Awesome Quote

Sometimes I get this sense that I am plowing through a collection of dusty, forgotten tomes in a setting that looks just like the archives Gandalf searched through in Minas Tirtith in his attempt to uncover the truth about Bilbo's funny magic ring. I wish I had more time to hang out in the archive and find all the cool stuff there! One thing I was reading recently is an early sermon in the Apostolic Fathers called 2nd Clement. It was preached to the Corinthian church sometime between approx. 100AD and 150AD. Here is just an awesome excerpt from it, it seemed especially applicable in light of the recent studies of the Sermon on the Mount we have been doing in our weekly fellowship...

"Let us be clear-headed regarding the good, for we are full of much stupidity and wickedness. Let us wipe off from ourselves our former sins and be saved, repenting from the very souls of our being. And let us not seek to please men. But let us not desire to please only ourselves with our righteousness, but also those who are outsiders, that the Name may not be blasphemed on our account. For the Lord says, 'My name is continually blasphemed among all the nations,' and again, 'Woe to him on whose account my name is blasphemed.' Why is it blasphemed? Because you do not do what I desire. For when the pagans hear from our mouths the oracles of God, they marvel at their beauty and greatness. But when they discover that our actions are not worthy of the words we speak, they turn from wonder to blasphemy, saying that it is a myth and a delusion. For when they hear from us that God says, 'It is no credit to you if you love those who love you, but it is a credit to you if you love your enemies and those who hate you,' when they hear these thngs, they marvel at such extraordinary goodness. But when they see that we not only do not love those who hate us, but do not even love those who love us, they scornfully laugh at us and the Name is blasphemed."

How Not to Pray (Part 1/2)

Hey, it's been forever since I've blogged, sorry. Seriously, if it's getting to be more than a week or two between posts please feel free to email/comment/call/send a telegram to rebuke me for not keeping this up. I really do want to blog more frequently, so go ahead, hold me accountable, I dare you.

Anyways, I was looking for a copy of my testimony on my harddrive just now and I found this list of funny things people do when they are praying (I can't recall where I first found it) and thought it'd be fun to share. Can anyone think of anything additional to add to this list? And seriously, I hope no one stops praying because of this - it's simply that sometimes I wonderhow irritated I would be if someone started talking to me like this: "Lee, you know Lee, I just, Lee, I want to ask you that you might do such and such, Lee, so that, um, Lee."

How NOT to Pray (Part 1/2)

Be warned in advance that reading these might stilt your first few public prayers afterwards…

1. THE JUST PRAYER: For some inexplicable reason, the word JUST shows up a lot in prayer. "Just" is used for pausing, for filler, as an adverb, for rhythm, and, well, to underscore that this is just prayer and not talking in general. Since this is not normally the case in human dialog, it is hard to explain why.
ex.: Lord, we JUST pray that you would JUST like, JUST really JUST totally..."

2. THE GOSSIP: "Lord, please forgive Pam [not present] for her sexual lust towards George [who is present]."

3. THE THEOLOGIAN: Here the person feels led to lecture God on various--usually obvious--points of theology, as if God needed reminding. While the words of such prayers can be valid enough if said in a spirit of praise, THE THEOLOGIAN gives you the distinct impression that he/she is praying to ideas rather than God; or perhaps trying to impress the rest of us.
ex.: "Lord, you are God. You are the Triune, Immutable, Omniscient, Revelatory, the First Principle. You even know what I am going to pray next!... [etc. etc. etc.]"

4. THE OPPORTUNIST: For someone who would never get a word in edgewise in a normal conversation--because what they want to say is inherently boring or unedifying--prayer can be an opportunity to "seize the floor" and speechify at great length without fear of rebuttal or interruption unless something really awful is said; and perhaps not even then, as social convention says it is very rude to interrupt while someone is praying.
ex.: "Lord, I just want to pray for my little bunny. I know nobody here thinks it important, but I just love my bunny because it... [on and on and on]."

5. THE LECTURER: Similar to THE OPPORTUNIST, but here the motive is to harangue someone else--or the group--by sermonizing in general. Also known as THE SERMON PRAYER:
ex.: "O God, forgive those among us who do not understand the need to... [fill in the blanks]."
ex.: "Lord, forgive the congregation for their continued failure to tithe. For 'The tithe is the Lord's', and 'Test me in this' saith the Lord... [and on and on]"

6. CALLING DOWN FIRE: To rant or vituperate in a prayer. Basically, to ask God to send down a lightning bolt of judgment. (Often aimed at ungodly politicians.) Such prayers seem to beg for the response: "You do not know what Spirit you are of". (Lk 9:55, Mt 5:11-12)
ex.: "Lord, that lady who gestured rudely to me in my car today, I pray that you would slap her silly with your scorching judgment. Teach her not to treat your children that way, with a scathing rebuke from on high. Amen."

Ok, I had to edit this post because IE was doing something weird with the bullet points and it was just plain too long...

"If God created everything then He must have created evil also" [4/4]

What is the answer, then? God could have created a world which was better than this one, a world where people freely loved Him and there was no sin or suffering or death. He could have created a world where tens of thousands of people are not killed by tsunamis, earthquakes, and plagues; nor by drugs, guns, and germ warfare. For whatever reason, God chose not to create that world, or, at least, created an initally 'good' world with the knowledge that it would become as it has. He is the Creator: He is the one who is responsible. Ultimately, He will avenge suffering, punish those who have done evil, reward those who have done good, and right the wrongs which He has permitted/caused to have occurred. And, perhaps, the way we come to truly know something is by it's contrast: therefore, to know God's love, it benefits us to know hate. To know God's justice, it benefits us to know injustice. To know God's mercy and grace, it benefits us to know His sternness and wrath. To know His power fully, it benefits us to see His power demonstrated both in the saving of those who call on Him and in the destruction of those who do not.

[end 4/4]

"If God created everything then He must have created evil also" [3/4]

And let us not even bother with the argument that God did not want automatons and so He had no alternative but to create us to be capable of profound evil in order for us to be capable of genuine love. Is God not free? Is God not bound by His very nature to be without sin, without blemish? No one seems to claim that God is not free because He is unable to sin, yet the most popular refuge in this argument is that God had to create man with the capacity for sin so that he would be free to love Him. Moreover, those who advance this argument are left with a very difficult problem: When God fully realizes His kingdom on earth and all those who have opposed Him are removed from His presence forever, there will no longer be any sin. In that day, when sin is banished from God's presence forever, will we suddenly become automatons who incapable of genuine love? Or, for all eternity, will God permit the potential of sin to remain so that we can be truly 'free'? Of course not. There is an implicit belief, then, that it is possible for humans to be free and yet not sin, nor have the capacity to sin, at least in this eternal state. Moreover, love and obedience to God is not invalidated by this lack of choice. If it is possible in eternity, then there is no reason to claim that it would have been impossible for God to create beings capable of genuine love while incapable of sin.

[part 3/4]

"If God created everything then He must have created evil also" [2/4]

To be perfectly honest, the best answer that I can give you is that God created the world He created, and that world has a lot of terrible experiences in it that don't make sense. As a follower of Jesus, I can take comfort when I suffer for my proclamation of Him, even if I were to suffer terribly for it. But, for the child who is kidnapped and killed for no other reason that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time; for the wife and mother who is paralyzed in a drive-by shooting for no other reason that that others enjoy causing misery; for the tribe that is wiped out by a neighboring people for no other reason than an ancient feud, the details of which are nearly forgotten--for these things I see no justification, 'no sanctification through suffering.'

[end part 2 of 4]

Just to get some discussion going...

Alright, I realized my last paper, though of course erudite and fascinating, was just plain long to post. For those of you desperately curious to find out how it all ends, let me know. Actually, it's in need of some revision at this point, since there were some issues that came up at a healing conference we went to at the Scottsdale Vineyard that I wanted to address. I am done with classes for a little while - 2 whole months with no classes. Followed by 4 years straight of classes with no breaks, most likely! So I'm going to enjoy my free time while it lasts. I recently finished up an apologetics class, and had to interact with issues like the existence of evil, the nature of God's sovereignty, and it ended up leading into some really interesting discussions of the implications of limited atonement. I'm still trying to get my understanding of all this stuff, so hopefully as I process through some of this it will all get clearer. As part of that process I wanted to post some excerpts from a paper I wrote recently and get some other perspectives on it. Here's the stage 1 of 4 stages to my argument, basically interacting with aspects of the Problem of Evil and specifically the statement "If God created everything then He must have created evil also."

...

I grant that this statement is accurate. If, as Paul writes in Colossians 1:15-16, all things were created through, for, and by Jesus, then the conclusion seems inescapable that He is the one responsible for everything, good or bad, and that He is responsible regardless of whether He created it directly or merely created its potentiality. Moreover, He is the one by whose word of power all things are sustained (Hebrews 1:3), so presumably He is able to cause things which are evil to cease existing by simply ceasing His sustaining power for the evil in question. One could argue that evil is merely an illusion and doesn't really exist, but this hardly seems worth considering, for if evil is only an illusion, then the problem of evil disappears altogether. Alternatively, one might argue that evil is simply a privation of good, an 'ontological parasite.' While I think that is closer to the truth, we would have only to rephrase the question to ask why God made a creation where these privations, these parasites, could exist and thrive and we would find ourselves back at the beginning and facing the same difficult questions. Nor will I offer the patronizing answer that this particular world is the best world that God could possibly have created; we all know it could be better. And, while I am grateful for whatever measure of freedom God has given us to make choices in our lives, I don't value my freedom so much that I think it justifies the freedom of the murder or rapist or madman.

[end of part 1/4]

A very excellent day.

It's beautiful and sunny and not too hot out today, and I've been getting stuff done at work but there's always a lot more to do - and not enough time each day. We're going to be meeting with some pastors around the new seminary facility in the next couple days, just getting to know them and introducing ourselves and Phoenix Seminary to people who may still not know much about us even though we've been here since 1987. Incidentally, 1987 is the year when the most excellent album of all time was released: U2's Joshua Tree, which (also incidentally), I was listening to this very morning. Coincidence? Yes.

I'm also getting ready for the new semester - only one four credit class this term! So I'll have more time, which will be very nice. Becca and I start our History of Christianity class tomorrow, and I've been reading my textbook and really find it fascinating. The development of the early church is something which I think would be so helpful for Christians to learn about - I wish I could just take a couple of years and spend all my time reading all the primary sources for the period. So much turmoil and schism and confusion as the church tried to understand its position in Christ and every member his position in relation to other members.

Also, here's a little snippet from my paper on Healing & Sickness in Acts through Revelation. Installment #1 of 4 or 5 on the topic. I've shared it with Brian, and I'd appreciate any other feedback.

---

In the tradition of Peter, we find the foundation for our present hope of physical, emotional, and spiritual healing in Christ. This hope stands on the same foundation as does the present reality of our forgiveness: the once for all sacrifice of Jesus. Peter writes, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24) Peter is elaborating on an OT passage in light of the healing ministry and atoning work of Jesus: “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) In the Old Testament, the Lord sometimes healed His people in a direct response to their prayers, as in the case of Hezekiah (cf. Isaiah 38:1-22). At other times, He chose to use His prophets to even raise the dead (Elijah in 1 Kings 17:17-24; Elisha in 2 Kings 4:18-37). During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He healed the sick (i.e., Mark 2:1-12; 5:25-34; 6:5), cleansed the lepers (i.e., Mark 1:40-42), gave sight to the blind (i.e., Mark 8:22-25), gave hearing and speech to the deaf and mute (i.e., Mark 7:32-37), delivered the demon-possessed (i.e., Mark 1:23-27; 5:1-20; 7:25-30; 9:16-29), and even raised the dead (i.e., Mark 5:21-24, 35-43).[1] Not only did He do these works Himself, but He also gave those who followed Him the authority and commission to do the same works (cf. the commissioning of the Twelve in Mark 6:7-13 and of the Seventy-two in Luke 10:1-20).
Peter seems to have more in view here than solely physical healing—but physical healing not excluded from view either, particularly in light of the way in which Matthew cites the exact same passage from Isaiah 53:
[16] When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. [17] This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.” (Matthew 8:16-17)

It seems then unnecessary to ‘spiritualize’ this passage such that it refers then only to spiritual healing or forgiveness from sin, so that believers cannot find in this passage the same hope for healing as the New Testament authors found in it. Thus, both through the healings Jesus performed in His earthly ministry, as well as through His death on the cross, He was able to bear our iniquities and our infirmities, our sins and our sicknesses. Though it is not appropriate to put sins and sickness in too strict of a parallelism, it doesn’t seem to go too far to say that God wants us to live lives free of both. In the same way that we have been redeemed from sin and yet nevertheless experience sin’s effects until Christ returns, we also have a foretaste of the healing wrought by Christ which we will not experience in it’s fullest sense until we see Him face to face (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:12).

[1] I restricted these citations only to Mark’s gospel as a full survey of Jesus’ healing ministry lies outside of the scope of this paper. However, even this sampling established the breadth of Jesus’ authority over sickness, demons, and death. The Twelve and the Seventy-two saw no limits on Jesus’ authority and ability to heal, and so would have had no reason to view His authority and ability as inadequate for the works which He sent them out to perform. Mark seemed to be the most suitable gospel to cite in relation to Peter, in light of the early tradition passed on by Papias that Mark collected and recorded Jesus traditions from Peter.

Eschatological Ontology, or, if you prefer, Ontological Eschatology

And Jesus said unto them, "And whom do you say that I am?" They replied, "You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the ontological foundation of the context of our very selfhood revealed." And Jesus replied, "What?"

I just love that quote: ironically enough it's from Quodlibet - the Online Journal of Christian Philosophy & Theology. Michael Mock, a friend of mine from the seminary who has been in most of my classes thus far, just had a paper of his published on their site: "The Futility of Philosophic Inquiry" - but be forewarned, the title is merely to grab your attention, because he doesn't think philosphic inquiry is futile. Actually, the entire article has nothing to do with philosophic inquiry, but rather the perniciousness of pop-up books.

It is finished!

I completed my work for this semester and turned it all in this afternoon-woohoo! Since Becca was at a Women's Conference tonight I celebrated with John B. & Robert & Derek. Robert & I had some surprsingly authentic 'street tacos' from Rubios, then met John and watched Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (which, by the way, I don't get), and then met Derek and the four of us enjoyed Guiness and cigars. It was very pleasant and a good way to end semester #2. I'll post some excerpts and stuff and I'm sure you'll all be simply enthralled by my scholarship and depth of wisdom. Well, perhaps not, but maybe at least encouraged and interested...

Years and Finals

Today is my 10th birthday! (Or, for Brian, my 120th month anniversary). 10 years ago today my ears were opened to the gospel and I put my faith in Jesus Christ. It all happened at a church drama called "Heaven's Gates & Hell's Flames" which was performed at Trinity Assembly of God in Zion, Illinois on April 25th of 1995. (7:00pm, in case you were wondering). I am actualy looking at the little yellow ticket right now - it's starting to get a little tattered from being in my wallet all this time but it's still readable and in surprisingly good condition. I am grateful to my friend Jason for inviting me to the drama and being so patient in responding to my myriad objections to the gospel, for my sister April who went along with me. Most of all I am grateful to God who on that night rescued me from the kindgdom of darkness and transferred me to the kingdom of His beloved Son. Thank you, Lord, for saving me even though I was hostile to you and a stranger to your promises - You are good and merciful beyond comprehension.

This time of year will always be a time of reflecting for me, looking back on where I've been, looking forward to where I'm going. I can't believe it's been 10 years - I was sure that I would have everything figured out by now. More and more I realize I know less and less. But I am confident that God is God and that His promises are true, even if I'm slow to understand at times.

This time of year will also probably always remind me of some of the hard lessons we learned about a year ago. There were some painful experiences we went through, and I wish I could say it never crosses my mind anymore and that all the difficulties and pain had all been transformed into wisdom and understanding. That's partly true, but I guess it's another case of 'already/not yet.' Maybe next year. I can say that there has been some wisdom and some sensitivity and some greater depenendence on the Lord that has resulted, and even if it never makes perfect sense at least I can trust in God to continue leading and teaching and working inside of us to renew us in His image. Lord, don't let me stand in your way!

This week I am finishing up my finals for all my classes, and I plan to post some excerpts from some of the papers on here later this week. For my Acts to Revelation survey course I wrote a theme paper on sickness and the gift of healing and I would very much enjoy getting some other feedback on it. I've also completed my translations of Ephesians & Colossians so maybe some day, 15 or so years from now, I'll have finished translating the NT. I'm actually translating from the Greek into Interpretative Dance, so I'll have to wait until I get more space so I can post the videos. :)

Hello...

Well, I completed my first week of classes. They are all exceptionally interesting, I'll probably be posting some stuff from them on here from time to time.

Mondays 3.00-5.00
BI 586 - Jewish Literature at the Time of Jesus: An Introduction and Comparision with the New Testament

Tuesdays 6.00-8.00
NT 504 - Improving Greek Reading Skills

Wednesdays 6.00-10.00
BI 504 - Acts to Revelation

Also on Tuesdays we have a Greek Bible study on the gospel of John from 5.00-6.00. I can already tell it's going to be a very interesting semester all in all, and it's cool because I feel like all the classes mesh well and will reinforce one another. For Greek class we're translating Ephesians in class and Colossians for our individual project. It's nice to have a whole semester to spend on each of these books. For one of my papers in the Acts to Revelation survey class I'm thinking about writing on the definition and nature of the church, something that has been on my mind for some time now as many of you might know. I'd really like to investigate that topic in a more focused way.

Also, I'm not going to make fun of 4 Maccabees anymore--I used to ascribe all sorts of silly verses to it just cause it seemed so far removed from the canon, but now actually having read it I've found that it's got some pretty good stuff in it. Not Scripture, but certainly worthwhile reading on the level of Foxe's Book of Martyrs. More useful, actually, as it presents stuff that pertains to late 2nd Temple Judaism and even shows that there was an idea of one man's righteous suffering could be an atoning sacrifice for others. Plus it's just an edifying account of godly men and women who refused to disobey or dishonor God even in the face of torture and death. Not something to make fun of.

Here's a parting quote for you all to reflect on:
"I'm going to have to replace you as best friend with the new Battlestar Galactica because it's just that good." --Brian Dellisanti

Now that I've lulled you all into a false sense of security....

...I can continue my blogging without your intense scrutiny of my work. Behold, many months will likely pass before you again read my blog, for until this time you've checked and checked and rechecked and there's never anything new. But one day, perhaps a day such as June 23rd 2005, you will check my blog, and find thousands upon thousands of new entries. Entries which were entered while you were not checking frequently. That will be a wonderful day indeed....