Merry Christmas

May all the glory, wonder and joy of Christmas be yours,
Sincerely,
Benjamin's Tribe

A gem from C.S. Lewis

Here is a small line from one of those classic and meaty dialogues in the Chronicles of Narnia. This one from Prince Caspian:

Trumpkin the dwarf says, "You are my King. I know the difference between giving advice and taking orders. You've had my advice, and now it's the time for orders."

Then King Caspian said, "I will never forget this Trumpkin."

Knowing one's place with authority irregardless of their respectability is truly one of the most tell-tale signs of Christian fruitfulness and maturity.

For all of the Institute in Basic Life Principles legalism and problems (Bill Gothard's group) most of their material on authority is really good. Submission to authority is one of their seven principles.

Truly, how a man relates with his authority reveals ample material about his own heart.

Not sure if this is encouraging or discouraging

"Life's tough. It's even tougher if you're stupid."

~John Wayne

The real amount~ rip off!

And my beautiful model demonstrates how mamy chips are really in the bag

Look at all that room!

What you call a rip off

Has anyone ever had Kettle brand chips? They're pretty good but I think the package they come in is completely ridiculous. In the next two pics I am going to illustrate how little chips you actually get in a big bag. "Oh, they do that because the bag needs air filling so the chips don't get smashed..." They don't need that much air!!

The Jewey beaner

Jule's a cutie

Apple Pickin'

This was from Bishop's Orchard where we went on a very cold day to pick apples for cider, a big thick apple pie, and little caramel apples. It's a fun time..

The Honey, the boy and I

Crashing the Reformation Day Party

So Jana and I had some fun planning out an invasion into our church's Reformation Day Party by dressing me up as a roman catholic cardinal. I had a little troop of minions with me and we made a procession right in the middle of it complete with a trumpet before I entered down a rolled carpet. We then took to prison a choice protestant rebel and engendered many laughs.

Laughter

Laughter is wine for the soul
- laughter soft, or loud and deep,
tinged through with seriousness -
the hilarious declaration made by man
that life is worth living.
Sean O'Casey

Another quip from our family poet

So we have a crisis in our family.. Jana calls them poop days.. What's that you ask? Ohhh, it's the days that our beloved Julia needs to use the loo. It's an all-day, public family affair. I say public because Julia whines, fights, wrestles, cries and bellows in agony for pretty much the whole day to anyone far or near. Oh, she's quite content to go in her shorts, no issue there. She wrestles like a champ, though we would prefer she wrestle with something that takes a little more courage.

So the quip comes from of course Abigail. She had one of my short tent pegs (a stand in for a magic wand) and says:

"Julia, Now with this magic wand I shall make you go poop!"

Did it work? Yes, only hours later with a movie to distract her.

Old P.J.

Granting to governments the privilege of printing unlimited amounts of money is like giving liquor and car keys to teenage boys.
- P. J. O'Rourke

Trust~the crux of life...

"The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, For in God the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock."

Isaiah 26: 3,4

What should be the main priorities of the local church?

Worship. Others. If we could visualize the priorities of a church, I would see it this way: Faithful attendance and participation in spirit and truth in worship on Mt. Zion every Lord’s Day. This would be the top, the crest of the mountain. From there, the priority of the church should be each other, our families and our fellow members. This is the beginning of the “rivers” that flow from the origin of the Spirit (the top of the mountain) to the Church, and then down the mountain into the valley of the world. Worship and mountains are frequently associated with each other in the Bible. This is because we are to understand the connection between worshipping God in the heavens and our entering into those heavens with God when we worship.
Christian education is absolutely crucial as a priority for the church and esp. for the family. A church can have an intimate link with the support of parents and their responsibility to provide/give a Christian education to their children. I see a parochial school/co-op system to be a great way to educate children. A full-fledge day school can be a great way to go to, though the cost is a significant issue and the fact that they often compete with the church in their tendency to take center place in the family’s life and culture is a problem. Hear me, I would love to send one or all of my kids to a godly day-school, but I am concerned about how children are so loaded up with schoolwork that it crowds out everything else in their life.

One critique that I would have of the CREC is its placing its priority of the church in only worship, family, and Christian Ed. Worship yes, ministry to strengthen the family, absolutely, and a high regard for Christian ed. yes. But what is missing? The Church for the world. We should worship, build up “our community” (the family, the local church’s ministry and fellowship itself and devotion to a Christian ed.) and then, we must orient ourselves towards hospitality and involvement in the institutions of the city i.e. (City council, volunteering, community events, Boy Scouts etc.); You name it, places where there is potential in the city-the world- for relational development with the lost. We must get involved in the place where God has put us in the world. We aren’t here to isolate ourselves from the world and hole ourselves up in our church bldg’s, families, cars, cubicles at work, little Christian schools and then back again. Where is the time to invest in sinners (Jesus was a friend with notorious sinners wasn’t He?) if we spend all our spare time running our kids to soccer practice, piano lessons, debate club, church activities that we could let go, and 2 hours of homework every night that we must help our children with? But let’s face it. There’s not enough time to devote to friendship with the lost if we are too busy with 50 day-school activities, too many church events, and if our families are shy and overly independent from others. I think we need to rethink the way we do some things. We need to prioritize people more with the way we arrange our lives and institutions, to the degree that we are able. I am not against the day-school model. I am concerned however that families in them are too busy with homework loads and other functions. Can we provide more time for them to do their schoolwork at school? I think their is room for flexibility. I would love to send some of my kids to a day-school but the cost and homework are major issues for me.

In sum: Faithful worship, healthy families and a solid Christian education are the most potent things for evangelism, but they are not sufficient without face-to-face contact and involvement with the world outside.

So, to return.. Worship. Others. We learn to worship God individually and corporately and then we build our church up in its fellowship and community..By doing so, we strengthen the broader Church and our families as well. Healthy marriages and families in turn, build up the Church. They both feed into one another. After this, we pour out ourselves in faithfulness through relationships in our respective vocations and in ministry to the community (Chaplaincy, prison ministry, friendship evangelism and hospitality, pregnancy care center volunteering, nursing home visitation etc. etc.,) The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is to minister mercy to the poor, dysfunctional, and messed up people of the world. God will bless us with growth if we do these types of things. I believe He will bless us with gospel growth, and not just sheep-stealing from other churches.

On the subject of interpretation~something to think about

"The medieval theory of levels of meaning in the biblical text, with all its undoubted defects, flourished because it is true, while the modern theory of a single meaning, with all its demonstrable virtues, is false. Until the historical-critical method becomes critical of its own theoretical foundations and develops a hermeneutical theory adequate to the nature of the text which it is interpreting, it will remain restricted-as it deserves to be-to the guild and the academy, where the question of truth can endlessly be deferred."

David Steinmetz

This is not approving fanciful allegory but it is saying that there are multiple levels of meaning in Scripture. It is important to teach and preach the central truth and force of a text, but never, never are we to be either confusing or reductionistic/simplistic when summarizing the Bible's teaching. The Bible is profoundly simple, poetic and deep/complex at the same time.. If only I and other preachers could be that too. It's hard, pray for us!

The gospel message is a threat to all dominant powers

"Of course, when we pray in the name of Jesus, we find, again and again, that what we want to pray for subtly changes as we focus on Jesus himself. Part of the game is the readiness, in great things and small, to put our plans and hopes on hold and let God remake them as we gaze upon him, revealed in the inglorious glory of the manger, in the powerless power of the cross...."

N.T. Wright

Wright goes on his statement to show of course that the cross was the true power. The little humble King born in the animal trough would crush the great power of Caesar Augustus' Rome through conversion only 4 centuries later.

Radio evangelical preachers

Just a thought here...

We are used to hearing a man appeal to people to "invite" Jesus into their hearts. But is that an accurate depiction of both God and us?

We don't "invite" the Judge of the Universe into our hearts. We rather plead, beg, and cry for the living God to receive us, for Him to be our Savior.

We don't let Him be Lord of our lives, He already is, over every living and non-living thing in the universe. We just have to come to the point where we will throw away our "sovereignty," bow the neck and plead for forgiveness.

But that message is not as palatable for our self-inflated egos.

16 oz. to the pound from Gary North

"The road to the comprehensive peace of God begins with the transformation of the covenant-breaking heart. Personal regeneration must precede comprehensive social reconstruction...But we must begin this process of reconstruction with confident faith in the gospel; we must be confident that God's salvation is as comprehensive as sin is....

It is the unwillingness of Christian commentators and social theorists to return to the biblical record of Old Covenant that is the heart of the problem. Because they will not look at biblical law as the model, Christians are left without specifics for organizing society. This leaves them in the difficult position of denying the continuing validity of judicial standards set forth in the Old Testament, yet simultaneously claiming that 'the Bible has answers for all of life,'a claim which disintegrates on contact as soon as someone asks a specific political or judicial question regarding civil government."

An Israel within an Israel

Is there still an Israelwithin an Israel?

I am speaking of the reality of the people of God, the Church, the community of faith or even the "elect" I might dare to say, who still don't really knowthe Lord. There is still a faith-filled people within a faith-less people of God in the broader scope.

Might there be an elect within an elect? In the NT, the "elect" were the marked out ones by baptism and the Spirit who professed faith in Israel's Messiah. The new thing was twofold. God was doing something big in redemptive history by separating the sheep from the goats (if you will) by bringing a fundamental choice to the people of God, the Jews in the 1st Cent. The choice was this: Either repent and receive the promise of your Messiah, or enter a definitive judgment--AD 70. The second new thing was the extraordinary inclusion of the gentiles. The "elect" were these believing gentiles and the remnant of the largely apostate Jewish nation.

In other words, we have to be careful of injecting meanings to Scriptural words that they don't fully possess. Does the word elect in the NT mean a person who is "once saved, always saved?" Or does it mean a person who is a part of God's new people in the New Covenant administration?

Now, this is important.. I do believe strongly and passionately that the Bible teaches eternal security for the believer. The rub comes when we try to read hearts and peg who is truly elect and not.

The Bible doesn't teach us to go around and try to find these people. To do so, creates mayhem and great sin in a church.

Rather, God has given us the very clear and gracious covenant in which to relate and hold people accountable. Baptism, fruit, obedience and perseverance are all the ways in which we go in and come out with one another on these matters.

Any tradition that tries to peg a person's assurance on a static event in their life put their trust in something shaky. Christ is the One that we look to, in enduring trust, upon His faithfulness. We can't trust in our "incredible testimony," the card we signed, or even mere baptism without the reality in which it is all about. Paul said that circumcision or the lack thereof is nothing, but a new creation.

So, the Q. is how can we know the truly elect from the generally elect New Covenant people of God? The answer?

We don't worry about it. God is for us and our children, we have so much evidence for that, that I am not going to take the time to argue that point. "Well, what happens if I commit the unpardonable sin? Or if I'm really not the truly elect?" Don't worry..God is not a hyper-Calvinist. If you really are brazen and rebellious in your sin, your elders will come and find you out. You are not going to wake up in the morning suddenly falling out of God's favor, like He's in a bad mood one day.

No, we are the elect of God biblically. But what of all the Calvinist teaching of predestination and perseverance of the saints? I think it's wonderful. I love that and I love them. I am a Calvinist. But I do believe that the Calvinistic system can be taken too far or misunderstood to the point that it itself becomes the primary way we relate to others on the q. of their eternal security. Has God given us the glasses to see who's predestined to heaven and who's not? No. Does the truth stand then? Yes. I am comforted that I am in this persevering category because I know God is for me, and my children. I rest in grace, so I obey. I can say, with confidence that I am the elect.But I can never say that by waving anything BUT a life that obeys because of what Christ did..This means that no matter how many Calvinist books I read and write, great feats of faith that I might accomplish or anything--nothing can be a sure sign of my eternally elect status if I don't take up my election by the horns and trust God to carry me through. I hope I've made it clear that any notion of perseverance by works without faith is ridiculous and misguided.

We still have to let Scripture balance itself with its own internal witness. John 10:28 has to be harmonized with the parable of the sower, and John 15:1-6. Scripture is content to play out the longevity of a person's spiritual health in terms of organic growth. See John 15, Rom 11, and Heb 6. This doesn't mean that we can't believe in the Calvinist reading of Scripture, it's simply that the Calvinist system must be attended with a strong covenantal theology. What does that mean? It means that the doctrine of eternal security is grounded in God's objective favor towards believers and their children, not an impersonal system of random and arbitrary choosing.

We have to hold the tension between those that believe in God, thus being children of God in one sense, and those that have faith for a time, who are children of God in another sense. I believe the whole Scriptural testimony gives full credence to the Calvinist reading and the covenantal reading both. Those who truly fall away (apostasy is always a dark mystery) were children of God in a very important sense but not in the sense that persevered. I am not arguing that an apostate covenant member was a child of God in the same exact sense as one that didn't apostasize. It just doesn't do justice to Scripture's own terminology and teaching to hold that the warning passages for apostasy are for those who really weren't in the Church, or even in Christ, in some sense--see John 15 again. This is covenant language, see Ps 128 and how it speaks of wives and children. So my argument is that we have to hold the nuance~between what it means to be a child of God. When a person says elect these days, they usually mean the eternally elect person. I think we just need to speak of those that are in the church in covenantal language. It is right, proper and even mandated to speak to the collective church on a Sunday as the elect of God. We are not to narrow more than God does. And it is also okay to speak of them that are eternally elect, we are to believe that all around us are such. "Let God be true and every man a liar." Even a Calvinist has to hold the tension...God looks over some, but somehow, someway, they also choose volitionally and carefully to rebel. The person who falls from grace who had a relationship with Christ (though not saving) did so on purpose.

There are three people out there in the world therefore. The faithful covenant member, the unfaithful covenant member (who will know great judgment) and the pagan. That is my understanding of Scripture. A covenantal Calvinism is what I've found to be most consistent with the Bible.

The reality is the older covenant is still in continuity within the newer covenant. The difference is that there is much greater blessing in the new covenant and there is also much greater judgment-Heb 12:22-29.

Jesus spoke of the danger of removing the tares because of the possible destruction of the wheat.

Heb 6:1-8 speaks of those who are in more than a mere "general" covenant with God but who have been partakers of the Holy Spirit, and yet have fallen away (v.6).

In summary, we don't fear. We trust. And our trust proves itself by working out our salvation with fear and trembling. But we know that Christ is the One that is faithful, who will also do it, as Scripture says.

I know the post is long, I'm just trying to be helpful.

Blessings.

One kingdom or two kingdoms?

I believe a significant juncture point in the debate on whether or not America is a "Christian nation" lies precisely in what constitutes for a binding relationship with God.

The living God is king over all the nations. They are His by right. He still deals with nations and their corruption. He hasn't checked out of the business of settling matters with them and us.

I am studying Is 7-9 this am and God is prophesying through Isaiah that He will bring judgment on Damascus and Samaria part. because they belonged to God by covenant. They were God's people in the sense that mattered for particular judgment. They were not God's people in the sense that they were the remnant, or the truly faith-filled and faithful ones.

We have to maintain those two senses throughout Scripture--there is a way to be God's child and be held in special judgment for spurning His great gifts, and then there is a way to be a child of God and get it. If we try, as many Christians do, to abandon the concept of people belonging to God who yet fall away, then we aren't in accord with Scripture. On the other hand, if we try and abandon that God does preserve that remnant or those truly saved, then we are out of accord with Scripture too.

The biblical answer, like so many things, lies in the middle. "Once saved, always saved baby." Amen. But who is truly saved? Ah, be careful here. Let the secret things be God's and let us take up the signs and seals (baptism, fruit, repentance etc) in which to evaluate others and ourselves.

We don't have reason to doubt for us and for others. God is not capricious. His "bar" is low. Salvation is simply by faith in the gospel. What matters is our present and persevering faith by grace alone as believed on in demonstrated works by us. Our faith's actions are built on Christ's faithfulness. We prove that we really have genuine faith by working it out. This is the way God's world works.

So, tying this back to America as a Christian nation.. God can and does deal with special judgment on America precisely because so many belong to God through baptism, active profession, and attendance to His binding covenant meal--The Lord's Supper. In this sense, we are still a Christian nation.

God judges the household of faith first (I Peter 4:17).

Famine, disease, and poverty will come a plenty if we Christians in this nation do not repent and cast our idols away. The curses of the covenant apply to us because we outnumber the pagans in this nation by baptism, profession and all the hypocritical connection by covenant breakers within the church.

Parenting

I am reading a great little book called, The Things You'll See: Notes to my children on how they were raised. Our children are worth our studying to love them skillfully aren't they? "Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart." Prov. 29:17 "Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." Gal. 6:7

"Pistachio trees need seven years before they'll bear a commercial crop. That's seven years of pruning, watering, and feeding. It's seven years of fighting pests and disease. Seven years of paying attention and seven years of work, tending to matters when they call for it instead of when it's convenient. Farmers go through this for one reason: to bring in crops.

Raising children takes longer and it takes more. More diligence, more feed, more care. It takes more of ourselves. It can't be hired out. But the fruit? No crop compares.

Distinguish between your rules and God's, remembering His are more important.

Don't be petty.

A tyrant rules to please himself.

Say 'yes' often."

All this is from this great little gem of a book. Our children are worth any amount of energy, prayer, thought, study and disciplined training on our part to be a blessing to them!

America the Beautiful ~ Ben's edit

Bold is my edit.


O beautiful, for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with mercy, from sea to shining sea.

O beautiful, for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw;
Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law!

**This 2nd verse is frequently omitted from versions that we sing! I didn't edit anything in it.

O beautiful, for Christians proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self or country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness, and ev'ry gain divine!

O beautiful, for Puritan dream
That sees beyond the years,
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with repentance, from sea to shining sea!

Stubborn

Proverbs 28:13,14
“He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.
14How blessed is the man who fears always,
But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.”


Stubbornness is a great evil……Anybody can be stubborn and excuse it for some notion of righteousness.

I am not fond of the idea that says, "Oh your stubborn? That's okay, being stubborn is a good thing sometimes. You know, sometimes we need to put our foot down about things, to be resolute you know?"
I think we need to call being resolute and determined, just that. We need to set our face like flint when it comes to obeying God. But being stubborn and most of the behavior usually described as being stubborn is just plain pride.
In fact, don't even call the behavior of being stubborn, "stubborn," call it, "Oh, I'm being obstinate today." One definition of obstinacy is: " perversely adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion."
It doesn't take very long to practice this discipline before you are either a) are forced to lie to people or b) shape up and call your actions what they really are.

Here's an illustration:
“Hey Jim, how's that project coming that your employers are teaching you? Oh, to be honest, I am being immature, petty, cocky, arrogant and a prideful ignoramous about it. Oh...okay.. Well, thanks for sharing there Jim, I am just gonna go down the hall here and get a drink of water alright?"

It doesn't take very long of being honest and doing that, to get you serious about pulling up your spiritual pants. "Hey Philip, how are you? I'm strugglin'….. I am so frustrated about what I need to do. Oh..... you mean you are feeling sorry for yourself about lifting up your nose up at obeying God and you're angry at Him for controlling your life? Uhh, no man.... I am just strugglin'. Yeah right, you don't even know what a hard providence is. Now shut your trap, pull up your socks and see with wisdom."
Now, I'm not saying we go around with each other like this! But we need to argue with ourselves like this the next time we want to call ourselves stubborn or that we are “struggling” with something.

Let's commit to not using soft and morally neutral labels to excuse sin. For example: "I am very annoyed today, I've had many irritating things happen to me." Can irritating and bothersome things happen to us? Of course. But saying, "That's annoying, stop it!" Or "He annoys me," needs to be restated as "He angers me," or "you are making me angry." Ah, but it doesn't seem as self-serving to say, "he angers me," or "I'm just arrogant." And yes, it is not self-serving to call sin sin, it is self-condeming, and that is the point. Rather we should say, "I am arrogant, and bent on my haughty attempts to justify myself" which doesn't sound like you're trying to elicit everyone's pity for your tough time with your own sin, it is calling a spaid a spaid.

If we force ourselves to use biblical terminology as much as possible we will be more careful to cut off excuses for our sin.

Charles Spurgeon-a postmillennialist?

"I myself believe that King Jesus will reign, and the idols be utterly abolished; but I expect the same power which turned the world upside down once will still continue to do it. The Holy Ghost would never suffer the imputation to rest upon His holy name that He was not able to convert the world."

Spurgeon believed in Hell.

So what does this "convert the world" mean?

That the nations (collectively,not head-for-head)would be converted all of a sudden when Jesus returns? No. This is not how the Kingdom ever comes in the Bible. It is always slow, steady, and sure. I don't think Spurgeon had the idea that it would be all in an instant either.

Where does that leave us with the great Baptist's comment?

A closet Post-mill or more post-mill than folks would like to admit?

Philip Schaff

"In relation to single Christians, the church is the mother from which they derive their religious life and to which they owe therefore constant fidelity, gratitude, and obedience; she is the power of the objective and general to which the subjective and single should ever be subordinate.

Only in such regular and rational subordination can the individual Christian be truly free; and his personal piety can as little come to perfection apart from an inward and outward communion with the life of church, as a limb separated from the body or a branch torn from the vine."

The Principle of Protestantism

Frustration

We all go through it. Most of us decide to give into our impulses to rant and complain about it.

But I have noticed something about frustration.. When we know that another is going through a rough time with something and we find ourselves around them we do secretly hope that they will do the noble thing. And what is the noble thing? It is to keep quiet about our annoyance and let peace reign over our troubled hearts. This actually engenders respect and sympathy from others when we entrust ourselves to a faithful Creator with a quiet heart. We inwardly cringe and feel ashamed when another vents his anger and we are tempted to disrespect his problem. But when we are going through it, it seems so natural to vent, and so we do often.

But the next time you are frustrated, just keep a cool head, pray and do not lose heart. We shouldn't keep quiet when we are angry just so people will notice us, but it is wisdom to keep silent and a shame to do otherwise. Others notice and respect the discipline when someone does not vent when they have reason, so let us not take the way of shame...

God gives of himself...

Speaking on the incarnation and redemption of the Son, L. Charles Jackson says,

"The power of the gospel is brilliantly enhanced when we are able to say that God did not merely give some being similar to Himself. No, when God gave His only begotten Son on the cross for sinners, He gave Himself to us. We don't get a part of God in the giving of Jesus, we get God Himself. This illuminates something of the beauty of the biblical title Emmanuel, which means 'God with us.' We have a sure salvation because we have God with us."

Faith of Our Fathers

Man, this is good

Proverbs 19:11

A man's discretion makes him slow to anger, And it is his glory to overlook a transgression.

ACA

This is simply Abby...and of course the boy and Hannah

Whew....family of seven.. I'm a rich man.. You should talk to me about investing..

Samuel Rutherford

Ye may yourself ebb and flow, rise and fall, wax and wane; but your Lord is this day as he was yesterday; and it is your comfort that your salvation is not rolled upon wheels of your own making, neither have ye to do with a Christ of your own shaping.

Athanasius

Faith and godliness are connected and are sisters: he who believes in God is not cut off from godliness, and he who has godliness really believes.

Wisdom

This was enough to edify my day:

Proverbs 14:29

"He who is slow to anger has great understanding, But he who is quick-tempered exalts folly."

Church potlucks

From a description of a church that David Hansen pastored:

"It's potlucks were koinonia celebrations and healing services. Sometimes during a dinner I'd just stand off to the side and watch the people minister to each other. People didn't just sit with their friends. Old people were visiting with young people. New people were never alone. I could see people with problems visiting with people who desired to help them. It was no big deal, they just shared their lives with one another and laughed. Laughter was everywhere. People told stories. Fishermen lied to anyone gullible enough to listen. I know that people met Jesus at these potlucks. We just got together and let people visit."

Contentment

God never arranges the circumstances in our lives just the way we want them. We certainly have the blessing of many things that we desire as Americans and blessed Christians, but not everything. He always leaves annoying and vexing things left sitting there--staring us in the face and not leaving like a most unwelcome party crasher.

He does this so that we will not get cocky and lazy. He does this so that we will be left dependent, vulnerable, and a bit restless.

We always need the lesson of submission and humility that annoying things provide...

What is pastoral productivity?

"I've never heard a pastor tell me he or she was too busy praying to do other things. I've only heard pastors say they were too busy doing things like counseling, organizing worship extravagances and managing church affairs to spend much time in prayer. Need we inquire further why the devil wants us busy..." David Hansen

A pastor needs to be spending his time in prayer, deep study of the Word and the culture, preaching sermons and leading in the other parts of worship. On top of that, he needs to spend a lot of his time in shepherding people through friendship and counseling/shepherding.

I have a hard time justifying why we should do much more than the above at all. And to the degree that pastors do much more than the above (give or take a little depending on gifting) the church suffers.

Ken Myers

"...Denominations and sects have flourished in America; we have something like twenty-thousand denominations in this country-some outrageous number like that-because of the fact that we've been instilled with this idea that each individual has the capacity to know truth apart from any tradition, apart from history, apart from what God has done in the church or in nature."

C.S. Lewis' case for the Christian faith - Google Books

C.S. Lewis' case for the Christian faith - Google Books

Great stuff on our being embodied humans that are made to express our love and praise through physical expression--I have in mind prayer and singing esp.

The link puts you on P. 156 of his book, but you must scroll down to the top of P. 157.

Wisdom

This is a sampling of a translation of Proverbs 1-9 that my friend has worked on for years:

"For if to understanding you cry out; To competence you raise your voice; If you seek for her as for silver, and as for hid treasure you hunt for her, Then you will understand the Fear of YHWH, And the knowledge of God you will find;"

The English translators often used the same few words to describe different Hebrew words for a wise life, for wisdom. What came out in my friend's study was the more accurate words competence and resourcefulness for the Hebrew equivalents rather than other more common and generic words.

So, wisdom is competence. It is resourceful. It is circumspect. Wisdom is discipline, my friend translates.

"You see a man who is diligent in his work-he will stand before kings!"

And to quote a line from a man who understood some of these things:

"You will always be in demand if you do your best at whatever your hand finds to do."
Don Sellers

And who is this friendly translator I mentioned? Dr. Michael Collender

Elisabeth Elliot ~ can really deliver

"Recently I committed a sin of what seemed to me unpardonable thoughtlessness. For days I wanted to kick myself around the block. What is the matter with me? I thought. How could I have acted so? 'Fret not thyself because of evildoers' came to mind. In this case the evildoer was myself, and I was fretting. My fretting, I discovered, was a subtle kind of pride. 'I'm really not that sort of person,' I was saying. I did not want to be thought of as that sort of person. I was very sorry for what I had done, not primarily because I had failed someone I loved, but because my reputation would be smudged. When my reputation becomes my chief concern, my repentance has a hollow ring. No wonder Satan is called the deceiver. He has a thousand tricks, and we fall for them. Lord, I confess my sin of thoughtlessness and my sin of pride. I pray for a more loving and purer heart, for Jesus' sake."

Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl

This is the last page from a chapter called, "Your mother was a lizard," where he attacks (Elijah style) evolution and Nietzsche. This excerpt can stand alone but the full value of the book will come when you buy it!

From the book:

"I stand, ripening in the sun, on a street corner by a coffee shop. The world spins on, undisturbed in its route. Summer has come with the loveliness of a mother. Heat, not warmth, now pours onto my face, aging me, taking me closer to death. Let it. I am here to live my story, to love my story. I will not fail to savor any gift out of a desire for self-preservation. Self-preservation is not a great virtue in this story.

I have this world, and everything in it has me, poor trade though it is. I have a barbecue. I will use it tonight. Over my shoulder a girl approaches, pushing a wheelchair. A man sits in it, twisted, drool dried on chapped lips beneath the tangles of an untrimmed moustache. Nietzsche's voice is hard to understand. 'The Christian concept of a god (Nietzsche says) as the patron of the sick, the god as a spinner of cobwebs, the god as a spirit--is one of the most corrupt concepts that has ever been set up in the world: it probably touches the low-water mark in the ebbing evolution of the god-type.'

I want to ruffle his hair. I want to take the poor Lutheran boy's head in my hands and kiss his creased forehead. It is all I can do. I cannot set a bone, let alone a soul.

He moves on, preaching unbelief to an empty street.

And I move on, with the sun on my face. Clouds are growing in the west, glorious clouds piled up with rowdy care and sparked with electric life. I fill my lungs with the world, with this life, with this gift beyond containing. There is only one thing I can say. Thank you. And I must say it with my life. Through my life. To the end of my life.

And after."

Can Christians write good stories?

"Christians have long neglected the craft in favor of Sunday School moralism..."

Listen to this excellent interview of Nathan Wilson by Kevin Swanson, pastor in CO:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=63009110501

Hello there stranger!

This is for my anonymous responder.. Following the thread on "Relationships"

Thanks for the reply! Feel free to show yourself ;) Or not.

I agree, there are times when relational weakness masks itself by showing itself strong in "ministries" at the expense of family. This is a large problem. It is so very easy to give the best of ourselves over to everything and anything other than the family God has given us. May God help us from hypocrisy.

At the same time, I have also observed another form of imbalance. That is, families that hole themselves up at the expense of living/dieing for the Church. Richard Lusk has two fantastic sermons on the problem of patriarchalism, where the family becomes more primary than the "institutional" (if you will) Church. You can listen here: http://www.trinity-pres.net/audio/sermon05-09-18.mp3 The title is: "The Church and Her Rivals Part I: Against the Family. and Part II is: The Church and Her Rivals Part II: Focus the Family. It was Sep. 18 and 25 of 2005. They are very well done.

So, whereas the appearance of busyness in serving others can be a mask towards familial failure, it isn't always the case. I have definitely been in more traditional evangelical churches that could rebuke us in some chief relational ministries in which the Lord has blessed them. I will say though, they usually were at least Calvinistic or close thereto.

Thanks for the encouragement, and the Lord's blessing on you!

Fatty

The other day our neighbor cat that we have named Fatty plopped himself/herself? down in the middle of the street. Like Adam, I named him as he is because he looks like a cow both in weight and fur.

So there was Fatty.. Two cars piled up behind this queen and she ain't movin'. She just stared at them. Her tail lapped the cement as if to say, "I dare you to drive over me."

The cars drove around our neighborhood queen by the way.

Just thought I'd share..

Don't be petty

This is my prayer today against all my pettiness.

This is my war today against small-mindedness.

Slay narrow minded thoughts. Stop trying to bring God down to your simple outlook. Don't try and bring the beauty, difficulty, and complexity of the messiness of life down to something that only your pea brain can manage. God won't be limited, why do I try and limit Him to the plane of my finitude? Let God be God in your life and in the world. His messiness is better than my attempts to control.

Stop trying to force God's wondrous multiplicity (the Trinity) into my unitarian tidiness of my 1x1x1 comfortable space.

Julia's not too far behind this, and I have 3 others!

beach in Newport

that would be another shark!

Petting baby sharks

The area around the OR coast aquarium --probably why it was so expensive to get in!

Abby's hair showed enjoyment in the humidity

NOT the view of an average hike!

Hannah

Trip to OR coast 09 1st of several pics

I was able to get some decent close up shots

Hard Work

"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going." Eccl. 9:10

We know that our work in Christ Jesus will stand in the resurrection (one verse to support this is Heb 6:10-"For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister").

But we have one life to live before the perfection of the resurrection.

I am strongly reminded from time to time that one of the simple differences between mature believers and more immature is plain old hard work at whatever you're doing.

But hard work is always a bit more romantic in another man's field...

The darker elements of some Youth ministries

For those of you who haven't seen this on Doug Wilson's blog here you go:

Pastor Alexander at 75?

Notice the gray hair under the chin!

American religion

..."What was new with the American experiment in religious liberty (and implicitly in religious diversity) was the rationale used by both secularists and the devout for this new arrangement of religion and public life." D. G. Hart

An "arrangement" of over-reaction against the abuses of the European Christian nations, secularism, and an overall bowing down to the Enlightenment ideals of which we are now paying dearly... Jesus as Lord should have pervaded the Constitution and all government work. Not that by doing so would have ensured spiritual utopia but we should have declared Jesus our King instead of ourselves (the people, demos)

koinania~Fellowship

"We often say that we have had fellowship when all we mean is that we have taken part in some Christian social enterprise of this sort. But we ought not to talk in such terms. The fact that we share social activities with other Christians does not of itself imply that we have fellowship with them. To say this is not, of course, to deny that there may be a place for these activities. Our point is simply that to equate these activities with fellowship, and fellowship with them, is an abuse of Christian language."
J.I. Packer

Purgatory

If there was such a thing as Purgatory, I am now almost completely convinced that my punishment would be to write and edit my own stuff, while the demons would never ever be satisfied with it. I would have to fiddle with it for 1,000 years, always writing and never able to come to a final product!

I say this in all jest ;)

The Lord's Dinner

A good summary of the Lord’s Supper is stated by the Westminster Shorter Catechism (1647) under Q. 96 What is the Lord’s Supper?

A. “The Lord’s Supper is a sacrament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine, according to Christ’s appointment, His death is shewed forth; and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of His body and blood, with all His benefits, to their spiritual nourishment, and growth in grace.” Just as surely as we partake of the Table we receive grace and strength by the power of the Holy Spirit. There is no magic power in the bread and wine, we are partaking in covenant faith. God’s words about the efficacious nature of His sacrifice are apprehended by faith as we “eat” on Him as our Passover Lamb. There is mystery in the Lord’s Supper. There is mystery between a man and his wife when they come together in sexual union that strengthens their relationship with one another. How is it that a man is joined in a deeper way, not merely a physical way when he joins himself to a whore as Paul mentions. Shall Christ be made member of a harlot? There are invisible, deep, covenantal and highly spiritual/emotional lines that are made with our God. Paul calls it a mystery in Eph. 5 when he speaks of the marriage relationship like that of the relationship between Christ and His bride. And there is mystery involved when we renew fellowship and communion with our Savior-through eating and drinking. This is what we do when we want to grow in true fellowship and relationship with friends around the table, and esp. family. So it is with the Lord’s Table, we are growing up into the Head which is Christ together as one family.

Isaiah Miles B'Day Party--Father-Son camping trip

Columbia River Gorge

Vacation to OR coast!

Relationships

I think that the “reformed church” in general lacks a strong philosophy of how God grows people primarily, and that is through other people themselves in close interaction. That is putting it in a very general and basic sense but let me elaborate. At minimum, it is prioritizing the other person by spending ample amounts of time with them face to face, helping them connect the “dots of life.” We Americans have a hard time with this reality I think. Other cultures are superior in this regard. We just simply value projects and lectures etc., etc more than talking, listening, and struggling with others in their lives. It takes tons of time and we often might not respect the time it takes to do those things well. We grow though, not solely, but most significantly by a back and forth process of slow, organic, and mutual sharing of lives with others. This is a philosophy of ministry that has as its center the centrality of relationships. I can find no better grounding for this other than the triune God. I believe this is who God is and how He changes us—through incarnations of himself in others to us, and us to others. It is a personal ministry, in other words. This of course, is the grounding for any ministry. I see this with Jesus’ life with his disciples. If the rich will not have this kind of ministry of love and shepherding, because they feel like they don’t need it, then this ministry may be most effective in helping those that know they really need a physician. This is why I think opening up a counseling ministry in a poor area is a noble attempt at ministering the gospel to the community, to the "world." Is this not how many aggressive evangelical churches have powerfully effective ministries to those washed up on the shore of broken lives? I do think the “reformed” need to learn a thing or two from these Christians.

Douglas Wilson--on stout, good 'ol'fashioned Calvinistic theology on God's holiness

"Holiness is not manageable. Holiness does not come in a shrink-wrapped box. Holiness is not marketable. Holiness is not tame. Holiness is not sweetsy-nice. Holiness is not represented by kitschy figurines. Holiness is not smarmy. Holiness is not unctuous. Holiness is not domesticated. But worship a god who is housebroken to all your specifications, and what is the result? Depression, and a regular need for sedatives--better living through chemistry.

Holiness is wild. Holiness is three tornadoes in a row. Holiness is a series of black thunderheads coming in off the bay. Holiness is impolite. Holiness is darkness to make a sinful man tremble. Holiness beckons us to that darkness, where we do not meet ghouls and ghosts, but rather the righteousness of God. Holiness is a consuming fire. Holiness melts the world. And when we fear and worship a God like this, what is the result?

Gladness of heart." This is classic Calvinistic theology at its best. It's effect is peace and joy and not glowering at others. "Hard teaching makes soft people. Soft teaching makes hard people." Jim Wilson

Review of a two-hour read-a book on critical reasoning

I just "read" in a two-hour reading: How To Think Straight by Antony Flew. Why was I reading a book with that title from an atheist? That's a good Q. My thoughts are that the bullet points on the front cover are worth more than the words in the book, though I have to admit that I read it in an overview type of fashion.

The bullet points were these:
"Find the motive. Watch your words. Look ahead. Figure it out. Look for causes. Don't be snowed. Be precise. Watch for sham. Sort fact from bunk. Reason with those who can reason. Don't set a plan in concrete. Take care without paranoia. Assert, deny, propose, refute."

A quote from one of our culture's gods

"Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing can ever be made." Immanuel Kant 1724-1804 I would disagree with him, but he certainly spoke true of his own life and thought.

Fear and a guilty conscience

Do you have a holy, healthy, and happy conscience? A Christian should have, but often can be loaded up with shameful guilt just like the world, or worse. One of the most important blessings you should pray for and receive is a holy, healthy, and happy conscience. A healthy conscience comes through faithful obedience by magnificent and benevolent grace. Receiving grace establishes confidence and rids us of fear.
This is the core of what it means to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Our devotion book, the Psalms, puts it this way, “Oh that my ways may be established to keep Your statutes! Then I shall not be ashamed When I look upon all Your commandments.” In another place, but it’s all over the Psalms it says, “For I wait for Your ordinances. So I will keep Your law continually, Forever and ever. And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts.” He is saying that he will be able to walk in a wide place, with an enlarged heart of confidence and joy because of the perfect law of liberty that gives him hope and security in this troubled world with troubled souls.

Every day, in the world out there, we buy things from people, we sell things to them, we hold conversations with folks who have severely troubled consciences…. Many more than we realize could be labeled “mentally unhealthy” if you included the sickly, dirty, and depressed guilt and shame through disobedience (instead of a holy, healthy, and happy conscience) that people carry around on themselves through every level of society.

We live in a sea of people laden with guilt. There are many Christians on Prozac and many more that are drugged on the addictive substance called, “Worried conscience Level 5.” Every morning we, Oooopsss! I mean they get up and pop in the 6 pills they have neatly laid out besides their bed in order, mind you: 1) disobedience and laziness (that’s one pill) 2) the pill “guilt therefore” and pill # 3) “shame because you’re guilty,” and feeling bad from the side effects of pills 1 and 2. 4) And this pill is by prescription only, you can get the rest easy from the over-the-counter store called “I am having a pity party in my heart. The 4th pill is called “1000 milligrams of mando worry.” This pill is great for illusions of grandeur and doing great feats of obedience but the unfortunate side effect are sometimes frequent day-dreaming of Satan doing all sorts of evil things to you and your family. You really need the 5th pill to balance it all out. It’s called, “Fear-morphine” and it allows you to daydream all day long about bad things that have never happened and you can sit around and watch movies all the time on the comfy couch and not worry about all the lions roaming around on the street.. Be careful with these pills brethren. They are addictive, and the following side effects can happen, but do check with your doctor: feelings of selfishness, self-disillusionment, bed-wetting, anxiety, zero creativity, muffled laughter, the refusal of the facial muscles to stretch into a smile, complaining about the cold weather, and an overall depression….but don’t worry, these side effects are rare,

Signed your affectionate and loving Uncle, Screwtape.

Keep sowing friend

PSALM 126:4-6
“Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting. He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”

Because of the resurrection, we can sow in faith. There is no good work accomplished in the name of Christ through faith that you have ever done that will not sprout up and bear fruit. All those tears, all that sorrow, all that entrusting yourself to a faithful Creator, is not in vain…. Psalm 126 is the Psalm of thanksgiving for those returning from exile. Jesus Christ has brought us out of bondage and exile from the absolute misery of sin being ourselves entrapped in total depravity. Now, in faith, all freedom and peace is complete in Christ Jesus.
So, brothers and sisters, on this day, as in every Resurrection Day, know that Jesus will wipe away all your tears; all your suffering, pain, and unfulfilled hopes will be forgotten in the light of the Son of God. Our salvation is accomplished to the uttermost. Today we celebrate in reality what will only come more in fullness and completion in That Day. On the Lord’s Day, we celebrate the microcosm of the New Heavens and the New Earth. Do not give up hope in frustration! There will come a day when we who have sown in tears over many long years, yes with thorns and thistles and many heartaches,we will be vindicated! There will come a day when there will no longer be any death; or mourning, or crying, or pain; “those who sow in tears…..will reap with joyful shouting!! “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord…”

Exhortation

Matt. 28:18 Rev. 5:10

Roger has worked at Empire Steel now for 11 years. He can’t believe how time has flown by. Everyone at work knows that he is a Christian. They know because he doesn’t drop the f-bombs, and he at least tries not to look at those……. Pictures…… that his co-workers hang in conspicuous places where the eyes naturally fall…….. He doesn’t remember exactly how it came to be that he eats lunch by himself. But he’s glad to have it that way. “Those obnoxious brutes, always joking about dirty stuff ((and I assure you, it is dirty)) and trading gross jokes that aren’t even funny.”
He doesn’t realize that they esp. bring up the muck when he’s around because they know it will annoy him, and because, frankly, they don’t really know him. Roger hasn’t even tried. Roger ostracizes himself from them. “Man, I’m glad I’m not dumb like that, ” Roger muttered as he went by with a contemptuously look……..
The truth is, he doesn’t like ‘em. In fact, he despises them. He hates their attitude, speech, work-habits and everything. He hates them really. “Being surrounded by all that filth depresses me and doesn’t help me to do all the duties I need to do as a Christian…”
So, Roger has carved for himself a little niche at Empire Steel. It’s a niche that you could call isolation. He’s a minority in the factory as far as Christians go, but the problem is, he has let that minority status go to his head…Roger feels guilty about not evangelizing sometimes. “Yeah, I know I should drop some tracts off at their table. I know I should have the courage to come up to those guys and rebuke their sin and lifestyle. They wouldn’t listen though.” So he eats alone, doesn’t pursue them. He chooses not to get himself messy with those sinners, and pursue them as friends. Roger likes it that way, it gives him peace to sit in his office listening to Christian music and not being worldly with “those guys.” “Christians are just a’passin through, he reminded himself. This world is not my home.

Well…..The dirty boys in the corner, “those guys,” think Roger is stuck up. They talk about him because he’s weird, and doesn’t do anything fun. “Man, said one guy, he don’t look like he don’t have no fun anyway…… He can care less about the people who work here, he just keeps to himself. Look at him, over there praying for like 10 min’s…. Man, he does that to make us look bad…."

Roger read his Bible during lunch that day, this is a portion of what he read: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” But he didn’t make the connection to his work. He felt defeated and complained in his heart. “I wish I was in ministry” he said out loud…

And Post 6 of 6 of Hannah's Family Poems

"Julia"
cranky babe, wanting babe
Quiet, chubby
going out, music, copying, dancing, drawing
screaming

!!

Post 5 of 6 of Hannah's Family Poems

"Elijah"
Brave, giving
Red ears, small fingernails
Working, writing, playing, snacks, Abby
Climbing

Nutcrackerness

Post 4 of 6 of Hannah's Family Poems

"Abby"
Excited, happy
curly hair, short toenails
Cooking, games, sleeping, working together, books
staying home

Sisters

Post 3 of 6 of Hannah's Family Poems

"Hannah"

Happy, Excited
Heart Face, long hair
Soccer, pink, hiking, friends, books
Loving

Jesus is Lord, where?

"It would have been much easier on the early Christians, of course, if they had preached the popular retreatist doctrine that Jesus is Lord of the "heart," that He is concerned with "spiritual" (meaning non-earthly) conquests, but isn't the least bit interested in political questions; that He is content to be "Lord" in the realm of the spirit, while Caesar is Lord everywhere else (i.e., where we feel it really matters). Such a doctrine would have been no threat whatsoever to the gods of Rome. In fact, Caesar couldn't ask for a more cooperative religion! Toothless, impotent Christianity is a gold mine for statism: It keeps men's attention focused on the clouds while the State picks their pockets and steals their children."

Part 2 of 6 of Hannah's Family Poems

"Jana"
Happy, enjoying
Blond hair, blue eyes
Teaching, parties, books, daddy, caring
Kindness

Part I of 6 of Hannah's Family Poems

"Ben"
Excited, loving
Brown beard, blue eyes
Camping, baseball, summer, mom, vacations
Hoping

Julia's a jewel

 

Spring is trying

 

Elijah's war with the window frame

 

Good Stuff

"Those who love Your law have great peace, And nothing causes them to stumble."

Psalm 119:165

A little structure from Ps 103, a great poetic Psalm

Bless the LORD, O my soul------vv1,2
(sentence)
Bless the LORD
(sentence)

Who pardons------------vv. 3-5
Who heals
Who redeems
Who crowns
Who satisfies

(my words, building from the words in the Psalm) He does all this because He is compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness. He has not dealt with us according to our sins. Then you see the height and the breadth of God's lovingkindness and compassion in vv. 11,12

Then listen to this: "As a father pities his children,
So the LORD pities those who fear Him.
¹⁴ For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
¹⁶ For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
And its place remembers it no more.^a]">[a]
¹⁷ But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
¹⁸ To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them."

Then the Psalm ends with the same structure with which it begun:

Bless the LORD, you His angels
(explanatory sentence-2)
Bless the LORD, all you His hosts,
(explan. sentence)
Bless the LORD, all you works of His,
(explan. sentence)
Bless the LORD, O my soul!

a rich Psalm, part. vv. 13-18

Psalms Bible Grammar

I have been creating a "Bible Grammar" for the Psalms--a one sentence summary of each Psalm so that I can study and memorize as many Psalm topics as possible.. This study of the Psalms has been incredible for my meditation and communion with the living God, I highly recommend it!

Also, at ordination examinations, the Q. has been asked, "Name the topic of each Psalm in the book of Psalms going as far as you can beginning with chapter 1." I would like to go as far as I can beyond the first 5 chapters!

Filling out ethnicity

I had to fill in my ethnic origins the other day. After seeing all the options, I was weary of the tired and overly general "White-Caucasian" box. Esp. after seeing the box entitled "Pacific-Islander." So I rebelled. In the "Other" category, I filled in "English, German, Irish, and Dutch," all of which is quite true, thank-you very much.

The Princess and the Goblin

"I am very old indeed. It is so silly of people to fancy that old age means crookedness and witheredness and feebleness and sticks and spectacles and rheumatism and forgetfulness! It is so silly! Old age has nothing whatever to do with all that. The right old age means strength and beauty and mirth and courage and clear eyes and strong painless limbs."

The little princess then said to her grandmother,

"I wish I were as old as you, grandmother. I don't think you are ever afraid of anything. 'Not for long, at least, my child. Perhaps by the time I am two thousand years of age, I shall, indeed, never be afraid of anything.....'"

From Ecclesia Reformanda-http://www.ecclesiareformanda.org.uk/

The Maximalist Hermeneutics of James B. Jordan

R. S. Clarke

Abstract

James B. Jordan's maximalist hermeneutic seeks to read the Bible in a way that allows the depth and richness of its meaning to be discerned. The relationship between special and general revelation is important, as the world teaches us how to understand the Bible, and the Bible shows us how to interpret the world. The reader of the Bible should learn to be sensitive to all its literary tropes, in particular its rich symbolism and typology. Controls on this maximalist hermeneutic are not found in externally imposed rules but in theological and ecclesiastical traditions which themselves derive from the Bible.

Stuffing people in corrugated boxes and climbing up on them

EXHORTATION

PIGEON HOLES AND BOXES.... A friend of mine mentioned to me how sometimes others can put us in a box of their assessment of us and then keep us there. I think I agree with him, sometimes that does happen.

Do you feel like this has ever happened to you? Someone else sized you up entirely to quickly without even really getting to know you? Most of us have probably felt this way at one time or another. And why, why do we do this?

I think we do this because we want to make things easier for ourselves and our egos. If we can put someone in a box as it were, or in a nice compartmentalized pigeon hole, then it gives our sense of mind a nice tidy way to manage people. It's just too much work and energy in sizing up folks to allow for little mysteries and questions of other's character to let dangle around in our minds. It's too messy that way. And we don't like not being able to figure someone out. (Of course it doesn't help if we don't allow people to get to know us by keeping others guessing with riddles.) but we'll get to that in a second.

For now, can I encourage us to not feel the need to one-up each other? To stack up all the people that we have put in nice 4x4x4 boxes so that we can in turn climb up over everyone to be "King of the Hill." We desire to do this because we make up for what lacks in our own discipline by pushing the other down and exalting our superiority over them. "Yeah, she's pretty, but I'm taller." "Okay, he makes more money than I do, but let's face it, I'm more intelligent." "Alright, alright, (our mind tells us) he's a better athlete than I, but I know the intricacies of what is really cool." "She's better than me at sewing, but I could do that too, if I wanted to, I just don't." We search for excuses to justify ourselves better... "My intellect is sharper, I'm more beautiful, I'm more creative, at least I don't do THAT! and that is why I am a little better than him, a little better than her. Only in Christ of course....." Right....... isn't that how it goes my brothers and sisters?

Instead, what needs to happen, is we need to take that evil competition and boasting and put that in a box! Don't be selfish and make others have to do complex character riddles to know you. We want others to seek us out like lost treasure, but we aren't as willing to seek after others.

Brothers and sisters, do not do this. Replace the desire to position yourself more righteous with the greater desire to be humbled by one another and to be each other's best supporters, your neighbor's best fan. Stick up for one another, give the benefit of the doubt because the people around you this morning are YOUR people,

This is one clear way we can increase in love for one another more and more, as Paul says in I Thess. 3:12

This reminds us of our need to confess our sins,

Annelise Pipkin!

Ripping out a page in my Bible that I don't like

Yes, I confess. I don't like a certain page in my Bible. I don't agree with it theologically. I ripped it out. I feel so much better...

It was the page that tends to divide and space out psychologically the OT from the NT, the blank page that says, "New American Standard Bible-----------------------The New Testament"

thanks Foundation Publications for trying to lay things out clearly so I can read better, but we already have enough problems with not seeing the organic unity of redemptive history and the centrality of the Torah for the 1st Cent. context.

Other People

If I was a good writer and one of the chosen few, "Other people" is the article I would have written for the cultural magazine called "Credenda Agenda." Hopefully the latest Credenda will be accessible via the web before too long, but don't count on it as the Credenda before last hasn't even been promoted to the web yet. credenda.org is their website but you'll probably want to just sign up to get it at Christ Church 208.882.2034

But, the article is fantastic...Good job Toby. Peter Leithart's "Making Room" goes hand in hand with it too, excellent.

Lost femininity

I saw a purple Chevy today hiked up on its axles. On the mudflaps were the silhouettes of a naked male in silver. This is a sad and ironic example of a woman who truly has given herself over to a masculine problem with sexual lust in a masculine way. Whether she realizes it or not, her message is saying, "I have no femininity, I lust for men just like men tend to lust for women. To me, this is a very low position for something so glorious as a--woman... To be so degraded in one's sexuality that she would adopt the very form that degrades her very sex... Some man out there in her life, ought to be shot in the thigh..

But then, maybe what looked like a woman in the cab, maybe was a man.

Billy Sunday

I'm not fond of Billy Sunday, but this was good,

Jesus was "no dough-faced, lick-spittle proposition" but "the greatest scrapper that ever lived." Sunday (apparently my words) offered followers a "hard-muscled, pick-axed religion," not some "dainty, sissified, lily-livered piety."

Thomas Wentworth Higginson "Saints and Their Bodies" cited in Kimmel, Manhood in America.

Nancy Pearcey, Total Truth.