Rev. Dr. Daniel C. Wilburn

“I failed at baking bread” and the via negativa

Posted by Rev. Dr. Daniel C. Wilburn | Dec 14, 2015 | An Unbidden Life, Uncategorized |

I suggested the church bake bread for the third week of Advent, the JOY week because food brings such joy. But many failed to bake bread. If you wanted bread for Sunday dinner or even for 7:00pm for an Advent candlelighting, then you really need to get the bread going by halftime, noon Chiefs game. Personally, I fell asleep when I got home from church and when I woke up it was past halftime. I scrambled in between plays to make bread (luckily the Chiefs played poor and had lots of penalties – so more time). I got the first loaf of focaccia out of the oven at 5:53pm. Others were not so lucky. One person failed to get their bread to rise – ever. Another bailed out and just did PopnFresh crescent rolls. Another baked bread but it came out well after 7pm. Many others just said ‘no way.’ They must have baked bread before and knew better. Still others produced great loaves of bread and everyone ate them with delight. Baking bread takes a lot of time. That’s why it is a spiritual discipline. For centuries humans have baked bread. It is a constant human life-rhythm. Jesus said he is the bread of life (Jn 6:35). The Lord’s Table (communion) uses bread and drink as symbol and presence of Jesus’ presence in our lives. Jesus is as...

A Smart Church

Posted by Rev. Dr. Daniel C. Wilburn | Dec 2, 2015 | An Unbidden Life, Uncategorized |

One of my lesser stated goals for our church is for the church to be smart, educated, and intelligent. Given the general attitude that evangelicals are stupid and dogmatic, the church today has an uphill battle affecting culture. This is the church’s failure, not the media. The media reports on a hateful church (“God hates homosexuals,” etc.) and the public generalizes. We can’t do much about evangelical’s unpopular image. I not sure public opinion should drive the church’s agenda, even with Jesus’ words, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35). By “smart church” I mean a church that knows the Bible – its history, doctrine, tradition over time, and the Bible’s use for life and mission. Smart church knows the fuller breadth of the entire church’s history. We know something about the first church, the monastic age, the Orthodox era, the western Catholic time, the Reformation, and the American experience of the 19th and 20th centuries. Smart church means each full participant in the church reads at least one spiritual book a year (or listens to a book). By smart church I mean a church that limits its viewing and listening of national news media, to keep from being driven by fear and entitlement rather than the words of Jesus. By smart church I mean a church...

Mindfulness and the Evangelical Mind

Posted by Rev. Dr. Daniel C. Wilburn | Oct 31, 2015 | An Unbidden Life, Uncategorized |

I just picked up a book on Sabbath that has a chapter on mindfulness (Sabbath, Wayne Muller, 2000). Mindfulness, along with a bevy of other hot buzzy topics (narcissism, EMDR, trauma, psychodynamic, acedia…) is current. Laurie and I looked at attending a continuing education class at Standford and one of the courses offered was Mindfulness. My counselor referred me to a book on trauma and one of the healing therapies is Mindfulness. Christians are calling for mindfulness toward God. It is a way of being attentive to God, a listening posture. If you look up mindful on Wikipedia it will show that secular mindfulness has its basis in Buddhism, or at least borrows concepts from Buddhism. It sounds like a sub-part of Buddhist meditation. Some evangelical Christians are immediately put off by anything that suggests Buddhism, lumping it in with New Age self help. This is a good thing to be aware of. Any type of spirituality that makes the individual the center and end of attention isn’t Christian. Christian spirituality is ultimately about others, because we are the embodied Gospel. Anthony the Great, (3rd/4th c) the father of the Egyptian desert fathers who lived the hermit ascetic life, did not believe his spirituality was simply about personal piety. After the first 20 years in the desert he went back in to the city and was “fully present” to...

The Economist Asks “Is The Pope Liberal?” – Another Confusing Presupposition

Posted by Rev. Dr. Daniel C. Wilburn | Sep 25, 2015 | An Unbidden Life, Uncategorized |

The Economist today asked if Pope Francis is liberal. I’ve watched this media exercise for thirty years since John Paul II. Here’s how it goes: the media judges the Pope according to their assumed secular moral preconceptions. Is the Pope fulfilling our moral expectations: abortion, gay marriage, divorce – these are mentioned. Then things take a curious turn for Americans. The Economist is actually asking, “Is the Pope liberal theologically, doctrinally, and ethically?” Americans start to scratch their heads at this point because we don’t conceive of liberal and conservative in theological terms. We think “Hilary Clinton’s politics or Donald Trump’s politics?” The Economist declares Francis is NOT liberal because he hasn’t fulfilled their mandate. Francis has not changed any Catholic moral positions. He is, however, kind and compassionate toward outcasts, outliers, and offenders. American Christians exhibit a very strange convoluted understanding of conservative vs liberal. Octogenarian American civil rights advocate Dr. John Perkins of Christian Community Development Association (www.ccda.org) said, “When I talked about Jesus they called me a Christian. But when I wanted to help the poor they called me liberal.” I think most evangelical Christians believe Francis is liberal because he wants to help refugees and immigrants, even though he is very conservative theologically. Things have come to a pretty pass when conservative Christians cannot distinguish between what is liberal and conservative. We need a larger...

Making Church Clearer

Posted by Rev. Dr. Daniel C. Wilburn | Sep 18, 2015 | Uncategorized |

Last Fall 2014 I began an experiment in using more liturgical prayers during the adult Sunday morning worship services. In the Spring of 2015 we began an experiment of celebrating the Lord’s Table every Sunday. These are gathered prayers, writing out on the projector screens, used most often with an antiphonal back and forth spoken out loud format, such as the “kyrie eleison” (Leader) “Lord have mercy” (congregants) “Christ have mercy” (Leader) “Lord have mercy.” Lakeland has focused on several key prayers:1) The Lord’s Prayer (Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…”2) Confession, which has taken on a few simple forms;3) Absolution follows Confession;4) Prayers of the People, which is intercession on behalf of others and ourselves, prayers like “O Lord, comfort those who mourn and are sad and grieve…”5) Call to the Table, which includes the “words of institution:” “On the night Jesus was betrayed, he took the loaf of bread…” and includes these simple words: (Leader)Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith:(Everyone:)Christ has died.Christ has risen.Christ will come again. Leader:Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us!Everyone:Therefore let us keep the feast! Alleluia!Leader:The gifts of God for the people of God.Each day may Jesus Christ be as real to us as this food and drink! 6) Then we usually end with a blessing or Benediction. We like the Celtic Daily Prayer Book blessing, which ends with “…May...