I find it difficult to be nostalgic about High School. I'm not bitter. I wasn't the loser kid, but I was definitely not the cool kid, not even close. Besides, all the kids who got made fun of the most in my school have turned out to be the most successful. Nerds really do rule the world. (Admit it jocko). Anyways, it just wasn't a great time for me. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good. Not that I didn't like my friends, I did, and I do, but are they really my friends anymore. I guess once a friend always a friend, but... you all know what I'm saying.
I'm really into my friends right now, and have no way of knowing if I'll still be really into them in ten years. I know I will be into at least one. I don't know, I just feel like every person I haven't talked to in years and didn't even talk to in high school, wants to be my facebook friend. This is really strange to me. I guess going to the same High School qualifies for a friendship. To those who were the guys I hung out with in High School. I am gladly your friend on facebook. I'm mainly talking about those who I never ever talked to. Weird phenomenon.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
The False Dichotomy of Reality or (What I Thought About Today)
Today is Monday. I spent the hours of 7am-9am in staff meeting. (For Steamtown Church) Then I went home and prayed for two hours. It was refreshing. I read the story of the fall of Jerusalem in the book of Jeremiah and it was moving. Then I continued my singing (yes I sing to myself) and praying through the Psalms. The Psalms are divided into several books. Right now I am going through Book One. Most of the Psalms are written by David, King of Israel. And the Psalms are composed in such way as to function collectively. Each Psalms plays off the themes of the preceding Psalms. It's like a huge concept album, the individual psalms functioning like songs in an album, but also with a holistic form. It's quite the spiritual experience.
I got on the bus when I was finished with my spiritual exercise. All that I experienced was negativity and complaining. This attitude pervades the social atmosphere of Scranton, where I reside, a town which I love, a town which I serve in the name of redemption. The contrast was stark between my past spiritual exercise and this 10 minute bus ride. By the time I got off the bus, nearly all of the positivity was sucked out of me. All this to say that an atmosphere is a powerful thing.
I find that human beings are embarrassingly susceptible to becoming their culture. Loaded statement I know, but think about how hard it is to "be yourself" (whatever that means.) In fact some people are so inundated into the culture or subculture they find themselves in that they do not know and cannot know their identity outside of the culture. However, I am not so sure that letting culture define us is so wrong. I am not even sure that's its possible to know yourself outside of the culture. Is there really a person in there, who is pure and untouched by experiences, or people, or worldview? Really I mean, who is the real you? And what makes you think that you are at any point, not the real you? If you do not know who you really are, at what point do you know when you're being real? Is the real me, the one who thinks life is great and God is good , or is the real me the one who thinks life stinks and God doesn't care. I suppose it depends on whether I'm at home or on a bus. Of course the real me doesn't depend on my context. The thing is there is no such thing as the fake me, just the real me, who is always whatever I am. In certain situations, the right attitude is difficult to maintain, but never impossible. I could be at home with a crappy attitude, and on that bus with an understanding that God is in control.
But at atmosphere is powerful. If one does not understand this, that one is susceptible to thinking however they feel is however it is. The key is not figuring out the real you, but what the "real" person would do in your situation. I will explain later. Keep it real.
I got on the bus when I was finished with my spiritual exercise. All that I experienced was negativity and complaining. This attitude pervades the social atmosphere of Scranton, where I reside, a town which I love, a town which I serve in the name of redemption. The contrast was stark between my past spiritual exercise and this 10 minute bus ride. By the time I got off the bus, nearly all of the positivity was sucked out of me. All this to say that an atmosphere is a powerful thing.
I find that human beings are embarrassingly susceptible to becoming their culture. Loaded statement I know, but think about how hard it is to "be yourself" (whatever that means.) In fact some people are so inundated into the culture or subculture they find themselves in that they do not know and cannot know their identity outside of the culture. However, I am not so sure that letting culture define us is so wrong. I am not even sure that's its possible to know yourself outside of the culture. Is there really a person in there, who is pure and untouched by experiences, or people, or worldview? Really I mean, who is the real you? And what makes you think that you are at any point, not the real you? If you do not know who you really are, at what point do you know when you're being real? Is the real me, the one who thinks life is great and God is good , or is the real me the one who thinks life stinks and God doesn't care. I suppose it depends on whether I'm at home or on a bus. Of course the real me doesn't depend on my context. The thing is there is no such thing as the fake me, just the real me, who is always whatever I am. In certain situations, the right attitude is difficult to maintain, but never impossible. I could be at home with a crappy attitude, and on that bus with an understanding that God is in control.
But at atmosphere is powerful. If one does not understand this, that one is susceptible to thinking however they feel is however it is. The key is not figuring out the real you, but what the "real" person would do in your situation. I will explain later. Keep it real.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Idealism and Realism
I am an idealist. To me that means that I try to make my life fit my values. A realist is somebody who tries make their values fit their life. Those of you reading this who are idealists are saying: "Yeah so?" those of you are realists are saying the same thing. If you're a realist, if you're consistent you're also immoral. If you have a moral base, you are inconsistent. We idealists, may be depressed all the time being discontent with how things are, knowing the way that they should be. But at least we're not in denial.
This is a rant.
This is a rant.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Salvation and Suffering Part Two
The idea that I am about to write about has been written about well in many books. One of the more popular books being "Jesus Wants to Save Christians" by Rob Bell. This is the idea that throughout the Bible and Judeo-Christian history the people of God have been persecuted and rescued from persecution on such a regular basis that one can reasonably believe that persecution is a distinctive of being "the people of God"as well as a major theme of the Bible. From Egypt to Babylon; Persia to Rome; the Crusades to the Holocaust, to the present day persecutions of almost epidemic proportions, the "people of God" have suffered at the hands of the unjust. Indeed the symbol of our faith is the innocent Jesus, blessing His persecutors. Jesus' type is David who wrote a seemingly unending amount of Psalms asking God to deliver Him from his enemies. The Bible begins to come alive and really make sense when we put ourselves in the place of a persecuted people. With the lens of persecution on, books like
1 Peter, Philippians, 2 Timothy, James, and Revelation become surprisingly clear. Persecution is the world that the Biblical writers lived in. It's the framework from which Jewish people understand who they are. They see themselves as the persecuted people of God, awaiting their deliverer, Messiah. Paul, James, Peter and John were of course Jewish people operating in a Jewish framework. And we are part of the Jewish heritage. I assert that, given everything I have written so far, that we would be seriously lacking in our understanding of our faith, if we are lacking in our understanding of persecution, not only cognitively, but also experientially. Persecution is to the people of God what the Big Mac is to McDonald's. The New Testament is essentially the Apostles trying to understand and explain their Jewish religion in light of Jesus' being the crucified and Resurrected Messiah. Considering that suffering and persecution was the standard of their lives, (they all were martyred, with the possible exception of John) a suffering Messiah was perfectly in line with their experience. The New Testament is a rearticulation of the Jewish faith in light of Jesus' Messiahship, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and imminent return.
We claim that in Jesus we are the people of God, the church. I don't know if the Bible teaches that persecution is a prerequisite for Christianity. I would doubt that because faith is the first prerequisite on our part. But if we find ourselves avoiding persecution at all costs, it is reasonable to check our faith. If we are in the world so much that we are actually of the world, the world will not hate us, and we will have no way to identify with our leader. (Jesus) The people of God have always been a threat to society, not in a violent or manipulative way, but society is threatened by a group of people committed to justice, righteousness, and Jesus. True dialogue must begin on what this looks like. For we cannot force persecution. As Peter says our suffering is not godly suffering if it is not "as a Christian". In other words, there is basic suffering that everyone experiences, and then there is persecution that comes from the hands of the same unjust opposition that crucified our Savior. We're not looking for it, or avoiding it. One is simply left to wonder: If I never suffer persecution, am I really a Christian? Am I really one of the people of God?
1 Peter, Philippians, 2 Timothy, James, and Revelation become surprisingly clear. Persecution is the world that the Biblical writers lived in. It's the framework from which Jewish people understand who they are. They see themselves as the persecuted people of God, awaiting their deliverer, Messiah. Paul, James, Peter and John were of course Jewish people operating in a Jewish framework. And we are part of the Jewish heritage. I assert that, given everything I have written so far, that we would be seriously lacking in our understanding of our faith, if we are lacking in our understanding of persecution, not only cognitively, but also experientially. Persecution is to the people of God what the Big Mac is to McDonald's. The New Testament is essentially the Apostles trying to understand and explain their Jewish religion in light of Jesus' being the crucified and Resurrected Messiah. Considering that suffering and persecution was the standard of their lives, (they all were martyred, with the possible exception of John) a suffering Messiah was perfectly in line with their experience. The New Testament is a rearticulation of the Jewish faith in light of Jesus' Messiahship, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and imminent return.
We claim that in Jesus we are the people of God, the church. I don't know if the Bible teaches that persecution is a prerequisite for Christianity. I would doubt that because faith is the first prerequisite on our part. But if we find ourselves avoiding persecution at all costs, it is reasonable to check our faith. If we are in the world so much that we are actually of the world, the world will not hate us, and we will have no way to identify with our leader. (Jesus) The people of God have always been a threat to society, not in a violent or manipulative way, but society is threatened by a group of people committed to justice, righteousness, and Jesus. True dialogue must begin on what this looks like. For we cannot force persecution. As Peter says our suffering is not godly suffering if it is not "as a Christian". In other words, there is basic suffering that everyone experiences, and then there is persecution that comes from the hands of the same unjust opposition that crucified our Savior. We're not looking for it, or avoiding it. One is simply left to wonder: If I never suffer persecution, am I really a Christian? Am I really one of the people of God?
Friday, October 30, 2009
Salvation and Suffering Part One
When the prophet Jeremiah was sitting in a rotten well because his peers threw him down there for being a dissenter, disturber of the peace, menace, hater of Judah, enemy of the Jews, hater of God, (all of which he wasn't) he must have wondered if he was crazy to believe God when He said to Jeremiah,
"And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. But you dress yourself for work; arise and say to them everything that I command you before them. And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to delver you."
Perhaps Jeremiah wondered what God meant when he said "They will fight against you, if being thrown down a well was merely "fighting" as opposed to "prevailing". When your sitting at the bottom of a well, there because your peers put you there, it feels like anything but victory. It feels like the opposite of "they shall not prevail against you."
Perhaps when Abraham was told by God to sacrifice the same child that God had promised him would be the progenitor of Abraham's eternal line, Old Abe wondered if the voices that told him to "leave your Father's house and go to a land that I will show you" were really the voices in his head. Maybe he thought God had just gone sadistic.
We know that Job, upon losing everything, (literally everything but his life), in one day didn't curse God, but he sure had a lot of questions.
Surely Elijah wondered how God could throw down fire from heaven and consume an alter of water, but be unable to keep the wicked queen from coming after him.
John the Baptist, while sitting in prison, wondered, "Did I baptize the wrong guy?"
And Jesus, perhaps he was just simply quoting Scripture in lieu of the prophetic tradition, when He cried "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", though sinless, one wonders; did Jesus not have a ready answer to his question?
It's a good thing that with these cases we get the end of the story. For Abraham was stopped from sacrificing Isaac. Job was given a family again, with even greater wealth than he had possessed before. The queen was eventually killed, and Elijah was kept safe. John the Baptist, got an answer from Jesus. We can assume he believed Him. And Jesus, this may be of most importance, rose again.
But what about Jeremiah? When did God come through on his promise to Jeremiah? Remember God had said, "they will fight against you but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you" How was this promise fulfilled? Well, as the story goes, after years of listening to Jeremiah spout off judgment as God's mouthpiece, and mocking, ignoring, and punishing, him, Jeremiah's prophecy of the takeover of Jerusalem came true, and these people were put in captivity in Babylon. And the thing is, had it not come true, Jeremiah would've been stoned according to Deuteronomy 18. That's what you did to false prophets. But Jeremiah's deliverance, was not as tangible as Abraham's, Job's, or Jesus'. John's deliverance was graver than Jeremiah's even. John lost his head. But Jeremiah was left in Jerusalem, with all the others that the Babylonian conquerors considered useless; the old, the sick, and the handicapped. It's quite sad. But its quite remarkable as well. Jeremiah faithfully preached the message of judgment and repentance for his whole life in obedience to God's Word, without having any repentance occur, and on top of that received an onslaught of beatings, mockings, and imprisonment, only to end up a refugee in his own country. God certainly kept his promise. They did not prevail against Jeremiah. But was Jeremiah better for it? If he were a false prophet, he would've been stoned. If he were no prophet, he would still be a refugee. But one word both describes Jeremiah and vindicates his potentially pointless life: example. Jeremiah is for all time an example of what unwavering obedience looks like. And all these people were in a predicament as bad as Jeremiahs. But Jeremiah had one thing on them. He was right. Never again could Jeremiah be accused of being a dissenter, or an enemy of God. In fact, no one could ever doubt that Jeremiah knew God. Could there be a better distinction to have? Vindication came. It came in God's time, and in God's way; like it always does.
When you read the Bible, you begin to see that it is essentially the story of a wretched, and rejected people being saved by their one, unique God, in ways that only God could think of. Over and over again God comes to rescue his people in unique ways. He uses unlikely heroes, parts rivers and seas, makes the earth stop spinning. etc. It culminates in his arrival on the earth in the first century as a human being. Where God Himself becomes the unlikely savior of the world, in the form of a Jewish carpenter who grew up in a small hick town. And they rejected Him. Imagine, when God came to His chosen people, they said, "Please go away."! It figures.(This is not a condemnation of Jewish people c.f. "There is none righteous, no not one"Let's face it, none of us would have got the Messiah we wanted) And now He is the example. And His vindication was indeed, very unexpected, (but He said He was the Son of God didn't He?) He rose again!
"What shall we say to these things? If God is for us who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died -- more than that, who was raised -- who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING KILLED ALL THE DAY LONG; WE ARE REGARDED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED. No in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure than neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:31-39
God solution to suffering, to the conquering of pain, has never been to eliminate it, but to persevere through it. He did not even spare His own Son. Even God endures pain. The victory is not that pain is never a part of our lives, the victory is in faith. If we believe God. We shall receive the unexpected vindication, a reward which is intangibly greater than had we never suffered. "God is for us" does not mean that pain is minimal. If anything "we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered" But Paul says that we are more than conquerors. And that at the end of faith, us and the love of God are inseparable. God is doing a weird thing in your life. May you trust Him that He is for you, and that your salvation is sure and better than you can imagine.
"And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. But you dress yourself for work; arise and say to them everything that I command you before them. And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to delver you."
Perhaps Jeremiah wondered what God meant when he said "They will fight against you, if being thrown down a well was merely "fighting" as opposed to "prevailing". When your sitting at the bottom of a well, there because your peers put you there, it feels like anything but victory. It feels like the opposite of "they shall not prevail against you."
Perhaps when Abraham was told by God to sacrifice the same child that God had promised him would be the progenitor of Abraham's eternal line, Old Abe wondered if the voices that told him to "leave your Father's house and go to a land that I will show you" were really the voices in his head. Maybe he thought God had just gone sadistic.
We know that Job, upon losing everything, (literally everything but his life), in one day didn't curse God, but he sure had a lot of questions.
Surely Elijah wondered how God could throw down fire from heaven and consume an alter of water, but be unable to keep the wicked queen from coming after him.
John the Baptist, while sitting in prison, wondered, "Did I baptize the wrong guy?"
And Jesus, perhaps he was just simply quoting Scripture in lieu of the prophetic tradition, when He cried "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", though sinless, one wonders; did Jesus not have a ready answer to his question?
It's a good thing that with these cases we get the end of the story. For Abraham was stopped from sacrificing Isaac. Job was given a family again, with even greater wealth than he had possessed before. The queen was eventually killed, and Elijah was kept safe. John the Baptist, got an answer from Jesus. We can assume he believed Him. And Jesus, this may be of most importance, rose again.
But what about Jeremiah? When did God come through on his promise to Jeremiah? Remember God had said, "they will fight against you but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you" How was this promise fulfilled? Well, as the story goes, after years of listening to Jeremiah spout off judgment as God's mouthpiece, and mocking, ignoring, and punishing, him, Jeremiah's prophecy of the takeover of Jerusalem came true, and these people were put in captivity in Babylon. And the thing is, had it not come true, Jeremiah would've been stoned according to Deuteronomy 18. That's what you did to false prophets. But Jeremiah's deliverance, was not as tangible as Abraham's, Job's, or Jesus'. John's deliverance was graver than Jeremiah's even. John lost his head. But Jeremiah was left in Jerusalem, with all the others that the Babylonian conquerors considered useless; the old, the sick, and the handicapped. It's quite sad. But its quite remarkable as well. Jeremiah faithfully preached the message of judgment and repentance for his whole life in obedience to God's Word, without having any repentance occur, and on top of that received an onslaught of beatings, mockings, and imprisonment, only to end up a refugee in his own country. God certainly kept his promise. They did not prevail against Jeremiah. But was Jeremiah better for it? If he were a false prophet, he would've been stoned. If he were no prophet, he would still be a refugee. But one word both describes Jeremiah and vindicates his potentially pointless life: example. Jeremiah is for all time an example of what unwavering obedience looks like. And all these people were in a predicament as bad as Jeremiahs. But Jeremiah had one thing on them. He was right. Never again could Jeremiah be accused of being a dissenter, or an enemy of God. In fact, no one could ever doubt that Jeremiah knew God. Could there be a better distinction to have? Vindication came. It came in God's time, and in God's way; like it always does.
When you read the Bible, you begin to see that it is essentially the story of a wretched, and rejected people being saved by their one, unique God, in ways that only God could think of. Over and over again God comes to rescue his people in unique ways. He uses unlikely heroes, parts rivers and seas, makes the earth stop spinning. etc. It culminates in his arrival on the earth in the first century as a human being. Where God Himself becomes the unlikely savior of the world, in the form of a Jewish carpenter who grew up in a small hick town. And they rejected Him. Imagine, when God came to His chosen people, they said, "Please go away."! It figures.(This is not a condemnation of Jewish people c.f. "There is none righteous, no not one"Let's face it, none of us would have got the Messiah we wanted) And now He is the example. And His vindication was indeed, very unexpected, (but He said He was the Son of God didn't He?) He rose again!
"What shall we say to these things? If God is for us who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died -- more than that, who was raised -- who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING KILLED ALL THE DAY LONG; WE ARE REGARDED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED. No in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure than neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:31-39
God solution to suffering, to the conquering of pain, has never been to eliminate it, but to persevere through it. He did not even spare His own Son. Even God endures pain. The victory is not that pain is never a part of our lives, the victory is in faith. If we believe God. We shall receive the unexpected vindication, a reward which is intangibly greater than had we never suffered. "God is for us" does not mean that pain is minimal. If anything "we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered" But Paul says that we are more than conquerors. And that at the end of faith, us and the love of God are inseparable. God is doing a weird thing in your life. May you trust Him that He is for you, and that your salvation is sure and better than you can imagine.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Read
Read my post that I will put up on Friday. Read it and read it good. If it is not sweet, and you happen to see me this weekend. Slap me hard, for that will be the last time that I let you. But go ahead slap me good.
Northern LIght
I go to Northern Light every day now. I don't have internet at my house anymore. That place is my office. Actually, I am there right now. This might as well be Twitter.
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