mattisonwilkerson's Xanga

The River of God

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 05:36:33 GMT

Here is a post I just put up on our LifeInQuip blog:

On July 5, 2007 a disastrous storm formed over Aliquippa and inundated the city. I remember the rain starting that day -- I ran out around noon to do a few errands, and noticed that the rainfall was unusually heavy. By the time I returned to my apartment and parked my car on Franklin Ave., the water on the street was up to my ankle. I didn't think much of it, and I went up to my place on the third story to wait until work that afternoon. But around 2:00PM I looked out my bedroom window and saw the peculiar sight that had come to be. The picnic table in the lot adjacent to my building was nearly covered by a murky stream of water. Half an hour later I was out on the street investigating what exactly had taken place, and I was shocked by what I saw (you can see the pictures I took that afternoon here). Much of the water had subsided, but what was left was a genuine disaster area, covered in mud and debris, and now people lined the street to look on in disbelief.

Basically what happened was an inordinate amount of rain had fallen in an inordinately short amount of time, completely overwhelming the sewage system that runs beneath Franklin Ave. Once the sewers were filled, the water had no place to go but up, eventually rising as high as four feet above the street level. Witnesses who watched it all unfold said that it was "like there was a river down Franklin Avenue." As you can imagine, this river caused excessive damaged. For one, I found a muddy mess in my Explorer, and later realized the thing had been totalled from the water damage in the engine. Other cars had literally floated down the street, coming to rest against trees or buildings or other cars. Every single business along Franklin Ave. suffered water damage that had them closed for days (if not weeks, or permanently). Likewise, and perhaps most tragically, dozens of homes were severely damaged, many of which remain in unfit condition.

What a picture, this calamitous river rushing down Franklin Avenue, taking out homes and businesses and cars, destroying the things that people had worked so hard for. As I reflected on these things in the months following the flood, I was reminded of a story of an altogether different kind of river.

A few years ago, Joe Peabody, a good friend and brilliant pastor/teacher/follower of Christ, was beginning a church plant north of Atlanta. He decided to name the church The Water's Edge, which was taken from a beautiful passage in the book of Ezekiel. This book is an extended vision in which the prophet is shown many fantastic wonders, far beyond what he can understand. The angel who serves as Ezekiel's guide finally leads him to a celestial city where a new temple had been erected, a holy place where God's glory and presence were palpable. Then in chapter 47 something remarkable takes place: as Ezekiel beholds the temple he sees water coming from the altar, spilling over the threshold and flowing toward the east. At first the water is only a small ankle-deep stream. But as it flows on, Ezekiel discovers the water becomes knee-deep, then waist-deep, then deep enough to swim in; but it is a river that no one could ever cross. Now read how Ezekiel describes the salubrious power of this river:

"When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, 'This water flows toward the eastern region... When it empties into the sea, the water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows... where the river flows, everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore... the fish will be of many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea... Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.'"

And there you see what Joe had in mind -- the church should be a place of life, a place of healing, a place of plenty, a place of transformation, just as Ezekiel had seen there at the water's edge. Indeed, this passage paints a splendid picture of what happens when God's Holy Spirit flows into the world and brings God's Kingdom.

Now the juxtaposition becomes clear. In this broken physical world, we saw a river down the middle of our city bringing destruction and ruin. But there is a greater spiritual reality taking place: the river of God's living water that ignites change, restores what is broken, brings healing, and ultimately imparts new life to all that it touches. This is my vision of Aliquippa. When you look closely -- not with physical eyes, but with the discerning eyes of the Spirit -- you see that this is the river supplying life to all who come to it in this town.

Here in Aliquippa I attend Cresmont Church, which, as the name implies, sits high atop a hill overlooking the city. It is not difficult to imagine a stream flowing from the santcuary of the church at its lofty perch and winding down to become a river flowing down Franklin Avenue. As neat an idea as this is, it is surely wrong. God no longer makes his dwelling in temples or structures made by man; rather he abides in the hearts of his people. What does this mean? It means that if the river of God is going to flow down Franklin Avenue, then God's people must be on Franklin Avenue. And it works the same everywhere else, as well. We know that the places that most need God's healing, provision, and life are the places that are most broken, most destitute, most dead. So how have believers become so comfortable sitting in temples? God is calling his people to go in the boldness of his Spirit and proclaim his Kingdom wherever darkness currently reigns, to send his river gushing into the salty sea to bring the freshness of life.

I encourage you, next time you see a scene of destruction and despair, let God's river flow from the altar of your heart to bring his Kingdom. And pray for the day when all the world will come to the water's edge to find redemption and new life.

Something New

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:52:19 GMT

A while back some friends and I had an idea to start a group blog about living, working, and ministering in Aliquippa. It's such a special place, and we want to share some of the experiences we've had (and continue to have) here.

We've got the site up and going, but it doesn't look very impressive, and we haven't actually started writing on it yet. But keep your eyes peeled. We hope to really get things off the ground soon. The address is: lifeinquip.wordpress.com.

I'm Coming Home

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 11:31:44 GMT

But I'm still a long way off.

HAPPY 2008!

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 15:06:04 GMT

Snow

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:49:21 GMT

snow. snow. snow. snow. snow. snow. snow. snow. snow. snow. snow,

and snow.

Back with a vengeance.

Thoughts by Andy O

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 01:32:35 GMT

Andrew Osenga is one of my all-time favorite musical artists. But he also has a blog that is one of my all-time favorite websites. Everything he does is just very thought-provoking. He wrote a post on his blog today that really resonated with me, and fits in well with what I've been thinking lately on the political/governmental/societal front. So, all that to say you really need to READ THIS. And, you should become a frequenter of his blog too: http://www.andrewosenga.com/blog/

Oh yeah, and I bought a guitar pedal from Andy the other day. It's pretty wild to buy gear (at a more-than reasonable price) from someone you consider a legend.

On Politics, etc.

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 00:46:31 GMT

Well, it's been quite some time since I've actually written anything thoughtful, and even longer since I've posted such a thing here. Time to remedy the situation. All the right factors came together today, and I was inspired (more or less) by an email I received. Someone I know and love dearly forwarded an email that got me thinking, so I responded (lashed out?). I'm not out to point fingers or hurt feelings, or anything of that nature, but (as I say below) I do think it's important for us to dialog and work through the issues brought up here. So please feel free to comment on what you see. Give your own opinion. Tell me I've got the whole thing backwards. Just be civil, please. In fact, I was pretty much in full-on rant mode when I wrote my response, so I may end up recanting some of my own remarks. Who knows. Without further adieu:

The original forward:

This picture is definitely worth 1000 words! God save us!!!

Respect

Senator Barack Obama, Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Hillary Clinton and Ruth Harkin stand during the national anthem.

Barack Hussein Obama's photo (that's his real name)......the article said he REFUSED TO NOT ONLY PUT HIS HAND ON HIS HEART DURING THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, BUT REFUSED TO SAY THE PLEDGE.....need we say more????

------ End of Forwarded Message

My response:

Dear (Name withheld to protect the innocent [btw, I did get this person's permission to post this]),

Did you get a commission for sending that last email? I cannot believe you are passing on mindless propaganda. Read the first line: "Senator Barack Obama, Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Hillary Clinton and Ruth Harkin stand during the national anthem. "

Now read the second line: "Barack Hussein Obama's photo (that's his real name)......the article said he REFUSED TO NOT ONLY PUT HIS HAND ON HIS HEART DURING THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, BUT REFUSED TO SAY THE PLEDGE.....need we say more????"

Notice the discrepancy? I get Time magazine, and I got the issue this photo came from, and it turns out the first line is correct and the second line is false -- this is a picture taken during the national anthem, not the pledge of allegiance. And spectators at this event say that Obama did in fact have his hand over his heart as he recited the pledge of allegiance, as well as during the majority of the national anthem, but this photo happens to have been shot just after he put his hand down. How can people believe that a man running for the presidency of the United States of America would actually refuse to put his hand over his heart and recite the pledge? And the forced implication that his name (Barack Hussein Obama) should be associated with Islam/terrorism is not only racist, it's just plain dumb. I hate it when people resort to stupid scare tactics instead of making any attempt to deal honestly with issues or people they may not agree with. I think that's the matter here -- Christians should have a special concern for honesty in their dialogue; we should avoid the temptation of propagating unfounded and irrational half-truths. One thing I do not miss about the South is the band-wagon mentality that is inordinately strong. Another thing is the absolutely absurd notion that the Republican Party gives a crap about the Kingdom of God. Taken together, these two constitute a serious effacement to truth. Why can't people think through issues for themselves? Who said Christians can only vote for Republicans (it certainly wasn't Jesus)? Don't get me wrong, Democrats don't care one single bit more than Republicans about God's Kingdom. But that just brings me back to the same point -- we can't just take the easy road and mindlessly endorse a single party, just like we can't mindlessly (and erroneously) harp on a person's character.

That's all. Hope that doesn't sound angry, because it's not. It just hit me in the right spot and got me going.

Matt

Then the sender of the email replied with this (again, heavily edited to protect the innocent):

... Point taken.... No, it's not a democrat or republican issue. Voting based on someone’s stand on the abortion issue is the only REMOTELY close way to get a serious Christian with a spine in office. I’m not too keen on any of the main Republican candidates either...

To which I responded:

I agree, except voting on someone's stance on abortion isn't even a realistic indicator any more. We've had a Republican president for nearly eight years now, we had a Republican congress for six of those years, and every single one of those elections was won because of this idea that Republicans supported family values, the foremost of which being the pro-life position. What does pro-life even mean? If we're talking about abortion, why the heck didn't the Republicans push through a bill to stop abortion? It was the greatest opportunity since Roe v. Wade for the tides to be turned, but the opportunity was squandered. Why? Because Republicans just wanted our votes and our money. Karl Rove realized what a sleeping giant the evangelical demographic was, and he knew just the right words to say to get us to act. So we gave him our votes and... nothing happened. Nothing at all. The only real progress made on the abortion front was the partial-birth law that was overturned in the last session of the Supreme Court and the law in South Dakota that struck down abortion a year or so ago (but this law was promptly overturned). Not impressive. We were sold a bill of goods. The Republicans had the political power to do much, much more for the pro-life cause, but they already had what they wanted, and though probably 95% of Republicans took a pro-life stance in theory, very few were actually willing to pursue legislation in that vein. But again I say, What does pro-life mean? Surely there is more to the term than just the right of the unborn to be born. Shouldn't there be something in there about respecting humanity, in lieu of the imago dei found in each living person? Treating people with dignity in a humane fashion? Umm. Apparently not. No, we find it much easier to treat people as a means to an end -- as in torture them ruthlessly and keep them in inhumane conditions until they spew some sort of information that we want (information that usually turns out to be false). Or we start a war that is dubious in premise, illegal in mode, corrupt in association, and increasingly draining to the economy (all of which flies in the face of sound advice offered at the outset by respected Christian anthropologists like Dudley Woodberry [he spoke at Toccoa and said that he and many others were called in to advise the President on the prospect of invading Iraq; their advice was spurned, but they basically told him exactly what has ended up happening in Iraq]). When I say "we" here I'm referring to Republicans, of course. But do you see what I'm saying? For all this pro-life talk, it would seem all we really care about is unborn babies, who are certainly worthy of our advocacy, but who only represent the tip of the iceberg. What about the men, women, and children of the countries we invade? What about our enemies who are being brutalized far beyond what is just? (As Christians, we have a mandate to love these people). Why do Christians unblinkingly give their patronage to a party that carries on like this? Why are Christians making Barack Obama out to be the antichrist? As far as I'm concerned, the only way Barack Obama WON'T get my vote is if the Republicans can find a way to give Ron Paul the nomination, and at that point I would still have a lot of deliberating to do.

Anyway, you can obviously see some of my disillusinment with the Republican party. Like I say, I'm not sold on either party, nor do I want to be. I just want to be sure I think through these issues. Maybe I'll start my own party some day.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 05:40:32 GMT

You could call it my first foray into journalism.

Print:
http://www.timesonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18948470&BRD=2305&PAG=461&dept_id=478569&rfi=6

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-i1-fZ_45k

An Incident

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 17:47:20 GMT

There I was in Subway, enjoying my Italian BMT at about 1:20 this afternoon, when this old lady came in. And by came in I mean drove her car through the building. I am not even joking. Luckily, my camera was in tow and I snapped away some photos for all you people out there. It was a rather insane experience. I was just sitting there and then the crash came out of nowhere -- I thought it was surely Armageddon. Glass busting everywhere, the lady's engine still roaring. Thankfully, no one was injured (I was the only customer in the store at this point).

Anyway, I have to go to work now, but I will leave the pictures uploading as I go... enjoy! http://picasaweb.google.com/mattisonwilkerson