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Saturday, January, 31, 2009

Weekly Meanderings

Posted at: 6:00 am

Here’s some stuff I came across this week…

1. Leading from Values and/or leading from Goals

2. Ideas for International Womens Day

3. Four things Christians should avoid

4. The coming evangelical collapse?

5. The theology of John Updike

6. Van Gogh and evangelicalism

7. Mariam Kamell discusses Brother Lawrence

8. A review of Doug Pagitt’s “A Christianity Worth Believing In”

9. The creation of humankind in the Ancient Near East

10. Mapping the history of world religion in 90 seconds

11. Stuff Christians Like: Talking About the End of the World

12. White House technological adjustments

13. Do uncommon names turn kids into criminals?

14. A random insult generator

15. Immortal jellyfish wander the oceans

16. Man decorates basement with $10 worth of sharpie

17. This weeks game: Name That Theme Song

Have a great weekend!

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Friday, January, 30, 2009

Genesis 22 – Two faithful sacrifices

Posted at: 5:00 am

It is after Abraham has driven his son with Hagar away that God tests him by asking if he is willing to sacrifice his only remaining son, Isaac. Ultimately Abraham is willing to do as God commands; however, God does not let Abraham sacrifice Isaac.

God tells Abraham through an angel, “because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

There is a parallel between Abraham’s willingness to give up his son Isaac if God so commanded, and for Jesus to come to earth as the “Son of God” and be sacrificed. The willingness to sacrifice Isaac demonstrated the faithfulness of one man and established one man’s relationship with God. The sacrifice of Jesus allows all people to become faithful and gives all people the opportunity to have a relationship with God.

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Tuptw (to smite) The Koine Greek Word of the Day Podcast

Posted at: 3:00 am

Tuptw (to smite) is used to strike some either physically or metaphorically. To subscribe to this podcast please go to iTunes and subscribe to “The Koine Greek Word of the Day Podcast”.

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Thursday, January, 29, 2009

I Wake and Feel The Fell Of Dark, Not Day by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Posted at: 6:00 am

I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day,
What hour, O what black hours we have spent
This night! What sights you, heart, saw; ways you went!
And more must, in yet longer light’s delay,
– With witness I speak this. But where I say
Hours I mean years, mean life. And my lament
Is cries countless, cries like dead letters sent
To dearest him that lives alas! away.
– I am gall, I am heartburn. God’s most deep decree
Bitter would have me taste: my taste was me;
Bones built in me, flesh filled, blood brimmed the cures.
– Selfyeast of spirit a dull dough sours. I see
The lost are like this, and their scourge to be
As I am mine, their sweating selves; but worse.

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Genesis 21 – Laughing and crying

Posted at: 5:00 am

Sarah looking at her new son says, “God has made laughter for mel everyone who hears will laugh with me.” After a time, Sarah then grows to despise Hagar’s son who was also the son of Abraham. Sarah forces Hagar and her son out into the wilderness where they would perish.

When they run out of water Hagar “left the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, ‘Do no let me see the boy die’…and she lifted up her voice and wept. God heard the lad crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her…’Do no fear, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.’”

God is being faithful to the promise he made in previous chapters that Hagar’s son would also be a great nation. God is always faithful to his promises.

I am amazed at how Sarah, a mother who suffered much sadness in her life, could do this to another child. God had blessed her, why was she so worried about this child encroaching on her child’s blessing? Or was it the constant reminder of her failure that she wanted to be rid of? Regardless the lesson we need to take away is that we need to care for ALL those around us. We should rejoice in the laughter God gives, but we should work to keep God’s children from crying.

Every child is a child to whom we are called to demonstrate Christ’s love. We do not have the option of thinking of any child as disposable. Even if a child reminds us of mistakes we made in the past, that child is a gift from God and we have a great responsibility to that child.

All children all laughter made by God for us. We should never be the cause of a parent and child weeping as Hagar and her son wept.

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Splagchnon (inner parts) The Koine Greek Word of the Day Podcast

Posted at: 3:00 am

Splagchnon (inner parts) is mostly used to denote the seat of the emotions. To subscribe to this podcast please go to iTunes and subscribe to “The Koine Greek Word of the Day Podcast”.

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Wednesday, January, 28, 2009

Genesis 20 – God works in other people too!

Posted at: 5:00 am

“Oh what tangled webs we weave when first decide we to deceive.” Upon entering a new land Abraham lies about his relationship with his wife calling her his sister. Abraham did this because he doubted the power of God. Abraham explains to the king, “I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place, an they will kill me because of my wife.” Abraham assumed that God was not working in the lives of other people.

How often do we assume that God has not been working in the lives of the people around us. Have you ever felt called by good to speak to someone or do something, but out of fear not followed through? If God is calling us to do something we can rest assured that God has already gone ahead of us and prepared the way.

We are not as important as we think we are. We are instruments that God uses, if we allow ourselves to be used. I seldom see all the ways God is working in the people around me. I would much rather boldly go into every situation assume that God has prepared the way, then sit back and avoid doing what God is leading me to do.

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Prwi (early morning) The Koine Greek Word of the Day Podcast

Posted at: 3:00 am

Prwi (early morning) may describe anytime between 3am and after dawn. To subscribe to this podcast please go to iTunes and subscribe to “The Koine Greek Word of the Day Podcast”.

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Tuesday, January, 27, 2009

Worshiping Through the Stages of Faith

Posted at: 6:00 am

Throughout this paper I hope to focus through the lens of worship on the two ideas of (1) Spiritual development and (2) the dichotic need for both solitude and community in a healthy spiritual life. In this paper I am going to suggest that worshiping through Fowler’s stages of faith might be an effective way of meeting our spiritual needs.

There is a certain integration that naturally occurs between Fowler’s stages and the ideas of the dichotomous need for both solitude and community. Approximately half the stages tend to lead us to worship more in community and half lead us to worship in solitude. If we are able to worship through each of the stages, rather than just the stage we find ourselves in, then we become able to meet our spiritual needs for both solitude and silence.

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I have spoken a great deal about worshiping through Fowler’s stages of faith; what do I mean by this? I believe that each of us has a primary stage in which we spend most of our time; we have a stage that is our comfort zone. Throughout the course of our life, our comfort zone may shift to a different stage, but there will usually be one primary stage we work out of. This, however, does not mean that we are unfamiliar with, or incapable of working out of, the other five stages.

To worship through Fowler’s stages of faith is to attempt to connect to the part of ourselves that best operates at each stage. I can worship God through the innocent faith my parents bestowed upon me; I can worship God through the critical faith of my twenties (even if I am well past that age and stage). It is useful to discover and worship God through these different lenses.

This raises an obvious question: is it possible to worship God through a stage which we have not yet been through. I am not willing to give an answer to that question at this time, but I believe that it can stretch us to try. I believe that stretching, that effort to connect to God, will help each of us grow in our faith.

Worshiping through the stages of faith is not something that you can do each week. It may be something that you can only do over the course of a year or even a decade. I think to effectively worship in this way, the individual must take a prearranged length of time (at a minimum three weeks) and decide that for that period of time, they are going to focus on worshiping God through a given stage of faith. Then there should be an interval of time, not less than the time spent worshiping in the stage of faith, in which the individual returns to their natural worship habits. After a period the individual may move on to the next stage of faith. This allows the individual to work out their spiritual muscles without destroying themselves.

How does each stage of faith worship? How do force your spirit to worship in a way that is contrary to your current natural stage? These are both important questions. Below I shall take a look at each stage of development and examine how an individual can reflect on their faith and on God by using Fowler’s six stages of faith.

Stage 1 is “the innocent.” This is the stage we are born into. At this stage of faith, all that we know of God is what our parents have given to us. For some individuals there was great instruction of God’s love and care during these early years. For other individuals these early years were completely devoid of Godly influence. Either way it is good to contemplate how our parents formed our thoughts of God.

To worship through this stage is to reflect on the faith my parents gave me. This early faith was a simple faith when my only possible spiritual acts of worship would have been singing “Jesus Loves Me” or saying a simple prayer of grace at the dining table. For those who are worshiping through this faith stage, those are good activities to focus on. The simple songs and prayers of early childhood have a great power to them because they are sincere.

To worship through this stage is to retreat into safety for a time. This was a time when we were loved and protected and all was right with the world. This was a time when our parents were all we knew. Focus on this simple faith and what it has to speak to you.

Stage 2 is “the literalist.” This is the stage of early childhood when we know that everything those we respect tell us is absolutely true. This was a time of fantastic stories such as Noah and the arc, Daniel and lion’s den, Joshua and the battle of Jericho, and David and Goliath. Our acts of worship were learning these stories and learning how God had cared for each of these people.

To worship through this stage is to reflect on the certainty I have in the faith. How could any part of these stories be false or embellished? To worship through this stage is to accept the beauty of these stories and imagine them as fantastic tales of God’s work. Take children’s picture books and try to recapture to imaginative flourishes you gave these stories when you were young. Re-memorize John 3:16 and try to understand it like you did when you were six years old.

To worship through this stage is to retreat into certainty for a time. A time when you could ask an adult a question and they could tell you the answer, and they were always right. During this time of worship take time to write out what the Bible tells me I should believe and what the adults of my church tell/told me I should believe. And then…try to believe it. For a time try to accept it as a six year old child would accept it.

Stage 3 is “the Loyalist.” This is the stage of conformity and comfort in groups. In this stage people do not like to be alone or outsiders. At this stage of faith we cling to creeds and statements of faith. We can hold these and, as a group, affirm them to be what we believe. Staying with the group assures us that we have not strayed into heresy or sin.

To worship through this stage is to reflect on the confidence my community gives our faith. I can boldly proclaim what is true and what is false because those around me will support me and back me up. Write down your community’s creeds and statements of faith. Learn them, memorize them, and treasure them. These are valuable aids to worshiping God.

To worship through this stage is to retreat into community for a time. It can be very difficult for a person whose comfort zone is stage 4 to accept that there is some validity in the community. This is a chance to discover the truth your community is willing to proclaim. This is a time to ask the question: are there things that I only believe because my community believes them? That’s okay. Take time to rest in the comfort of your community.

Stage 4 is “the Critic.” This is the stage of rejecting the norm and exploring divergent viewpoints. In this stage, people begin to wonder if what their community believes is really true. They often ask the question, “is this all there is?” At this stage of faith we explore God in new ways, through new communities and through new methods.

To worship through this stage is to reflect on the fallibility of faith. Just because I believe something does not mean that it is true. There are all sorts of avenues of faith to explore. The Christian right, the Christian left, non-Christian spiritualists, pacifists, humanitarians, deists, humanists. To worship through this stage is to spend time asking all of the “unaskable” questions. To worship as “the critic” can be very uncomfortable. There are no assurances of anything being true, right, or Godly.

To worship through this stage is to retreat into chaos for a time. Through the chaos God’s perfection is perceivable. Through the chaos we can be led to a stronger sense of God then can be had before the chaos. All those “unaskable” questions will not be answered but your spirit and your faith will be better off for asking them.

Stage 5 is “the Seer.” This is the stage that people move to when they have moved beyond the chaos to a place of synthesis. At this stage people have their faith “their” faith, but because of the journey they have been through they are able to comfortably rub elbows with people who do not necessarily share their faith.

To worship through this stage is to reflect on “my” faith. This is a time for direct personal interaction with differing spiritual contexts. Go to a monastery and explore the life of a monk, go on a mission’s trip to a radically different culture and embrace the people. This is a time to explore where faiths converge.

To worship through this stage is to retreat into assurance of my faith for a time. A time when I can interact with communities I do not necessarily agree with because I know what my faith is. During this time write out what your faith is; explore why it is your faith and what events in your life brought you to this point. Take time to go where you would not have previously gone for fear of “losing” your community’s faith.

Stage 6 is “the Saint.” This is the stage few people ever reach. At this faith stage the person is no longer motivated by their faith or beliefs, but rather by a total commitment to the guiding presence of God in all aspects of life. For people at this stage, God is all. There is no other way of expressing it that I know of. God is all. An example of this stage might be Jesus praying on the Mount of Olives in Luke 22:42, when he says, “not my will but your will be done.”

To worship through this stage is to reflect on God’s faith. To worship here is to move beyond my faith, your faith, or their faith. At this stage the only faith that exists is the faith of God. Allow God to do what he will do with you. One of my favorite stories is “The Pilgrim’s Tale,” which is about a man searching for how to pray without ceasing. He walks and walks and walks trying to find God’s leading. To worship through this stage we need to forsake all the world and walk, write, fast, pray, read, do without ceasing until God shows us his will.

To worship through this stage is to retreat into God for a time. To worship here is to allow God to be all. The sum total of your thoughts, desires, wants. Everything you are working for.

That is how you worship through Fowler’s stages of faith; taking each step carefully over the course of many months or years. Stretching and strengthening your spiritual self.

The other issue I wish to focus on is the need for both solitude and community in a healthy spiritual life. It is interesting to note that three of the six stages are best done in community (those stages being 1, 2, and 3). The other three stages require times of both solitude and community.

To have healthy spiritual worship we must take time to commune with God alone and we must take time to commune with God corporately. If we neglect either we are hurting our own spiritual walk and the walk of those who depend on us. There is not Christianity without Christians coming together to be the church. In order to worship God we must be the church community. In order to be the church community, we must be healthy spiritual individuals.

I believe that an excellent way of exercising our faith and our ability to worship God is to worship always, in both solitude and community, and to worship through the six stages of faith. This will help to keep us strong Christians who are part of a strong Christian community.

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Genesis 19 – Chaos and order

Posted at: 5:00 am

What is the point of the story of Sodom? I don’t think it has much to do with homosexuality. The idea that the city was destroyed due to a lack of hospitality rings closer to the truth, but I do not think it tells the whole story. I think it goes back to the pre-flood days.

In the pre-flood days the “son’s of God” starting having sexual relations with women. God say this as against his created order and sent the flood to destroy the offspring of these relationships. In Sodom the men are attempting to have relationships with the angels. God seems to be destroying Sodom for the same reason that he sent the flood.

In the beginning God brough order to the chaos. God’s order was good. When we do things outside of God’s order we place our selves in sin and in danger of judgement.

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Nous (mind) The Koine Greek Word of the Day Podcast

Posted at: 3:00 am

Nous (mind) can describe “the eye of the heart or soul”. To subscribe to this podcast please go to iTunes and subscribe to “The Koine Greek Word of the Day Podcast”.

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Monday, January, 26, 2009

Genesis 18 – Laughing in the face of God

Posted at: 5:00 am

It’s interesting that God presents himself before Abraham as three men. It’s even more interesting that Abraham instantly recognized the presence as someone of importance and asks if he can prepare a place to rest and a meal for God. There are some similarities between Abraham’s reaction to the presence of God and Peter’s reaction at the transfiguration in the New Testament.

My favorite character in this chapter is Sarah. She overhears God foretell that she will have a child and she laughs. I am never too hard on Sarah for laughing; she’s been without a child for almost a hundred years. I think it was a result of her having given up any hope of it ever happening. I have reacted very similarly at different times; and I’m sure you have too. The best part of the story is that God call her out for laughing. God asks, “Is anything too difficult for the Lord?” Of course not, so Sarah does what I think any of us would do; whe denies that she laughed. Then I can see God looking at her with a wry smile gently shaking his and saying, “No, you laughed.”

How many times have I laughed at God. God says he will do something and it doesn’t happen in the timeframe I expect. Soon I give up on it and let go of my expectations and then out of the blue God says, no really it’s going to happen. There is no reaction but to laugh. I need to remember that God is going to do what God says he will do. I should never give up hope.

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Luchnos (lamp) The Koine Greek Word of the Day Podcast

Posted at: 3:00 am

Luchnos (lamp) is used to describe an oil burning lamp. To subscribe to this podcast please go to iTunes and subscribe to “The Koine Greek Word of the Day Podcast”.

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Sunday, January, 25, 2009

A Prayer

Posted at: 6:00 am

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our
Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News
of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive
the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Saturday, January, 24, 2009

Weekly Meanderings

Posted at: 6:00 am

Here’s some stuff I came across this week…

1. A look at the “New Kind of Christian” trilogy with some thoughts on atonement.

2. Dostoevsky’s Theology of Writing.

3. Of course owning your beliefs is better than just going through the rituals.

4. A sub-par NY Times article on Mark Driscoll.

5. Mounce on Mwros.

6. Martin Luther King Jr would have turned 80 this month.

7. Rick Warren’s inauguration prayer.

8. A word cloud of Obama’s inauguration speech.

9. Chia Obama Handmade Decorative Planter, comes in either “Happy” or “Determined”!

10. White House economist answers questions.

11. Ancestry by county.

12. Baseball season is almost here…

13. Why do we have cats?

Have a great weekend!

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Friday, January, 23, 2009

Genesis 17 – The sign of our covenant

Posted at: 4:00 am

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeard to him and said…’As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendents after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendents after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.”

Oooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch! The guy is ninety-nine years old. But seriously…God does require a commitment from us. Are we willing to make a sacrifice for God? Circumcision may not be the sign of the covenant that God is making with us. Maybe our sacrificial sign is moving to a new place. Maybe our sacrificial sign is changing jobs. Maybe our sacrificial sign is entering a ministry that makes us uncomfortable.

If God is entering into a covenant with you, then he will let you know what the sacrificial sign of your covenant is. The nice thing about circumcision is that it’s hard to forget. When God reveals your sacrificial sign be sure to remember it and keep it close to your heart.

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Manthanw (to Learn) The Koine Greek Word of the Day Podcast

Posted at: 3:00 am

Manthanw (to learn) is most often used to denote moving from ignorance to knowledge. To subscribe to this podcast please go to iTunes and subscribe to “The Koine Greek Word of the Day Podcast”.

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Thursday, January, 22, 2009

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Posted at: 6:00 am

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

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Genesis 16 – Lessons on being faithful

Posted at: 4:00 am

In the previous chapter God had directly told Abram that he would have a son. In spite of this revelation, Abram and Sarai feel compelled to help God along in keeping his promise. Abram and Sarai do not see any way that they will conceive a chile (and God never said the child would be through Sarai), so Sarai convinces Abram to sleep with her servant and conceive a child. Needless to say this caused some relationship issues in the household. Sarai’s servant Hagar ran away out of fear, but God spoke to her and promised to protect her. Even though this child was not God’s promised descendent, God promised to bless him.

How many times have you felt God promise something, but as time goes by you begin to doubt God’s providence. Soon you begin to look for ways you can help God alone in fulfilling his promise. Eventually, you act on your own to enable God’s promise and only later do you realize that the actions you undertook are a poor substitute for what God was waiting to do.

God is more faithful than we are.

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Leukos (White) The Koine Greek Word of the Day Podcast

Posted at: 3:00 am

Leukos (White) is the root of our modern English word leukemia. To subscribe to this podcast please go to iTunes and subscribe to “The Koine Greek Word of the Day Podcast”.

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