how many Christians there are in the music world! I am so excited! Who knew?? K-Love is really missing out on all this talent.

All these people are winning and as they walk up to except their Moonman they point up to God and they all thank God for winning.

Anyways…just wanted to let you know that Christians are taking over MTV!

haha…talk to you soon.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

p.s. when I grow up some day I just want to be able to dance like Justin T...is that weird?

free advice

2006-08-21T18:14:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

Have you ever looked at someone on the street…in the mall...or at your favorite place to grab some tea or coffee and thought about seeking advice about some difficult decision you have to make…or how about your love life…or maybe even seeking spiritual wisdom from that person? Maybe I'm just closed minded, but I don’t think that I would be able to do that…it would just be strange. haha...could you imagine telling your girlfriend, "yeah, i'm sorry we need to break up", and when she asks why you tell her, "well, there was this guy at Dairy Queen and he told me we need to break up."

I was in New York City about a year ago and I have to say that New York was one of my favorite places to take photographs.

I remember I had seen these photographs from Central Park…what I don’t remember is where I had seen this photo on display though. Maybe it was from a movie or maybe it was at one of those venders on the side of the road in New York. Either way I loved this picture…it was of this long path and there are all these benches along the sides and it has these really tall trees that seem to make this archway that you walk under.

I really wanted to capture this scene…but I didn’t…I ended up taking this photo but to be honest I don’t really like it that much…

But I did find something that day worth taking a picture of…I kept walking up and down that long path hoping that eventually I would find a different angle or viewpoint that I liked so that I could take the picture. While walking around I noticed that there were these two guys and they were setting something up near one of the benches…I couldn’t tell what it was at first…it was odd because they opened up this fold up chair and placed it in front of them. That didn’t make any sense to me because there was no one to sit in this chair and these two guys were sitting next to each other on the bench and so I was confused and hooked. Shortly after they opened up the chair one of the guys got up and placed this sign right behind the chair. The sign read...Free Advice…it was written by hand and it was written with a black marker…the sign was nothing more than a large white folded piece of paper.

I had one of those moments where you know what your eyes are seeing…but then you don’t know what your eyes are seeing. Almost like the obvious is just too obvious.

But I watched…I was hooked…this was like real life reality TV!

At first people just walked by and looked and then they looked again…you could tell they were thinking something…if I had to guess they were thinking, “did that sign say?…yeah I think it did.” a few times I just wanted to say, “yeah, it does”, and ask them if they wanted to watch with me. But I didn’t.

After a little while this guy walked by…and then I noticed he walked by again…and then sure enough he sat down in the chair.

That is when I captured this photo…

This guy sat in that chair for at least 45 minutes…there was one point in their conversation that he even started to cry…

I know this is random but I remember I started to think about church buildings… I thought about those billboards that all churches have in front of them…you know the ones that say the churches service times or sometimes you might see Jesus Saves…well, I was thinking about those signs and I was wondering what would happen if church billboard signs read, Free Advice!

I wonder if any random people would come in and talk and maybe even cry. I think that would be pretty neat.

Next time I am in New York I want to sit on one of those benches and place a chair out and put a sign up that says…Free Advice.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

worn out

2006-08-15T23:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

Sorry it has been so long since my last letter. I have had summer school at the seminary, and so my time has been limited to reading books and writing papers. I finished school yesterday (Monday) and I was excited to write you…I was not anticipating today though and so I am sorry for the direction this letter is about to go.

I feel like if I don’t write these words down my mind will be cluttered until I give them away…

You know, I can honestly say I love the church. The church is said to be the bride of Christ…

The bride…hmmm…

I’m not married yet and so I don’t fully understand the weight of the words ‘I do’ that make a wedding ceremony so special and powerful, but what I can say with honesty and passion is that ‘I do’ love Jesus and ‘I do’ love His church.

Sometimes though I have a hard time with this love. What I have a hard time with is when the very thing I love hurts me or hurts those around me. It makes it hard for me to be vulnerable…I am not talking about Jesus…by no means…rather I am talking about the church…you know…the people…

I feel like being apart of the church is sometimes like being apart of an abusive relationship…no matter how bad it gets you don’t want to leave…sometimes you feel like you can’t leave…other times you feel like the other person will eventually change…I sound like a hopeless romantic who secretly likes that movie Sweet Home Alabama (did I just say that out loud?).

As of a couple of months ago...I will be apart of another church that is getting started…I am serving alongside a few of the people that helped serve the last church that I was apart of starting.

It’s funny…probably more of a sarcastic funny…but when everything happened with the last church I vowed never again…never again would I be apart of a church…but over time my wounds have healed…there are still some open cuts and much healing to take place…but it is days like today when I experience spiteful Christians that I am reminded of the vow I once made.

This letter has been really hard to write because I have tried to be ambiguous when to be honest I really want to share details and names...my heart is just worn out over the way Christians treat other Christians.

But you know what...I can honestly say I love the church. Days like today, however, I wonder why.

Thanks for listening my friend. I would be grateful for your prayers.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

i'm not the most clever of horses...

2006-07-30T16:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

How are you doing today? I've been thinking about you lately and I hope that you are doing well. It has been such a good day today. I went to lunch with my brother. We went to Red Robin and sat by the window and just talked for awhile. It was nice.

Today is very cloudy…which is refreshing. I think this is because I don’t get to see a lot of overcast days living in Arizona. It is normally sunny. I have seen months go by and never even see a cloud.

If you don’t mind I have a question that I have been thinking a lot about lately. It has to do with God. Do you ever feel uncomfortable with being apart of God’s movements? Do you ever feel like you’re never going to be good enough to participate? Or not as qualified as you should be to participate? I do. A lot. Sin is what gets me. I always feel like I mess up too much to do anything for God. And if I actually do get to participate I feel guilty because I mess up. Even if I really, really, want to help out I still feel like God should find someone else who doesn’t mess up as much, or someone more qualified than me. I always imagined this feeling would be like someone who suffers from low self-esteem and so no matter how many times they are told they are beautiful they still look in the mirror and see someone ugly. Maybe that isn’t the best example but it was the first thing that came to mind.

It seems like it has been just in the past couple of weeks that I have been thinking about these questions again.

It was such a good suprise though because I found a copy of this book, last week, that I had read a couple of years ago…it’s called The Magician’s Nephew, and I remembered that when I was reading this book all that time ago I was thinking about these same questions.

This book is apart of a series by C.S. Lewis called The Chronicles of Narnia. The books are amazing. I have grown to love this mans mind all the more knowing that his imagination could create such a wonder place like Narnia, and that children all over could go to this place anytime and from anywhere if they would only dream with him for awhile.

I have come to be a bit obsessed with one of the books in this series…it’s the one I found a copy of last week. This story is very important because it shows how all the comings and goings between our world and the land of Narina first began.

Some pages into this adventure you will meet a horse. His name is Strawberry. It should be known that this horse isn’t the cleverest of horses.

I want to let the author tell how this horse came to be known as Fledge.

“Aslan turned to the Horse who had been standing quietly beside them all this time, swishing his tail to keep the flies off, and listening with this head on one side as if the conversation were a little difficult to understand.

‘My dear,’ said Aslan to the Horse, ‘would you like to be a winged horse?’

You should have seen how the horse shook its mane and how its nostrils widened, and the little tap it gave the ground with one back hoof. Clearly it would very much like to be a winged horse. But it only says: ‘If you wish, Aslan—if you really mean—I don’t know why it should be me—I’m not a very clever horse.’

‘Be winged. Be the father of all flying horses,’ roared Aslan in a voice that shook the ground.

‘Your name is Fledge.’

The horse shied, just as it might have shied in the old, miserable days when it pulled a hansom. Then it roared. It strained its neck back as if there were a fly biting its shoulders and it wanted to scratch them. And then, just as the beast had burst out of the earth, there burst out from the shoulders of Fledge wings that spread and grew, larger than eagles’, larger than swans’, larger than angels’ wings in church windows. The feathers shone chestnut color and copper color. He gave a great sweep with them and leaped into the air. Twenty feet above Aslan and Digory he snorted, neighed, and curvetted. Then, after circling once round them, he dropped to the earth, all four hoofs together, looking awkward and surprised, but extremely pleased.

‘Is it good, Fledge?’ said Aslan.

‘It is very good, Aslan,’ said Fledge…

It was so bad the first time I read this part of the book. I was in the coffee shop at Barnes and Noble at Kierland and I started to tear up. I honestly got scared. I had never done that before while reading a book. I didn’t know what was happening to me. I remember I looked around to see if anyone could see that I was crying (a little). But inside I was shouting…that’s me! I’m that horse!

And so my obsession began with this book. Now every time I go to a bookstore at home or if I’m on some trip somewhere I always try and find the children’s section of that bookstore. I check and see if they have any new copies of The Magician’s Nephew. One with a cover that I don’t already have.

So far I have about 15 copies of the book. Some are from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, I got two copies from Alaska, I got one copy from Argentina, and just recently I found a new Special Read-Aloud Edition at Barnes and Noble. I honestly think I have a problem…

All because of that damn horse.

I do think from time to time that if I ever where to go to Narnia and meet up with Fledge on one of his motivational speaking tours (I’m sure that’s what he does for a living now) in all the local Narnia churches…I bet we would be pretty good friends.

Well my friend…I look forward to hearing from you soon.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

every photograph has a story

2006-07-22T18:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

I’ve been thinking a lot about pictures lately. I love to take pictures...just not of people. For some reason people clutter up the beauty in a photograph in my mind (now I do understand that there are exceptions to this thought and so I am not speaking of all photographs).

But have you ever noticed that once you take a picture life goes back to normal?

What I mean by that is there is always someone who is pulling the people together for the photograph (what does this person ever do with all those pictures anyways??) and so either by force or by their will people cram together…only to wait for the count down…1…2…(then everyone smiles)…3…and the picture is captured. And once we see the flash or the camera is moved in a downward motion the smiles on our faces tend to go away. Not because we aren’t happy but rather we are done posing. I wonder when ‘the smile’ became the norm for a picture pose. Remember those old pictures you see of people, the black and white ones, who have this straight face while they are being photographed? Those pictures are kind of scary because the whole family will be standing next to each other all crammed together and all their faces have that same straight face to them. Do you ever wonder if when the picture was done being taken they all immediately started laughing at the fact that they had to stand still for so long and not smile??

Anyways…I love photography. The nature kind...you know the one without people..

I became aware of this like 4 years ago. I was on a trip and I had my camera with me and it just so happened that the sun was calling it a day. Off into the distance there was this boat that was crossing the horizon and because the sun was behind the boat it made the boat appear to be black like a silhouette or a shadow. I remember looking around to see if anyone else could see what I was looking at (but of course not, they were all taking pictures of each other instead!) and I remember thinking how beautiful this scene looked right in front of me.

I had my camera around my neck so that if anyone were wondering who the tourist was they wouldn’t have any trouble guessing.

And so I picked up my camera and pointed it toward this silhouette riding above the ocean.

I captured it…and the rest is history…

I get really mad at myself because I lost that picture and I have no way of recovering it. But I guess not every picture is meant to be shared. Some are just left for me to remember. It’s funny because every time I think about that picture the sun gets brighter, the colors in the sky that sunset become more vibrant, and the sailboat seems to transcend water.

So I want to share my passion with you…I may not be the best…but that’s okay. I love it nevertheless. (everyphotographhasastory.blogspot.com or see links at the top of this blog)

Every photograph has a story…and stories are meant to be told…

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

I was born right the first time...

2006-06-30T18:52:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

So I’ve been driving a lot lately…well I don’t know about that…maybe I am driving the same amount but it is just so hot right now that it feels like I have been driving more than usual.

I will say though that I love to drive (just not in the summer), I love to take the long way when I am not short for time. Sometimes I will leave an hour before I have to be somewhere just so I can drive. We have this loop in Arizona…101..202..to the 51, and sometimes I just drive in a really big circle around the Valley. I love music…just not in the car. It is always a good time to think…talk out loud…pray…I’m that guy that wears that really stupid looking ear piece (for the phone) so people don’t think that I am doing what I am actually really doing…talking to myself.

I love to watch people while I am driving. I love it when you catch someone picking their nose. That is the best! No…wait…the best is actually when they see that you caught them picking their nose. That is the best!

Are you a honker? I’m really not to much of a honker. Only when I am hungry and a little cranky…then I am a honker. Bobby is a honker…he always tells me he is just helping them out. He makes me laugh! I wish there were two horns in a car. One of the left side of the steering wheel that when honked made a nice sound as to say…hey buddy, the light is green, oh and by the way I like your new hairdo. Or…Hi there buddy, just wanted to let you know that you can’t stop to talk to your friend in the middle of the parking lot, have a good 4th of July. And then I wish there was a horn on the right side of the steering wheel that when honked made a loud noise as to say…hey idiot!! Or what the heck are you doing!! Do you have a brain?? Or a right foot??

I saw something today while I was driving. And I don’t know why it bothered me so much…but it did.

I was driving up to this car right in front of me and I could see from a distance that it had a white bumper sticker on the back of it (that is another thing I love to do in the car…read other peoples bumper stickers) and so as I pasted this car the bumper sticker read…I was born right the first time.

I thought to myself…I was born right the first time?

I didn’t know what to think at first. Normally I laugh at comments like those…like when I see those fish with the little feet on the bottom of them. Or how about the bigger more powerful fish that you see sometimes that is eating the smaller fish with the little feet on the bottom (and the best part about that one is how you can see the little fish still in the mouth of the bigger fish…as to say…HA, I’m better!). That is just funny! But this one made me feel a little different…I felt like this bumper sticker wasn’t trying to show which side the person was on…but rather they were saying… Yeah, I understand what Christianity is about…but I’m good. Thanks though.

There is almost this feeling like they’ve really thought about it…

So I’ve been thinking about what I would say to this person if I had a chance…

What would you say???

Look forward to hearing from you soon.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

Holy Spirit...Part II

2006-06-19T01:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

I hope that you are doing well and that this letter finds you in a place of peace.

It feels really good to be home.

So I'm in the process of reading this book by John Calvin called The Institutes of Christian Religion. It is a great book. Please know that just because I am reading this book doesn’t mean that I am reformed now! Although I am having a really good time reading this book. It was written in 1559…so to read it is something of a treat, when you think of all its history. It is also really confusing sometimes though...

There is this one part in the book that I wanted to share with you. I read it not to long after my last letter that I had written you about the Holy Spirit. It was pretty encouraging to hear his thoughts about the Holy Spirit and its role with Scripture…

“It is essential to pay attention to the point I have already made, that we cannot rely on the doctrine of Scripture until we are absolutely convinced that god is it’s Author. Its best authentication is the character of the one whose word it is. The prophets and apostles do not boast of their own cleverness of any gifts as public speakers, nor do they lay stress on arguments. They appeal to the sacred name of God, so that the whole world may be brought into submission. Then it seems not merely probably but certain that God’s name is not lightly nor falsely assumed. So if we want to find the best answer for our consciences and prevent them from being tossed around in a whirlpool of uncertainty, from wavering and stumbling at the slightest obstacle, our conviction of the truth of Scripture must be derived from a higher source than human guesswork, opinions and arguments, namely the hidden witness of the Spirit. True, if we choose to go the way of argument, it is easy to make a case, using all sorts of evidence, that if there is a God in heaven, the Law and the Prophecies and the Gospel must have come from him. Indeed even if the wisest and cleverest of men should oppose this view, and demonstrate all their powers of genius in the discussion, unless they are brazenly arrogant, they will be forced to agree that the Scripture shows clear proof of being spoken by God, and consequently of containing his divine truth. We shall see later how the volume of sacred Scripture far surpasses all other writings. More, if we study it with clear eyes and unbiased judgment, it will immediately display such divine authority as will quell our impertinent attacks and compel us to pay homage. However it is preposterous to attempt by discussion to bring about full faith in Scripture. True, if I had to oppose the cleverest enemies of God, I believe it would not be difficult to silence their blusterings, even though I am not specially able or eloquent. Without much difficulty I could squash the boastful ideas they mutter about in corners, if anything was to be gained by answering their petty objections, But although we may defend God’s holy Word against all opponents, it does not follow that we can establish in their hearts the conviction which faith demands. Unbelievers think that religion is a matter of opinion and so demand rational proof that Moses and the prophets were divinely inspired, if they are to have sufficient ground for belief. My reply is that the testimony of the Spirit is superior to reason. As God alone can truly bear witness to his own words, so these words will not be given complete acknowledgment in the hearts of men, until they are sealed by the inner witness of the Spirit. So the same Spirit, who spoke by the mouth of the prophets, must pervade our hearts, in order to convince us that they faithfully passed on the message entrusted to them by God. This link is best expressed by Isaiah in this way: ‘My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and for ever’ (Isa. 59:21). Some sincere people feel distressed, because they cannot find clear proof ready to hand to silence the infidels who oppose the Word of God with impunity. They forget that the Spirit is called a pledge and seal to confirm the faith of the godly because until he enlightens their minds, they are tossed about on a sea of doubts.”

Well my friend it is getting late...i look forward to hearing from you soon.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

snorkeling...breathing... and sharks!

2006-06-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

So I’ve been on the beach for the past couple of days and have gotten to spend some quality time just taking in the sights and sounds that the ocean has for me. One of my favorite verses in the whole bible is the one where it talks about the ocean waves and how they roar!!

One of the things I love the most about visiting the ocean is the chance to get to snorkel. Have you ever been snorkeling before? Do you like snorkeling? I have this love hate relationship with snorkeling. I love snorkeling because I love the ocean for all its beauty, but with that I am also terrified of it.

I love to snorkel because you get to peak into this world that is so calm and quiet. It is very peaceful getting to look at all the fish that seem to be different and special in their own way.

For as long as I have loved the ocean I have been terrified of it as well! See I am scared to death (literally) of sharks! I have this fear that I will be eaten by a shark if I am in the water…so those movies like Deep Blue Sea…Open Water…Jaws…I can’t watch those! No way! Never!

But back to the question about snorkeling…do you like to snorkel???

I always love getting in the water for the first time. It takes me a good 10 minutes just to get up the nerve to walk up to the water…then another 10 just to get in…then I finally can take what could very well be my last step…dun, dun, dun…

I don’t like being one of those guys who walks up to the shore with all his snorkeling gear on…you know those guys who pick up their feet way into the air because they don’t want to trip over their man made fins. So I always wait till I get into the water to put on my flippers! Then you have to put that stuff that has water and soap in it so that your mask doesn’t fog up while you are out there. But this particular process if huge for me because at this point I can’t see if anything is swimming around me and so I race to put on my mask because I want to at least have the dignity to see the shark coming at me! So I hurriedly put on my mask and begin to check my surroundings.

Once I feel confident (I never feel fully confident out in the water) I start to make my way out to the coral reef. But do you ever notice that when you first begin to swim out to your tropical underwater destination all you seem to hear is your breathing? I always stress myself out for those first couple minutes because it sounds like I am running for my life! And so all you hear is these huge deep breaths…breathing in…breathing out…breathing in…breathing out…

And this doesn’t stop until I see the first fish of the day…then my attention changes to the beauty that is around. And I would be lying if I didn’t say that I checked behind me every once in awhile just to make sure that there weren’t any sharks lurking around behind me!

But this breathing that I could hear…it really got to me this time. It is crazy to me how the Holy Spirit causes us to remember things from the past…I have this Irish prayer on my i-pod. I listen to it a lot. This Irish man walk, with his words, through the three members of the Trinity and prays about and to each of them…it is beautiful! Sometimes I just listen…other times I pray along. But there is this one point in the prayer that reads…

Help me now to pray even without words
Help me to pray with my breathing
To breath in of your love and your peace
To breath out of my pain and sadness
To breath in of your cleaning and forgiveness
To breath out of my guilt and impurity
So that in my breathing may my body and soul be at one with you
At harmony with you
At ease with you
May I be still and know that you are God
May I be still and know that you are the Lord who brings healing
Help me to hear your still small voice Lord Jesus
May I now hear your words…peace be still.

As I was watching these fish swim all around…my breathing caught my attention…and then I remembered this prayer…

And from that breath on while I was in the water looking at God’s creativity and beauty…I prayed…even with my breathing…

I think I will remember the sound of my breathing that day for awhile.

The prayer ends with these words…

Glory be to you Father in Heaven,
Glory be to you Lord Jesus,
Glory be to you Holy Spirit,
Amen.

I miss you my friend…hope to see you soon!

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

Holy Spirit...

2006-06-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

I have been thinking about the Holy Spirit a lot. There is something about this divine helper that I am attracted to. It is crazy to me that the Holy Spirit is the only member of the trinity that lives inside me, and yet often I think that I barely know him. I mean I’m pretty sure that I have felt the Holy Spirit before. But then again it could have just been some bad take-out from Flo’s (it has happened). I know that I don’t speak in tongues and that isn’t to say that I don’t believe in it. I just never have. I always have wanted to though. It seems like it would be interesting. Or at least that is what my friends say.

But I have a question for you. Do you think that the Holy Spirit has a role with this next generation? If so, I am wondering how big?

I know it is strange, but I think about the role of the Holy Spirit in this next generation. . . or whatever you may call it: the emerging culture, younger evangelical, postmodern, or perhaps post-western would be the best description for this particular topic. Nevertheless, I think the Holy Spirit is going to have a special place.

It just seems like there has been a loss or disconnect with the Western way of finding truth and absolutes, and, in its place, there has been this rise or even this celebration of discovery that seems to have its roots in a more Eastern way of finding purpose and meaning. And I think that as a Christian this leads us to a point of change. I think that the power to this change for the Christian heart.soul.mind will be the Holy Spirit.

It is interesting because when one looks at the members of the trinity, we have God the Father, the Son in Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit…the helper. Each member being God (equally) and serving each other in fellowship through different ways, making themselves very independent but yet still one (please know that as I allow my mind to be vulnerable, I am not trying to say that any of the members of trinity are less or not as important). So we have God the Father, who seems to be the Father for a few different religions . . . Jews, Christians, and Muslims. And, thus, for conversational purposes (some call this evangelism), it seems that this may or has been in the past a confusing piece for many people who are looking for and trying to discover who this God really is. In some awkward way, this gives us a little light to the idea that all roads lead to heaven . . . but this is kind of like all roads lead to God if you are a Jew, Christian, or Muslim. I could see where this would be confusing.

Then what about Jesus? For quite some time now he has been picked apart and dissected with the hope to find some disease or fallacy in his make up as the Son of God. While he may not have been attractive in appearance (Is 53) and so our hope for him to marry a supermodel might be out of the question (unless you are a believer in Dan Brown’s book about the idea that Mary Magdalene and Jesus were wed . . . and you saw The Passion of Christ by Mel Gibson . . . both of which suggested that Mary was indeed a supermodel!). But for this past generation . . . the Josh McDowell generation if you will . . . has picked apart all the reasons why he (Jesus) is the Son of God. And this process has been systematically proven with much evidence. Because of this, we have lost a lot of this postmcdowell generation with all these answers. It gets tricky because this postmcdowell generation believes that there are no absolutes or that you cannot be absolutely sure there are any absolutes (even though absolutes may exist, they choose not to believe it). And I think that because of all this evidence and extensive research (even though some of it may be true), this postmcdowell generation has in some ways chosen to turn away from Jesus because in their minds too many Christians have all the right answers and are claiming too many absolutes regarding Jesus. This has given us the ability to not have to say, “I don’t know,” something that many Christians don’t like to say. And many people who aren’t Christians want to hear if we can say it.

But what about the Holy Spirit?

I like spiritual things. I like spiritual people. I like them because I know we are on the same journey. We both know that there is something bigger than us. I see this excitement about a lot of spiritual things and spiritual people . . . like Buddhist, Kabbalah, Yoga, witchcraft, etc. But it doesn’t seem like there is much excitement about Christianity. Why??? It does not make sense to me because I feel like Christianity has so many of the same elements as Buddhist, Kabbalah, or Yoga or even witchcraft for that matter. But what makes Christians different is that in our recent past, we have adopted a much more Western approach to life . . . to truth, whereas these spiritual ways that I have just mentioned are much more Eastern in their approach to life . . . to truth. I think this excitement is due in large because of the mystery that comes with Kabbalah, Buddhist, Yoga, and Witchcraft (to name a few). With these spiritual people there is a sense that in one’s life, you may never know it all or have it all figured out, but you will try. You will search your soul to discover peace…people like peace. They don’t have to give you all the right answers. They are in a sense kindred spirits with other people who are on the same journey. And so when they encounter a Christian who has it all figured out, who knows all the right answers, and can prove to you without a reasonable doubt that Jesus raised from the dead or that he was born of a virgin (to name a few), it rubs these spiritual people the wrong way because they know just as well as anyone else that we (Christians) can’t possibly know everything. And so they write us off and that means that they have written Jesus off...

So what about the Holy Spirit?

What if the Holy Spirit is the key to this next generation of spiritual creatures? What if the mystery of Christianity is hidden in the Holy Spirit? What if this mystery was to our advantage to show people that Christianity doesn’t have nor have to have all the answers -- that there is so much mysticism about us? That we chase down and pursue peace with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and we do this with all our strength. Doesn’t that just sound like Christianity??? It does to me…or maybe this is just the Christianity that I want to be a part of.

I think all this means that Christians have to have a better understanding of who the Holy Spirit is in our lives. What the Holy Spirit does in our lives. Christians need to be able to hear the Holy Spirit’s voice when he speaks to us. Christians need to be able to feel comfortable praying to the Holy Spirit. Christians need to be able to identify when the Holy Spirit moves (and know that it isn't just bad take-out). For most Christians (including myself), the Holy Spirit is probably the member of the trinity that Christians know the least about. This point beckons the fact that Satan is behind that somehow . . . which then makes me think that if Satan is behind it, there has to be a reason for it -- he is up to something.

But then I also think this means that we need to be able to bring the Holy Spirit to people -- to talk about things and experiences that we know and that we have had, to share the mystery that God has in our looking to find him in new ways, and to show the mysticism of our faith as we are in relationship with God. And with that will come times where we need to celebrate our relationship with God and be able to say, “I don’t know.”

I am on this journey and wanted to know if you wanted to come along?

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

p.s. sorry for the length.

I'm sorry.

2006-03-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

I had a conversation with another friend of mine today. We met for some tea and got to catch up. It was so good to see my friend but it was also very sad. He told me that he has taken a brake from Christianity and the church. I was pretty surprised considering the last couple times we had talked he was really thinking about getting into the ministry full time. My friend is very intelligent. He thinks very well for his age. He is only 17.

His decision to take a brake from Christianity and the church was due to the fact that he didn’t feel like Jesus loved him. His reasoning was due in large to his sexual choice. My friend is gay.

When I asked him what has changed since the last time we had talked (and by the way he was gay the last time we talked, he has been gay for as long as he can remember). He thought that it would be better for him to walk away than to remain a Christian who was gay. He thought it very hypocritical (hence the whole feeling that Jesus doesn’t love him, or better yet how can Jesus love him, or so he thought). He also said there was a point when he finally said to himself that he could not think of any good reasons anymore why he shouldn’t or couldn’t be in a relationship…or why he shouldn’t be able to get married. It is so fascinating to me that he thinks this because he could also tell you all the scriptures that say that being homosexual is wrong according to the bible. It was these feelings that caused him to walk away and remove himself from Christianity and the church because certainly there was no room for someone who thought like this. Right? He even said at one point that he liked Jesus, just not the church.

I was so sad to hear him talk about not feeling like Jesus loved him anymore. This was difficult because normally a Christian would explain some different verses or passages in the bible, but because of his background in the church he knew all the right verses and passages. With both of these ideas it was interesting because homosexuality and the lack of feeling love from God are both themes to which if you hang around the church long enough you learn the right verses to these problems. Almost like a prescription that a doctor would give you for a cold or a sickness. For instance,

Person: I am really struggling with my desires for people of the same sex.
Christian: Well, in Romans chapter one verses twenty-six through twenty-seven says…

Person: I don’t really feel like Jesus loves me…I don’t know why, I just feel it.
Christian: Well, have you ever read Psalm 139? Well let me read it to you then…see (persons name) God loves you this much.

This just goes to show that we need to do more than prescribe verses or passages as Christians. When dealing with Supernatural questions, prescriptions don’t always work. We need to explain through the way we live, and love, and use the bible verses as evidence to why we love that way. Or why we live a certain way.

I think that the reason why my friend does not want to go to church or be apart of Christianity right now is because he honestly does not feel any love from Christ. I really believe this. I also think that the reason why he doesn’t feel any love from Jesus is because he doesn’t interact with anyone in the church that loves him like Jesus. Don’t you see? My friend is not interacting with any Christ-like humans. And so he naturally is left only to think that Jesus doesn’t love him anymore. This is not true. Jesus does love him. A lot.

At this point all I could think of while listening to my friend was…I’m sorry.

I’m so sorry (I don’t think that Christians say sorry enough).

To be completely honest, I hate be a Christian sometimes. It is these moments when being a Christian does not bring any hope to anyone, but rather it just brings pain. Out of all the different places that my friend can spend time and feel loved I would have hoped it would have been around his church. Not the building church. The people church. Dang it! He should have felt comfortable in his own skin. Even if it is gay skin. It makes me so sad, and mad, that I have a friend who is gay and he doesn’t want to go to church anymore because he doesn’t feel like people love him. That to me is unacceptable.

We (the church) need to make a decision. We need to decide if we are going to love gay people or not (not just my friend, I know my friend is not the only gay person in the world). This way there is no confusion. We can send out the largest mass e-mail ever and let people know. Because as of right now people are assuming that we have chosen to love them. I am not asking for Christians to condone homosexuality…love has nothing to do with condoning. It has everything to do with the unconditional moments in life. At this moment being gay is very real.

The disciple whom Jesus loved once said something about things to which Jesus did that are not written down. He even said that if all of them would have been written down the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Part of me wonders if one of those things that Jesus did that were not written down was interact with and love a homosexual. I wonder how we would treat gay people then?

It is just frustrating. I know that my friend is not the only one.

My favorite apostle is John. He is the Disciple whom Jesus loved. By most accounts he died around a.d. 98, it was during the reign of Emperor Trajan. Jerome says in his commentary on Galatians that the aged apostle was so frail in his final days at Ephesus that he had to be carried into the church. One phrase was constantly on his lips: “My little children, love one another.” Asked why he always said this, he replied, “It is the Lord’s command, and if this alone be done, it is enough.”

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

Battle of the bands...

2006-03-22T00:59:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

So I was at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf just yesterday. I was drinking one of my favorite teas there just relaxing. I was sitting in my usual seat right by the door. There is this table that seats 4 people but I always take it anyways even if it is just me. I like the extra room. I sit in the same chair every time. This is mainly because it is right by the plug-in so that I can charge my PowerBook.

It was a great day for tea yesterday…it was raining. I love rainy days. They are so special. They completely change the mood of everything and everyone (I wonder sometimes if a rainy day to us is like a Sunny day to people who live in Seattle?).

I got to thinking yesterday about my past. I don’t know about you, but one thing rainy days do for me is cause me to think about my past. Maybe cause it doesn’t rain very often and so I naturally think about what I was doing the last time it rained and that just starts the little mice in my head running on their little silver wheels of remembrance. I thought back to this lunch I had with a few guys and we were talking about the church. The church we were discussing was new…I would even call it refreshing. There were a few of us sitting around this table and the topic of experience came up. It was brought up that the church that I have grown to love puts to much emphasis on ‘the experience’ and not enough emphasis on the bible. He was referring to a couple of different churches but one of them that he referred to was Flood the Desert. This was a church that I co-founded in the Valley almost 2 years ago and so since I didn’t feel comfortable commenting on the other churches that he had mentioned I did however welcome the open discussion about Flood…and this ‘experience’ that he spoke of. He mostly referred to the worship services (which by the way he had never been to one) and more specifically the prayer station, and the inclusion of art during our services, and the major emphasis on the band and music.

So he asked if I thought that there was too much attention placed on these various things?

(I should probably mention that our conversation was great…very open…and loving. There was not any arguing, or loud talk. Just healthy discussion)

My answer was no. I didn’t think so at all. I began to name some churches. Actually as many as I could think of. And I not only named the church but also the senior pastors at those churches. I began to name the books that they had written, or the sermons that you could get online. I then began to name some local churches…really big ones and their senior pastors as well.

I told my friend…those guys (senior pastors) are damn good guitar players if you ask me…

I said this because a lot of people say that the type of church I love places to much emphasis on the experience. One of those experiences being the band. And I wanted to make sure that my friend understood that while his church and all the churches that I named might not of had as great of a band as Flood, they still place just as much emphasis on ‘the experience’, theirs just came in the form of a senior pastor.

So while it can be said that the emerging church places to much on the band or the experience, I however think that you could say that the modern church places to much emphasis on their Senior Pastor. Either way you look at it we both have great guitar players, just one has a instrument and the other has a pulpit.

Anyways…I love tea and rainy days. Don’t you?

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

lets go sailing...

2006-03-14T23:50:00.000-07:00

This is weird...

2006-03-13T23:37:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but I am kind of nervous. This whole blogg idea has been calling my name but for some reason I have been a chicken. There is some idea or thought about posting my thoughts for anyone to see that is just strange to me. Heck, I don't even know if this white box will even post anything. I could easily be writing to myself right now. But I figure since we are about to start a blogging relationship I should introduce myself. Hi! My name is kyle. For a glimpse of my long past...I am a native to Arizona (which by the way it snowed). I used to pastor this church that I co-founded. It is called Flood the Desert. Now I am working on my masters at Phoenix Seminary. I like to take pictures...of nature that is...not people, so don't ask me to take family pictures. I tend to read a lot. I read a lot about peoples opinions about church, or culture (especially the Jewish culture), I also read a lot about the Christian life and how people think it should be lived. I really like the ocean...okay I am bored...and I am beginning to feel like I am posting my profile on some dating site...

I hope that you have a great night.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts