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Freedom of God

4 Aug

“The idealized God is maintained at the expense of his freedom.  The idealized God lacks flexibility; initiative, the capacity to surprise.  The resulting picture of God is a sophisticated idol, but still an idol.” (Judson Mather, “The Comic Art of the Book of Jonah.” Soundings 65, no. 3 [September 1, 1982], 286).

I read this in my research on Jonah and Satire.  The author is essentially arguing that the Author of Jonah is satirizing the idealized God of ancient Israel.  The same God that uses Jonah as a kind of comic foil throughout the text.  But this passage got me thinking about Uber Calvinism.

As I understand it the challenge with theological systems that lean so heavily on pre-destination and the foreknowledge of God is that God can’t really change his mind.  And what Mather is saying is that God changed his mind regarding Nineveh because they repented.  This made Jonah angry, because God didn’t do what Jonah understood God was planning on doing.  (I understand that’s a really bad sentence.  Sorry).  Jonah is frustrated because he knew that God was a God of compassion and that he would relent of destroying Nineveh.  Jonah wanted to follow the formula, and he wanted the result that God had promised, That the city would be overturned.

Now, in the book of Jonah, the City did repent.  Nineveh was not destroyed but could it be argued that their hearts were overturned?  Which is more important, the destruction of a city or the destruction of wickedness and idolatry.

If we try to make God follow our formulas, then we are treating him like an idol.  Idols don’t work and they always disappoint.

I would rather serve a sovereign God who desires repentance rather than destruction, and would much rather dispense Grace than wrath.

It’s not my job to tell God that he has destroy cities or people.  It’s not my job to be angry when what I think is justice on the wicked is not delivered.  My job is to tell the truth about God that he has revealed through the Bible and through the leading of the Holy Spirit, and then let God do the rest.

I want God to be free to forgive, to love, to show mercy and grace.  I know how much grace and mercy I have received from God so for me to not be willing to let God give that to others is selfishness and worse it’s idolatry.

thoughts?

Obvious to you. Amazing to others

30 Jun

First saw this video @loswhit’s blog here: http://www.ragamuffinsoul.com/2011/06/obvious/

I thought I would share it to

I love to play with ideas, and I am also my worst critic on my ideas. There are a lot of things in my brain that I just dismiss as simple or boring or obvious.

What about you? What ideas are you shutting down before they even see the light of day?

If you are starting a Grad Progam

9 Jun

I’m nearing completion of my grad program.  1 Class and my Thesis are all that stands in my way.  If you are starting a program, I would like to give you some advice that I wish someone would have given to me.  Or maybe I should have asked for advice and listened to people.

First, take a lot of notes.  Notes about your reading, notes in your classes, notes about what you is changing in you in your program.  If you are like me, you started a grad program because you thought you were pretty smart already.  And if you are like me then you will realize as you get closer to the end of your journey you have way more to learn then you ever realized.  Taking good notes along the way will help you to reflect on the journey.

Second, get organized.  You need a system for how to handle all the information that you are collecting.  If you are primarily dealing with digital documents (PDF’s, word docs, powerpoint presentation) then develop a system for filing those documents so that things are easy to find.  I have a folder NU MATC docs.  Within that folder I have 4 Folders: Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, and Thesis.  In each of those folders I have sub folders For each semester of that year.  And then I have the classes that I took in each semester.  Finally I have folders like, Notes & Handouts, Research, Papers, Assessments.  If you want my notes from “The Meaning Of Christian Community” I can go right to them.  And that has proven to be incredibly helpful.

Getting organized is even more important (I have found) as you begin to work more independently.  No one is going to organize your thesis research for you, and you will have a lot of information to process, catalog, and access.  If you are not intentional then you will get yourself lost.

When you are working with your thesis research, title your notes in such a way that you can find a book that you read, and the notes on that book quickly. I use this title formula for all of my Reading Notes.  Author Last Name-Title Books-Reading notes.  I then file those in folders labeled, Article Reading Notes, Book Reading Notes, Web Reading notes.

The top of all of those documents has the bibliographic information.  Before you read anything from that resource, right the bibliographic information.  Do it.  Unless you plan on purchasing every book that you read for your thesis then you will not always have immediate access to that bibliographic information.  So get all of that info right on top of the document will save you a lot of time in the long run.  Trust me.

Third, Build a Research Rhythm.  You could also say create a realiable practice for research.  Where do you read with the most focus?  What kind of light do you prefer?  What kind of environment? What time of day?  These are all important questions and if you can begin to build into your day times when you know you can do your best research then you will be poised to work and focus.  I have found that if I just try to squeeze in some research time then I have to go back and review a lot more of what I’ve already done.  Not worth it.  If you are best poised to research at 4am then get up, make your coffee, and make it happen.  If you are a night owl (like me) and can stay up until 1am reading and writing then do that.  You have to figure out your rhythm and then play in that groove.

Four, write a lot.  You will end up writing much more than you need to.  But you need to write.  One of the great values of writing a lot is that it gets all of the bad ideas out on paper and out of your head.  So write.  Edit later, you never know what you might stumble upon if you write.  Capture your ideas when they strike and set aside the time to write them out.

Five, ask questions.  Your prof puts his or her email address in the syllabus for a reason.  You pay them to teach you and to answer your questions.  So ask questions.  If you need clarity on an assignment ask immediately.  Don’t assume that everyone understands the assignment, don’t assume that your question is dumb.  Ask questions.  There I times that I didn’t ask questions and I did way too much work, and then times when I’ve asked the right questions early in the assignment and saved myself a done of work and frustration.  Ask questions.

Six, invest in things that will help you.  Bible software has been a great help for me overall, but I’ve also really been helped by my e-reader, my iPad, my iPhone (i take pictures of pages in books that I file away for later).  And the latest things that has great potential to be a great help for me is a C-Pen.  It’s a pen scanner.  I’ve spent hours transcribing notes from the books that I’ve read.  Hours.  The C-Pen scans your books and put them in a text file that you can edit, copy and paste, and all that.  Awesome!  If you are looking to by one thing for your grad program I would advise something like the C-Pen.  It will save your sanity!

This is from the C-Pen:

The distinction of the Head from the body and the superiority of the Head over the body find concrete expression in the fact that proclamation in the Church is confronted by a factor which is very like it as a phenomenon, which is temporal as it is, and yet which is different from it and in order superior to it. This factor is Holy Scripture.

-K. Barth Church Dogmatics I.1 pg. 101

That is with underlines.  Pretty rad.  Go buy yourself a C-Pen.  You will be saved hours and hours of time.  Do it.

If you are starting a grad program then I think these would be helpful things to keep in mind.  But I do believe that everyone is designed to be learners.  All of these tips I really believe could be helpful for you and your learning practice.

Cracks in the Asphalt

6 Jun

Today I was driving into the office and I noticed some cracks in the the asphalt.  It looked like the city had come through and put tar (or whatever that stuff is) in the cracks to try to seal them back up.  But somehow, through the tar, there was still some patches of green grass sprouting up through the cracks.  It’s pretty amazing how powerful grass is.  It seems like it can grow anywhere.  It’s strangely beautiful.

There is a character in the film American Beauty, who is a high school student/film maker.  The piece that he finds incredibly moving is when he filmed a plastic bag that was caught in the wind in an alley.  Somehow this bag had been given life and was dancing, and so many people were just walking by without noticing.

The grass in the asphalt can be missed because we are too busy to get to where we are going.

There are so many things where beauty is creeping into ugly places, and if we are not careful we miss it.  If we are too busy we miss little signs of life, and beauty and transformation.  I would posit that those things are evidence of God’s creative power, and that God, the give of life wants us to see life all over the world.

What signs of life do you miss because you are too busy?  It’s monday.  Slow down a bit, look around you.  Look for signs of life, because those signs of life are signs of God.

And guess what, God loves you, and he wants to surprise and delight you.

Simplicity

2 Jun

I’m amazed by simplicity.

For something to look simple, the designer actually had to put a lot of work in to the project.  For an idea to be simple, attention to language, word count, commas, etc. are all important.

I am working on a project describing the Bible for new believers.  The Bible can be a complicated book.  There are many layers to it.  But at its simplest layer it’s the story of God and his people.

We are the ones who bring complication to the Bible, because sometimes we want to use it to justify our ideas, our beliefs and sadly sometimes our prejudices.  But when we get back to the simple idea that it’s the story of God and his people.  It’s a wonderfully amazing book.

Preparing a sermon then my goal is not to be clever, my goal is to communicate the simple message of God and his people.  And ask, “where do I fit, where do we fit, into that story?”

Fear and Trembling

2 Jun

Today I was working on a sermon for Philippians 2:12-13.

That’s right, 2 verses.  They’re pretty weighty verses.

In this passage Paul says, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”

Got me thinking about fear.  What are you afraid of?

I used to be terrified of water.  I used to get a lot of ear infections which was caused by fluid in my ears.  I didn’t like pain, and pain came from water.  I hated water.  Now I will swim, but I’m still not keen on jumping into water when I can’t see the bottom, or going under water.

But what are you afraid of and why?

Wrestling With Ideas

10 May

Writing is hard work.  Learning is hardwork.

I actually love writing.  I actually love learning.

For me, every class, every book, every paper that I have to write is an opportunity to play with new ideas to try to figure out how they work, and how they interact with other ideas that are floating around in my head.

One of the markers of someone who is still growing is how well they receive and wrestle with new ideas.  You don’t have to agree with the new idea, but can you at least have the conversation around the idea?  Or do you shut down the conversation because you have all the ideas that you can handle?

I love debating with folks who are entrenched in their ideas and just trying to throw a new idea that challenges their worldview into the mix.  Not because I want their worldview to fall to pieces, but because I want to challenge their assumptions and continue to exercise their idea muscles.

Keep Growing.

Keep Learning.

Keep Wrestling.

Whirlwind weekend

9 May

I’ve been crazy busy this weekend. But busy in a good way.

On Friday I met my niece, Violet.  She’s adorable.  We had dinner with my Brother and sister-in-law.

On Saturday I had an early breakfast with the head’s of NU’s MATC (Ron Herms) and MAML (Alan Ehler) programs, and the Provost (Jim Heugel), and my fellow College of Ministry grads.  It was a fun breakfast, and I got a very nice frame as a gift from the College of Ministry.

Then I went and graduated.  That was great.  My family was there, I could see Kathy and the kids.  It was pretty fun.  I was hooded.

Provost Jim Heugel, myself and Prof. Wally Kowalski (I gotta get some regalia like his)

It’s a pretty amazing age that we live in, as I was sitting waiting to get my hood and diploma (cover) I was able to get on facebook and see all the congrats from friends who were there and those who weren’t .  I do think it’s pretty cool how technology has enabled us to celebrate with and congratulate others immediately.

Then we went to lunch with my family and the in-laws which was really fun.

On Sunday, It was mother’s day!  My wife is awesome.  Best mom ever!

I was also preaching at All Saints on Queen Anne.  That was my fourth and final time preaching while Bill Berger has been on sabbatical.   My hope was to encourage All Saints to be sources of Joy for Bill and his family and to keep up with Bill as he runs after the vision that God has placed on his heart.

After church we had Lunch with Kathy’s family for Mother’s Day, and then last night we had Dinner with My Mom, Dad, Sister and Brother in Law.

It’s been busy around here.  Next week I’m teaching a break-out session at a Men’s Conference and preaching at Creekside.  And all this week I’m going to be focusing on writing my Thesis.  last week I wrote a 20 page rough draft for a chapter.  These week I’m hoping to do 10-15 pages of a rough draft on another chapter.  So I’ve got that going on this week.  Prayers are greatly appreciated.

Bringing enemies together = the gospel

19 Apr

Isaiah 19:24-25 says:

24 In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”

In this chapter the prophet is talking about the judgement and transformation of Egypt, the nation that held the Israelites captive. God’s promise is that they will be transformed from a nation that hates God to a nation that has the altars of The LORD. This is an incredible promise because it shows that God desires the people who enslaved his people to be a part of his redeemed creation. There is judgement but judgement in this case is meant to bring transformation.

The second nation mentioned here is Assyria. At the time Assyria was the worlds most dangerous nation. They were expanding their empire through force. Assyria would eventually destroy the northern Kingdom of Israel, leading the people into captivity. Assyria was a big, scary deal to the Israelites.

In this passage, The LORD says that he is going to bring the enemies of the past,and the enemies of the future together with his chosen nation, and they will all be his people.

Now as a Christian I read this passage and thing, the only way that this is going to happen is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel brings enemies together. The Gospel brings people into the Kingdom of God where all national boundaries are secondary and we all submit and worship The LORD as king.

The Gospel should not be used to divide people, it should be shared to unite people. The divisions are not a result of the Good News of the gospel. Rather, these divisions are evidence of our own sinfulness, our own brokenness.

The promise of the Gospel is that the LORD is willing to give everything to bring as many people as possible into his forgiving love and mercy and the reconciliation of kingdoms into His Kingdom.

This week is Passover and Easter. The LORD saved the nation of Israel from the oppression Egypt through the Passover. And through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus, he has provided a means to save people from all nations from the oppression of sin, and to receive new resurrection empowered life!

How great is the Father’s love for us.

Assurance vs. Certainty

20 Jan

I had a fun twitter debate (tweebate?) with my ol’ college pal Matt (@ireadtheology).

I posted this:

“There is a difference between assurance and certainty. Assurance requires faith. Certainty does not.”

This verse is part of what inspired the above statement:

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Now The point is not that certainty is the opposite of faith.  Rather, certainty is not the point of faith.

1 Corinthians 13:9-12  9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Some day God’s people will have absolute certainty, and our faith will be fulfilled.  Until that day we must be content with assurance that God is at work, that God has a plan, that God’s promises are true.  And God is trustworthy.  These promises and plans of God will come to pass.  I can have confidence in God through my faith.

The reason that this is important is because Certainty is a stumbling block for those who are seeking God.  Also Certainty is often used as a weapon towards those who disagree with you..  The rhetoric of Certainty builds walls instead of bridges to the world.

When we claim that we are certain then people expect us to have all the answers.  I can’t do that.

When we claim that we are certain we read the Bible looking for proofs and it becomes a science text book.  And I don’t think that’s the purpose of the Bible.

My Faith tells me that God Created the world.  If I’m completely honest with you, I’m not 100% certain how God did that.  The Bible gives us a 6 day creation.  I still don’t know how that happened.  If God created the world in 6 days, and rested on the 7th.  I have enough faith to say that God could do that (he is God after all).  But I don’t have enough certainty to fight someone over it.

The Bible tells me that Jesus died on the Cross for my Sins.  I have to accept that by faith because I really have no idea how that all works.  I don’t have a certain answer for what that would look like, and the process for how Jesus applies that grace to cover over my sins.  My faith is big enough to accept that though, and live in that promise.

Can I be honest with people and tell them I’m not certain how all this works, and I don’t have all the answers, and I have moments of doubt and confusion, where all I have to cling to is my faith.

Does that make me a bad Christian? Does that make me a bad Pastor?  Or is that exactly what Jesus wanted from his followers when he said”

2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 18:2-4)

My children are not looking for certainty in our relationship.  I have to live in a way that gives them assurance that I will always love them and always be there for them.  That assurance is pretty close to certainty for them because they have no reason to doubt it.

Example:  On wednesday morning my daughter woke up at 4:30 AM crying and came out into the hallway.  When I came to her I asked her what was wrong and she said, “I need a hug.”

In that moment I can be angry and tell her, “No, it’s night time, and you need to go back to bed.”  Or I can give her the hug that she’s looking for in the middle of the night and assure her that her daddy is always there to give her a hug.

So I gave her a hug and she went right back to bed.

Joss has assurance that I love her, and that’s all she needs right now.

We can have assurance the God loves us and has provided grace to us through the Cross of Christ.  And that assurance is good enough for me.

 

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