joshmorton.com

I’ve been watching Photoshop TV, a weekly video podcast by the NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals). It’s great for anyone wanting to get started with Photoshop or improve their Photoshopping. So since I’ve been learning a lot of wicked-sweet things to do, I’ve been starting to apply them artistically to some of my photos. I’ll post some from time to time, and you can tell me if you like them or not (I haven’t decided yet if I like this one). Click on the image to see a before and after side-by-side.

All in all it took about 35 unique ‘layers’ to create this picture. Next time, I’ll save the project at each step along the way and give you an inside look at how much detail there is in creating a picture like this.

I’ve been wanting to take this website to a more academic level, something that still meets my goal of inspiring thought in those of you who read this, but also meets my newer desire to write things worthy of being read. I have nothing against writing just for the heck of it–the blog revolution is a great thing if for no other reason than it became an unconscious revival in writing. But I find myself continually more and more conscious of the number of times the word “I” appears in my writing, and personally I’d like that number to dwindle. So to begin my journey towards more meaningful writing, I’m going to spend some time writing about historic worship documents. It could be nothing more than a vain attempt to disprove the perceived futility of my degree, but I like to think of it more as a way to introduce some important history to those of you who didn’t get a chance to spend hours reading old, boring documents in school.

Obviously, the fact that I studied them in school says they’re not quite as boring to me as many people might find them. Actually, they’re filled with great insight that is usually quite pertinent to the things we’re wrestling with in the present church, and when it comes to the direction of the church, we can usually get a pretty accurate heading by looking in the past and following a similar path. History in general is a really great thing, because it is a key that unlocks the understanding both of ourselves and to some degree our future. In the church, we rely heavily on history in the formation of our doctrinal beliefs. Not that history is itself a source of truth, but more that it is a ‘lens’ in which we can interpret the Bible more accurately. John Wesley is regarded as the author of The Wesleyan Quadrilateral, in which he lists Scripture as the basis of all we believe, and then lists tradition (history), experience, and reason as the different methods we use to help refine our Biblical interpretations and the corresponding doctrinal beliefs derived from those interpretations (more on interpreting the Bible in a future post… remind me). All that to say I believe it is important that not only clergy, but all Christians should have at least some basic knowledge of historical worship documents and their role in our methods of worship and doctrinal beliefs.

To begin this series, I’d like to start with what is unquestionably the most influential worship document of the 20th Century, The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, more commonly referred to as Vatican II. Vatican II was a Vatican council convened under Pope John XXIII in 1963 and eventually promulgated under Pope Paul VI in 1964. This document signified huge steps forward in the thinking of the Roman Catholic church, and in many ways has had vast effects on protestant worship as well, reaching across both denominational and doctrinal lines to help push modern worship into a more effective role which celebrates Christ as the head of the church, promotes active participation in the liturgy, and helped to reinforce the priesthood of all believers. Without question the single biggest change this document brought about was the conversion of mass from Latin to the common vernacular. No longer were priests forced to perform liturgy in Latin, but in fact they were directed to perform these functions in the vernacular so that all could understand the meaning and purpose behind the mass.

You can read the Vatican II document here. It’s lengthy, and for everyone’s sanity I’ve broken the document up into multiple articles. For today, Let’s look at the Introduction and Chapters I and II. Basically I’ll be going through the document point by point in a Eugene Peterson style, extrapolating the central truths in each point and rewriting them in shorter, to-the-point explanations. I’ve added personal comments in parenthesis.
Introduction

1. We need to reform our worship to add “vigor to the Christian life of the faithful” and adapt our worship practices to make them relevant to today’s culture.
2. The liturgy (Keep in mind all churches have a liturgy. In your church you might call it the order of service, but we all have one. Some are just much more formulated than others.) is a means for believers to express the mystery of Christ in their lives. It reminds us of the mystery of Christ, daily builds the believer in their relationship with Christ, and yet also manages to strengthen their power to preach Christ.
3. What we say in this document you should do in your church. Some of it will even apply to protestant churches, but we don’t write rules for them, they just may happen to apply.
4. We’re not trying to obliterate 2,000 years of history with this document. We just think in some cases we need to do things a little differently.

Chapter I - General Principles for the Reform

5. Jesus Christ was sent by God and anointed by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel to the poor, heal the contrite of heart, and become the mediator between God and mankind. He was both fully human and fully divine, lived a perfect, sinless life, died to destroy our death and rose again to restore our life.
6. Christ sent the apostles to do his work after him, namely proclaiming that Christ’s death and resurrection has freed us from Satan’s grip. The faithful are adopted into the family of God, and become “true adorers whom the Father seeks”. The faithful meet together to proclaim the paschal mystery (Christ’s death and resurrection) through eucharist, read the Scriptures, and “give thanks to God for his inexpressible gift in Christ Jesus, in praise of his glory, through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
7. Christ is always present in the church, particularly in its liturgical celebrations. (Here comes the Roman Catholic part–remember they believe in transubstantiation.) Christ is present in, and in fact becomes the elements of the sacraments. Specifically, the cup and bread actually become Christ’s body and blood; also when a priest baptizes someone it is actually Christ who baptizes them. He is also present whenever the church prays and sings. The recipients of these sacraments are made holy because Christ has become the sacraments which are partaken. Because we believe this, the liturgy is therefore an exercise of the priestly office of Christ, and is a sacred action surpassing all others.
8. The earthly liturgy is a taste of the liturgy that is to come in the next life.
9. The liturgy is not the only action of the church. Evangelism is also a vital part of what the church does.
10. That being said, the liturgy is still the “summit” of activity in the church and the fount from which the church’s power flows. It’s purpose is to build the believers up in their faith, and “to be one in holiness”. Therefore, from the liturgy, and especially the eucharist, grace is poured out as from a fountain, and is the source of the most effective way to human sanctification.
11. In order for that to happen, however, the faithful must come in correct attitudes, and the pastors must realize and ensure that people participate actively and are fully aware of the reasons they do things within the liturgy.
12. The liturgy is not the only component of the spiritual life, however. The faithful must also pray, both corporately and individually, and must daily take up their cross and follow Christ.
13. We think it’s also important to emphasize personal devotions of the believer, so long as these devotions are in harmony with the teachings and doctrine of the church. It’s especially great if the devotions correlate to what we’re doing and learning in church.

Chapter II - Promotion of Liturgical Instruction and Active Participation

14. The liturgy only truly reaches its power when those involved are actively participating in what they’re doing. Above all else, this is the desire of this reform. It should be the goal of all pastors to facilitate this active participation in the liturgy. In order for that to happen, however, the pastors themselves must first be “thoroughly imbued with the spirit and power of the liturgy and make themselves its teachers.”
15. Professors must also be thoroughly trained for their work in instructing on the liturgy.
16. Liturgy will be one of the primary courses of study in seminaries and religious academic institutions. It should be taught from the theological, historical, spiritual, pastoral, and canonical aspects (Wesleyan quadrilateral, anyone?). Also, those teaching other subjects should strive to relate their subject to this learning as much and often as possible.
17. Those working and studying in seminaries will be given a liturgical formation in their spiritual life. They will understand and practice these liturgies, as well as devotions pertaining to them, so that seminaries will be “thoroughly permeated by the spirit of the liturgy.”
18. Priests should seek as much understanding of the liturgy as possible, so they may share that understanding with the faithful.
19. Pastors must zealously and patiently instruct the faithful on the meaning of the liturgy and the active participation within it. However, not everyone is the same–they should take into account age, condition, way of life, and stage of religious development when instructing on the liturgy.
20. Radio and tv broadcasts must be marked by discretion and dignity, especially when the Mass is broadcast. The Vatican will appoint a specific overseer to help ensure this.

It’s not perfect, but not too bad for Catholics, huh? I’ll let you in on a secret: their doctrine is a lot better than protestants give them credit for! Part II to follow…

Don’t remember if I’ve said it before on the website, so I’ll reiterate. In the words of a family member of mine, Pat Robertson is an ass.

I couldn’t have said it any better myself. Check it: Pat Robertson

For those of you that follow the sports world, or even just listen to the sports segment during a newscast, it’s no news to you that Bob Knight is now officially the winningest basketball coach in NCAA D1 history. 880 wins netted him that title, complete with all the rights and privileges thereto. Now, I don’t particularly claim to follow basketball at all. I’m terrible at the sport, I don’t really understand the rules, let alone the strategy of the game, and just hearing about the happenings in the NBA is enough to rule out any chance I ever had at being a basketball fan. Admittedly, I feel bad that I don’t really dig basketball all that much. One of the things my dad always made sure I had growing up was a basketball hoop. He built one when we lived in Crawfordsville (IN) when I was just 6 or so. In Milford (OH) he bought the nicest one I ever owned. It quickly became not the nicest because it was nice enough all the neighborhood kids decided to play on it and ultimately break it, but it started out really nice. When we moved to Marion we got the portable kind and set it up on the street, but by then my love of baseball and wishing we had a football team had taken over any desire to shoot the rock. And in the effort of full disclosure, I should probably say that even in Milford on the nice hoop, I spent far more time throwing footballs into the basket than I did basketballs, so I guess it’s just my destiny.

Having established that basketball is not really my favorite sport, you can draw the fairly accurate conclusion that I don’t really care that much who the best college basketball coach is. If I had my choice, I’d pick Coach K because I think he’s a great guy (and I think ultimately he will break Knight’s record, but that’s off the topic). But I don’t have my choice, and instead I am faced with reconciling the fact that Bob Knight, the epitome of poor anger management, the thrower of chairs, and the strangler of necks is the best coach ever. At least sort of.
The other day I was listening to Mike and Mike in the Morning, a morning sports talk show on ESPN radio, and one of the many podcasts I “subscribe” to. As they were talking about Bob Knight and the controversial figure he is, someone pointed out that yes, he’s thrown chairs at people and strangled players and even hit police officers, but he’s never been involved in any doping or cheating scandals. He’s committed countless criminal acts in his tenure as a coach, but none of his teams have ever cheated their way to winning. And because of that, everything is okay.

.     (Additional period to emphasize the pause)

What strikes me about this whole thing is how eerily familiar it is to stories you hear floating out of churches on any given Sunday. All sorts of sinful things slide right on by a church community. It seems almost every pastor is too worried about making everyone happy and keeping their 85% “yes” votes to ever call out sin, and certainly it’s no one else’s job–I mean, that’s not kosher to tell someone you know what they’re doing and they know what they’re doing is wrong! As long as it’s not one of the big sins like adultery, homosexuality, or murder, then everyone’s fine. We put up with people throwing chairs and strangling players because hey, the team never cheats.

One of the reasons, among many, that I’m such a fan of Rob Bell is the fact the he speaks straight talk to his church. Now granted it’s a lot easier to do that to 12,000 people because you’re not singling out anyone in a crowd, but still, I love the fact he’s willing to do it. I’ve heard him say the word “unacceptable” several times while he’s speaking on stage. He holds his congregation accountable for their actions.

Call me strange, but I like to be held accountable for my actions. I wouldn’t always say that if you asked me, because for a while it’s nice to get away with whatever you want. But before long, I get tired of just doing things my way, and as much as it sucks to be called out on things, I like the Josh Morton who’s held accountable for the things he’s doing. He works harder, speaks more honestly, is conscious about where he’s looking, what he’s thinking, and what he’s saying, concentrates harder on loving people, and sleeps better at the end of the day. I believe very firmly that part of what the Holy Spirit does in our lives is just that. He holds us accountable. But I also believe that the Spirit uses other people in our lives to do that as well. Parents. Mentors. Close friends. Coaches. And pastors.

In the end, the only thing that will remain with the basketball world is the number of wins and losses in Bob Knight’s record. Yes, those of us old enough to picture that red chair flying across the court will always remember it. But in time, his legacy will narrow down to a simple statistic. Two numbers: one before the dash and one after. But our lives are the complete opposite. None of us will carry a win-loss record with us through our lives. Sure, others may try to remember them for us; there will likely always be the perception of who’s a good Christian, who’s not and who’s a .500 Christian. But our legacy doesn’t narrow down to two simple numbers. Our legacy is recorded game by game, point by point. The issue is not whether or not we were cheaters. Because in life, chair throwing is just the same as cheating. And it’s not how you finish in the end, it’s how you get there that counts.