Sacred Space--God With Us!

Love and Grace

2012-01-31T22:37:00.000-07:00

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." So proclaims Jesus.

"Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfish or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves." So pleads Paul.

And Paul again, "Lay aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma."

And again, "As those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity."

Peter tells us, "...all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit" and also, "Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins."

And what about John? "By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another."

And again, "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer."

One more: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loes is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love...Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

I could go on and on with more from Jesus, Paul and John, but we know what our calling is: LOVE! We are called to love and serve one another; and in this way the world will see Christ. When we slander one another, gossip about one another, outright LIE about one another, we are not being imitators of God, we are not manifesting "the attitude of Christ" (the mind of Christ) in us; rather, we are behaving as the "world" behaves, as though we have not been delivered from the kingdom of darkness. When we tear one another down (in order to exalt ourselves), we are denying the power of the Gospel and the life of Christ in us. When we speak against our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ we lie against the truth and give evidence to the world (and the Church) that we don't have the love of God in us: we give the world occassion to blaspheme our great God and Savior!

Stop this nonsense! Quit being so ungracious. Quit being so rude. Quite being so hateful. We are called to love our enemies; but we can't we even love our brothers and sisters!

Oh, that the world would see our love for one another; our patience toward one another; our graciousness and compassion; our unity in the bond of love and the Spirit! If we can't love one another and serve one another for our maturity in the faith, how in the world can we ever expect to love the world and share the love of God to a lost and dying generation?

For the love of God...can we love one another?

Prayer in Harmony With the Destiny of Man--Andrew Murray (Chpt. 18)

2011-12-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

I've decided to reprint the very next chapter of Murray's great work because it flows so naturally and logically from the previous one. As I've said before, the entire book is worth reading on a daily basis because of the short, "devotional" style chapters. But the content is also very profound and illuminating. This chapter is just another example of the depth and warmth of Murray's understanding.

-----Chapter 18-----

Prayer in Harmony With the Destiny of Man

Andrew Murray, “With Christ in the School of Prayer” (pg. 121-126)

And he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?” (Matt. 22:20)

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.” (Gen. 1:26)

“Whose portrait is this?” By this question Jesus foiled His enemies when they planned to trick Him, and He settled the matter of duty in regard to the tribute. The question and the principle it involves are of universal application, nowhere more truly than in man himself. The image he bears decides his destiny. Bearing God’s image, he belongs to God. Prayer to God is what he was created for. Prayer is part of the wonderful likeness he bears to His divine original; of the deep mystery of the fellowship of love in which the triune god has His blessedness, prayer is the earthly image and likeness.

The more we meditate on what prayer is, and its wonderful power with God, the more we feel constrained to ask, “Who—and what—is man that such a place in God’s counsels should have been allotted to him?” (cf. Psalm8:4-8). Sin has so degraded him that from what he is now we can form no conception of what he was meant to be. We must turn back to God’s own record of man’s creation to discover what God’s purpose was and what capacities man was endowed with for the fulfillment of that purpose.

Man’s destiny appears clearly from God’s language at creation. It was to fill, to subdue, and to have dominion over the earth and all that is in it. All three expressions show us that man was meant to rule here on earth as God’s representative. As God’s viceroy, he was to fill God’s place. Subject to God, he was to keep all else in subjection to Him. It was the will of God that all that was to be done on earth should be done through man. The history of the earth was to be entirely in his hands.

In accordance with such a destiny was the position he was to occupy and the power that was at his disposal. When an earthly sovereign send a representative to a distant province, it is understood that he advises as to the policy to be adopted and that advice is acted on. He is at liberty to apply for troops and the other means needed for carrying out the policy or maintaining the dignity of the empire. If his policy is not approved, he is recalled, to make way for someone who better understands his sovereign’s desires. As long as he is trusted, his advice is carried out. As God’s representatives, man was to have ruled. On his advice and at his request, heaven was to have bestowed its blessing on earth. His prayer was to have been the wonderful, though simple and most natural channel, in which the close relationship between the King in heaven and man, His faithful servant as lord of this world, was to have been maintained. The destinies of the world were given into the power of the wishes, the will, and the prayer of man.

Of course, with the entrance of sin into the picture, this plan underwent a catastrophic change: man’s fall brought all the creation under the curse. With redemption, the beginning of a glorious restoration was seen. No sooner had god begun in Abraham to form for himself a people from whom kings—even the great King—should come forth than we see what power the prayer of God’s faithful servant has to decide the destinies of those who come into contact with him. In Abraham we see how prayer is not only, or even chiefly, the means of obtaining blessing for ourselves. Rather, it is the exercise of his royal prerogative to influence the destinies of men and the will of God that rules them. Not once do we find Abraham praying for himself. His prayer for Sodom and Lot, for Abimelech, and for Ishmael, prove what power a man who is God’s friend has to create the history of those around him.

This has been man’s destiny from the start. Scripture no only tells us this but also teaches us how it was that God could entrust man with such a high calling. It was because He had created him in His own image and likeness. The external rule was not committed to him without the inner fitness. Bearing God’s image in having dominion, in being lord of all, had its root in the inner likeness, in his nature. An inner agreement and harmony existed between God and man, an incipient godlikeness, which fitted man to be the mediator between God and His world. Since he was to be prophet, priest, and king, he was to receive and dispense God’s bounty. In bearing God’s image, he could bear God’s rule. Indeed, he was so like God, so capable of entering into God’s purposes and carrying out His plans, that God could trust him with the wonderful privilege of asking and obtaining what the world might need.

Although sin has for a time frustrated God’s plans, prayer still remains what it would have been if man had never fallen—the proof of man’s godlikeness, his link with the infinite unseen One, the power that is allowed to hold the hand that holds the destinies of the universe. Prayer is not merely the cry of the supplicant for mercy; it is the highest expression of His will by man, who knows himself to be of divine origin, created for and capable of being, in king-like liberty, the executer of the counsels of the Eternal.

What sin destroyed, grace has restored. What the first Adam lost, the second has won back. In Christ man regains his original position, and the church, abiding in Christ, inherits the promise “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you” (John 15:7).

By no means does such a promise refer primarily to the grace or blessing we need for ourselves. It refers to our position as fruit-bearing branches of the heavenly Vine, who, like Him, live only for the work and glory of the Father. It is for those who abide in Him, who have forsaken self to abide in Him with His life of obedience and self-sacrifice, those who have lost their life and found it in Him, and are now entirely given up to the interests of the Father and His kingdom. These are they who understand how their new creation has brought them back to their original destiny, has restored God’s image and likeness, and with it the power to have dominion. Such have indeed the power, each in their own circle, to obtain and dispense the powers of heaven here on earth. With holy boldness they may make known what they will. They live as priests in God’s presence. As kings the powers of the world to come begin to be at their disposal.* They enter upon the fulfillment of the promise: “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you” (John 15:7).

Church of the living God, your calling is higher and holier than you know. Through your members, as kings and priests unto God, would God rule the world; their prayers bestow and withhold the blessings of heaven. His elect are not simply content to be saved. Instead, they yield themselves wholly, that through them, just as through the Son, the Father may fulfill all His glorious counsel. In these His elect, who cry day and night unto Him, God would prove how wonderful man’s original destiny was.

As the image-bearer of God on earth, the earth was indeed given into man’s hands. When he fell, all fell with him; the whole creation groans and travails in pain together. But now he is redeemed, and the restoration of the original dignity has begun. It is God’s purpose that the fulfillment of His eternal purpose and the coming of His kingdom should depend on those of His people who, abiding in Christ, are ready to take up their position in Him their head, the great Priest-King, and in their prayers are bold enough to say what they will that their God should do. As image-bearer and representative of God on earth, redeemed man by his prayers determines the history of this earth. Man was created and has been redeemed to pray, and by his prayer to have dominion.

Lord, what is man that you are mindful of him? And the son of man, that you visit him? You have made him a little lower than the angels, and have crowned him with glory and honor. You made him to have dominion over the work of your hands. You have put all things under his feet. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth!

Lord God, how low sin has made men sink. How it has darkened his mind that he does not even know his divine destiny: to be your servant and representative. How sad that even your people, when their eyes are opened, are so slow to accept their calling and seek to have power with God in order to have power with men and to bless them.

Lord Jesus, in you the Father has crowned man with glory and honor and opened the way for us to be what He would have us to be. O Lord, have mercy on your people, and visit your heritage! Work mightily in your church and teach your believing disciples to go forth in their royal priesthood and in the power of prayer, to which you have given such wonderful promises. Teach them to serve your kingdom, to have rule over the nations, and make the name of God glorious in the earth. Amen.

Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer, (Bethany House, MN 2002), 121-126.

*God is seeking priests among the sons of men. A human priesthood is one of the essential parts of His eternal plan. To rule creation by man is His design; to carry on the worship of creation by man is no less part of His design.

Priesthood is the appointed link between heaven and earth, the channel of communication between the sinner and God. Such a priesthood, insofar as expiation is concerned, is in the hands of the Son of God alone; insofar as it is to be the medium of communication between Creator and creature, it is also in the hands of redeemed men—of the church of God.

God is seeking kings not from the ranks of angels; fallen man must furnish Him with rulers of His universe. Human hands must wield the scepter; human heads must wear the crown. (Adapted from Dr. H. Bonar, The Rent Veil. No publication date available).

Prayer in Harmony with The Person of God--Andrew Murray (chapter 17)

2011-11-22T13:00:00.001-07:00

Well, as promised, here is a full chapter from Andrew Murray's classic, "With Christ in the School of Prayer". Though as I mentioned previously the chapters in this book are short (4-5 pages), each chapter makes for a rather long "blog" post. But since this chapter (as with most every chapter in the book) is full of such rich insight I thought I'd post the whole thing rather than simply posting my comments on it. And since there are only (maybe) two or three people who bother to read this blog I don't see the harm in reprinting a full chapter. I may even reprint a couple more down the road.

While I haven't necessarily agreed with everything that I've read in this little book, every chapter is full of deep nsight into this most important Christian discipline. I will also post the next chapter (Chapter 18, "Prayer in Harmony With the Destiny of Man") because it so wonderfully illustrates the implications from chapter 17 for what man was intended to be and to do. My prayer is that you will come away from Murray's writings in these next two posts with a far richer understanding of who Christ is, who we are in Christ and why understanding these things are so important for us who want to enjoy intimacy with God and pray with confidence and power.

-----Chapter 17-----

Prayer in Harmony With the Person of God

Andrew Murray, “With Christ in the School of Prayer” (pg. 113-119)

Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me (John 11:41-41).

You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance… (Psalm 2:7-8).

In the New Testament we find a distinction made between faith and knowledge. “To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:8-9). In a child or a child-like Christian there may be much faith with little knowledge. Childlike simplicity accepts the truth without difficulty and often cares little to give itself or others any reason for its faith but this: God has said it. But it is the will of God that we should love and serve Him not only with all our heart but also with all our mind; that we should grow up into an insight into the divine wisdom and beauty of all His ways and words and works. Only by growing in this way will the believer be able to fully approach and rightly adore the glory of God’s grace. Only in this Way can our heart intelligently comprehend the treasures of wisdom and knowledge found in redemption and be prepared to enter fully into the highest note of the song that rises before the throne: “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” (Romans 11:33).

This truth has its full application in our prayer life. While prayer and faith are so simple that the newborn convert can pray with power, the doctrine of prayer presents deep problems. Is the power of prayer a reality? How can God grant to prayer such a mighty power? How can the action of prayer be harmonized with the will and the decrees of God? How can God’s sovereignty and our will, god’s liberty and ours, be reconciled? These and other similar questions are valid subjects for Christian meditation and inquiry. The more earnestly and reverently we approach such mysteries, the more we will fall down in adoring awe to praise Him who has in prayer given such power to men.

One of the secret difficulties with regard to prayer is one that though not expressed often hinders prayer. This difficulty is derived from the perfection of God, in His absolute independence of all that is outside of himself. Is He not the Infinite Being, who owes what He is to himself alone, who determines himself, and whose wise and holy will has determined all that is to be? How can prayer influence Him or He be moved by prayer to do what otherwise would not be done? Is not the promise of an answer to prayer simply condescension to our weakness? Is what is said of the much-availing power of prayer anything more than an accommodation to our way of thinking, since God can never be dependent on any action from without for His doings? Is not the blessing of prayer simply the influence it exercises upon us?

In seeking an answer to such questions, we find the key in the very being of God, in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. If God were only one person, shut up within himself, there could be no thought of nearness to Him or influence on Him. But in God there are three persons. In God we have Father and Son, who have in the Holy Spirit their living bond of unity and fellowship. When eternal Love begat the Son, and the Father gave the Son as the second person a place next to himself as His equal and His counselor, there was a way opened for prayer and its influence in the very inmost life of God itself.

Just as on earth, so in heaven, the whole relationship between Father and Son is that of giving and taking. And if that taking is to be as voluntary and self-determined as the giving, there must be on the part of the Son as asking and receiving. In the holy fellowship of the divine persons, this asking of the Son was one of the great operations of the thrice-blessed life of God. We see it in Psalm 2: “Today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you…” The Father gave the Son the place and the power to act upon Him. The asking of the Son was no mere show or shadow, but one of those life-movements in which the love of the Father and the Son met and completed each other. The Father had determined that He should not be alone in His counsels: there was a Son on whose asking and accepting their fulfillment should depend. So there was in the very being and life of God as asking of which prayer on earth was to be the reflection and the outflow. It was not without including this that Jesus said, “I knew that you always hear me.” Just as the sonship of Jesus on earth may not be separated from His sonship in heaven, even so His prayer on earth is the continuation and counterpart of His asking in heaven. The prayer of the man Christ Jesus is the link between the eternal asking of the only-begotten Son in the bosom of the Father and the prayer of humankind upon earth. Prayer has its rise and its deepest source in the very being of God. In the bosom of Deity nothing is ever done without prayer—the asking of the Son and the giving of the Father.

This may help us somewhat to understand how our prayers, coming through the Son, can have an effect upon God. The decrees of God are not decisions made by Him without reference to the Son or His petition to be sent up through Him. The Lord Jesus is the first begotten, the head and heir of all things: all things were created through Him and unto Him, and all things consist in Him. In the counsels of the Father, the Son, as representative of all creation, has liberty as mediator and intercessor in the petitions of all who draw near to the Father in the Son.

If we think this liberty and power of the Son to act upon the Father is at variance with the immutability of the divine decrees, let us not forget that with God there is no past to which He is irrevocably bound, as is the case with man. God does not live in time with its past and future. The distinctions of time have no reference to Him who inhabits eternity. Eternity is an ever-present now, in which the past is never past and the future is always present. To meet our human weakness, Scripture must speak of past decrees and a coming future. In reality, the immutability of God’s counsel is always in perfect harmony with His liberty to do whatsoever He will. The prayers of the Son and His people were not taken up into the eternal decrees so that their effect should on bbly be an apparent one. Instead, the Father-heart holds itself open and free to listen to every prayer that rises through the Son; God does indeed allow himself to be decided by prayer to do what He otherwise would not have done.

This perfect harmony and union of divine sovereignty and human liberty is to us an unfathomable mystery, because God as the Eternal One transcends all our thoughts. But be assured that in the eternal fellowship of the Father and Son the power of prayer has its origin and certainty, and through our union with the Son our prayer is received and can have influence in the inner life of the blessed Trinity!

God’s decrees are not an iron framework against which man’s liberty vainly seeks to struggle. God himself is the living Love, who in His Son, as man, has entered into a tender relationship with all that is human. God through the Holy Spirit takes our humanness into the divine life of love and frees himself to give every human prayer its place in His government of the world.

It is in the revelation of such thoughts that the doctrine of the Trinity is no longer an abstract speculation, but the living manifestation of the way it is possible for man to be in fellowship with God and his prayer to become a factor in God’s rule of this earth. We can, as though from a distance, catch a glimpse of the light that from eternal glory shines on words such as these: “Through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit” (Ephesians 2:18).

This simple view of prayer is seen throughout Scripture: God hears us. It does not dwell on the reflex influence of prayer on our heart and life, although it abundantly shows the connection between prayer as an act and prayer as a state. Rather, it fixes or defines the objective or purpose of prayer: to obtain blessing, gifts, and deliverances from God. Jesus said, “Ask and it shall be given.”

The following is adapted from The Hidden Life and The Lord’s Prayer by A. Saphir (no publication data available).

However true and valuable the reflection may be that God, foreseeing and foreordaining all things, has also foreseen and foreordained our prayers as links in the chain of events, of cause and effect, as a real power, yet we feel convinced that this is not the light in which the mind can find peace on this great subject, nor do we think that this is the attraction to draw us to prayer. We feel rather that such a reflection diverts the attention from the Object from whom comes the impulse, life, and strength of prayer. The living God, contemporary, yet eternal, the living, merciful, Holy One, God manifesting himself to the soul; God saying “Seek my face”; this is the magnet that draws us, this alone can open the heart and the voice….

In Jesus Christ the Son of God, we have the full solution for the difficulty. He prayed on earth, not merely as man, but as the Son of God incarnate. His prayer on earth is only the manifestation of His prayer from all eternity, when in the divine counsel He was set up as the Christ…. The Son of God was the way, the mediator. He was, to use our imperfect language, from eternity speaking unto the Father on behalf of the world.

Everlasting God, the Three-in-One, in deep reverence I would worship before the holy mystery of your divine Being. If it should please you, most glorious God, to unveil anything of that mystery, I would bow with fear and trembling and meditate on your glory.

Father, I thank you that you bear this name not only as the Father of your children here on earth but also as having from eternity subsisted as the Father with your only-begotten Son. I thank you that as Father you can hear our prayers because you have from eternity given a place in your counsels to the asking of your Son. I thank you that we have seen in Him on earth the blessed relationship He had with you in heaven and how from eternity in all your counsels and decrees there was room left for His prayers and their answers. And I thank you above all that through His true human nature on your throne above, and through your Holy Spirit in our human nature here below, a way has been opened by which every human cry can be received into the life and love of God and receive an answer.

Blessed Jesus, in whom as the Son the path of prayer has been opened up, and who gives us assurance of the answer, we beseech you to teach your people to pray. Each day let this be the sign of our own sonship: that like you we know that the Father always hears us. Amen.

Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer, (Bethany House, MN 2002), 113-119.

Prayer

2011-11-02T17:41:00.000-06:00

In between swimming in my brother’s pool and playing pool with my dad and other brothers, I have been doing a lot of reading while on this long vacation. Believe it or not, I have finished quite a few books since we’ve been here (maybe I’ll post some short reviews later) and among the many I am currently reading is Andrew Murray’s classic, “With Christ in the School of Prayer”. This is one of the most wonderfully devotional books I’ve ever come across. I’ve read a little more than half the book and I’ve already decided that I must have more Andrew Murray titles! His writing not only stretches my mind but it also enlarges my heart. Actually, Mrs. Moogly is also reading this and she is likewise touched by his writing.

This book has 31 chapters of 4-5 pages each which makes it very nice to read as a daily devotional. As a book on prayer, it is also an important work for the individual Christian and the church. Throughout my years as a Christian, I can attest to the lack of primacy given to prayer in the church; and that’s because, I believe, there is generally a lack of interest in prayer among the members of the church. I know. I’ve been there myself; and I still struggle in my desire to pray. We say we believe prayer is important, after all we see our Lord praying often in the Gospels and the New Testament practically commands us to pray. And if we are going follow Paul’s example, we know that we should be in a constant attitude of prayer. We even believe, because the Bible says so, that there is power in prayer and that prayer is the way that we commune with our Father in heaven.

But still…we just don’t do it. Why?

I’m sure there are a number of reasons for this, but I think for the most part it comes down to this: even if we do think God hears us, we don’t believe there is any real power in prayer. We don’t really think prayer changes God’s mind or affects Him at all. We don’t really believe prayer changes or affects anything. Except (maybe) us.

Really? Is that the only reason we are called to pray? So that we will change? Is the “power” in prayer only manifested in the effect it has on the spirit or inner character of the one doing the praying?

Andrew Murray puts it this way: One of the secret difficulties with regard to prayer is the one that though not expressed often hinders prayer. This difficulty is derived from the perfection of God, in His absolute independence of all that is outside of himself. Is He not the Infinite Being, who owes what He is to himself alone, who determines himself, and whose wise and holy will has determined all that is to be? How can prayer influence Him or He be moved by prayer to do what otherwise would not be done? Is not the promise of an answer to prayer simply condescension to our weakness? Is what is said of the much-availing power of prayer anything more than an accommodation to our way of thinking, since God can never be dependent on any action from without for His doings? Is not the blessing of prayer simply the influence it exercises upon us?

Murray then points the way: In seeking an answer to such questions, we find the key in the very being of God, in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Murray suggests that the vitality of prayer that not only changes us but also affects real change in the world is found in the very being of God; in the relational life of Father, Son and Spirit. For Murray, then, our prayers should be effectual both within and outside of us: the effect of our prayers upon us is toward our maturity in Christ; the effect of our prayers upon others and the world is…real possibilities!

In my next post, I will let Mr. Murray explain himself as I reprint a chapter from his book, "With Christ in the School of Prayer".

Day 24-26 Savannah, Tybee Island, Florida

2011-10-18T16:10:00.000-06:00

Well, this is it! This is the last post regarding our “road trip”. At the present moment we are driving through the Ocala National Forest (very nice) on our way to The Villages. And it is still hot! Maybe the Lord has been preparing us for this ever since the Outer Banks because it has been nothing but HOT since then. Hang on! Cindy just spotted a “Bear Crossing” sign and I don’t want to miss photographing another bear crossing the street. Okay, I’m back. Anyway, as I was saying, we are heading towards my brothers place in The Villages. The last three days were spent in Savannah, GA.

Day 23

After spending the morning of the 11^th at Fort Sumter (Charleston, SC) we arrived in Savannah in the afternoon in time to have some dinner and relax in the room. We wanted to see “historic” Savannah, but we also wanted a chance to just begin to “unwind” a little from a long trip; so we decided to spend three nights here. The first night was a casual dinner downtown, average Mexican and then homemade ice cream, and then back to the room to continue relaxing. The next day would be spent on Tybee Island.

Day 24 Tybee Island (Savannah, GA)

Since we didn’t get to enjoy much of the beaches on the Outer Banks, we decided to spend the day on Tybee Island. This is not a “tourist trap” place by any means and we enjoyed the more casual beach scene here as opposed to Ocean City, MD. I didn’t see any “adventure” booths on the main beach (parasailing, body-boarding, etc); only families laying and playing on the beach and people fishing from the pier. I (Jason) wore my swim trunks and decided to wade into the ocean for the first time. I wasn’t in the water more than two minutes (up to my waist) before being stung on my foot by a jellyfish! Can you believe it?! I just this minute get in the water already containing a bunch of other people and a jellyfish decides to single me out! Well, I probably just happened to have walked into it; but still! Can you believe it?! After getting out and going to the lifeguard to spray some vinegar on it, we spent some more time on the pier before getting in again.

After having lunch (seafood, of course), we went to another part of the island to see the lighthouse and the wildlife bird sanctuary. It seemed even hotter on this part of the island than the main beach. There were far fewer people on this, the north side, and I decided to get in the water again. The parking lot was much further away from the bird sanctuary than we had anticipated and even though we walked a long ways, we decided to turn back because it looked like there was some rain heading our way. On our way back up the beach we noticed a huge cargo ship from Italy making its way to the Port of Savannah. Where we were at is the main passage way for the cargo ships and we enjoyed watching this one. I was surprised by how massive this thing was! Anyway, it was time to go back to the hotel and take another shower! We are getting tired of this two-shower a day thing! We decided to stay close to the hotel for dinner and do the “historic downtown” thing tomorrow.

Day 25 Historic Downtown Savannah

Last day of our vacation drive before heading to The Villages. We parked in a garage near the Savannah River in Historic Downtown Savannah at around 11:00am and were already burning up before reaching the restaurant we had chosen to eat at. I had a huge fish sandwich and fries. Mmm…good! After lunch we started our walking tour. We started by going down to the waterfront. They have various sets of stone stairways leading down to the riverfront street (I forgot the name of it). The area is really cool: old brick and cobblestone streets, a trolley line that automobiles must navigate around, suspended walkways, and lots and lots of shops lining up and down the street overlooking the river. Even as hot as it was, I thought the scene was really cool. We walked down the riverfront enjoying the people and the shops but also looking for the famous “Waving Girl” monument…never found it. Oh well. We were too hot to continue looking for it, so we walked back up to continue our tour.

Savannah is well-known, we were told, for its “grid” layout with its specifically planned “city parks” interspersed symmetrically throughout historic downtown. And we definitely made use of these parks! We suppose that this is how people can live in this heat! We made our way every two blocks to sit on one of the many benches under the equally as many huge (old) shade trees that filled each park. The parks are called the “jewels of the city” and we can see why. They are like little oasis’ to enjoy major relief from the heat. We needed them! Even though we were once again drenched from the heat, we enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells in Savannah’s Historic Downtown.

So, today (Day 26) finds us arriving at The Villages tired from all the driving and the packing/unpacking at numerous hotels/motels along the way, but also a bit sad that our long journey across country has come to an end. We hope you have enjoyed spending a little time with us on our journey; we’ve enjoyed “bringing you along”, so-to-speak.

We will still be in “vacation” mode for some time; my brother and his wife have given us the keys to their house for a couple of months while they are away (thanks again Jeff and Linda!) and I plan on spending a lot of time in the pool! And of course, we will be enjoying spending a lot of time with our families. We will also be excited to visit with Paul and Marsha occasionally while here. But we also ask that you all continue to keep us in your prayers as we continue to seek our Lord’s guidance for our future. We want to be open to anything that our Father would have for us and we will need much prayer so that we are sensitive to His voice by His Spirit. So again, thank you for your prayers and keep them up.

Also, thanks for the many comments and emails along the way. For those of you who sent personal emails, thank you. We haven’t been able to respond directly while on our trip because time (and energy) has escaped us so often; but know that we appreciate your words and we will be going through them and responding shortly.

Thanks again and God bless.

jj & cj

p.s. Well, we didn’t get around to posting this yesterday and today we already played shuffleboard for 2 ½ hours this morning; and our week is already filling up with activities. This vacation thing is going to wear us out! And yes, I know I need to work on my tan! And I plan on doing that right now! J

p.p.s. We look forward to going through 1Cor. with you all and continuing to grow together (though from a distance) in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Settling In

2011-09-03T08:08:00.001-06:00

Well, we've begun to "settle in" for a while here at The Villages. Mrs. Moogly has been enjoying various activities around town with her mother and I've been playing lots of billiards with my dad and brother. I've been losing less money lately, so I guess I'm improving (unless they are just being nice to me and letting me win some). I have discovered Scrabble and have been loving it; though this game makes me realize what a small vocabulary I really have. I must start memorizing the dictionary! Cindy has also been enjoying Mah Jong. I'm glad Cindy can play this with her mom and her group of friends because I couldn't figure this game out if my life depended on it. And of course, I'm still enjoying swimming in my brother's pool.

While we are not working, we've been trying to spend more time with each other doing "devotional" reading/studying as well as enoying the outdoors together. We look forward to visiting some wildlife parks (especially bird havens) when the weather cools down a bit. We will also try to spend some time on the many waterways out here as well. All the while we've been seeking to strengthen our relationship with our great God and Savior and each other. We hope (and pray) to have some clear direction for our lives sometime soon, but in the meantime we seek the Spirit to draw us closer to our heavenly Father and to know greater intimacy with Him on a daily basis. Please continue to pray for us and our future.

I hope to get back to writing while we are here. I can't remember where I left off (I guess that's what the "archives" are for), but I'm sure I've got something to say about something! In the meantime, check out the last few posts from one of my favorite blog sites here. Bob has a great understanding of the holistic nature of creation and man's part in it. I've recommended his site before as he talks much about Shalom and the Cosmic Redemption that has come in Christ. His latest posts, as you will see, deal with the false dichotomy between the Sacred and the Secular and, using books by Nicholas Wolterstorff and Calvin Seerveld, help us to see that the beauty of God can even shine through the so-called "unbeliever" in his/her creative (artistic) expression. Here is a great line from Bob:

The vocation of those who are made in God's image is to bring about shalom (which is , I believe, what it means for human beings to exercise "dominion" over the earth). This is the purpose of all callings, of all vocations. It is the purpose of art as well, for art is one of the ways that God brings about a lushness of life that goes beyond vulgar utilitarianism, a sin of modern evangelical Christianity.

I've recommended this before, and I'll do it again. Use the "search" field on Bob's site and lookup his posts on Shalom, Gospel, Creation, etc., and you will be blessed.

Until next time,

GGM (or is it Mr. Ducky?)

Day 20-23 Outer Banks, Charleston, Savannah

2011-08-11T20:13:00.001-06:00

Okay, it looks like we are finally winding down our trip. We are presently heading to Savannah, GA after spending some time in Charleston, SC. I haven’t had time to write in the hotel rooms, so I’ve been trying to get some of these updates done while driving. Of course, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, I also tend to take photos from the Jeep as well! Cindy has been joking that I should put together my own photo book; but instead of a photo book of scenic places and cities, which usually entails actually getting out of the vehicle, I should make one of scenic drives as seen through the windshield while driving! I actually like that idea, though I’m not sure I want to be driving all over the country again until I get some rest. J

Anyway, day 19 found us driving from Harrisburg, PA toward the Outer Banks, NC. On our way we decided to go around Baltimore rather than through Baltimore to save a little time and head to Ocean City, MD to check it out (though I’m sure I would have gotten some more awesome “windshield” shots for a future photo book!). I had been to Ocean City as a kid, but I didn’t remember anything about it. It was a nice drive through Maryland and we were looking forward to walking a bit on the Boardwalk, but when we got there it was just way too busy. We didn’t want to try to find a place to park and then to fight through the mass of people. It looked like it would be a fun place to spend a whole day or weekend, but not to just get out and walk for only an hour or two. So, we just drove down the strip and back out towards the hotel in Chesapeake, VA where we were staying that night. The Outer Banks would have to wait until the morning. Day 19 was basically just a “driving” day.

Day 20 Outer Banks

We got up early and headed to Cape Hatteras National Seashore and other places along the Outer Banks. Our first stop was Jockey’s Ridge State Park (between Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head) to climb the highest “living” sand dune in the…U.S.? Anyway, we were going to scale it: can anyone say HOT?! Cindy says it was like walking through hell in a desert with the sun just relentlessly beating us down. I had taken off my shoes so that I could walk in the deep sand but eventually I had to put my socks back on because my feet were burning. At one point I thought I saw smoke actually rising from under my feet! We didn’t even make it to the bottom of the dunes before we had to head back because of the heat. This may be highest sand dunes around, but we enjoyed the dunes at Cape Cod much better—we could actually walk on those (well, I could, Cindy would sink in them!) and we were able to enjoy the beach and water as well. Oh well, we decided to get back into the truck and head to Cape Hatteras Light House which is the tallest in the nation (248 spiral steps and equivalent to climbing a 12-story building) and is supposedly the most photographed.

And it was still HOT! In fact, because of the heat and the difficult stair climb facing her Cindy didn’t want to try the climb up into the lighthouse. There is actually a disclaimer discouraging certain people from climbing. It said: The climb is strenuous. The stairs have a handrail only on one side and a landing every 31 steps. There is no air conditioning. It may be noisy, humid (understatement!), hot (again understatement) and dim inside the lighthouse and there is two-way traffic on the narrow stairs. Visitors with heart, respiratory or other medical conditions or who have trouble climbing stairs should use their own discretion as to whether to climb the tower.

The rangers who guided the groups up to the top would even try to discourage people from doing this unless they thought they were really up for it. Cindy didn’t feel up to it because her back was beginning to bother her and her knee wasn’t up to the task; so I ended up going to the top myself.

…and I got to pay them $7 for this! I asked the guy at the ticket counter, “You mean I actually get to pay you $7 to walk up 12 flights of stairs in a claustrophobic, hot and humid spiral stairwell in 100 degree heat with a mass of other people?” He said, “Yep”. So I paid the man and then waited in the heat for another 15 minutes until my “group” was called. While walking up I would occasionally see some individuals hanging out on one of the landings seemingly on the verge of passing out from the heat! All the while I was thinking how much you, Jerry, would have enjoyed this (based on your Panama Canal story). J All in all, though, the view from the top was worth it. Being up so high and on the coast brought a nice, cool breeze; so strong, in fact, that you would have to hang on to your hat so it didn’t blow away. Again, my photos don’t do the place justice. I wanted to stay up there longer, but Cindy was waiting for me below…and I wasn’t looking forward to the trip back down!

The lighthouse wasn’t quite all the way at the southern tip of the Outer Banks, but it was far enough for us. After this we headed back up and stopped to see the ocean. The sand walking to the Atlantic in this area was soft and thick (and hot), but the ocean view was spectacular. The waves were pretty good, too. This is supposedly one of the best places on the Atlantic, in the States anyway, for surfing. The trip down to the lighthouse was longer than we had anticipated and it was so hot outside that we decided to head west to Raleigh, stopping in Rocky Mount for the evening.

Day 21 Raleigh, NC

We went to Raleigh specifically to visit a bookstore. Stevens Bookstore is advertised the largest used bookstore between NYC and Chicago. I believe it. It was huge! It was much bigger, though not as architecturally pleasing, than the bookstore we went to in Harrisburg. And they specialize in Christian books. We spent a long time there and ended up getting 13 books. A couple of them were books that were out of print and the rest were priced low enough to splurge. And of course I’ve started them all already! I’ve read the Preface and Introduction to them all and they all seem like they will be very interesting reading…if I ever get to it. Actually, I think I’ll start a couple of them as soon as I finish the two books I bought (seemingly ages ago) in Minnesota at Woodland Hills Church (Day 4 or 5 of this seemingly endless journey J). (This is Cindy and I’m sorry that my husband keeps writing seemingly endless emails! Insert smiley face here) Raleigh was a nice, relaxing few hours. We then headed to Charleston, SC.

Oh, but first Cindy wanted me to tell you what happened when we left the bookstore. Do you remember the story of me leaving our Atlas on the top of the Jeep when we left our hotel on the North Shore (Minnesota) and having to drive back about 3 miles to get it? Well, it happened again! No, not the Atlas. This time it was the passenger side floor mat that flew off the car. For reasons too long to go into, the floor mat under my feet had gotten completely soaked with water. So, I had the brilliant idea of leaving it on the hood of the Jeep to dry out while we were in the bookstore. And it was a brilliant idea! We discovered that it was completely dry…after seeing it fly off the hood straight into the windshield and onto the pavement as we were driving down the road! After Cindy pulled into a garage and sent me walking back down the road to retrieve it, I brought back a clean, dry floor mat!

Day 22-23 Charleston, SC

We stayed the night in Florence and arrived in Charleston in the afternoon. After unloading our stuff (again), we headed to the historic district to see the water and eat some seafood. The “Historic Charleston” area is really very beautiful. If you look on a map you will see that the historic district and “downtown” are on one peninsula with Mount Pleasant, Daniel Island West Ashley and James Island surrounding it with bays and rivers scattered throughout making the region very appealing to look at and a boater’s paradise. And all the bridges connecting these land masses are very cool. And of course it is rich with history from the Revolutionary time and especially with regard to the Civil War. We think we’d like to come back here to spend some time visiting all the historic sights and learn more about the history of what they call the “holy city”. They refer to it as such because of all the churches that were built back in the day.

Anyway, we spent the afternoon/evening walking through one of the harbor parks and then eating at supposedly the best seafood restaurant on the east coast—Hymans Seafood. And it was HOT! Have I mentioned that yet? Before eating, however, we enjoyed a waterfront pier and park for a while and then we almost got caught in a thunderstorm. We saw it coming over the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge (the bridge you will see in the photos) and managed to jump into a bar/restaurant before getting drenched. We waited it out while having some…hmm…refreshments? I also ordered something called a “she-crab” soup. Cindy had heard of this before, so we got it. This soup is really a type of clam chowder bisque, as differentiated from a clam chowder soup. Anyway, it was awesome! After the rain stopped we headed for Hymans.

Cindy had the Captains Seafood Combo (fried fish, shrimp, and scallops) and I had, of course, Fish-n-Chips. Now, I had forgot to mention that I also had Fish-n-Chips at the Outer Banks. The fish there was Flounder. I’ve learned that Flounder is not my favorite fish. At Hymans, the fish is Haddock. And I’ve learned that I love Haddock. It is a white, flaky but chewy fish (if that makes sense). Anyway, Ken, I’ve found another awesome Fish-n-Chips place; though it’s a little far away from Colorado Springs. Their “signature” dish was a flounder dish and, needless to say, I didn’t want to try that; though I’m sure it would have been good. They served us boiled peanuts as well. Boiled peanuts? Whatever. Boiled peanuts didn’t do it for me! After dinner we walked around a bit more and headed back over the bridge to the hotel to get ready for our tour of Fort Sumter in the morning.

Day 23 Fort Sumter, Savannah

The hotel manager allowed us a later check out time so that we could take the tour in the morning. Fort Sumter is the place “where the Civil War began”. The history behind this place is fascinating. It took the boat ½ hour to reach the fort and then we spent an hour on it before heading back. We wanted to go first thing in the morning so that it wouldn’t be as hot, but I don’t think it mattered. We were drenched in sweat before we even got off the boat! And it was brutal on the island. But it was well worth it. Visiting the site of the start of the war has made us both more interested in this history. Cindy had bought a few books on the Civil War and now I want to read them (along with the books she bought on the Revolutionary War). Actually visiting such historical sites makes our history seem more real and tangible and interesting.

Well, the tour of the fort was incredible; and incredibly hot. Have I mentioned that it has been hot out here? We made it back to the hotel in time to shower (again) and pack (again) before checking out. So we loaded the Jeep and headed for Savannah. And this where we are now as I type. We checked in a little while ago and went to the “historic district” to have some dinner: subpar Mexican and then some homemade ice cream. Tomorrow and Saturday we will investigate the historic district and relax on the beaches of Tybee Island.

Well, as I said we’re winding down our trip (or maybe I didn’t say it. This is already page 4 and I can’t remember what I said on page one). After Savannah we will head to The Villages where we will spend the next few months. I will update again with a run-down of our time in Savannah with pics. Photos of the last few days will be uploaded (probably) tomorrow. Right now it’s time to read one of my twelve latest books. Okay, I’ll probably read a couple of them! J

Check back tomorrow for the pics of Outer Banks and Charleston. And for those of you who have managed to make it this far in this post J, please continue to keep us in your prayers. We are enjoying our more focused pursuit of Christ (in relationship) and are still eager to know what He has in store for us. He hasn’t let us in on His plans yet, so please pray that we will hear His voice when He speaks.

God bless,

jj & cj

Fallingwater and Quilts

2011-08-08T19:37:00.001-06:00

Here are the pics from Fallingwater, Hershey and the Quilts. The first few quilts are specifically Amish from the early 20th Century. As I said, they seem somewhat plain, but the beauty is really in the intricate stitching. You can't really see this from the photos. If you can zoom in you might be able see what I'm talking about. At any rate, they were incredible; but I still really like the more "abstract" modern quilts.

Day 14-15 Cleveland & Pittsburgh

2011-08-07T21:02:00.001-06:00

Yes, we’re still here (though I’m beginning to be not always sure of where “here” is…or even what day it is). I believe this is day 19 (August 7). We just left the hotel we stayed at for the past three nights (outside of Harrisburg, PA) and are heading to the Outer Banks (NC) by way of Baltimore and (possibly) D.C. We may decide to skip D.C. on this trip and make a special vacation to spend a few days there. Our main objective right now is to get to the Nag’s Head area and enjoy some of the NC coastline before reaching Savannah in a few days. Surprisingly, we’ve been sleeping pretty well throughout this trip (motel “dives” included!) and are ready for a major day of driving; if we decide to skip D.C., that is.

So…where did I leave off? Oh yeah: Last week we found our fearless heroes enjoying Michigan as they marched effortlessly (and casually!) toward “Camp Villages” in central Florida. Along the way they have enjoyed the beauty of God’s creation in its variously distinctive forms as well as the cultural distinctives of God’s children as they’ve settled throughout the land. They’ve enjoyed mountains with faces looking out of them to alien landing spots; they’ve driven through thick forests hiding all kinds of wildlife as well as dry, dusty canyons where nothing could possibly live over-looking beautiful green plains that once was home to many settlement villages; they traversed through cornfield after cornfield after cornfield after…(well, you get the idea) to gorgeous stream and river drenched lands; they’ve eaten fresh fish from three Great Lakes and seen the wonder of God in waterfalls emptying out into great rivers; they’ve witnessed picturesque homes and farms settled throughout hills and valleys as well as an incredible home practically built into a rock in a forest; they’ve seen beautiful metropolis’, country villages and harbor towns as well as depressed cities that have seen better days (and hopefully will again); and now they’ve just entered Maryland where we now resume our program, “Cross Country with Googly Mooglies”.

Well, the last four or five days have been fairly relaxing. We spent a day in Cleveland and were not overly impressed. Downtown was not very interesting though I enjoyed seeing the home of the Cleveland Browns; but we enjoyed spending some time in the Cleveland Museum of Art. This building was in the “cultural” section of Cleveland that was very pleasant. There were numerous areas along the scenic drive devoted to various ethnic people groups of the world and the museum was right next to the Botanical Gardens. We didn’t have time for the Gardens or to stop at any of the “cultural” parks that lined the drive, but we thought this place was pretty cool. And I saw some Picasso paintings at the museum (very, very cool) which, by the way, had free admission (also very cool). We then headed to Pittsburgh where we spent two nights.

Pittsburgh was an interesting city. I love to see big cities and drive through them (loved Minneapolis) and Pittsburgh is very cool because, as most of you know, it is situated on a peninsula that basically splits the Ohio river into two (the Allegheny and the Monongahela). Now I already knew this of course, since I’ve enjoyed baseball for years and I was well aware of where Pittsburgh was located. But to be driving through the beautiful hills and forests of Pennsylvania and then to have the road just “open up”, so-to-speak, to this large city sitting between two rivers was an awesome sight! I also loved the yellow bridges; painted to match the colors of the Pirates and Steelers, I assume. We weren’t staying downtown, so we had to drive over one bridge taking us over the Allegheny River and into downtown (around the two stadiums) and then over the Monongahela Bridge taking us out of downtown. That was cool enough, but as soon as we got on the second bridge to leave downtown we were immediately face-to-face with the side of a mountain (well, maybe a “hill” to us Coloradoans). Thankfully there was a tunnel! J We went through the tunnel and came out on the other side of the mountain where we found our hotel room (converted apartments) and settled in. We enjoyed a quiet evening in this area and got tickets for a baseball game for the next day. We needed to hang out somewhere for a day since Fallingwater was closed on Wednesday.

So, on Wednesday we got some business completed and spent some time in downtown Pittsburgh! It was overcast all day and it rained lightly during the game, so the photos don’t do the city justice (not enough light); but I thought Pittsburgh was very cool. We had fun walking around a little bit and then watching the game. I took lots of pictures, as you can see, because this is a unique area. The riverboats were constantly operating, taking people up and down the two rivers. We didn’t have time to do that, though I think it would have been fun. We also didn’t go check out Ted Nugent who playing just down the street after the game. Cindy and I had seen the Motor City Madman years ago while we were dating and she said that once was enough. Really?! Can you get too much of Uncle Ted?! Don’t answer that.

So, after the game we went back to the hotel to get ready for a wonderful day at Fallingwater. And it was!

We left Pittsburgh in the morning and travelled down 51 thinking we would be in some scenic territory. There were some scenic areas down this stretch but the traffic was horrendous. The traffic was pretty bad in and around downtown Pittsburgh, but this was awful. We began to wonder if we would make it to Fallingwater at our appointed time. After seemingly forever, we finally made it through “metro” Pittsburgh (really though, some of it was quite nice) and into Laurel Highlands, where we arrived at Fallingwater with two minutes to spare. I can’t begin to express how lovely (yes “lovely”! I’m a man and I can use the term lovely if I want to!) Laurel Highlands is. The gorgeous rolling hills interspersed with picturesque farmland and beautiful red barn houses seemed so surreal to me—like something you could only see in movies because it is make-believe. But here they were! Right in front of me! Everywhere I looked! I wish I had taken some photos but I don’t know where I would have begun and if I could have stopped. We would have never made it through if I had started taking pictures. You have to experience this area for yourself!

But the highlight, of course, was Fallingwater. This house is incredible. You’ve seen the pictures on TV and in magazines (and much better pictures than mine, of course), but until you see it in person you can’t grasp the marvel of this architectural wonder. Cindy has wanted to see this for over twenty years and it was worth the wait. The rooms were much smaller than I would have thought; but then again, it was built in the 1930’s when rooms typically were much smaller. The living space was about normal size, but the bedrooms and bathrooms (especially) just seemed quite small considering this was such an important house. And it was an important house even as Frank Lloyd Wright was building it. From the visitor’s center up the road, it was a five minute walk to get to the house. I’m so glad that they left the ambience of the location unspoiled. The house is tucked into the woods and literally built into the hilly rock and over a flowing stream. I could write about this for a long time, but you would do better to read about it yourself. Needless to say we (especially Cindy) loved it!

After the scenic drive through Laurel Highlands (we were on 381 and 653), we headed to Hershey for some…you guessed it…fish! No, that’s not right. We wanted to go to Hershey’s Chocolate World and also (per Cindy’s moms suggestion) to hang out in Lancaster County to see all the quilt places out there. We stayed three nights in Harrisburg. One day was devoted to Hershey and a huge used book store in Harrisburg, and the next day was devoted to Amish Country for the quilts.

Hershey was a bit of a disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, the chocolate was great! But they didn’t have a tour of the actual factory; just a “Disneyesque” moving car “tour” through animation that told the story of how they make their chocolate. It was interesting, but not what we expected. And of course, at the end of the ride you exited into their huge Hershey store where you can buy all the candy and novelties that you want. Can anyone say Disney? Oh wait, I already did! Still, it was fun. And yes, I bought some candy (fudge, actually; and chocolate, of course).

From there we went to Harrisburg to the book store. I think I could have spent two full days in there and still not be satisfied. It was located in a renovated theater, so it had plenty of charm. I only bought two books (can you believe it?), but I thoroughly enjoyed looking around. We then went back to the hotel to rest for our big day in Lancaster County (Amish Country) looking at quilts and experiencing a bit of Amish culture.

We went to two quilt museums and they were both awesome! Thanks mom—you were right on the money with this suggestion! Even I (a real man, don’t forget—even though I use the term “lovely”), thought these quilts were incredible. The Amish quilts seemed a bit nondescript at first look, but a closer inspection revealed quite exquisite (there I go again) stitching. I mean these things were absolutely stunning! (I had better stop with the superlatives. I think I’ve tapped into my “feminine” side enough already!) But they were! And the quilts at the next museum were arguably even more amazing! (Yes, I know; I’ve been using a lot of “!” in this paragraph. I can’t help myself. I was very impressed with this stuff) I wish I had my large tripod so that the photos were better. But even so, when you see some of these that make your eyes seem to go cross-eyed…that is a good representation of the quilt itself. Some of these looked very three-dimensional and abstract. These (including the Amish quilts) are really “fine art’ in my opinion. See for yourself!

We also enjoyed watching the Amish driving their horse and buggy carriages around town. We didn’t take any of the tours. It was just fun watching them drive through town and around corners (sometimes pretty fast). A tourist “village” was also a lot of fun. I had a shake (chocolate, of course) made with local Amish cow milk. I don’t know what makes a cow “Amish”, but I wasn’t going to go do any research on it. I just wanted to enjoy it. And I did. We also saw something we never thought we’d see—an Amish woman hitchhiking! I guess she’s not breaking any oaths if she’s not the one driving, huh?!

All-in-all, I must say that Pittsburg, Fallingwater, Laurel Highlands and Lancaster County were all very enjoyable in their own way. I’m finishing this email at a hotel in Chesapeake, VA. Today we drove around Baltimore (we’ll do D.C some other time) to Ocean City (too many people!) and down the Maryland/Virginia peninsula to our hotel. This was a very scenic route in places especially going across (and through) the very long Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Yes, you heard right: a “Bridge-Tunnel”. The area where the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean connect has a bridge/tunnel that connects the Maryland/Virginia peninsula with Virginia Beach. It was so cool to be driving on this bridge and then twice driving down through a tunnel under the water and then rising back up out of the tunnel back onto the bridge. The sight was magnificent!

All right, I guess I’ve written enough. I’m back up-to-date. Tomorrow we are heading down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina before heading over to the “Research Triangle” area of Raleigh/Durham. I hope to find another used book store there. From there we will be heading towards Hilton Head, S.C and then Savannah.

I’ll try to keep up with this more frequently so that I’m not writing a book for you to read.

Until then….

jj & cj

p.s. wi-fi is very slow. I will try to upload day 15-16 (Fallingwater and quilts) photos tomorrow.

Day 11-13

2011-08-01T20:13:00.002-06:00

Hello Everyone!

I know…it’s been a few days. But we are on vacation after all!  We are now driving through a heavy thunderstorm in Ohio along the coast of Lake Erie and since we really can’t see anything, I thought I’d start typing an update for the last few days. Okay, we’ve now decided to pull into the parking lot of Happy Hooker Bait and Tackle Shop (along with a number of other vehicles) to wait out this storm. We are on our way to a vineyard in Sandusky (on the scenic route, supposedly) and then off to Cleveland. But I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I? I have a couple of days to catch you all up on first.

Day 11 (July 30) Lake Michigan eastern coast and northwestern Wine Country

We left Mackinaw City in the morning after a wonderfully relaxing day on Mackinac Island. Oh yeah! I forgot to mention something cool about Mackinac Island: no automobiles are allowed on the island. Everyone gets around via walking, biking (or rollerblading, etc.) or horse and buggy. Even supplies are off-loaded at the docks and onto horse drawn buggies for delivery all over the island. Trucks with supplies are ferried over to the island and then off-loaded onto the buggies. Instead of car engine noise, all we heard were hooves of horses hitting the pavement as they transported supplies and people. And there were a lot of horse and buggy operators up and down Main Street because there were a ton of tourists! Of course this also means that instead of oil leaks all over the roads there was…well…other kinds of leakage (and we’ll leave it at that). The problem is that the street cleaners (you guessed it, people walking behind the horses dragging a container attached at their waist), well they just couldn’t keep up. It was funny to see all the bikers (and there were a ton of those) trying to avoid the…you know. Anyway, Mackinac was a highlight.

So, back to day 11

We decided to head out to the Old Mission Peninsula and Leelanau Peninsula in the Traverse City area. This is part of Michigan’s extensive and state-wide “wine country”; and it was beautiful! I’ve never been to Sonoma, California, but I can’t imagine it being any more beautiful than this. I suppose it is, but this was awesome. The photos (again) don’t do this area justice. The scenery up and down Old Mission Peninsula was absolutely gorgeous and the vineyards of both peninsulas were incredible to see—and the wine tasting was delicious! The entire Traverse City area and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was great viewing. The whole trip down the east side of Lake Michigan took us through quaint little towns that seems the epitome of the ideal small-town, harbor living. We wanted to stop at these towns all along the way, but if we did we may have just now made it to Traverse City! Oh well, sometimes you have to make some sacrifices…right?

We couldn’t find a room at a hotel/motel at all in or around the dunes or even as far away as Muskegon (I was considering the unfortunate circumstances of Mary and Joseph at this point) until we finally happened upon a room at Lakeside Inn in Ludington. The name sounds so good! And after finally finding a place to stay at 7:30 in the evening we should have been very happy—and we were—until we saw the place. What a dump! O, it was right across the street from Lake Michigan (and the very nice beach and park). And the town was another pretty, quaint town; but the motel? Forget about it! Cindy says it was better than Hilltop Motel in Newcastle, WY. I don’t agree. But we remembered how truly blessed we are and how so many people (here in the US and abroad) that have no place to stay or food to eat; and so we checked our ungratefulness at the door and were appreciative that we actually found a room to stay the night. After a fairly fitful night sleep (but sleep, nonetheless), we packed up and headed across the state to “Little Bavaria” Frankenmuth, MI.

Day 12 (July 31) Little Bavaria and Largest Christmas store in the world!

Yes, that’s right! Frankenmuth, MI is home to the largest Christmas store in the world (Bonners CHRISTmas Store—and that’s how they spell it). And the property also includes a to-scale replica of the original Silent Night Memorial Chapel in Oberndorf, Austria (the site where Silent Night was first sung). The store really was Humungous! It had a map of the store including the different entrances so you wouldn’t get lost. I took lots of pictures (which they encouraged…much to Cindy’s chagrin), so you can get the idea. It definitely felt like Christmas. And they totally emphasize the Christness of Christmas. I get the idea that the Bonner’s were devout Christians who were definitely not ashamed of Christ! Scripture references abounded throughout the store and every mention of Christmas on a sign was spelled CHRISTmas. But to me the spirit of Christmas was felt even more so at the chapel. Personally, I enjoyed the chapel very much. They memorialized “Silent Night” in numerous ways and the song was played continuously in various languages. They also had placards throughout the property with the lyrics in various languages. They also had the story of Silent Night and the history of the original church and chapel displayed within the building. This was a very nice dedication.

Frankenmuth is also known as Little Bavaria and that was evident up and down Main Street. We enjoyed this little town very much, though it was much smaller than we expected. There were all kinds of gift shops (of course) and fudge and candy shops (of course) and cheese shops (of course); and pubs! We ate at the Famous Zehnders Restaurant and it was great! They are known for their all-you-can-eat Chicken plate, but after all the preliminary courses you are served, you really don’t have enough of an appetite to eat more than the chicken they serve you. In fact, we took a couple of pieces back to the hotel! Little Bavaria was a nice place.
Next stop—Ohio

Day 13 Ohio

Well, here we are now in Ohio (by way of Detroit—yawn. Nothing special there.). The rain has stopped and we pulled out of the Bait and Tackle shop to continue on our way along the coast of Lake Erie. Oh yeah, before the rain got real heavy we spotted 5 doe standing off the street in the woods. We tried to take some photos, but they didn’t come out very well. When we got back on the road we stopped at Fireland Winery outside of Sandusky to enjoy some wine and scenery. We are staying outside of Cleveland to spend a couple of days in the region before heading to Pittsburgh. We don’t know yet what we are going to do here, but we want to go to Falling Water (Frank Lloyd Wright’s most famous house that he designed and built) outside of Pittsburgh and since they are closed on Wednesday we are forced to wait an extra day. Well, if this is God’s providence then we will find things to do around here! I suppose a day in Cleveland is just what the doctor ordered for us!

Lots of pictures coming soon!

Hopefully I’ll talk to you again at this same googly time and same googly channel.

Jj & cj

Day 9-10 Upper Peninsula, Mackinac Island

2011-07-29T16:24:00.003-06:00

Day 9—Upper Peninsula (Michigan)

After a rainy, uneventful (except for the bear) “travel” day, we arose from our stay in Marquette to travel through the Upper Peninsula and see the sights. We stopped in Munising and took a short nature walk to see the falls. We then drove up to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We spent some time only on the western side where the rocks and cliffs were located (the sand dunes were in the eastern part of the park). We had a very nice time and enjoyed the scenery very much. From there we went to Tahquamenon Falls State Park where we visited the Upper Falls and the Lower Falls. While these falls weren’t as large or powerful as the one at the Grand Portage State Park (on the North Shore in Minnesota just before Canada), they were also very cool and impressive. Having sunny weather for our excursions was great. Having travelled through the Upper Peninsula, we headed south to Mackinaw.

Day 10—Mackinac Island

Just returned from a great day of relaxation on Mackinac Island. We took a ferry over from Mackinaw City and just enjoyed a beautiful, clear day on a historic island. We didn’t investigate the island; we just walked a little around town and sat a lot on the lawn overlooking Lake Huron. I was thinking about parasailing, but I decided to wait until we get to Florida for that (since we’ll be in a bit warmer waters!). We’re staying a second night here in Mackinaw City and then heading down the western side of Michigan to the many wineries on the coast of Lake Michigan. We are looking forward to that!

There’s no telling when we will be in Florida, but we are finally beginning to head “south”.

Oh yeah, I had a fresh Pollock Fish-n-Chips last night and fresh Whitefish today—I’m finding good stuff out here on the Great Lakes!

Jj & cj

Day 7 & 8 North Shore

2011-07-27T17:29:00.013-06:00

Day 7—North Shore Minnesota

After having driven from Minneapolis through Duluth and into the northeastern forest lands of Minnesota as far as Ely (a beautiful little town which may be the canoe capital of North America as far as we could tell), we stayed the evening in a nice little hotel on Lake Superior. Our room had a balcony overlooking the lake and we enjoyed a nice, relaxing evening. In the morning we left to travel up the North Shore. We had to double back to the hotel after six miles to retrieve the map that fell off the roof because for some reason it didn’t manage to make it inside the Jeep when we left. Oh well, at least I didn’t have to jump into the dumpster to find something this time. It was laying on the drive heading out of the hotel when we got back; and it didn’t even have any tire tracks on it!

The drive up the North Shore was beautiful and very relaxing. We stopped a few times to enjoy some of God’s incredible creation before having lunch and spending some time in Grand Marais. This is a picturesque little harbor town that we enjoyed spending a few hours in. We had lunch at the Angry Trout Café right on Lake Superior. We both had…drum roll please…you guessed it—fish and chips! And the Cod Father says…amen!  That was some good stuff! And fresh. They have a little shack next to the restaurant that you can watch them filet all the fish before sending a batch into the restaurant to cook. They had all kinds of fish, but the fish for the fish and chips was Lake Superior Whitefish. This place, while still not God’s fish and chips (that’s still reserved for the Skagway Fish House where they serve fresh Halibut), is definitely a “keeper” in my book.

From Grand Marais we headed farther north to the Grand Portage State Park just south of the Canadian border (about 100 ft. away). We decided to not go into Canada and just hike out to the highest waterfall in Minnesota. Actually, half of the waterfall is in Canada because the border splits the river in half. We saw some wildlife across the river, too (see last photo). We saw four real-life Canadian Mammals on a platform across the way. Two of them were large and two of them were much smaller. The larger ones looked like they were just enjoying the sight of the waterfall while the two smaller ones were running around. They managed to stay there long enough for me to take their picture! I hardly ever get the chance to photograph real, live wildlife in their natural habitat!

After viewing the waterfall and enjoying more of God’s incredible creation, a creation that He wants us to enjoy…and care for (yes, I’m getting a little “greener” every year), we headed back to the Duluth area where we stayed for the night before heading east again through northern Wisconsin and Michigan.
Until next time…

Jj & cj

Update

Day 8

Left Duluth (goodbye & good riddance) for Michigan through Wisconsin. It was raining all day (1st time on our trip), so we only got out a few times. We enjoyed the scenery while listening to many sermons on the iPod (and I read some to Cindy as well); nice change of pace. But somewhere in Wisconsin we did see a bear cross the road only about 15 feet in front of us. I didn’t have the camera on my lap or I would have had a great shot of a real life, up close and personal, bear. It was awesome!

We’re on our way to the Sand Dunes tomorrow and then we’ll spend a couple of days around the Mackinac Island before heading south down the west coast of Michigan.

Canadian Wildlife. If you look close you'll see them. I wonder if we have these kinds of animals in America?

Minneapolis Photos

2011-07-26T19:10:00.013-06:00

Just a few (of the many) photos we took of Minneapolis. We loved it!

Minneapolis: July 23-24

2011-07-25T21:24:00.004-06:00

Day 6 (Monday)

Well, we’ve landed in Silver Bay Minnesota after a long, circular drive north of Duluth. We are on our balcony looking out at Lake Superior—magnificent! If I didn’t know better I would think we were overlooking the ocean. We just had some fish and chips down the street; and no Ken, they were not up to our high standards. We will enjoy a nice relaxing evening here tonight and head up the coastline toward Canada where I plan to sample some more for lunch and dinner!

We stayed in Minneapolis Saturday and Sunday to unwind a bit and enjoy the sights of what we’ve discovered to be a truly beautiful (and big!) city. We arrived in St. Paul early Saturday afternoon and spent a lot of time driving around. My brother once told me that his Garmin was the best thing that he has ever bought—and we can say the same thing! Without our Garmin, we would have been lost numerous times. We drove around (and around and around and…) downtown and then stopped for dinner at, you guessed it…a Cuban restaurant. Really. A Cuban restaurant. And it was awesome! I couldn’t tell you what I had (I couldn’t pronounce anything on the menu), but it was absolutely delicious. So far, it was the best meal I’ve had on our trip.

On Sunday morning we woke up and attended Woodland Hills Church for the 9:00 am worship service before heading out to enjoy some of Minneapolis’ fine lakes and Riverfront. We had planned on trying to see a Minnesota Twins baseball game, but having only “standing room only” tickets available (for $25 each), we decided to skip the game and spend more time just messing around the city. We couldn’t believe all the activity around the lakes (people sunbathing, picnicking, roller-blading, biking, reading, walking and runners) and on the lakes (sail-boards, canoes, sail-boats, swimmers, etc.). We drove around quite a few lakes before we found a place to park and sit. I guess after a long winter people are eager to enjoy the outdoors again! The Riverfront was also awesome. We drove along the river and stopped often to take in the views. The riverfront drive through the downtown area was especially impressive.

This morning we left Minneapolis and headed toward Duluth where we drove a supposed scenic route through Superior Nat’l Forest. The four to 4 ½ hour drive was about as unscenic as we’ve seen so far! Thankfully we ended up here (very picturesque) and will start our journey up Lake Superior (maybe into Canada) and then back down and through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and down the coast of Lake Michigan…at least that’s what we’re thinking right now. That may change in the afternoon! We may decide to drive through Canada from Thunder Bay around the north end of Lake Superior through Sault St. Marie and down into Michigan. Whew! Traveling cross-country without a clear-cut plan can be exhausting! But we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves…so far!

Well, it’s time to “hit the sack”. Pictures will be coming soon.

God Bless,

Jj & cj

Some Pictures

2011-07-23T19:48:00.013-06:00

Here is a very small taste of our trip. Enjoy!

July 20-22

2011-07-23T19:24:00.006-06:00

Hello All,

It’s been a few days, so we wanted to keep you all up-to-speed on our progress. Pictures will be included! Without processing the photos on my iMac, however, you won’t be able to appreciate the scenery as we have.

July 20—Wednesday

Having headed out of Denver at around 1:00 pm on Wednesday (20th), we traveled through some National Grasslands (nothing to see but…grass) and ended up staying at the Hilltop Motel in Newcastle Wyoming (just outside of the Black Hills). This place wasn’t really on top of a hill, but it did look out on the train tracks. Other than the mice that most certainly shared our room and the bathroom sink that was about to fall off the wall and the carpet that may or may not have been vacuumed in months and the shower that was seemingly made for the Oompah Loompahs (or their cousins the Munchins), the room wasn’t a complete disaster—it had free Internet! :-) And even though we half expected some crazed in-bred hillbilly clan to kick in the door and start chopping us up to make us into homemade beef jerky (yes, we’ve seen some great movies in the past!), we slept okay. Having already paid the nice lady running this luxurious establishment we headed up to Devil’s Tower early the next morning.

July 21—Thursday

Devil’s Tower, as many of you know, was the supposed location of Steven Spielberg’s film, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. The movie was great and viewing the landmark as we drove towards it was pretty cool. Devil’s Tower was “The first declared United States National Monument, established on September 24, 1906 by President Roosevelt.” (I packed our brochures so I just “googled” this information while Cindy is driving us through the beautiful farm lands of Minnesota on the way to St. Paul) We actually thought the monument would be larger; though it was very large and impressive. I suppose thinking back on the movie it just seemed to be more massive than it really is. As you can see, we took some photos at different points on the way.

From here we began traveling through the Black Hills and ended up at Deadwood. This was the old western town that Wild Bill Hickok made famous by being killed in the saloon while playing poker. I think they made a movie out of this. This town is supposedly a “…careful, accurate restoration of a historically significant city.” Yes, “google” again! What it looked like to us was a more western looking Blackhawk/Central City. It seemed like practically every building was a Casino. I know they liked their gambling back in the “Old West”, but come on! Of course, now it is slot machines more than poker. Anyway, it was pretty cool to walk into the saloon that Wild Bill was gunned down in (they have the actual chair he was sitting in encased in glass up on the wall). They even had a Wild Bill look-a-like we could have our picture taken with…but Cindy was too chicken. Oh well, we had lunch there and enjoyed ourselves.

Next we were headed to see Crazy Horse! Yeah!!

The Crazy Horse Memorial was awesome! My photos obviously don’t do justice to the real thing. If this is completed in my lifetime, I will definitely go visit it again. Since the project is entirely funded by donations (keeping the gov’t out of the way; do you blame them?), the chances of it being finished any time soon are slim, but one never knows. We enjoyed this place very much and bought a couple of books. And no, I haven’t read them yet…but of course I’ve started them! :-)

Next up was Mount Rushmore via the Needles Highway (in Custer State Park). This was a beautiful drive (as was everywhere in Black Hills National Forest) that took us through “tunnels” that only one car could fit through at a time (hence “Needles”). This isn’t the only way to get to Mount Rushmore, but a couple of the six tunnels were blown through specifically to capture the view of Mount Rushmore. It was interesting to come around a curve and head into the tunnel with the President’s faces looking at us! Obviously I joined many fellow travelers who jumped out of our vehicles to take some snapshots. We didn’t go into the Mount Rushmore Park; the sight while driving closer and closer to it was spectacular enough. I really didn’t think I would have been so impressed with this Memorial since I had seen it on TV so many times, but actually having it jump out at you while driving gave it a perspective that I wasn’t anticipating. Quite a sight indeed!

After Mount Rushmore we decided to call it a day and headed up the road to Rapid City for the evening. No Hilltop Motel here, thankfully! We stayed at a very nice Holiday Inn-Express…and now we’re spoiled. On to The Badlands in the morning!

July 22—Friday

After a very relaxing dinner the night before and a very good night’s sleep, we headed off to The Badlands first thing in the morning. Wow! What an incredible place. I kept imagining the “Wild West” as we drove through. Again, the photos don’t do this place justice. We kind of wish we were here in the evening as opposed to the morning so that we would have seen the sunset out here. Many of the more spectacular professional photographs of The Badlands seem to capture the sun setting on the geological marvels throughout the Park. Oh well, it was still an incredible sight in the morning time. To see the prairie plains juxtaposed to the huge, cavernous rock formation (small canyon’s?) was truly an experience. I kept thinking about old Clint Eastwood westerns (John Wayne was before my time people! ) as we looked out over terrain. If we get back here sometime I will want to spend a few days camping and exploring.

That was about it for Friday. We enjoyed The Badlands and then drove through South Dakota on our way to Minnesota (where we are even now driving as I type this). We stopped for the evening on Friday outside of Sioux Falls and are currently headed to Minneapolis. At this point Cindy asks me to make a special prayer request for her. At this moment we are only on day four of our trip and Cindy has already had to correct me numerous times as to what day it is and how long we have been on the road. I don’t know how much of this (meaning me) she can take, so she asks you all to prayer for her patience as I succumb to “retiree syndrome” and lose track of what day of the week it is (and what we did on a particular day). Hopefully I won’t have to ask her what state we are in or she may leave me at rest area! :-)

We will be staying in Minneapolis for two days. We will be going to church in the morning and taking care of some things before heading up to the Upper Great Lakes for some more enjoyment of God’s beautiful creation…and each other!

We love you all!

Jj & cj

Disaster Averted...Barely: Dumpster Diving in a Downpour!

2011-07-20T20:37:00.002-06:00

Hello,

This is our initial post as we leave Denver for a long drive cross-country to Florida as we embark on an extended vacation while seeking the Lord's direction for our future. I will try to keep this updated as often as possible with pictures and commentary. No pictures on this post, however, as we have already spent a day on the road.

This is how our vacation began...

July 19th

Disaster Averted…Barely: Dumpster Diving in the Rain!

Well, after finishing the packing and storing (thanks again, Tim), and the cleaning and the taking out the trash (a few times…thanks to DSI for use of the dumpster), and after taking a few things, including Cindy’s Toyota, to the Bloom’s for safe keeping (thanks so much Greg, Christy, Johanna, Nicole, Jonathon and Gretchen!), we then began loading up the car with all of our essentials, which included, of course, two iPods, two smart phones, one Garmin, one laptop and one…iPad. Thankfully, being sweaty and exhausted after working all day, we were getting ready to vacate the house and head to a hotel room to relax for the big day tomorrow. Little did we know that our “adventure” would begin this evening!

Upon packing our suitcases (we decided to leave some “travel bags” at the house to pick up in the morning), Cindy asked for the iPad. Uh-oh! Where’s the iPad?! Neither of us has seen it since Sunday evening and it wasn’t with the laptop or any of our travel bags. We figured it must have been in a stack of catalogues that I took to the dumpster yesterday (Monday 18th). What were we going to do?! If that’s what happened, it is buried under who knows what and has been thoroughly soaked (it had been raining heavily for quite some time now and didn’t look like it would stop anytime soon). We were very upset as you can imagine. We decided to go to DSI’s dumpster and take a look.

And by “take a look” I mean Jason jumping in the filth and wading through it all in a thunderstorm. Sorry, no pictures (too upset to think about); but it was a sight to behold! I was already hot and filthy from a long day working and now I get to crawl inside a dumpster in a downpour. I did have an umbrella with me which probably made the scene even more comical—to anyone but us! I went through that dumpster from top to bottom, from one side to the next and from the front to the back—twice! Nothing! Oh, I did find everything that I threw away for the last two days…except, of course, the iPad! Talk about a great start to our loooong vacation! (Sorry for all the exclamation points, Abbey, but I want to make sure I’m making my point!) :-)

We thought about going to get another iPad (yikes!), but decided to take a chance and check a few boxes that Tim and I just put in storage that afternoon. It was a longshot, but we were already tired and wet and thought, “What the heck. What would it hurt.” So, it was back to the storage unit in the rain. After not seeing it in the first box we opened, things weren’t promising. But, after a quick silent prayer that it would miraculously appear in the next box, guess what we found? Yes, some quilting magazines…and the long-lost (well, not so long, I suppose) iPad! See that? Prayer really does work! :-) Well, maybe it was already in the box. Maybe, though highly unlikely, I had accidently scooped it up with a stack of magazines that I put in the box earlier. I think I’d rather believe the miracle scenario than the lack-of-paying-attention-to-what-I’m-doing scenario. This would make the Dumpster Diving in the Rain a bit more palatable to me.

Now other than the grime, the filth, and the smell, we have a great start to our vacation.

Tuesday’s another big day (in the morning) before we finally “hit the road”.

Until next time (from who-knows-where)…

jj & cj

Torrance explained

2011-05-24T11:50:00.002-06:00

Man, it's hot at The Villages! I'm just glad one of my brothers has a pool! Me and Mrs. Moogly are in Florida for vacation and I've finally been able to catch up on some of my reading (on and offline). Until I get back to it, here is a very good post (naturally) by Martin Davis who has been explaining T.F. Torrance's thought on Christ's atonement. In this post, Davis confronts the ignorant and/or lazy view that TFT is a Universalist by showing how he rejects both Universalism and Limited Atonement. Both of these beliefs, according to TFT, are heretical. For those of you who automatically equate Universal Atonement with Universalism...come on! Simple logic, not to mention disciplined biblical study (check your presuppositions at the door, please), refutes the idea that Universal Atonement necessarily leads to Universalism! (And, by the way, TFT is a "Calvinist"--as are many of the Trinitarian Theologians that I have read)

For a very good introduction and explanation of the Trinitarian Theology of T.F. Torrance (among others), I suggest bookmarking this blog and reading through all of Martin's posts (after reading through his present series from the start).

Davis: The Atonement, part 8.

Until our return,

GGM

T.F. Torrance: The Assumption of Fallen Flesh

2011-04-11T10:12:00.000-06:00

Before I post Part 2 of The Necessity of Christ's Humanity (as I relate Jesus to Israel under the "law"), I wanted to share another lengthy quote from Thomas F. Torrance. The Assumption of Fallen Flesh But are we to think of this flesh (Christ's flesh in the incarnation) which he became as our flesh? Are we to think of it as describing some neutral human nature and existence, or as describing our actual human nature and existence in bondage and estrangement of humanity fallen from God and under the divine judgement? It was certainly into a state of enmity that the Word penetrated in becoming flesh, into darkness and blindness, that is, into the situation where light and darkness are in conflict and where his own receive him not. There can be no doubt that the New Testament speaks of the flesh of Jesus as the concrete form of our human nature marked by Adam's fall, the human nature which seen from the cross is at enmity with God and needs to be reconciled to God. In becoming flesh the Word penetrated into hostile territory, into our human alienation and estrangement from God. When the Word became flesh, he became all that we are in our opposition to God in our bondage under law--that is the amazing act of gracious condescension in the incarnation, that God the Son should assume our flesh, should enter a human existence under divine judgement, enter into the situation where the psalmist cried Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, so that the Word or Son of God himself gave out the same cry when overwhelmed with the divine judgement upon our flesh. St. Paul declares quite plainly therefore that he was made under the law; he became a servant subject to the bondage of judgement and death; he was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, and was even made a curse for us. That is what we see already in the baptism of Jesus--where he identifies himself with sinners, is baptised with the baptism of repentance, and immediately is driven by the Spirit into the wilderness where for forty days he fasts and is tempted in immediate fulfillment of his mission as made flesh of our flesh, and as identified with sinners from whom repentance is required, in complete solidarity with them. Now when we listen to the witness of holy scripture here we know we are faced with something we can never fully understand, but it is something that we must seek to understand as far as we can. One thing should be abundantly clear, that if Jesus Christ did not assume our fallen flesh, our fallen humanity, then our fallen humanity is untouched by his work--for 'the unassumed is the unredeemed', as Gregory Nazianzen put it. Patristic theology, especially as we see it expounded in the great Athanasius, makes a great deal of the fact that he who knew no sin became sin for us, exchanging his riches for our poverty, his perfection for our imperfection, his incorruption for our corruption, his eternal life for our mortality. Thus Christ took from Mary a corruptible and mortal body in order that he might take our sin, judge and condemn it in the flesh, and so assume our human nature as we have it in the fallen world that he might heal, sanctify and redeem it. In that teaching the Greek fathers were closely following the New Testament. If the Word of God did not really come into our fallen existence, if the Son of God did not actually come where we are, and join himself to us and range himself with us where we are in sin and under judgement, how could it be said that Christ really took our place, how could it be said that Christ really took our place, took our cause upon himself in order to redeem us? What could we then have to do with him? We stand before God as flesh of sin under God's judgement, and it is into this concrete form of our sin-laden, corruptible and mortal humanity in which we are damned and lost that Christ came, without ceasing to be the holy Son of God. He entered into complete solidarity with us in our sinful existence in order to save us, without becoming himself a sinner. T.F. Torrance, Incarnation: The Person and Life of Christ, (InterVarsity Press, 2008), 61-62. Next Quote--Torrance on The Sanctification of Fallen Flesh

The Necessity of Christ's Humanity-Part 1

2011-03-10T15:23:00.002-07:00

As promised (so long ago…in a galaxy so far away…), here are my thoughts on the humanity of Jesus as it pertains to our Struggle of Faith.

Part 1. The necessity of Christ’s humanity: our representative as the Last Adam.

I closed my last post (Incarnation) by saying that Christ’s humanity was identical to our fallen humanity and that “…it must be this way if the creation (and fallen humanity) is to be reconciled.” This idea was met with disagreement from a friend who commented, “Jesus’ humanity HAD to be DIFFERENT from ours in order for His sacrifice to be accepted as payment for our sins. If He was identical to us (which, by the way, is not what I said or ever would say because Jesus was man and God), He would have also inherited Adam’s curse, been unable to resist sin, and been just as unqualified as Savior of the World as anyone else.” However, I believe this objection is unwarranted on at least two counts. First, the conclusion simply does not follow from the stated premise (a premise that I disagree with, by the way). No where does the Bible declare that Jesus’ humanity was any different from our humanity (in fact, it takes great pains to convince us otherwise) much less that it must be different for His sacrifice to be acceptable as payment for our sins. In addition to what I will be saying below, I think the necessity of Christ sharing our humanity is also clear when we consider the covenant obligations of man (represented by Israel) and God (which, Lord willing, we will discuss next time). Secondly, the conclusion that if Christ assumed our fallen humanity (thus, as my friend implies, inheriting Adam’s curse), then He would not have been able to resist sin is also unfounded. Why would this have to necessarily be the case? Now if He was absolutely identical to us, then my friend would have an arguable point; but I never said that. I only said that His humanity was identical to ours. The Second Person of the Trinity did not cease to be God when He assumed our humanity, therefore He was not absolutely “identical” to us (the concepts of anhypostasis and enhypostasis as useful means to understand the hypostatic union will be briefly discussed below). The fact is that it is God Himself bearing our fallen humanity who overcame the curse of sin as man for us and on our behalf. The point of importance here is that He did so as man within our corrupt humanity (not contrary to it) and not as God acting upon our humanity from outside of it.

As I wrote in my previous post, I think much of the difficulty we have with the idea that Jesus assumed our fallen humanity is that we reserve His atoning work on our behalf to the cross and we neglect the atoning value of His life (from the actual Incarnation itself as well as the life that he lived within our humanity). When we reduce Christ’s atoning work to the cross, we bring a false dichotomy to Christ by distinguishing between His “Person” and His “Work”. Doing this leads to all kinds of difficulties, as the controversies in the early church show us. I don’t think we take seriously the fact that as the “last Adam”, Christ’s very life was also His redemptive work on our behalf. In His very life (and death), Christ has, so-to-speak, undone the “work” of Adam; He has recovered in “Adam” (in humanity) what was lost in Adam (and thus, in humanity). As the “last Adam”, Christ came in our humanity, in our fallen Adamic nature, to recover humanity and to restore Adam’s race to fellowship with God.

(On a side note, I personally believe we must speak of Christ’s work not as “recovery” and “restoration”, per say, but as consummation because Adam himself wasn’t ultimate. As I’ve written elsewhere, Adam [and Eden] were typological and spoke of the fulfillment of humanity [and creation] in Christ. Christ didn’t come simply to restore us to the likeness of Adam, but to bring us into the fullness of God’s purpose for humanity. Christ came not only to bring to fulfillment the New Creation of the Kingdom of God, of which Eden only typified; He came to bring humanity to its own fulfillment, of which Adam [and Eve] was only a type. Man is not fully human apart from union with Christ [link]. The title of Philip E. Hughes’ seminal book succinctly captures this idea: “The True Image: The Origin and Destiny of Man in Christ”.)

Getting back to my friend’s objection, I totally understand this position; I once would have espoused it as well. On the face of it, the idea that Jesus would share our fallen humanity sounds…blasphemous? And for the early church, the understanding and formulation of Christ as truly man and truly God and the controversies that entailed have filled countless theology books in our seminary libraries. The position of “orthodox” Christianity is that Jesus the Christ was truly and fully God as well as truly and fully man. The question then becomes, “what kind of humanity did Jesus possess?” It is my position that if Jesus did not assume our fallen humanity, then his coming (life) and His work (sacrifice) are irrelevant and meaningless. To paraphrase the early “father” Gregory Nanzianzen, if Christ has not assumed our fallen humanity, then we are not redeemed (unhealed)—we are still in our sins and estranged from God.

When we consider that in the Incarnation Christ assumed our fallen human nature, we are not saying that Jesus is, therefore, a sinner in need of redemption. To think this way is to forget that Christ is God come as man. There are two technical terms that need to be considered when we think of the Incarnation and the hypostatic union between God and man in Christ. The first is anhypostasis. Robert T. Walker in his “Editor’s Introduction” to T.F. Torrance’s, “Incarnation” says this: Anhypostasis (means) that the humanity of Jesus had no reality of is own apart from the incarnation of the Son. In other words, Jesus as man would not have existed if the eternal Son had not become man. The humanity of Jesus only came into existence in the incarnation. It was entirely the act of God and had no independent reality” (pg. xxxvii). The second term is enhypostasis. Again I quote Robert Walker: Enhypostasis (means) that the humanity of Jesus did have full reality in the incarnation of the Son. Although entirely the act of God, the humanity of Jesus had full, individual and personal reality in the person of the eternal Son” (ibid, emphasis mine).

These terms help us better understand the nature of the hypostatic union between God and man in Christ, and in doing so we can see more clearly how it is that Jesus can assume our fallen human nature yet “without respect to sin” as such. Jesus Himself didn’t need to be “redeemed”, but He did need to come in our fallen condition in order to redeem us. In order to recover our fallen humanity from the disease of sin in which we now exist, “Jesus has to become what we are, assuming our humanity to the full” (Walker xxxii). As the “last Adam”, Christ came in the fullness of our Adamic nature in order to undo the corruption of sin in humanity. Christ assumed our fallen human nature in all of its corruption—body and mind—in order to redeem it. He subjected Himself to the curse of sin within our humanity in order to overcome sin and overthrow the curse in Himself. Unless Jesus was subjected to the mind and body of fallen humanity His life (and death) would have had no redemptive value for us nor would He have been tempted in a manner that would have any affect whatsoever on sin (and He certainly would not be able to identify with us as sinners). But this is the glory of His humanity and our glory in Him! In our fallen and corrupt human nature Jesus overcame sin where we could not! His life (as the true and obedient “son”) as well as His death (as the One bearing our guilt) was vicarious! He overcame sin for us and on our behalf by subduing it from within fallen humanity: Christ cleansed our diseased, sin-soaked humanity by wrestling with sin, overcoming it, killing it and raising it to new life in Himself.

By coming and assuming our fallen human nature, God in Christ has judged our sin and guilt on the cross in Himself: He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him! Unless He came in our condition, He could not have judged our sin in Himself. But He who is the Judge (Christ) is also the One who was judged on our behalf. And because He lived an obedient life of true “sonship” from within our fallen condition, not only was He justified on the cross, but we who are “unfaithful sons” are now forgiven and justified in Him (because the One who judges is also the One who forgives and justifies).

I want to close this post by quoting two lengthy passages by T.F. Torrance in his book, “Incarnation: The Person and Life of Christ”:

(iv) The nature of Jesus’ humanity—fallen humanity redeemed and perfected
But now to return to our discussion: our immediate question is, How then are we to speak of ‘the human nature of Christ’ in the hypostatic union? We must surely begin with the fact that Christ is the new man, the perfect man, and the one man who represents all humanity. His human nature is true human nature (even it if was uniquely joined to divine nature, as we are not), and far from measuring its truth and fullness by our own human nature, we must judge the poverty of our human nature by the perfection and fullness of his human nature. But if we do that, we must also say clearly that he was made in the likeness of our flesh of sin; he assumed sinful flesh, that is, our adamic fallen human nature, and in sinlessly assuming it began its redemption and healing. He carried that redemption and healing throughout the whole of his life which he lived in perfect obedience, truth and holiness. Throughout, within the poor clay of our corrupt humanity, he showed forth perfect humanity, remaking ours and converting it in himself. Through his obedience unto death, and through his resurrection, in which he had power to lay down his life and to take it again, he raised our fallen nature as a perfect and incorruptible human nature, so that in the resurrection, the body which was raised from the dead was as perfect as his holy life and person all through his life from his birth to his death.
When we speak, therefore, of the ‘human nature’ of Christ in the hypostatic union, we have to say two things.

(1) On the one hand, we have to say that he was completely like us, in all things, in our frail, feeble and corrupt and temptable humanity, yet without being himself a sinner. Nevertheless, he did identify himself in complete and utter solidarity with us sinners in our fallen and guilty humanity, under God’s wrath and judgment. He came to be one of us, and one with us in that condition, in order to save us and deliver us from the bondage and corruption of sin under the divine judgment. He was completely one with us vicariously.

(2) On the other hand, we must say that he was completely unlike us in that by taking our fallen human nature upon himself, he condemned sin in it; he overcame its temptations, resisted its downward drag in alienation from God, and converted it back in himself to obedience toward God, thus sanctifying it. From the beginning to the end of his life, he submitted our fallen humanity with our human will to the just and holy verdict of the Father, freely and gladly yielding it to the Father’s judgment, and was therefore obedient unto the death of the cross. In all this the Son is wholly like us, in that he became what we are, but also wholly unlike us, in that he resisted our sin, and lived in entire and perfect obedience to the Father. And therefore in Christ’s humanity there took place a vicarious sanctification of our human nature and lifting of it up again into fellowship with God. There alone, in Christ, can human nature be true and perfect, for human nature was made for fellowship with God, and it is always less than human when it withdraws from or alienates itself from that divine fellowship, while in Christ it is restored to fellowship with God. Here Jesus was wholly unlike us in his actual human nature, for in his human nature he overcame the opposition and enmity of our fallen human nature to God, and restored it to peace with God first in glad and willing submission to God’s judgment, and then in the resurrection from the dead (204-205).

(iii) The humanity of Christ essential for reconciliation
The humanity of Christ is also essential to God’s act of reconciliation (in the previous point in this particular section, Torrance explained the humanity of Christ is essential for revelation), for the actuality of atonement is grounded upon the fact that in actual human nature it is God himself acting on our behalf. Thus any docetic view of the humanity of Christ would mean that God only appears to act within our human existence, or that his acts are only of tangential significance, that they do not really strike into the roots of our existence and condition, and have no relevance to our need. Atonement is real and actual only if and as the mediator acts fully from the side of man as man, as well as from the side of God as God. If the humanity of Christ is imperfect, atonement is imperfect, and we would then still be in our sins. If Jesus Christ is really and truly man, then his death for sin is an act of God himself in human nature, and not just an external act upon human nature. But if atonement is to fulfill its object (objective), it must be not only act of God upon man, but act of man in response to God, man’s sacrifice, man’s oblation, satisfaction by man for sin before God. Apart from the human obedience and human life and death of Christ, apart from his human sacrifice, we have nothing at all to offer to God, nothing with which we can stand before God, but our sin and guilt. But here in the full humanity of Jesus, as it is joined eternally to his deity in incarnation and atonement, man’s destiny as man is actually assured and restored to its place in God from which it has fallen; man’s wrong has been set aside in and with the judgment accomplished upon the humanity of Christ, and now in his humanity our new right humanity has been established before God (186, emphasis mine).

The covenant that God made with mankind (typified in “Israel”), that He would be our God (Father) and we would be His people (literally, “son”), has now been fulfilled in the true “son”, the God-man, Jesus Christ. He has taken our humanity, cleansed it in Himself and has presented us spotless with Him (in Him) before the Father. In union with Christ by the Spirit we are now New Creations in Him! We have been transformed! We are now truly sons and daughters in Him!

I have not dealt specifically in this post with the necessity of Christ assuming our fallen humanity in terms of covenant-faithfulness. Lord willing, this will be the subject of my next post…hopefully without as much delay.

Struggle of Faith--The Incarnation

2010-09-30T11:12:00.002-06:00

The Incarnation

We who have come to Christ by faith believe in the Incarnation, of course, as a matter of orthodoxy. We don’t believe, as Arianism teaches, that the Christ was a creation of the Father and so Jesus Christ as “Son of God” was a special creation of God for man’s salvation; we don’t believe that Jesus was just an exalted man as do the Socinians and Moralists; and we don’t believe, as the Modalists do, that God is one unitary Person who wears the “masks” of Father, Son and Spirit at any given time and who only assumed the “role” of the “Son” at the incarnation. We who bear the name and fragrance of Christ believe that God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, became a man, a real live in-the-flesh human being, without relinquishing His deity.

But do we really understand what this means? Do we understand the implications of Christ becoming human? We typically view the Incarnation as simply a necessary mechanism by which God saves us. In other words, “the flesh” (humanity, as such) is simply the “vehicle”, a contrivance, used by God to affect our salvation. God the Son had to come as a “man” in order to affect our salvation by living a perfect human life in obedience to the Law and thereby qualifying Himself to die for our sins. He had to come as a human being in order to be constituted able to die in our place and on our behalf so that we could have eternal life. But is this the full extent of the meaning of the Incarnation? Is the Incarnation relevant only to His final work and not to the totality of His Person? Does the Incarnation only speak to us with regard to His vicarious death and not also to His vicarious life? Is the importance and purpose of the Incarnation simply that Christ had to “take on flesh”, as it were, so that He was then capable of dying for our sins as atonement on our behalf?

Without necessarily realizing it, I think we typically reduce the atoning work of Christ to the Cross Event (His death, burial and resurrection) and neglect the atoning “work” of His life, thus missing the full glory and implication of the Incarnation. Why is this? Why do we so readily look to the Cross when we consider the “work” of Christ on our behalf without also recognizing the “work” of His life on our behalf? I’m not referring to a few miraculous things He did throughout His life that bore witness to who He was (which we all acknowledge), but His actual existence as a man that He lived on our behalf. We so easily separate or divide Christ into two, His Person (as the promised Messiah) and His work (of atonement upon the cross), that we miss, I believe, the point of the Incarnation: that the Person of Jesus is Christ’s work! Contra James Denney (The Death of Christ, 1973), the Incarnation is the very heart of Atonement which culminates in The Cross and Ascension. Jesus the Christ is our atonement in His very Person as the Incarnate Son.

Christ’s “work” of atonement (of redemption) is His entire life as a human being (the true and faithful “son”) lived out in our place and on our behalf in the power of the indwelling Spirit culminating in the Cross Event as He makes expiation for our sins; and although atonement has been made in full (as our Lord said, “It is finished”), nevertheless, He continues to work for us and on our behalf as our Ascended High Priest who has taken humanity into the Holy Place, into the very presence of God, in Himself where He mediates on our behalf as our representative. Humanity is seated with Jesus at the Father’s right hand because Christ has joined Himself to us irrevocably and forever; He is forever the God-Man, the Incarnate Son, who “ever lives to make intercession for us” as our Great High Priest.

Christ’s “work” of atonement is that He took on our humanity (our real, sin-cursed humanity) and cleansed it from the disease of sin and guilt (overthrowing the curse) by living the life of perfect, obedient “sonship” in true faith, prayer and worship to the Father in our place and on our behalf. His “work” of atonement is His entire life as a man (as the true and faithful “son”) lived out in our place and on our behalf culminating in the Cross where He died, was buried, rose again and ascended to God’s right hand. Christ’s “work” of atonement is taking our sin-diseased and alienated humanity upon Himself, overcoming it through a life of perfect, obedient sonship in true faith, prayer and worship, killing it by judging sinful humanity on the cross and raising it to newness of life as a new humanity (a New Creation) in Him. Humanity has been “born again”, as-it-were, in Him in objective reality. The “work” of Christ is His continued existence as the Incarnate Son who has ascended to the Father’s right hand and has taken our now cleansed and purified humanity into the very life of the Trinity in Himself.

The glorious truth of the Incarnation should inform and fill out our doctrine of atonement and should help us eliminate not only any bifurcation with regard to the Person and Work of Christ, but also any notion of a bifurcation within the category of humanity that Jesus died for. We too easily forget Paul’s words that “one died for all, therefore all died…that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them….”

The Incarnation as the ground of our Union with Christ

Christ’s union with us in the Incarnation, therefore, forms the very ground of our union with Him, though, as I mentioned in the first post, it is still a matter of faith. Why? It is still a matter of faith because we weren’t there to witness the life of Jesus Christ. But others were! The Scripture is clear and John tells us plainly that the Incarnate Son was heard, seen, beheld and handled. We believe in the Incarnation by faith, but it is a faith that is not without historical, empirical evidence. The Incarnation, because it is the basis of our union with Christ, tells us how it is that we are “in Christ”! The Incarnation tells us what it means that “we have died and our lives are hidden with Christ in God.” The Incarnation shows us how our spiritual or mystical union with Christ is relevant to us today. The Incarnation is the ground of our union with Christ because it is He who has united Himself with us forever! The tangible, ontological relevance of our union with Christ is found in His union with us in the Incarnation and the vicariousness of His life as a human being for us and on our behalf. Now when we read about our union with Christ, as those who have been joined to Him by the Spirit, we can have a tangible, ontological basis for understanding what this means and how it becomes relevant to us as we seek to live as Children of God. Our spiritual union with Christ as “sons” of God is an ontological reality because Christ has truly united Himself with us in our humanity!

The Incarnation speaks to the totality or wholeness of Christ on our behalf—His existence—not just toward His specific “work” on the cross. We do not simply have a new “standing” before God as those who have now been “forgiven”; we have truly been transformed into “new creations” by virtue of our participation in the One who has taken us into Himself! So what’s the point? As Jesus lived a life of ontological reality by simply being who He was, so we too, by virtue of our union with Him by the Spirit (our “in Christness”, as Paul refers to it), are called to freely live out the ontological reality of who we now are as Children of God in Him by the power of the Spirit. As Jesus didn’t have to purpose to do anything to live in conformity to who He was, so we, because we have truly been joined to Him by the Spirit, do not (and cannot) purpose to do anything to obtain or secure our place as “sons of God”; we simply come to Him by faith. As with Jesus, and in His power by the Spirit, we are to simply be who we are in the confidence that, because we have been united in Him by the Spirit, we are truly “sons” of God who are even now continuing to have the life of Christ formed in us by the Spirit.

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.”

James B. Torrance’s little book, “Worship, Community, and the Triune God of Grace” is an excellent, easy-to-read introduction to the vicarious humanity of Christ and the ontological basis for our faith, confidence and life in this world.

The Vicarious life of Christ

We have no problem speaking about the vicarious death of Christ in His humanity as the One who died in our place and on our behalf. Why do we not also recognize the vicarious life of Christ in His humanity as the One who lived in our place and on our behalf? Christ is the “second Adam” not only because He died vicariously (in our place and on our behalf) as our representative, but because, as Adam, Christ is actually a human being who lived vicariously a true human life in perfect “sonship” to the Father (in our place and on our behalf) as our representative.

This "vicariousness" of Jesus is what Paul is trying to explain to us as he draws parallels between the two representative human beings—Adam and Jesus. Just as Adam represented us in his humanity, and we were found in him “in Adam” with respect to sin and death (the curse of alienation), in the same way Jesus now represents us in His humanity and we are found in Him “in Christ” with respect to righteousness and life (the blessedness of communion)! The sin-diseased humanity of Adam (of which we share) has been cleansed by Christ in and through His Incarnation such that as Adam was our representative and head with regard to sin and death (the curse), so Jesus is now our representative and head with regard to righteousness and life (the New Creation). In other words, as Adam lived out his humanity (and by extension and representation—our humanity) as “son of God” in sin and disobedience in our place and on our behalf as our representative and head (the “first” Adam), so Jesus as the true human being has and continues to live out His authentic humanity (and by extension and representation—our humanity) as “son of God” in righteousness in our place and on our behalf as our representative and head (the “second” Adam). Jesus in His Person “undoes”, as it were, the “work” of Adam. As Adam corrupted humanity in his falleness and so brought estrangement and death (the curse), so Jesus cleanses humanity in His righteousness and so brings communion and life (the overthrow of the curse). This is what the Incarnation speaks to—not simply the impending death of Jesus on the cross, but the whole existence of Jesus as the man who lives, responds and acts as a human being in our place and on our behalf.

Christ’s Humanity

But Paul is not suggesting that Adam and Jesus had two different human natures—one fallen and one exalted. No, Christ came and assumed our condition; our fallen, sinful nature. Christ’s humanity was identical to our humanity—and it must be this way if the creation is to be reconciled.

We will pick up here the next time (as…well…time permits).

The "Struggle of Faith"

2010-08-13T09:38:00.004-06:00

This will be a multi-part post concerning the Christian’s continuing “struggle of faith”. This may not be a struggle that we knowingly engage in everyday, but as we live our lives in this world we will inevitably (and probably often) encounter opposition in some form or other (opposition from within and/or opposition from without) that brings opportunity for us to either exercise our faith and experience the presence of Christ by the Spirit, or to allow our “flesh” to influence us and thereby experience the doubts and worry that cause us to question God and His goodness to us—the “struggle of faith”. I hope that in examining this paradigm we will see in Christ the victory of faith that produces contentment and confidence as we live out the reality of who we are—Children of God in Christ.

The “Struggle of Faith”

Although always present in my life to some degree, I have recently gone through a spell where the “struggle of Faith” seemed more difficult than in times past and I’d like to share an insight that has helped me immensely. In fact, I would go so far as to say that this truth is essential for our progress in maturity as Children of God and in our struggle to “live by faith and not by sight”. What is this truth?

Union With Christ

The concept of union with Christ is nothing new to us, of course; the Bible speaks of it often. We have been joined to Christ by the Spirit. We have been baptized into Christ. We have died and have been buried with Christ and have been raised up in Him to new life. We are (presently) seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Our lives are hidden with Christ in God. Everything about this Gospel and our lives in it is in Christ, in Christ, in Christ. Union with Christ is the fundamental reality of the Gospel. Whatever we think of the Atonement (e.g. ransom, penal substitution, Christus Victor, etc.), the fundamental purpose of God underlying the Gospel is the reconciliation of humanity in Christ attested by the sending of the Spirit to join us to Christ. “Union with Christ is our destiny”, as Philip E. Hughes explains in his excellent book, The True Image: The Origin and Destiny of Man in Christ.

However, in our consideration of this Union with Christ we often understand it in the positional sense, as simply our new standing before God: God the Father places us and then “seals” us in His Son by the Spirit thereby securing our blessed fate. We have been declared righteous because we’ve been joined to Christ in His righteousness by the Spirit who now works to transform us into His image and likeness. And this is certainly true; and it is certainly our sure hope. And we even, on occasion, believe that we recognize the work of the Spirit in us and through us.

But what does this Union with Christ really mean to us? How is our “position” in Christ relevant to us in our daily lives? It all seems so…ethereal (dare we say mystical?). Somehow, in some way unknown and even extraneous and contrary to us as sinful human beings, we’ve been joined to Christ by the Spirit. So what? How does that affect us in the “here and now”? There doesn’t seem to be any real tangible quality to our union with Christ, no measureable ontological difference about us. We don’t look any different. We don’t necessarily feel any different. We don’t always act any different—though we know that we ought to see the fruit of the transformational work of the Spirit in us however slowly and to whatever degree.

There is no empirical evidence of our union with Christ (we can’t actually see it or touch it), but we nevertheless believe it to be true. We exercise our faith in God that what He says is true and thereby we gain a sense of security and confidence. To be sure, we are called to live by faith and not by sight; but the concept of our union with Christ still seems overly psychological, like we have to force our minds to believe it in spite of the reality of our daily lives and lingering doubt (the “struggle with faith”). Are we really called to believe something that is only a declaration of truth but not a demonstrable ontological reality? The ontology of our union with Christ is lacking a concrete, tangible expression that is not satisfactorily expressed or explicit in the idea of our “being joined to Christ by the Spirit”; and this, I believe, contributes to our overall sense of “struggle” as we seek to live by faith. Without a certain and demonstrable ontology, we only have our own faith (weak as it is) to fall back on—and this is the problem!

Christ’s Union With Us

But union with Christ is so much more than this unknown (secret) and unapprehended work of the Spirit in joining us to Christ. Union with Christ is more than merely positional and spiritual, a truth that we accept by faith but is unperceived by us. Union with Christ really is ontological: though not necessarily perceived by us, our very being has been affected by the Spirit who now indwells us. Union with Christ really does speak to our lives in the here and now, in the joys and struggles of this life that we continue to live “under the sun”. Union with Christ is not just the psychological believing (a matter of faith) that our position has changed (from a “guilty criminal” to a “legal son”), or even the unperceived (but true) reality that we have been joined to Christ by the Spirit; it’s a tangible reality that we can "see" and “touch” (though still a matter of “faith”, which I’ll explain). This “union” is a reality that goes beyond the positional or mystical to the actual. Union with Christ does speak to a real, ontological change and therefore is of real, tangible relevance to us as we seek to live day by day as sons and daughters of God.

This ontological change, however, is not to be understood primarily within us (though because the Spirit really does indwell us we truly are “new creations”) but within Christ Himself (the “first fruit and first born of the New Creation” the “firstborn from the dead”). Our new ontology is derivative: the reason we can speak of a change at all in our very “being” (the ontological reality of our being “joined to Christ” by the Spirit) is because of Christ first joining Himself to us in our humanity! I think we lose sight of the relevance of our union with Christ and the power that is inherent in the Gospel toward us because we neglect the other side this union—the Incarnation: Christ’s union with us! This is the paradigm for understanding our union with Him. And I believe it is this aspect of our union with Christ, the ontological aspect of the Son of God becoming the Son of Man (a true human being), that is so important for us to understand as we struggle to live our lives in this world “by faith” as “sons” of God in Him.

...to be continued.

Next…The Incarnation

A Must Read

2010-06-24T13:39:00.004-06:00

Even though I've been away for a while, I've still been trying to keep up with my reading (if not my "commenting"). Bob, over at vanguardchurch.blogspot.com continues to write important, provocative and encouraging pieces covering various topics (his posts on Glenn Beck are particularly interesting). I think everyone would be well-served by reading and meditating on his material, especially his theological-specific material on redemption. Bob truly understands the cosmic scope of redemption--for this creation--and the thorough-going transformation that has come in Christ by the Spirit for all of His people. As I've stated before, use the search box and type in shalom for some excellent reading.

His latest post is a continuation of a series of posts commenting on the published articles in Comment Magazine on the Biblical story of Creation-Fall-Redemption. I recommend reading all of Bob's posts on in this series as well as the articles themselves. We need to have a more biblical understanding of the Person and Work of Christ and I think Bob's contribution serves the Body well. I don't think he goes as far as the Torrance's with regard to the scope of the Atonement, but I won't hold that against him! :-)

Check it out!

Coming soon--GGM's thoughts on "faith".

Addition: I just discovered Bob's other site which is devoted to the "neo-calvinist" tradition associated with Abraham Kuyper. This looks to be a rich resource for understanding the implications of Creation-Fall-Redemption-Consummation as set forth in the biblical storyline. I look forward to much blessed reading over there!

From the dust of the ground

2010-06-17T09:36:00.009-06:00

Wow! Has it really been this long? Where has the time gone?

I'm sure the two or three people who actually read this thing have gone bye-bye by now, but since I'll be starting school in a few weeks I thought I'd try to get back into it--for my own benefit if nothing else. Who knows...I may even be able to visit some of my friends' sites now and then!

So, for me and anyone who cares....

I was sent the following quote (among others) in an email and felt compelled to say a quick something in response:

"The inconvenient truth is that we share this planet with the rest of creation for a very good reason--and that is, we cannot exist on our own without the intricately balanced web of life around us. Islam has always taught this and to ignore that lesson is to default on our contract with creation."--Prince Charles of England

Prince Charles, I believe, understands what many "christians" do not--that we are to be responsible with God's creation. Ignoring his reference to Islam and his language of "contract with creation", his point about the importance of "balance" with the Created Order is spot-on. The Bible speaks of this "balance" as Shalom, which I've defined elsewhere something like this: the state of harmony within the created order in which every created thing finds itself in perfect conformity to itself and its created function, and therefore relates with integrity (in truth) to every other created thing thereby bringing about the mutual flourishing of all things. This is the fulness of the Biblical meaning of "Peace".

As I've stated elsewhere in this blog, Shalom is the state of creation that was only typified in Eden. But since the purpose of God (Father, Son and Spirit) from the beginning (from before the beginning, actually) was to have the creation (all things) consummated (or brought into ultimate being) in the person of Christ (through His incarnation), shalom is a reality that is fulfilled only in Christ. As the "state-of-being" for the Christian, shalom is fulfilled in principle now in our union with Him. Shalom will be fully established existentially within the entire Cosmos at His return with the "new heavens and new earth" (which I've previously stated is a reference, I believe, to the ultimate redemption and recovery of this creation).

In our use of creation, therefore, we (all of humanity, but especially, I would argue, Christians) are to be responsible stewards of creation as those who bear God's image and seek to live in this world with integrity (in truth); as those who understand the goodness of this "balance" within the created order and seek to honor God by honoring His creation. We don't "worship Mother Earth", as some religious naturalists speak, but we recognize and live in the reality that we as human beings, though the pinnacle of creation as "image-bearers", are nonetheless a part of creation who, like the animals, were also created "from the dust of the ground".

Would that all Christians recognize what Prince Charles does and be better stewards of God's "good" creation.

Avatar: what's not to like...seriously!?

2010-02-08T12:02:00.003-07:00

After watching this movie in 3D at the IMAX Theater I had planned on writing a long, comprehensive review. I wanted to speak to the political and religious themes as well as the movie itself. There has been so much negative press from the right-wing, religio/political fanatics concerning this movie that I thought I’d throw my nickel-and-a-half into the mix. But the more I thought about it the more I realized…it’s a MOVIE stupid! And it’s a Sci-Fi movie at that! Sometimes I get so aggravated with these people who believe that they are commissioned by God to be the conscience of America, who think they know what’s best for the world (Pat Robertson anyone? How about Rush Limbaugh?). For a long time now I’ve been of the opinion that there is a real “dumbing down” of America; but I’m not so sure anymore that it is the “liberal” Democrats that are the guilty party.

Anyway, I better stop that rant before I get too “into it”, as they say. A very nice synopsis of the plot of movie can be found at Wikipedia, so I won’t bore you with it. I will just give you a personal review of what I liked about it.

I found Avatar to be quite exciting and moving. A friend of mine (thanks Roozer) likened the overall story to Star Wars: it is what it is. The evil empire seeks to destroy (for its own reasons) a peaceful people who have not offended their enemy in any way. The story is fairly predictable and the writing and acting are pedestrian at best. We have here the age-old epic battle of good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, the Titanic vs. the Iceberg, Michael Myers (Halloween), Jason (Friday the 13th) and Freddy (Nightmare…) vs. death (or, as we all know by now: Republicans vs. Democrats or Christianity vs. well…everything else) with villains and heroes/heroines, weird-looking creatures and strange “alien” humanoid figures all fighting it out over…something; we have moral conundrums and deep, heartfelt “soul-searching” that brings a tear to your eye (well, someone’s eye…not mine!); and we have (drum roll please)…action: lots and lots of glorious, sci-fi, in-your-face ACTION!

So, what’s not to like besides the lame writing and acting? Absolutely nothing! This was a great ride! And seeing it in 3D at the IMAX was truly a ride, indeed! There was nothing that I did not like about this movie. I do wish they would make wrap-around 3D glasses so that we wouldn’t have so much peripheral viewing wasted, but since the action is mainly in your face the whole time it’s nothing to complain about. I could go on and on about the special effects and the 3D technology, but I won’t. You have to see it to really appreciate it. What I liked the best about the 3D viewing (you can see this movie as a regular movie without the 3D) was that the entire movie was 3D, not just some random moments of stuff flying at you—it really felt like I was there in the action. When I think of 3D movies I think of the cheesy sequences where something is coming at you every now and then and it surprises you…sometimes. This movie, however, doesn’t employ those cheesy tricks. The 3D technology in this movie actually brings the audience into the film itself and doesn’t release them until it’s over. It’s fantastic.

I also really enjoyed the color of the movie and what I believe this signifies. The planet of Pandora itself (well, technically it’s a moon of the planet Polyphemus), all the creatures, and the indigenous “humanoid” population called the Na’vi were drenched in vivid colors throughout. I think the filmmaker purposefully used these vibrant colors for Pandora and its creatures in juxtaposition with the rather dull, gray colors of the “earthlings” and their habitation to intensify our sense of the nature of the conflict. I believe that the movie is telling us something very important with this color juxtaposition: there is no LIFE, no vitality or authenticity of “being” in the kind of self-referential thinking that sees value only in profit or personal utility. The earthlings were rightly portrayed as evil in their raping and pillaging of the land for profit; and as I said there is no life, no vitality of “being” in that kind of thinking. The Na’vi, on the other hand, were shown to be full of life and authenticity of “being” as they lived in harmony with one another and their surroundings; they portrayed, in a sense, the “cultural mandate” of Genesis 1:28-30.

Throughout the movie, we’re confronted with two very different paradigms: Life and Death. And I think these two paradigms are captured by the juxtaposition of color between the earthlings and Pandora. The paradigm of life is depicted with vibrant color. “Life” sees value in all things and seeks to live in harmony with one another and the creation. The paradigm of death is depicted by drab colorlessness. “Death” sees value only in personal utility and cares not what harm or damage is done to others or the creation. Cameron’s pantheism aside, I think this movie has much to say about humanity (as Image-bearers) and our responsibility to one another and the creation of which we are a part. In this way, Avatar is “Christian” in so many ways that contemporary, “Christianity” is not. Rather than simply criticizing this movie as anit-Christian and anti-American (the standard “party line” we’ve come to expect from the religio/political right), the church could learn a few things from Avatar.

Maybe I’m reading too much into the color “thing”; but I really believe it conveys in a powerful way the two different sensibilities we see throughout the movie. At any rate, those who criticize Avatar as excessively political or religious need to lighten up: it’s Hollywood! What do you expect? And if you give it a chance and watch it with an open mind you will be able to enjoy a great movie that also actually speaks to the heart. Forgot about who direct it or wrote it. Forget about what the Religious Right or Sean Hannity might have said about it either religiously or politically. Just watch it and tell me if you don’t feel moved by the Spirit to “love one another” (whoever they are!) and to also care for the earth as we’ve been called to do from the time of the Garden of Eden.

I could say more about other aspects of the movie, but I’ll save that for some other time.

In case I wasn’t clear: I loved this movie!

God...and The Shack

2010-01-26T13:03:00.003-07:00

As I continue to undergo a paradigm shift in my thinking (which has been occupying most of my time for the past few months), I've decided to begin posting some links to material that I've been enjoying lately. Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze some of my own material in here now and then, but for the moment (or longer) I'm focused on continuing my investigation into Trinitarian Theology. I'm not sure exactly where this will take me, but I'm thoroughly enjoying the ride so far!

In the meantime, as I said, I'll be posting links to some interesting reading and I'll also continue to post quotes from some of my favorite books and authors.

These first two links are complimentary. One is from theologian Baxter Kruger's blog (Baxter's Ongoing Thoughts) where he says that he is in the process of writing a book on The Shack. He loves The Shack. Our church had a bible study on The Shack a while back and I came into the study expecting to hate it based on all the critical reviews from "scholarly" Reformed ministries (I even re-named my copy of the book to The Swill, complete with actually re-wording the title in white magic marker--and it looks great!); but rather than hating it, I found myself both appalled by some of the ideas put forth and yet, at the same time, strangly encouraged and comforted.

The fact that Paul Young's treatment of the relationship between the Father, Son and the Spirit could elicit such outrage from critics (and, at times, dismay within my own thinking) suggests how far we've distanced ourselves from the revelation of the Triune God of the Scriptures. We in the "western" Christian tradition have created our own "God" that looks very little like the God revealed in the Scripture and worshipped in the early church. This is the subject that Martin Davis deals with over at his blog God for Us! and is the second link below.

Martin has written a few prior posts concerning the dichotomy that we in the West have established between the Triune God as expressed or understood in Jesus Christ and revealed or disclosed by the Spirit and the ogre "God" that "stands behind the back" of Jesus. Our theology doesn't begin with the Trinity and the relationship of Father, Son and Spirit but with the one-substance, "Omni-god" who is "out there" (alone) waiting to be appeased before He can show His affection (if this "impassable" god even has affection). We give lip-service to the Trinity because we want to maintain our orthodoxy, but the Trinity should be our starting point in theology! I encourage you to continue reading back posts on Martin's blog for more illuminating material on how we've been influenced away from the true God as revealed in Christ.

We've gone a long way away from the early church's undestanding of God. I thank God that a Trinitarian revival is upon us! Enjoy these two links.

Two Gods--Dr. C. Baxter Kruger

Two God: An Historical Overview--Martin M. Davis

God With Us

2010-01-13T09:58:00.006-07:00

This was one of my “blurbs” during our Sacred Space series (entitled God With Us on Sermonaudio). I believe we were preparing to consider the Exodus (the event, not the book) and how it contributes to the purpose of God in Christ to redeem and restore all things to Himself. Based on my notes, I suppose I was giving a review/overview of our Sacred Space series and I believe it went something like this:

Our study of Sacred Space is the study of God’s habitation or dwelling place—commonly understood as “Heaven”. But as we know, it’s not a “place”, per say; it’s not a geographical location. The Bible tells us that God is everywhere and that not even the heavens can contain Him. God’s dwelling place or Heaven, if you prefer, is the realm in which God is present in relation to His creation. It’s not simply where God is, but how God is with respect to His creation. We could say that “Heaven” is the place, so-to-speak, of relationship, of intimacy between God and His creation focused primarily toward Man as image-bearer (image-son), but then flowing out from Man to the entire created order.

(For those of you who’ve been reading my drivel for a while, this idea is not unfamiliar)

Eden, the Garden of God (also called, importantly for typological reasons, the Mountain of God) typified the intimacy of relationship of which Sacred Space speaks—God With Us! In the beginning, in Eden, God dwelt in intimate communion with His image-bearers. Adam and Eve freely and unashamedly walked with God and talked with God in intimate, joyful fellowship—as Children with their Father! And Shalom was the reality that was typified in Eden, the reality in which creation was to always exist.

(And we defined Shalom in this way)

Shalom is the state of Harmony within the created order in which every created thing finds itself in perfect conformity to itself and its created function and therefore relates with integrity (in truth) to every other created thing…and to God Himself.

(Again, for those of you who’ve been reading this stuff for a while, this is nothing new)

…and this Shalomic State was to be forever—the Perpetual Shabbat of the 7th day “rest” of God.

And God’s dwelling place (or Sacred Space) in this Shalomic State was to be comprehensive—it was to cover the entire earth. As His image-bearers were to multiply and subdue the earth, Eden, as-it-were, was to extend over the entire created order.

But as we’ve seen in our study so far, with the Fall there has come a separation, a distance between God and Man; and this new paradigm of alienation has affected the whole Cosmos. Sin has brought the curse and with it…estrangement (“death”). Eden typifies Life; the Curse typifies Death. To borrow from Cornelius Plantinga: Shalom has been vandalized. As we’ve seen, Sacred Space has been lost.

The recovery of Sacred Space, then, is the overturning of the Curse, the restoration of Life out of Death, the removal of this distance between God and Man, the removal of this alienation and estrangement that marks the created order. The recovery of Sacred Space is the reality of God dwelling in intimate communion with His people once again! It’s the return to Eden, so-to-speak, only in its fullness through the reality of the incarnation of Christ and the fulfillment of all things in Him! By His incarnation (and all that this means), humanity, as well as the entire Cosmos, has been taken up in Jesus, the Christ. The New Creation has come in Him! Christ is the one who establishes the everlasting Shalom because it’s in Him that the New Creation (of which we are now a part) enters into the Perpetual Shabbat of God “rest”. AMEN!

GGM is Back...

2010-01-04T09:21:00.002-07:00

...and ready for the new year. To all my blogging friends (and my one or two occasional readers!), I want to say thanks for a wonderful 2009. I've been quite busy the past couple of months (as shown by my own lack of posting and lack of commenting on other blogs), but I'm excited about getting back into the swing of things in 2010. I don't think I'll be any less busy (I've added learning to ski on my list), but I plan on being more regular here and "out there" on the blogoshpere. I'm also planning on a small redesign of Sacred Space & All That Jazz (and greatgooglymoogly.net) and more variety of material...at least, that's what I'm planning.

As busy I had been late in the 2009 calendar year, I did manage to find some interesting blogs that have a subtle (yet profound) difference of opinion in the meaning and scope of the Gospel. By engaging in some good "conversation" with some of those from this different perspective, I've made some new blogging friends and have found that I'm currently undergoing my own paradigm shift as I continue my consideration of these things. My initial introduction with those from this new perspective was a bit rocky at first (and I can take most of the blame for that), but I've discovered that they share with me a desire to know and love the Lord. I also discovered that I've been saying very much the same things as they are but from a different (and incompatible) vantage point. I look forward to continuing my investigation and enjoying more edifying correspondence in this direction.

In the meantime, here's a little something to start the new year.

As I look back on the past few years of ministry as "worship leader" (a term that I'm not crazy about, as I've said before here), I thought I'd reformulate a selection of some of my Sunday notes (what I typically call "blurbs") into short posts. I hope these can be not only informative but also encouraging and edifying (as much as short, little "blurbs" can be).

Back in 2006 we had a sermon series on the book of Esther. My last "blurb" went something like this:

We've come to the end of the book of Esther, but certainly not to the end of the Story. And that's because, as throughout the whole Bible, the Story is and continues to be God's Great Faithfulness in the Person and Work of Christ: the Story of Redemption! The Story is about Him! From the beginning of Creation (really, from before the Creation), the Scripture has been telling this Story. The Story is about who Christ is and what He came to (and did!) accomplish in His incarnation. Esther is another "mini-story" within the larger story that paints this portrait of the Person and Work of Christ.

Though the events of Esther are so far removed from us historically, we can relate very much to the Jews of this period because we also participate in the Story. The written word of the Scripture is complete, but God is not finished working. We still participate in redemptive history as He continues to show His faithfulness to His people and as He continues to call human beings to enter His Kingdom. The events of Esther aren't so far removed from us as we may think.

I believe that the main point of the book of Esther is God and His faithfulness. And I would go so far as to say that their experience of God and His faithfulness not only mirrors our own but actually anticipates (foreshadows or prefigures) our own experience.

* They experienced the faithfulness of God in the context of His promise of a Seed who was yet to come. We too experience the faithfulness of God in the context of His promise of a Seed who has come.

* They were helpless, hopeless and weak and seemingly forsaken by God because of their sin and rebellion. They were not only living in captivity, but they were destined to die by the hands of their enemies. Yet, they experienced the grace of God (according to promise). They witnessed God not only deliver them from the hand of their enemies but also give them a great victory so that their enemies were "no more". Likewise, we too are witnesses of God's faithfulness as He has delivered us out of the bondage of our enemies--sin and death! While we also were helpless and hopeless, even "enemies of God" destined to remain dead in our trespasses and sins, God graciously granted us repentance and by the power of the Gospel He has granted us Life and Victory in Jesus. By God's faithfulness, we have also been delivered--our enemeis are "no more".

* They witnessed God's faithfulness and victory--but with their eyes. Our witness is stronger and made more sure because God has given us His Spirit who continually testifies to our hearts concerning His Great Faithfulness and Deliverance in and through Jesus Christ!

* And as they regularly celebrate this great story of God's faithfulness in the festival of Purim, we regularly celebrate the Story of God's faithfulness in partaking of the Body and Blood of our Lord at His Table.

So as we can see, their experience is not altogether unlike our own. And He has left us plenty of witness and testimony in the Scripture that He is the ever Holy, Sovereign, Powerful and Faithful "Father" who by His grace call us His Children in the Beloved! Amen!

Still Alive and Well

2009-11-19T13:04:00.003-07:00

Yes, I borrowed the title from one of my all-time favorite songs. Anyone remember Rick Derringer? The song doesn't really say much, but the groove is classic!

Anyway, it's been awhile since I've added a post and I wanted all two or three of you who read this thing to know that I'm still here. I've been busy with church services/activities and blog reading/commenting (not to mention an increase of workload at my job) and have had little time to post new material. I do have a lot on my mind, I just haven't gotten around to organzing and then posting it. I was planning on posting a rant on the "anti-Christ" doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, but I'll leave that for another day.

I've been spending much of my free time learning about photography so that I can begin taking quality photos with my new Nikon D40 DSLR. This is a fantastic little camera and I'm really excited about using it to its full potential. I have some quality photos (at least I think they are!) up on greatgooglymoogly.net (and more on my computer) that I had taken from my Canon Powershot "point and shoot" camera, but I'm really looking forward to adding galleries with photos taken from my new D40. Once I learn this thing and start taking shots, I'll post an update here. I know you all are getting really psyched about this now, so I'll try learning it quickly!

Also, I've been spending some time interacting on another blog (and now via email) that has given me an opportunity to consider a new perspective on the scope of the Gospel that I want to continue to pursue. My initial "conversation" over there was very frustrating (to say the least), but as I continue to read the material (and listen to some audio) and dialogue about these things with a new friend, I think I'm beginning to understand what they're trying to say. I want to keep an open mind so that I can understand their position as best I can. There is much here that I'm very excited about as a Christian, but there are too many unanswered questions right now for me to fully endorse this perspective.

My time and energy of late have been devoted to these two pursuits (with church and work bearing the bulk of my life), so I've been slow to update here and at greatgooglymoogly. Hopefully after the holidays (which by now includes Christmas, of course!) I'll once again be posting regularly. Mrs. Moogly and I will be traveling to Florida again this year, so I'll try to upload some posts and pics of our time at The Villages. Also, hopefully, we won't be so cold down there this time. Believe me--50 degrees and sunny in Denver is great weather (heck, 45 degrees and sunny in Denver is nice!); 50 degrees in Florida is fffreeeeezing!

In the meantime, if anyone is interested in some fine reading material check these titles out.

The Israel of God in Prophecy, by Hans K. Larondelle. This is hands down one of the best books I've ever read dealing with the meaning and purpose of "Israel". This is a hermeneutical "tour-de-force" that should be read by every professing Christian. Larondelle's writing is clear and concise and his conclusions are Scripturally and logically unassailable. This is a relatively little book but it thoroughly exposes as unbiblical the dispensational myth that has captivated Western Christianity for the past century. **Highly Recommended**

Don't Stop Believing..., by Michael Wittmer. With the "emergent movement" making so much noise in the evangelical community in this post-modern era, the Church needs to be reminded that the Scripture is God's Word and is sufficient to lead a person into godly understanding (doctrine) and holy living (practice). God has spoken. There is nothing new under the sun. The errors of "fundamentalism" need not lead to the excesses of what Wittmer calls "post-modern innovation". From a biblical standpoint there is no dichotomy between doctrine and practice--and we shouldn't let the "emerging" movement create one! **Highly Recommended**

Heaven is a Place on Earth..., by Michael Wittmer. I've already mentioned this book before, so I'm sure you all have already read it. :-) If you haven't...do it! **Highly, Highly Recommended** (that's right, two "Highly's")

In the immortal words of Arnold, "I'll be back"...

The Best of Redemptive-Historical Preaching!

2009-10-20T11:31:00.002-06:00

This is “redemptive-historical” preaching at its finest—both from the text itself as Stephen presents his defense before the Sanhedrin and in the sermon preached from the text (linked here and to the right). Like our Lord before him, Stephen has been accused of speaking against Moses, the Law and the Holy Place. And like our Lord before him, Stephen shows his accusers from the Scripture (the OT) that it is they themselves who are actually blaspheming God by not understanding the meaning of Moses, the Law and the Holy Place.

Many people have wondered about Stephen’s defense. Why isn’t he answering their charges? When we read Stephen’s “sermon”, it seems as if he’s just giving the people a history lesson. It doesn’t seem that he’s really answering the question, at least not directly. Ah, but he is! Stephen doesn’t simply give the Sanhedrin a history lesson—a history that they already know (in fact, they base their whole identity as a people on knowing their history). But Stephen takes them through their history to show them that they don’t know the meaning of their history or who they were as God’s people. Just as Jesus warned the people that they were in danger of missing the Kingdom because they didn’t understand the Scripture and what God was really promising, so Stephen is also showing the people that they have misunderstood the meaning of their own history and God’s purpose in it. The nation of Israel itself as well as the circumstances of their history point to Christ!

By accusing first Jesus Himself and now Stephen of blaspheming God by speaking against Moses, the Law and the Holy Place, the people are proving that they don’t know the meaning of their own history; they don’t know their own Scripture. They are the ones who are guilty of blasphemy because they don’t recognize the fulfillment of these things in Christ. Their own history condemns them, as Stephen is pointing out.

The Scripture isn’t concerned with the history of the tribe of Jacob in and of itself. Scripture tells the story of Jesus! Fundamentally, the NT is simply the interpretation of the Scripture (the OT) in light of its fulfillment in Christ—it’s all about Him! Stephen is doing the same thing that our Lord Himself had done, and that His Apostles/Disciples have been doing: they are proving from the Scripture that Jesus is the subject of the Scripture, that He is the promise of God! Stephen is preaching Christ from…the Old Testament!

And we must also preach Christ from the OT because He is what the OT is about! We have a deficient or incomplete understanding of who Jesus is and what He has accomplished if we don’t understand Him from the OT. As we see from the Gospels, the Epistles and the book of Acts (the entirety of the NT), the OT is about Jesus. Before the NT was written, Jesus was preached (to the Jew first, remember) from the Scripture. And this is especially evident in the book of Acts. The message of the OT is the message of the purpose of God in Christ; of the coming of the King—who He is and what He’s coming to accomplish. The OT is not concerned about the ethnic descendants of Abraham and a plot of land called Canaan—they and it are typological. The OT is the story of the King and His Kingdom—the Son of God and Sacred Space. Jesus is the fulfillment of the typological “Israel” and “Canaan”.

All is fulfilled in Christ! Contrary to the popular “Left Behind” mind-set and the false-teaching, judaizing Hagees of the world, the year 1948 means nothing with regard to OT prophecy. The OT (all of it!) finds its fulfillment in Christ Himself—the True “Israel” and Sanctuary of God. If the nation of Israel and sincere but misguided Dispensational Christians want to rebuild the Temple, all they’re doing is dishonoring the God they say they love and serve (as did the Pharisees and Saducees of Jesus’ day). The “Temple” has found its fulfillment; first and foremost in Christ Himself, and then in all those who are joined to Him by the Spirit who form the “house” of God—the Church! In Christ, we are (the Church is) the Temple of God, the dwelling place of God in the Spirit, the Sanctuary where God is present with His people. Jesus, the Lamb of God, was sacrificed once and for all! There will be no more sacrifices (even in “remembrance”) because it is finished in Him. And in Him God has formed one new man consisting of Jew and Gentile so that there are not two peoples of God but only one—those who are joined to Christ by the Spirit.

Stephen’s sermon confronts the Jewish people with their misunderstanding of the Scripture. He’s not speaking against Moses, the Law and the Holy Place. He’s showing the people from their own history that God expects them to understand these things as speaking of and being fulfilled in Jesus, whom they crucified. They refused to believe Jesus. They are the ones speaking against Moses, the Law and the Holy Place. They are blaspheming God.

I encourage you all to take an hour and listen to this sermon (and read the notes here). This is only part-one of Stephen’s defense (so keep following the messages on SermonAudio), but we already have here presented to us an overview of the Sanctuary/Holy Place theme. Kit does a wonderful job explaining the Scripture and showing how it is that Stephen’s defense speaks directly to the accusations brought against him.

If you want more excellent redemptive-historical preaching, visit us on SermonAudio (linked to the right) and listen to all our sermons. We mostly exposit individual books of the Bible, but occasionally we engage in a topical series. I especially recommend our series on Sacred Space (God With Us) which tracks the purpose of God in Christ from the beginning of Creation through Revelation. This series is the absolute best that Biblical Theology has to offer. If you want to know the story of the Bible, what God is trying to tell us in His Word, then check this out. You won’t be disappointed!

As a side note (and the subject of a future post, Lord willing), Stephen’s message, though aimed at the Jewish leaders who refuse to believe God, should also convict the dispensational believer who fails to understand the complete fulfillment of the Temple/Sanctuary motif in Jesus. The similarities between modern Judaism and Dispensationalism should be a cause for concern within the Church.

"A Different King of Kingdom"--Greg Boyd

2009-09-06T18:00:00.005-06:00

This message (audio available here: http://greatgooglymoogly.net/ on the blog page) is part of a series that Greg Boyd taught a while back in connection with his book, “The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power is Destroying the Church.” This book and series of messages was chiefly responsible for, as Greg himself states: “approximately 20 percent of my congregation (roughly 1000 people) leaving the church.” The topic of the relationship between the church and government is a polarizing issue, and this message only adds fuel to the fire. But I find much (not all) of what Boyd says to be refreshingly Biblical.

While I don't always agree with Greg Boyd, I do appreciate his courage to challenge the politicized Christianity that is so prevalent in our day. For far too long Christianity in America has been identified with particular political parties, specific political/social policies and an ethical/moral distinctive rather than with the Lord Himself and the Kingdom that He has inaugurated. Oh, we have no problem attaching the name of Jesus or the character of God to our political/social positions, but our identity as “Christians” in this country is seldom (if at all) associated with the Gospel or the Kingdom of God but rather with political ideals and moral orientation. We seem to have lost our “first love” and have replaced it with a “love of the world” that manifests itself in a “nationalism” and political activism that in no way resembles the Kingdom that Jesus taught. For Christians to be identified by the world as a particular political party, or with specific political/social policies and ethical/moral persuasions rather than (or, at best, even before) being identified with Christ and His Kingdom is simply unbiblical—it’s “not the way it’s supposed to be”!

I’m not saying that as Christians we should stick our heads in the sand and have nothing to do with the direction of our nation or the promotion of moral excellence that God calls for. We should be good citizens of this country while recognizing that we are ultimately citizens of a better country, a “city” whose builder and maker is God Himself; fundamentally, we are citizens of the “Kingdom of God”. I realize that there is a fine line between living for Christ in the world while recognizing that we are not of this world, even as the Kingdom that we belong to is not of this world. But we must surrender the temptation to equate our Christianized “American way of life” with that of the Kingdom of God. It’s not!

The Bible speaks of two kingdoms: the Kingdom of God/Christ (light) and the kingdom of Satan (darkness). The kingdom of Satan is associated with all the kingdoms of this earthly “worldly realm” in distinction from the Kingdom of Christ which is associated with the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom that is “not of this earthly realm” (see John 18:28-38), though it will one day and forever rule over all the kingdoms of earth (Rev. 11:15; Isa. 9:6-7, Isa. 11, etc.). As Boyd points out, however, at this time we must not confuse the two. Until Jesus returns in the consummation to reign over all of creation, the kingdoms of this world are distinct from the Kingdom of God. Only when Christ returns and the creation enters into its own redemption will the kingdom(s) of this world be transformed into the kingdoms of Christ (though our cultural mandate as “image-bearers” is still in effect as we work with God to transform lives and promote “shalom” in this world). Until then, however, the Kingdom of God is in this world but not of this world, and it’s made up of people from every tongue, tribe and nation (Rev. 5:9-10; 1Pet. 2:4-10; Gen. 12:1-3 with Galatians 3:6-9; etc.). Constantine's "kingdom" was no more the Kingdom of God than is America or Iran or Nazi Germany.

I think Boyd is correct in principle but I think he goes a little too far with the dichotomy between the two kingdoms. As I stated above, there is a distinction between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom(s) of this world that Boyd rightly points out; and Boyd’s overall point in emphasizing the preeminence of the Kingdom of God over against the kingdom(s) of this world and our identification as Christians with the one over against the other is very important to remember. Every nation on this earth, every government that rules a particular people group is part of the “worldly realm” and therefore a part of Satan’s “kingdom of darkness”. There’s a sense in which we as Christians have a “dual citizenship”; but our ultimate residence and loyalty is to Jesus, not “Caesar”. We are called to be “light” and “salt” in this dark and dying world and by our lives and activity in the world we should be promoting righteousness and Shalom. We must be faithful to our calling in both kingdoms.

But is there no sense at all in which we can see the Kingdom of God working within existing “worldly” kingdoms? The Kingdom of God is, at the present time, a “realm” that is distinct from the “worldly” realm, but in a very real sense it has broken into this world by the very fact of the incarnation and then the work of the Spirit as He builds God’s House. As Christians, we exist in both kingdoms. As “new creations” in Christ, we belong to the New Creation that is the Kingdom of God; a Kingdom that is made up of people from every nation under heaven and whose paradigm is not with political or social policies, but with light and life. And even though our lives are even now hidden with Christ in God, yet we also live in this world and live within the framework of “worldly kingdoms” that exist within the paradigm of darkness and death. But as “new creations” do we not have any influence in this world that would cause the Kingdom of God to be noticed more within one existing “worldly rule” than another?

As one writer put it, “Can't we see in-breakings of the coming (and present) kingdom (of God) here and now, better in some places than others?” Is the Kingdom of God, which is a present reality here on earth now, not able to be communicated in any way by existing “worldly” governmental activities? As Christians not only influence but also find vocation within existing governmental structures, isn’t it possible that aspects of the Kingdom of God would be visible and operative? Is the dichotomy so great that there can be no resemblance at all between the Kingdom of God and a kingdom(s) of the world?

As I understand Boyd, he suggests that there isn’t. While rightly causing us to consider the radical difference between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom(s) of the world, Boyd doesn’t seem to leave room for the work of the Spirit to transform culture. Of course, he would disagree with this and rightly so. His ministry is a strong voice in encouraging Christians to reflect Jesus by reaching out and engaging the world; to feed the hungry, to house the homeless, to help the helpless, etc. In other words, Boyd is quick to advance the practical outworking of our Christian calling and its effect in the world. And if we are to mirror Jesus to the world, then our efforts should, in some measure (however small or seemingly insignificant), transform culture. After all, Jesus Himself transformed culture in a huge way.

But isn’t “government” a part of culture and a legitimate means to help effect cultural change? Why should we assume that our efforts within culture at large are manifestations of the Kingdom of God operating in the world but not so our efforts within governmental structures? Boyd seems to think that the dichotomy between the kingdom(s) of the world and the Kingdom of God is so tight that the Kingdom of God can never be witnessed in any way within any existing worldly power. I can’t go that far.

I empathize with Boyd’s concern with contemporary “American” Christianity’s muddling of the distinction between the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms (governments) of the world. We seem to think that if we “fix” the government, then the world and our lives as Christians will be better. That may be true. But unless we manifest the Kingdom of God and show people the way in, what does “better” really mean? I believe there is a balance here that allows us to remain faithful as citizens of the Kingdom of God while at the same time working toward expressing this Kingdom within the kingdoms of the world.

Of course, that begs another question…which I leave for you to contemplate.

Basic Christianity

2009-09-04T08:52:00.002-06:00

A short post by my friend Chad over at The Road to Emmaus to help us understand, as he puts it, "What it means to be Christ-Centered and Gospel-Saturated." And to be "Christ-Centered" and "Gospel-Saturated" is Christianity 101.

Cosmic Redemption--a brief post

2009-08-17T11:31:00.003-06:00

Just some quotes and thoughts from a so-far excellent book by Michael D. Williams: "Far As The Curse Is Found: The Covenant Story of Redemption"

“The essence of the Christian religion consists in this,” said Herman Bavinck, “that the creation of the Father, devastated by sin, is restored in the death of the Son of God, and recreated by the Holy Spirit into the kingdom of God” (quote from, “Far As The Curse Is Found” by Michael D. Williams, pg. xi).

The above quote might be the most concise and profound statement regarding the purpose of God in Christ that I’ve come across. The only change I would make is substituting the term “death” with “Christ-event” (properly understood). I would do this because the Bible speaks of the restoration of all things in the terms of Christ as the fulfillment of all the Scripture. It’s not just His death but His subsequent burial, resurrection, ascension and enthronement as the King/Priest that the Scripture speaks of with regard to Christ. The “Christ-event” is the sum total of the Person and Work of Christ as the fulfillment of all the Scripture and it is this paradigm (not solely the “death” of Christ) that is the basis of God’s restoration of His creation.

With that in mind, however, Bavinck’s quote succinctly expresses the central theme and storyline of the Bible which, according to Williams, also forms the overarching literary structure of the Bible: creation-fall-redemption-consummation (ibid, pg. xi). And it is this theme that is so often missed by sincere Christians as they attempt to understand the Bible. As Bavinck points out, it is God’s intention to restore the fullness of His creation, not just mankind. The “Christ-event” is not just applicable to “man”, it is cosmic in scope. The curse has affected the entirety of God’s creation and Christ’s purpose to overthrow the curse is likewise universal—all of creation (though not every individual human being) will one day enter into Christ’s redemption so that the curse is nowhere to be found!

Speaking of the glory of Christ’s resurrection, Williams puts the cosmic nature of redemption this way: “God’s unstoppable goal is nothing less than the restoration of his good creation, the eradication, not of it (creation) but of the sin that has damaged it, even the triumph of the body over death itself” (ibid, pg. 2). As Christians, we need to see the Gospel in all its glory—Christ’s redemption restores all things to their created purpose and destiny. Again, not every individual person will be “saved”, of course; but Christ’s coming was to recover the entirety of creation, not just “man”. As the “Seed of the Woman”, when Christ crushed the serpent’s head at the Cross (with all that the Cross entails) it was to deliver not just “man” but the whole of creation from the curse of estrangement, sin…and death.

The Greatest Mystery In The Existence Of Mankind Finally Revealed

2009-07-28T10:16:00.003-06:00

Yes! That's right!! I have the answer to the greatest question that has never entered into the thought of man!!! Sorry Bob, the Ultimate Question is not about "Life, the Universe and Everything" (though it may come in at a close second!); and the answer is not "42". No...the Ultimate Question is why "Great Googly Moogly"?! And the answer is...

...because!

Well...no...it's not simply "because"; it's actually a two-part answer.

First of all, I've always liked that phrase since I first heard it uttered by that poet of poets, that master of elucidation, that genius of scalar musical inventiveness...yes, that's right...Mr. Frank Zappa himself. I admit, the music of Frank Zappa is one of my (supposedly) "guilty pleasures"; though, as those who know me will attest, I don't think there is much of anything about "life" to be particularly guilty about when processed through a proper grid. Some may not agree with me, but I believe that Zappa is a poster-boy for how a person can testify of his Creator through his own creativity as a cultural "image-bearer" while at the same time curse his Creator by not giving Him the glory and by not using his creativity to promote shalom. While there may be much to be questioned regarding Zappa the person and Zappa the music, I can appreciate the "goodness" of Zappa's music as I listen to it through the lens of our shared "humanness" as people created in the image of God. I enjoy listening to Zappa's creative use of his gift to manipulate sound waves in such a way as to make great music (to these ears, at least!). If I can see, appreciate and glorify God in the music of Zappa as I listen to it, then there is no biblical reason for me to shun it. Of course, so as to not make my brother stumble, I would refrain from playing Zappa in the presence of my "brother" if he were to be offended by it; but, "To the pure all things are pure"...and I still appreciate the musical genius that is Frank Zappa.

Anyone who can so naturally and fluently incorporate the phrase, "Great Googly Moogly" into a song and have it mean exactly what it's supposed to mean is...well...a "genius"! And "genius" can be celebrated by Christian and non-Christian alike!

The second reason I've adopted the moniker, "Great Googly Moogly" is in response to a friend of ours (Abinator) who despises exclamation points (!). She believes, among other things, that they are way over used! Can you believe that?! I've never ever seen them overused!! How else are you supposed to make your point emphatic except by the use of the exclamation point! She believes that the exclamation point is not simply over-used, but abused. Hogwash!! Great Googly Moogly!! At least I know that I'm not guilty of either of those charges!!...!

Anyway, in response to Abster I've adopted Great Googly Moogly because it so perfectly captures the "sense" of the exclamation point. Whether in frustration, exasperation, agitation, perturbation, trepidation or in stimulation, enthusiam or excitement, Great Googly Moogly is the spoken and literary equivalent of the (!) . And since I'm a walking (!), the personification of "frustrating" and/or "excitable", I thought GGM would fit rather nicely.

So, there you have it. The answer to the greatest mystery that no one has ever cared about! Ooops...sorry! Darn it, I did it again! Great Googly Moogly! Oh man...somebody stop me!!!!!!!!!!

Culver Quotes

2009-06-30T13:14:00.002-06:00

Before the quotes, however, I want to bring attention to another encouraging post from Bob Robinson at Vanguard Church. After identifying popular, contemporary evangelicalism's misuse of Scripture (yet again), Bob closes his latest post by reminding us of the cosmic significance and scope of the work of Christ in the Gospel. Why do we continue to force the Scripture to speak from the perspective of American Nationalism? After reading his latest post, scroll to the post entitled: American Patriotism and the Bible and read Greg Boyd's review of the latest "gimmick Bible" that has hit the shelves. This "Bible" would be absolutely ridiculous if it wasn't so potentially dangerous.

Christopher Culver quotes from his book, "Speak Lord: Learning to Listen to the Bible".

God’s self-revelation is historically framed and conditioned. The Bible is not a collection of religious, doctrinal, and theological statements; rather, it is an inspired record of and commentary upon God’s ongoing interactions with the world through the movement of human history. The Bible is an historical account, spanning all of history from the point of creation to the end of the present world and into the eternal state.

At the same time, it is not a haphazard and disconnected collection of historical events and people, as one might expect to find in a classroom history text. The Bible has a cohesive and purposeful storyline: From the opening verses of Genesis, it has a specific destination in mind, and everything it contains is recorded precisely because it contributes to the development of its “story” as it advances toward its predetermined goal (pg. 12-13).

The biblical text demonstrates that divine revelation is incarnate in history. It doesn’t simply occur in history. It has its identity and lives, grows and matures in history. Indeed, history is itself revelatory, for it is nothing except the observable outworking in time and space of God’s eternal and sovereign purposes (pg. 13).

To paraphrase Vos, Biblical Theology is the theological discipline concerned with God’s self-revelation in the Bible, but specifically from the vantage point of the organized and harmonious process by which God progressively unfolds it within the upward movement of human history (pg. 15)

…Biblical Theology seeks to examine God’s self-revelation in the Bible according to the structure and form in which the Bible presents it. Systematic Theology is concerned with categories of theological truths and the content that belongs in those categories; Biblical Theology is concerned with theological content as the Bible reveals and develops it within the movement of its own inspired storyline (pg. 15).

How Are We To Live? Part 5 (conclusion-end)

2009-06-22T11:53:00.003-06:00

So, the answer to the question, “How Are We To Live?” is this: according to our (new) nature as "image-sons". We are to live into the reality of who we were created to be as “sons”(children) of God. But only Christians are who they were created to be by virtue of the “new birth”. Unbelievers are also called to live out the reality of who they were created to be, which means they must come to Christ by faith and be “born again” by the Spirit. Our lives are to reflect and express our very being as “image-sons”; and this can only happen when we come to Christ by faith and are made “new creations” by the Spirit. We are “sons” of God in the Son of God; and we’re to live out this reality not by doing but by being (by being conformed to our new nature as God’s “sons”). And how do we live out the reality of who we are? We "be who we are" not by doing anything, per say, but by walking in the Spirit, by yeilding to the Spirit and being led by Him as He conforms us into the image of Christ. If we’re led by commandments, then we’re simply walking according to the flesh; and this does not please our Father. If we’re directed by duty, by rules and regulations, then we are simply finding our identity back in “law”, not in Christ by the Spirit; we’ve placed the yoke of the Pharisees back on our shoulders. Our lives are not to be directed by the "imperative" but by the "indicative". Remember: "to do" is a pragmatic concept, but "to be" is an ontological concept. "To do" is the imperative and "to be" is the indicative. But if our doing, as Christians, is not a direct result or extension of our being, if what we do is not the product of who we are (as the Spirit continues His work of transformation in us), then our doing is at best, worthless (because it testifies of “me”, not Christ) and at worst, blasphemous (because it supplants the work of Christ with “my work”). If our “obedience” comes from duty (pragmatism) rather than love (the expression of who we are ontologically as God’s Children), then our “obedience” is simply another manifestation of sin—we are living as if we don’t believe God.

Are we called to obey God, to obey Christ? Of course we are. If our lives aren’t characterized by obedienc, then we are illegitimate “sons” who will take our place alongside the “moralists and legalists” (the “religionists”) who did the deeds of “obedience” but will be told by Christ, “Depart from Me, I never knew you.” The issue is this: “What is nature of our obedience?” If our obedience is not the product and expression of our very being, of who we are as New Creations in Him; if it’s not the outworking of the Spirit within us as He transforms our lives from the inside, then our “obedience” is of the flesh and is another expression of sin. Do we obey because of commands? Or do we obey because it is an expression of our very nature as “sons” of God who love Him and are growing increasingly like Him through the work of the Spirit?

Jesus was always perfectly obedient to the Father; He even spoke often of the unity between Him and the Father: “I and the Father are one”, “If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father”, etc. Now because we know that Jesus is the second Person of the Trinity, we don’t always consider the human element of this “oneness”. Jesus’ “sonship” was on display in His humanness. He showed Himself to be God’s Son as much by His obedience to God (as a "son") as He did by His miracles (and I would argue, more so). But, as I’ve said over and over again, His obedience was Him simply being who He was. He was “one” with the Father in His humanness in the sense that He was like His Father—He always did the will of the Father because the Father’s will was also His will. Jesus lived out the idiom, “Like father, like son” completely. He didn’t have to set out to be obedient; He was obedient because He had the mind of His Father—Jesus was like His Father. And because Jesus was like His Father in His humanness as a "son", we should recognize the Father in Him. Likewise, when we are true to who we are as "sons" of God in the Son, if we are simply being who we are as "born again", Spirit-filled Children of God in Christ, then when people see us they will see Christ--not necessarily because of what we do but because of who we are!

And this is our calling! We’re called to have the “mind of Christ” so that everything we do is an expression of the united will of Christ and us! And this is the work of the Spirit in us as He progressively conforms us into His likeness. Paul goes on to say that “…it is God who is at work in (us) both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” When Jesus prayed that we would be one with Him as He is with the Father, He wasn’t speaking about some mystical absorption of our very being into God; He was praying that we would so find our identity as “sons” of God in Christ, as the true, fully authentic “son”, that our lives would testify of Him because the world will see Him in us. As Jesus rebuked Philip for not recognizing the Father in Jesus (a son reflects his father), so our lives should be a continual rebuke to the world for not recognizing Jesus in us. And, of course, this rebuke can be turned on us, can’t it? If the world doesn’t see Jesus in us, what does that say about the character of our lives? We are “sons” of God in the Son of God, and for our lives to testify of Jesus, we must do what Jesus did—live into the reality of who we are. He didn’t do anything but be who He was. We don’t do anything; we be who we are.

I close with a caution against the trite refrain that I just allude to above, “What Would Jesus Do”. I feel that this directive (as it’s popularly understood) misses the entire point of how we are to live our lives in this world. We don’t simply imitate Jesus in the things that He does. I’ve said it numerous times: anyone (with or without the Spirit) can simply imitate the behavior of someone else or follow a bunch of rules if he thinks it is in his best interest. We are not called to imitate Jesus (or Paul, for that matter) in their behavior; we’re to imitate them as they lived out their lives in integrity as authentic human beings. To have integrity and to be “authentic” is to simply be true to who you are. As I mentioned early on in this series of posts, God’s “perfection” is His authenticity—He’s always true to who He is. Jesus is the only authentic human being because He is always true to who He is as the true Man. And we are authentic human beings only as we yeild to the Spirit and live out the reality of who we are in our very being as New Creations in Christ, as those who have partaken of the new humanity that has come in Christ.

Christ was fully God and fully Man. He was truly God’s Son in His humanity as much as in His divinity. In fact, the best argument for the authenticity of His divinity is that He was fully conformed to who He was as a human being as He lived out His “Sonship”. His life as a human being looked as it should if He was who He claimed to be. Our obligation to “live like Jesus” is our obligation to live out the reality of who we are as God’s “sons”. We don’t simply do what Jesus did; we, pardon the grammar, be what Jesus be. He was God’s Son—and He lived as God’s Son. He didn’t set out to do anything, per say; He simply was who He was. We are God’s “sons” in Christ—and we’re to imitate Jesus by living authentically as God’s children. We shouldn’t set out to do anything, per say; we are simply to be who we are. We imitate Jesus by living by the Spirit as authentic human beings, by "being who we are" as God’s “sons”. The refrain WWJD should be changed to WWID (What Would I Do) or WWYD (What Would You Do) as a child of God.

Similarly, Paul (and the rest of the Apostles/Disciples) gives us direction in the same way. While not “perfect” (remember our definition) because the work of the Spirit is not complete, we’re to imitate them only as they express their integrity and authenticity as children of God. Again, as with Jesus, we don’t do what they do, we 'be what they be" as children of God, as authentic human beings. They inform us of how we are to live our lives by reminding us of who we are. Every instance of “imperative” in the NT is based on and grounded in the “indicative”. We’re to follow Paul’s example (and the example of Peter, James, etc.) by living out the reality of the New Creation, by living out the reality of our “sonship”. We don’t do it perfectly in this life, of course; but unless we’re living our lives as a natural expression of who we are as God’s children (albeit in the power and under the direction of the Spirit as He continues His work of transformation), then all of our doing is just Pharisaical (hypocritical). Doing deeds is not the call of the Christian—being authentic children of God (human beings) is the issue. And we are only being authentic as we “walk by the Spirit”. If we are doing instead of being, then I fear that we haven’t really understood the power of the Gospel or the power and work of the Spirit in us.

Let's quit worrying about our doing and concentrate on being who we are! This is freedom! And this is the only freedom that will always manifest the life of Christ in us and testify to the world of the power of the Gospel. So, to borrow another popular refrain, "Just do it"! Be who you are!!

How Are We To Live? Part-5 (Conclusion: Part 2)

2009-06-11T14:42:00.003-06:00

...continued from previous post.

Most believers will readily agree that Christ is the fulfillment of the Law (after all, He says so Himself, doesn’t He?), but generally they fall short in understanding the fullness of this fulfillment. We generally speak of Christ as the fulfillment of the Law in what He did rather than in who He was—sound familiar? Jesus certainly did do the works of the Law; He obeyed the Law fully. But He didn’t prove Himself to be God’s Son because of what He did in “obeying” the Law; rather He did the works of the Law in “obedience” because of who He was as God’s Son. Do you see the difference? The distinction between the doing of Jesus as God’s Son and the being (ontology) of Jesus as God’s Son in fulfilling the Law is understood more easily when we consider that Jesus came as the definition of the Law and the definition of “Israel” as God’s “son”.

The Scripture presents the Law as defining what it means to be God’s “son”. Remember, God called Israel His son based upon His choosing them as Abraham’s offspring. First Isaac, the promised “begotten” son and then Jacob, later to be named “Israel”, were initial fulfillments of God’s promise to Abraham that he would have a son and that through his son, God would bless the nations of the earth. Jacob (“Israel”) fathered twelve sons (tribes) who collectively became “Israel”. Over and over again in the Scripture as God speaks to His people He refers to Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He does this to reinforce their understanding of their heritage as the collective “son” (seed) of Abraham and their relationship to Him as His “chosen people”, unique among the nations of the world by being called out of the world as His “son”. When YWHW sent Moses to deliver His people, He told him to say to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn. Let My son go that he may serve Me’” (Ex. 4:22-23).

God calls “Israel” His son, though they had forgotten (and continued to forget) Him. So, in the giving of the Law, God defines for them what it means to be His “son”. God is not giving the people a bunch of hoops to jump through. He’s defining for them what it means to be “Israel”, His son. They are His chosen “son” consecrated to Him. They are not as the other nations; they are uniquely called “out of the world” to be Yahweh’s “peculiar” people. They are separate from the other nations and they are to find their identity solely in their relationship to God. In the giving of the Law, God is showing them that everything about their identity as His “son” is defined by Him—not themselves, not the nations around them, and certainly not the “gods” of the other nations. Israel was God’s “son” and they knew it because God gave them the Law which told them who they were. And the fact that they continued to fail to be who they were called to be as God’s “son” (evidenced by the institution of the sacrificial system, which also testified of Christ) showed them (and us) that their very existence was not ultimate, that “Israel” as “son” of God would be fulfilled in another Israel, the true “Son” of God (which I’ve written about elsewhere).

As with everything else in the Scripture, “Israel” and the Law were types of Christ and prophesied of Him. So when Jesus and the N.T. writers testify that He has fulfilled all of the Law, the Prophets and the Writings (the entirety of the Scripture), they are testifying to the fact that Jesus, as the definition of the Law and Israel, has fulfilled these types in His very Person. The fact that He was obedient to the Law in His practice was due to the fact that He was the definition of the Law; He was the “Israel” that the Law defined. Jesus is what the nation could not be (and was never intended to be): the true “son” of God. And that’s because He is the true Son of God in His very nature. He obeyed the Law not because that’s what He did, but because that’s who He was. Jesus lived out the reality of who He was...that’s all. The things that He did were simply manifestations of who He was.

"To do" is a pragmatic concept; "to be" is an ontological concept. To do is the “imperative”; to be is the “indicative”. Jesus did the things that He did (He obeyed His Father, He obeyed the “Law”) not because He was commanded to but because He was perfectly conformed to His nature and simply lived out the reality of who He was as God’s Son. He could say of Himself that He came to do the will of the Father because as the Son of God it was His will as well.

So…what does that mean for us? We “obey” the Law by coming to Christ and finding our identity in Him. We are “sons” of God in the Son of God. As Paul stresses throughout his writings (and in agreement with Christ and the rest of the Scriptures—N.T. and O.T.), the requirement of the Law is fulfilled in us because we are joined to Christ who is the fulfillment of the Law. We have no obligation to the Law as such. If we look to commandments to direct our relationship with God, then we are refusing to believe Him when He declares that we are His Children in Christ, born by the Spirit to new life. We have been “born again” and now have a new nature; we have been restored as His “image-bearers”, His “image-sons”.

As those who have a new nature, we don’t find our identity back in “law” (we’re not defined by what we do)—our identity is found in Christ. It’s the Spirit’s work to conform us into the likeness of Christ, not ours; and He doesn’t do so through the Law or commandments! Our sanctification does not rise or fall with our “obedience” to some code of ethic. Though we still struggle with sin (unbelief that manifests itself through the “flesh”), our sanctification is sure and progressing by the work of the Spirit in us. The promise of God in Christ (the New Covenant) is the promise of the Spirit. And we are “sons” of God in the Son only by virtue of the presence of the indwelling Spirit (Rom. 8) who will complete His work in us. Why would we walk according to commandment when we can walk according to the Spirit? The flesh profits us nothing; it is the Spirit who gives life! Let’s listen to Paul: “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you (we) now being perfected by the flesh?” We’re called to walk by the Spirit. Our calling is not to do but to be. We are Children of God because we’ve been joined to Christ by the Spirit who now indwells us. We’re not called to do anything, per say, but to be who we are.

To be continued...(the final post!).

How Are We To Live? Part-5 (Conclusion...finally!)

2009-06-02T14:44:00.004-06:00

Well...almost. This post has become a monster that even I'm tired of looking at; the more I go over it, the more I add to it. So, I'm done. Any modification can come as a result of dialogue. And since this has become so huge, I've decided to post it in installments--hopefully only three.

But before I begin, I'd like to point you all to a wonderful sermon by my friend Chad Knudson over at "The Road to Emmaus" which you can find here (and on my sidebar). Chad delivers an excellent treatment on Hebrews 12:1-11 entitled, "Living as Sons of God". This is an important message that helps us understand the role that God's discipline plays in our lives. Our Western Chritian Culture has lost the sense of what it means to be children of God and how it is that our Father "perfects" His children. For a number of reasons, not the least of which is the influence of the (false) Prosperity Gospel, it is assumed that suffering is antithetical to being a Christian, that as God's children we are to be Healthy, Wealthy and...well...if not Wise (with all apologies to the heretic Mike Murdoch), then at least smart enough to "name it and claim it". Because of this "anti-Christ" self-idolatorous mind-set, we in the West assume that suffering is the work of satan and betrays a lack of faith on the part of the person who is suffering (or even more heinous, a Christian lacks faith if he doesn't have absolutely everything that he wants); that God has nothing to do with the suffering of His people. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Chad powerfully, yet with grace (an attribute I know I can work on :-), establishes the Biblical Theological foundation for the suffering of the Christian and provides for our encouragement by presenting Christ to us. I encourage you all to download the sermon, put it on your iPod or on a CD and plug it in. This is a message that all of us need to hear because it brings our focus back where it needs to be--on "Jesus, the author and perfector of faith."

Now, on with conclusion...the answer we've all been waiting for! Well, maybe not the answer that the Legalists and Moralists were looking for, but the answer, nevertheless, that I believe the Bible itself teaches: Be Who You Are. That’s it—simply be. If we are to live our lives to the glory of God, if we’re to “be perfect as He (our Heavenly Father) is perfect”, then our calling is not to do but to be! If “perfection” is conformity to something’s created nature, and if glorifying God is the natural response of a being that is “conformed to it’s created nature”, then simply doing what we think is commanded of us is not the answer—we must be what we were created to be. And what were we created to be?—sons of God who bear His image.

And what is it to be an image-bearing son of God? Is it something that we do? The Bible emphatically answers that question with a resounding, “No”! We can never do anything that would make us sons of God. Even if we were to obey the Law completely, we would not become sons of God. Why?—because, as I’ve mentioned previously, created humanity is incomplete apart from the True Man, Jesus Christ. We need a new nature. Jesus is the fountainhead of a new humanity and as such we are only fully (truly) human when we are joined to Him by the Spirit (see previous posts, esp. “Part-3 continued and Redemption Part-2). Christ is the destiny of humanity and we find our fulfillment as human beings who bear God’s image in Him.

So, to simply do commandments or “works of the Law” (Torah—“doctrine”, the whole of the Scripture) is not enough. Even if a person were to theoretically “keep” the Law, he would still not be what God created him to be. He would still be estranged from God, creation, humanity and himself because he would still be defined by his sin nature. Of course, no person can ever keep the Law because no one ever loves God with “all his heart, soul, mind and strength” or his “neighbor as himself”. Even as Christians who have the Spirit indwelling us, we often fail to “keep the Law”. But as Christians, we’re not called to keep the Law but to come to Christ (who is the fulfillment of the Law) by faith and then to walk by the Spirit. The Law points us to Christ because He is the very definition of the Law (which we’ll see later); and when we come to Christ, we’ve “kept the Law” because we believe in the One of whom it prophesies. Anyone with a sufficient amount of motivation can keep rules and regulations. To paraphrase Paul, law-keeping means nothing...the only thing that matters is a “New Creation”.

Paul says that the Law is a “tutor” to lead us to Christ because He is its fulfillment. The Law was never intended to give life. And this is not simply because it could never be obeyed, but because it spoke of Christ who is the One that the Law defined. This reality is evidenced throughout the life of Israel and the reason for their condemnation. The “sons of Abraham” failed to keep the Law time and time again. They did not keep the Law because they could not keep the Law; first, because it was non-ultimate, (it prophesied and served as a type of Christ, e.g. Luke 24:13-32; Matt. 5:17-19; John 5:39-47; Matt. 11:13; Hebrews, etc.) and secondly, because of the “sin nature” (Rom. 8:3-8; cf. Jer. 31:31-34, Eze. 36:25-27, 37:1-14, John 3, John 6, Rom. 8, etc.). In fact, for a person to do the works of the Law to endear himself to God in any way apart from the promise of Christ or in the light of Christ’s arrival only brings condemnation to himself because it is Christ Himself that is the fulfillment of the Law (not anything we do); a person fulfills the Law only in Christ (with respect to Christ) by being joined to Him by the Spirit. (For example: Matt. 5:17-19ff. where Jesus explains that it is He Himself, in His person, that is the fulfillment of the Law; so for a person to see in the Law his duty rather than his Christ is to defile and annul the Law; John 3:1-21 the great “born again” passage where Jesus explains to Nicodemus the “law-keeper” that it is those who do not believe in Him, though “obeying” the law, that are under judgment because their “law-keeping” was actually considered to be “evil-doing”; John 5:37-47 where Jesus chastises the “law-keepers” for not understanding their Scriptures which didn’t teach them to obey the law to have life, but to see in the law the Christ who is and gives life; and Romans 8:4 in context where we see that in our union with Christ by the Spirit, the requirement of the Law is fulfilled in us already by the indwelling Spirit who applies Christ’s atonement to us. These relatively few examples of the overall teaching of the Scripture provide ample evidence that “by the works of the law shall no man be justified before God.”).

Now some may argue that of course our salvation is not determined by our doing, but our sanctification is. If we don’t purpose to do the “moral law” (or whatever “command” we see in the Scripture), then we are, at best, stunting our growth and, at worst, not a Christian at all. To have our sanctification or maturity governed by the “moral law” is Reformed Theology’s so-called “third use of the Law”. It is assumed that now that we are Christians, we must purpose to obey the “moral Law” for our sanctification. This idea doesn’t fully appreciate how it is that Christ has fulfilled the Law and what has transpired in the New Birth that has fundamentally changed our nature.

To be continued...

Previous posts in this series:
How Are We To Live? Part-1 (Introduction & Creation)
How Are We To Live? Part-2 (The Fall)
How Are We To Live? Part-3 (Redemption-Part 1)
How Are We To Live? Part-3 (Redemption-Part 2)
How Are We To Live? Part-4 (Consummation)

Is This a Joke?

2009-05-26T09:40:00.007-06:00

You've got to be kidding me! This is all we need; another Bible that distorts the meaning of Scripture and takes our eyes off of it's Subject--Christ! Is this really what the Scripture teaches?

Check out this idiocy (and idolatry?) over at Vanguard Church. Rather than having me "ranting and raving" about this (and believe me, it's difficult for me to hold it in), read Bob's comments, watch the video and then head to Greg Boyd's review of this travesty of Christian Commercialism.

When will we get it! The Kingdom of God is made up of people from every tongue, tribe and nation. The United States of America is not God's people any more than the old Soviet Union was God's people. The "people of God" is not Israel; it's not America; it's not Rome; it's not...any particular nation or Sacral Society. There is only one "people of God" and it's all those and only those who have been joined to Christ by the Spirit. And this "people of God" transcends nationalities because the Kingdom of God is not of this world!

The Kingdom of God has nothing in common with the kingdoms of this world. Even now the nations (including America) are "pouring their wealth into the Kingdom of God" as the Gospel penetrates into the world and the Spirit calls people from every nation under heaven to Christ and His Kingdom. But the Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of the Spirit; the Kingdom of the New Creation! One day, when Christ returns, all the nations (kingdoms) of the earth will belong to Him as He takes up His righteous reign in the eternal Shabbat of God's Rest. Shalom will once again characterize God's good Creation and all kingdoms (redeemed people) will exist under one banner and King--Christ, the Lord. But until that day, the Kingdom of God is a spiritual Kingdom that has no allegiance to earthly powers.

Can we be Christians in America? Yes! But is America a "Christian Nation"? God, I hope not!

Oh well, you got a "mini" rant anyway. Check out the links; we must be people of the Word...not the world. Can we not see the difference?

Pentecost as the Reversal of Babel

2009-05-21T15:54:00.004-06:00

As I promised last time, here is the second part of the sermon on The Event of Pentecost-The Outpouring of the Spirit. In this part, we see how the "curse" of Babel is reversed (in fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant) as the Spirit comes and draws men from every tongue, tribe and nation together again under one Head, Jesus Christ the Lord.

Luke conspicuously tells us in Acts 2 that the people who are in Jerusalem at Pentecost during the event of the outpouring of the Spirit were there from "every nation under heaven". Now this is obviously hyperbole; but Luke wants us to understand this event as it relates to the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant in Christ. Remember, the promise to Abraham was that through him, through his "seed", all the families of the earth would be blessed. Paul makes it clear that this "seed" refers to Christ and that the blessing to the families of the earth is the salvation that is found in Christ. "Israel" the nation, as the "seed" of Abraham, was the first-level fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant...but as a type of the true "seed" to come. They were called to be the vehicle of God's blessing to the nations by drawing the nations around them to YHWH. They were called as God's "son" to minister the knowledge of God to all the nations so that they would find life in their God; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel, however, failed to be "Israel"; they failed to be God's "son". So a new "Israel" was needed; a new "Son" was needed to fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant. And this must be the case because, as I've stated so many times before, the nation of Israel was a type of Christ (as God's chosen "son", etc.) and their very existence, as with all things in the Scripture, prophesied of Christ, the true "seed" of Abraham.

So Luke, in the continuation of his Gospel account, makes sure that his readers realize what is happening here. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant (and by extension, the Davidic Covenant) because He is the promised Seed of Abraham and the true "son" of God, and it is in Him alone that this blessing comes. All the nations of the earth are to be blessed only as they come to Him as God's Son. In the history of Israel, when a Gentile wanted to come to the God of Israel they had to come to Him through "Israel", through His "son". To have YHWH as their God, they had to become proselytes; they had to join themselves to God's "son"--Israel. And since the nation was simply typological, the same holds true when the Promised Seed arrives. A person comes to God only by being joined to His "Son"--Jesus Christ. Luke (and the rest of the N.T.) makes this clear. And in the book of Acts we see how people come to the Son--by the Spirit.

The work of the Spirit is the effectual fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant because it is the Spirit who joins a person to Christ in the New Birth. Jesus has fulfilled the Abrahamic Covenant in Himself; but this fulfillment is applied by the Spirit. It is the Spirit who is calling people from every tongue, tribe, nation and people and it is by the Spirit that they are "born again" as God's "sons" in The Son.

So, as part of the Spirit's work in applying Christ's fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant, the paradigm of Babel is reversed. Where once God judged the people and scattered them over the face of the earth by confusing their language, so now He, by the Spirit, unites them once again--not in a universal language, but in Christ! The emphasis that Luke places on the "every nation under heaven" and the fact that they all heard the Disciples in their own language, speaks to the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant and the reversal of the judgment of God at Babel. He doesn't restore a universal language, but He does unite the people under One NAME--not their own, but the Name of Jesus.

Well, enough of my own "babel"...on with the "Brief Sermon Overview" and the PDF notes. I encourage you again to listen to the audio message (top right) and read the Sermon Notes. I don't know what can be more encouraging for the Christian than to see the Scripture being fulfilled in our Lord and Savior!

Brief Sermon Overview (by our Pastor):

As the Spirit-filled disciples spilled out into the street in Jerusalem, the cacophony of voices proclaiming God's mighty saving deeds began to draw a crowd. These onlookers were Jews and Gentile proselytes to Judaism who had come to Jerusalem from surrounding regions to celebrate the Passover and Feast of Weeks as required by the Law of Moses. Very quickly they realized that the speakers were all Galileans, and yet every individual within the widely diverse crowd was hearing one or more of them speaking in his native tongue. This message examines the salvation-historical significance of this phenomenon as it implicates God's ancient judgment at Babel and His subsequent promise to extend HIs blessing to all the families of the earth through Abraham (Genesis 11:1-12:3). What was transpiring that day in Jerusalem indicated that the day of fulfillment was dawning. God was reversing His judicial act of scattering and fragmenting the human race and entering upon the fulfillment of His promise to Abraham to reunite the world of men by recovering them to Himself in the patriarch's singular Seed (Gal. 3:1-29).

Listen to the Sermon at top right (Acts 007-The Event of Pentecost: The Outpouring of the Spirit-Part 2).

Read the PDF notes here.

Pentecost interlude

2009-05-15T11:27:00.002-06:00

I know that I've promised the conclusion to my "How Are We To Live" series, but I've just been too busy lately to complete it. I almost have it done, but I've noticed that it is becoming a longer monster than usual (even for me). As I try to tidy it up, I may either a lot of material or make it into two posts. For those of you who just can't wait for it (I know you're out there!), sorry...you'll just have to be a bit more patient.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share a couple of our sermons (one this week, one next week) from our latest series as we go through the book of Acts. This series comes on the heels of our Sermon on the Mount series which came on the heels of our Sacred Space (God With Us) series and for full effect they all should be listened to in order. The issues that we dealt with in the S.S series were fleshed out more in "salvation history" through the SOTM series which is being augmented further in the Acts series. The central topic of "God With Us" and the purpose of "redemptive history" is the key theme that is developed throughout. For all ministerial resources, follow the link to our SermonAudio page. You can find it on the links bar on the right. If you want to hear (and read) faithful, "redemptive-historical" preaching that takes Biblical Theology seriously for the glory of Christ, then I encourage you to listen to and download our sermons.

I've included an audio sermon from the series called, "The Event of Pentecost: The Outpouring of the Spirit-part 1" on the right (part-2 to follow) which helps explain the meaning and purpose of Pentecost as the fulfillment of Scripture. The next sermon also deals with this event as it deals with, among other things, the reversal of Babel. The outpouring of the Spirit is crucial in understanding this Gospel that we believe. His coming is in fulfillment of the Scripture--the promise of God in Christ is the coming of the Spirit! All the excesses of the Charismatic movement aside, we must recognize the importance of the coming and ministry of the Spirit if we are to understand who we are as the Church, the Body of Christ.

Here's the "brief sermon overview" from our Pastor (and I've included the link to the PDF notes from the sermon).

Brief Sermon Overview:

To this point in his account, Luke has documented God's preparation for inaugurating His kingdom. The Son of David had now entered into His glory and taken His seat at His Father's right hand; the enthroned King-Priest was poised to begin building His house (Zech. 6:9-15). Moreover, the apostolic foundation for that house was also now complete. Everything was in place and it was time for the Father and Son to send the Spirit. As the Scriptures and Christ Himself promised, He - the Creator-Spirit - would inaugurate the kingdom of the new creation and enter upon His great work of building Yahweh's everlasting house (Zech. 4:1-10). The Holy Spirit is the central figure in this new age of the new creation, and yet multitudes of Christians have no substantial understanding of His person or work in relation to it. This message examines the Spirit's self-manifestation in His coming, and especially how the particulars of it reveal His person and role in fulfillment of the Scriptures.

PDF Sermon Notes here.

Don't Stop Believing

2009-05-11T14:27:00.002-06:00

Having read Michael Wittmer’s excellent book, “Heaven is a Place on Earth: Why Everything You Do Matters To God”, I was eager to read his latest, “Don’t Stop Believing: Why Living Like Jesus is Not Enough.” While the former title helps us to understand God’s cosmic view of redemption and our place (and responsibility) in this world by emphasizing the continuity of God’s creation (without denying the biblical aspect of discontinuity), the latter helps us to understand God’s redemption and our place (responsibility) in this world by showing us the benefits and deficiencies within the two seemingly opposing strands of theological thought: “Emerging” (Wittmer’s, “postmodern innovators”) and “Conservative” Christianity. These labels, of course, don’t do justice to all the practitioners of either “camp” (what labels ever do?), but Wittmer attempts to show us how the fundamental core beliefs of both groups can contribute to a more well-rounded and biblically accurate understanding of the Gospel by helping us see their strengths and weaknesses.

Wittmer successfully (I believe) accomplishes his task by asking and answering ten important questions (chapter titles) that either are either at the heart of the debate (e.g., “Must You Believe Something to Be Saved? and Is It Possible to Know Anything?), or are lightning rods that fuel the debate (e.g., Which is Worse: Homosexuals or the Bigots Who Persecute Them?, and Is Hell for Real and Forever?). In developing each Chapter/Question, Wittmer favors a more balanced approach between Emergents and Conservatives that seeks to combine right Belief with right Practice.

Of course, it’s easy to simply state that the dichotomy between the two groups is Practice vs. Belief; but nothing is ever really that simple (except the yoke of our Lord) and we can’t pit Emergents against Conservatives in this simplistic way—and, thankfully, Wittmer doesn’t do this. He recognizes that both groups believe something and practice those beliefs in some way. The nature of man is that we always do (practice) what we believe whether or not we are conscious of this relationship or are consistent with it. He recognizes that Belief and Practice go hand in hand and that even the most radical Emergent and Conservative live this way even if their rhetoric sometimes suggests otherwise. But the rhetoric is “out there” and we, as the Church, must deal with it as we seek to live out the reality of who we are as sons and daughters of God.

In fighting the excesses of Conservatism that may imply (or teach outright) that doctrine is the most important (if not only) aspect of our relationship with God, Emergents are in danger of erring in the opposite extreme of denying the necessity of believing anything about God (as some “emergents” have affirmed) as long as we live lives of love as Jesus did and as Scripture instructs. Wittmer is gracious to both sides of this dialogue and shows how a biblically based understanding will not allow this false dichotomy to exist within the mind/heart of the believer. Without the right (true) belief (doctrine), we have no basis for even knowing what we are to practice (live), much less what the best practices actually are! And since we can all agree that the best practice is the life of love (which is to say, the “life of faith”), we must never stop believing because our practice can only be as good as the truth that we believe.

As I’ve said numerous times here, sin is at bottom unbelief. Even as Christians, our sin is fundamentally unbelief that manifests itself in our practice. Now the penalty or guilt of our unbelief has been born by Christ on the Cross and has been taken away from us through His death, resurrection, ascension, presentation (as High Priest) and enthronement. When Christ died, we died. When Christ was raised, we were raised to new life. Christ has brought His own blood into the true Sanctuary where as High Priest He presented Himself as our Propitiation before the Father. And upon the Father’s acceptance of the offering of His Son, Christ sat down on His throne (the throne of David) where He sends the Spirit to indwell His people and to conform them into His likeness.

So, even our practice of Christianity is contingent upon our knowledge and belief of/in God because the Spirit doesn’t work in a vacuum. He takes what is Jesus’ and gives it to us. He makes us partakers in the New Covenant through the knowledge of God (in Christ), as we read in Jeremiah, “I will put my law (teaching) within them, and on their heart I will write it…they shall all know Me…” (emphasis added). You can’t read far in the New Testament without seeing the relationship between Faith/Belief and Practice.

So, the question becomes: “What do we believe?” or “Must we believe certain things?” And to a large extent, Wittmer answers these questions. He reminds us (without necessarily saying outright) that doctrine is a necessity because we must know something about God in order to believe something about Him. And if we must “believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God” and be “born again” by the Spirit in order to be “saved”, then there must be something to know and believe. Practice is all fine and good, but it alone cannot “save” (see Matt. 7:21-24, etc.), and as the author states, even our “best practices can only arise from true beliefs” (back cover). And as I say, for the most part Wittmer answers these questions and shows us the biblical relationship between practice and belief.

My only (minor) issue I have with the book is his lack of development of the Penal Substitution model of atonement in Chapter Six. I know that this book isn’t a treatise on the Doctrine of the Atonement and that this is but one of several issues that he is dealing with. I also understand that he had limited his focus to the deficiency of Penal Substitution as the only legitimate or as the most important aspect of the atonement of Christ. I really appreciate this chapter and I’m in agreement with him that this theory doesn’t cover all the facets of Atonement and we need to have a full-orbed understanding to do justice to all that was accomplished by Christ.

Having said that, I still think he missed a golden opportunity to develop the Atonement of Christ (including Penal Substitution) along Biblical Theological lines. Other than a cursory statement at the beginning of the chapter (confined within one sentence) relating Penal Substitution with the sacrificial system of the Old Covenant, Wittmer doesn’t deal at all with the importance of the type/anti-type paradigm that gives meaning to this crucial doctrine. In my judgment, you can’t do justice to such an important doctrine and the resulting belief without explaining how the sacrificial system portrayed and was fulfilled in Christ…especially as it pertains to the title of the chapter: Is The Cross Divine Child Abuse?

All the talk of what the atonement means is…well…meaningless apart from the type/anti-type paradigm that is so painstakingly developed in Scripture. The sacrificial system, including the role of High Priest as well as the sacrifice itself, paints the portrait of Christ. To understand any aspect of the atonement one must understand the Old Covenant sacrificial system and how it speaks to and of Christ. He must be crucified because He is the Lamb of God of which the sacrifices speak. He must be crucified because He is the High Priest who brings His own blood as the sacrifice before the Father. Before anything else can be said about Penal Substitution or Christus Victor or Moral Influence/Example, etc., we must bring Salvation History to bear in our understanding. Whatever God was communicating in the Old Covenant Sacrificial System is crucial to understand the why of Christ’s atonement and the what that was accomplished in and through it.

As I said, I know that this book wasn’t written to give a full and detailed explanation of the atonement and I’m sure that Wittmer would have devoted much more time to the issue of type/anti-type had this been his purpose; but I simply don’t feel that his explanation for Penal Substitution in the section “Love Hurts” is adequate. I should probably devote an entire post to this particular critique and any other possible minor issues that I may have had upon a first reading. Of course, I’ll want to read it again before I commit to having any other “issues”.

And I do encourage a first and a second reading of “Don’t Stop Believing”. My reservations about Chapter Six aside, this is an important book in our “postmodern” age. Wittmer has written a very thoughtful and gracious book that should help clarify the important contributions of both “Emergents” and “Conservatives” as we continue to work together as His Body to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Neo-Calvinism? I can live with this

2009-04-17T10:56:00.002-06:00

Before finishing off my series "How Are We To Live?" (and because I've been too busy lately to complete it), I wanted to share some more encouraging articles from my friends at Vangaurd Church and The Vossed World.

Bob, over at Vanguard Church, has some more excellent material (as usual). In these posts, he uses recent articles by Time and Newsweek to help us see what is taking place within the resurgent Calvinism movement in Evangelical Christianity. The distinction he sees between the two main strands of this "new" Calvinsim ("Neo-Puritianism" and "Neo-Calvinsim") is not just interesting, but helpful in understanding our Biblical roles as "culture-makers" (a term I borrow from the excellent book by Andy Crouch, "Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling") and the inherent dignity that still resides within God's created order, including Man, that should direct our thinking about how we're to engage the world in this life.

Once you check this out (and the related posts), stay there and search for these terms in the "search box": shalom, creation and redemption (to name just a few). You'll be blessed with some wonderful material that has been a great encouragement to me and very helpful in my ever-progressing walk with our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Some more excellent posts can be found over at The Vossed World. As I've said before, Chad has a high grasp of Vos' thought and understands the progress of Redemptive History. His post on "Christ, the new Torah" is excellent! Also check out this short post reminding us that Christ is our Covenant.

I've been blessed by both of these sites in sometimes different ways and they remain high on my list of must-reads!

...conclusion coming soon!

How Are We To Live? Part-4 (Consummation)

2009-04-09T09:51:00.004-06:00

In considering the topic “How are we to live?”, I’ve attempted to show that:

God created Man with a certain design for a certain function. Man was created as “image-bearer” (image-son) to be in intimate communion with his “Father/Creator” while “tending the Garden” (cultivating the earth) as God’s vice-regent, ruling over the works of His hands. Man’s “image-bearing” quality was his “humanness”. Adam was a “perfect” human-being in his typological role and he was expected by God to live into the authenticity of his created nature.
But Man rebelled against God and took it upon himself to redefine what it means to be “image-son”. In the process, sin entered God’s “good” creation bringing with it God’s curse upon all of creation—including Man. The estrangement that the Bible calls “death” now marks all of creation and Man’s “humanness” has been “vandalized”; Man has become less than what he was created to be (what I’ve previously called “sub-human” or “less than human”). All of creation, including Man, needs to be Redeemed (recovered to its original design and purpose).
And God has provided this Redemption through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This Redemption was not an after-thought brought about as a result of Adam’s sin, but was purposed “from the foundation of the world” as the means by which all of creation, including Man, would reach its destiny and purpose. Adam, like the Garden itself, was typological pointing to Christ and His consummative work.

As an aside, in the above point two I referred to my previous use of the term “sub-human” (and also “less than human”) in reference to the effect of The Fall on Man, specifically in regard to his “humanness”. For the sake of clarity and continuity I will continue using the same terms as I close out this series, but please see my friend Russ’ aversion to and caution with regard to my use of these terms in his comments on my previous post here. I appreciate his comments and generally agree with his points on the matter, but I believe that the phrase “less than human” speaks to the reality of what the Bible portrays as the predicament that faces Man still in his unredeemed “sinful” nature apart from Christ (for all the reasons previously mentioned in this series).

My point in using such terminology is to stress that the Bible speaks of the New Birth as more than simply a forensic change that takes place with regard to our standing with God—it speaks of transformation. There is an ontological change associated with the New Birth and our transformation in Christ. And there must be because there was an ontological change that occurred at The Fall. "Original sin" is not simply a legal pronouncement on the human race--it's not just words that speak to our standing condemned before God. Original sin speaks to a change that has taken place in our very nature as human beings. The “sin nature” has infected all of humanity so that we’re “not the way we’re supposed to be” (see previous posts). We recover our full humanity only in Christ as we are joined to Him by the Spirit in the New Birth. We are transformed back into our created design and purpose as “image-bearers” (image-sons) through the continuing work of the Spirit in us as He conforms us to Christ-likeness. And when Christ returns, this transformation will be complete as we enter into the eternal state in our resurrected physical nature. Christ has ushered in the New Creation and we are a part of it now—all we (and the rest of Creation) await is the final fruit of this New Creation in the consummation to come at Christ's return.

The “natural man” (the person that is not joined to Christ by the Spirit in the New Birth) is simply not the same kind of Man as the “spiritual man” (the person who partakes of the Spirit by being joined to Christ in the New Birth). The Bible is clear on this. One kind of human being is incomplete because he lacks the Spirit; the other kind of human being is being made complete because he has the Spirit. This isn’t a “state of mind” or simply a “positional” reality. This is an ontological change as the “sin nature” is replaced by, as Peter calls it, the “divine nature”. This is not to say that the person joined to Christ has become divine; just that in regeneration a fundamental change has taken place within a person such that he has now become in essence what he was originally created to be—fully (truly) human! Of course, this is a process…a work of the indwelling Spirit in a person that will culminate with his resurrected body. But the truth of what God has done is always spoken of as a present reality even when aspects of its completion in time/space have not yet been realized; just as we can speak of the present reality of the Kingdom of God, yet we await its consummation at Christ’s return.

And this brings us to The Consummation! As I’ve already mentioned, what God has accomplished in the Person and Work of Christ is complete—in a sense. We live in the paradigm of the already/not yet aspect of the fulfillment of all things in Christ. When on the cross our Lord said, “It is finished”…He meant it! All of God’s promises are fulfilled in Christ. There is nothing left for Him to do to accomplish His purpose in redemptive history. The curse is broken and Christ’s redemption is complete. In the mind of God, His goal has been realized…we just see this realization being worked out in time/space (as we must being dimensional creatures) as Christ’s redemption is applied to all those who are called. And at His return, this already completed work of God will be finalized in time/space with the ushering in of the consummative state—the Eternal Sabbath of God’s rest in the New Heavens and New Earth.

Much can be said and volumes written about The Consummation, but for my purposes it is enough to say that at Christ’s return, the New Creation that has already dawned with His first coming will set for eternity with the “fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth.” In The Consummation, all things will be as they were originally purposed from the beginning. To Paraphrase Plantinga again, “Things will finally be as they are supposed to be”. What “Eden” as a type spoke of or foreshadowed, will be realized in the consummation that God promised through the prophets—the New Heavens and New Earth. The Creation itself will finally realize its own redemption upon the revealing of the “sons of God” at the return of the Son of God! The curse is (even now) overthrown and the Shalom that reigns even now in our hearts through the Spirit (Jesus is our “shalom”) will reign over all of Creation as we enter into the eternal Shabbat of God’s Rest!

So how does all of this answer the question, “How are we to live”? Stay tuned for the conclusion….

When Tomorrow Never Comes

2009-04-02T13:07:00.004-06:00

I just stumbled across this poem the other day as I was preparing my computer for an operating system reinstallation. I remember my Dad sending it to me shortly after my wife and I returned from my Mom's funeral, but I was in no mood at that particular time to give it much thought or contemplation. Poetry is a genre that I've never really care for, unless it's supplemented by an infectious beat, luscious chords, a righteous "low" end and delightful vocals--you know, everything that makes Metallica worth listening to! Or is that James Brown?! :-)

Although I do find myself enjoying the writings of my friend "The Righteous Rapper", poetry simply as poetry usually doesn't hold my interest. But reading this poem again made me think afresh about the loss that was experienced in our families with the passing of my mother, my aunt and my close cousin within last few years. When my mother died, this was my first real experience with the loss of a loved one. I vaguely remember as a child my grandmothers dying; and a little later, while still a "youth", my uncle died. But these events didn't affect me very much at the time and I moved on without much thought about it. I also lost a friend when I was in High School; but again, I was sad for awhile and then...nothing.

It wasn't until someone very close to me passed away that I realized the impact of "death"; of course, by the time my mom died I had been a Christian for some time. Maybe this is why this particular poem has struck a chord? I don't know. When I read this I also think about a young couple who have been friends of SGCC since before its inception. Pete and Jen were young and married only a few years before the Lord called her home just a few months ago. I know that Pete and the family are still grieving. And yet...

As Christians, we can grieve not only in hope but also in joy. Not joy because we're happy to lose them, but joy because we're happy for their joy...their gain. I know that it's difficult in the midst of grief to consider the joy that our departed loved ones are experiencing; but even as we're called in this life to "weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice", I think we can also "rejoice" with our departed loves ones who at the moment they leave us are "rejoicing" in the presence of our Lord and His Saints. It is good to grieve because we minister to one another as we share with others the sorrow of loss. But let's follow the call of the Spirit to be ever rejoicing--for those for whom we weep are also rejoicing "at home with the Lord".

When Tomorrow Never Comes

(author unknown)

When tomorrow starts without me,

And I'm not there to see;

If the sun should rise and find your eyes

All filled with tears for me;

I wish so much you wouldn't cry

The way you did today,

While thinking of the many things we didn't get to say.

I know how much you love me,

As much as I love you;

And each time that you think of me,

I know you'll miss me too.

But when tomorrow starts without me,

Please try to understand

That an angel came and called my name

And took me by the hand,

And said my place was ready

In Heaven far above,

And that I had to leave behind

All those I dearly love.

But as I turned to walk away

A tear fell from my eye;

For all my life I'd always thought

I didn't want to die.

I had so much to live for,

So much yet to do;

It seem almost impossible

That I was leaving you.

But when I walked through Heven's gates,

I felt so much at home;

When God looked down and smiled at me,

from His great golden throne.

He said, "This is eternity

And all I promise you.

Today your life on earth is past,

But here it starts anew.

This is but one Eternal Now,

no future and no past;

For in My Presence, precious child,

This day will always last."

So when tomorrow starts without me,

Don't think we're far apart;

For everytime you think of me,

I'm right there near your heart.

And I, knowing now as God knows me

Will joyfully watch you serving Him,

'Till we are joined together in this wonderful place,

For all eternity.

How Are We To Live? Part-3 (continued...Redemption Part-2)

2009-03-19T10:07:00.002-06:00

(from previous post)…so what’s the point?

The point is that the “death” that we’re delivered from is estrangement. And this “death” that is estrangement has occurred because we’ve become less than human (sub-human) through The Fall. Remember, our nature as “image-bearers” is due to the fact that we were created as human beings. No other creature or aspect of Creation is said to bear the image of God. We are uniquely qualified as “image-bearers” because we are by nature (created nature) human beings. There are many aspects of what it means to be image-bearers, e.g. our rational capabilities, our creative ability, our moral bent, etc.; but they are all sourced in our humanity. It is our humanity that makes us image-bearers; and it’s in our humanity (not in the things that we do) that we testify of our Creator and enjoy intimacy with Him as our Father. And this is precisely our problem: because of the entrance of sin and death (estrangement), we have become sub-human. Our “humanity” has been “vandalized” by sin so that we don’t bear God’s image as intended and we don’t enjoy communion with Him as Father. We need a new nature—we must be “born again”!

Before the Fall, when Adam and Eve were simply being who they were (as human beings), they testified of God to each other and the rest of Creation by enjoying intimate fellowship with Him and living their lives in the freedom of their created nature; and this was the paradigm that was to mark all of Creation for all time. “Man” lived in intimate communion with God, with each other and with the rest of creation in the state of Shalom. They didn’t have to do anything but live out the reality of who they were. It’s when they decided to exercise autonomy and take upon themselves the definition of who they were created to be that they disobeyed God and brought “death” to themselves and the Cosmos. They became less than they were created to be (they became sub-human) by disbelieving God and taking it upon themselves to (re)define themselves. Like a fish that will only find “death” if it tries to redefine itself (what it means to be a fish) by jumping onto dry land because it thinks that’s where life and meaning is found, so Adam has plunged the entire human race into “death” by trying to redefine what it is to be “human”. Our communion with God is broken because we are not what God has created us to be—truly, fully human. Because of the entrance of sin, we have become “sub-human” and are said to be “dead” in our trespasses and sins. Estrangement (death) has replaced intimate communion (life) because we are not what we were created to be.

Oh, we still bear some marks of our humanity and thus, we haven’t completely destroyed our nature as image-bearers. But to borrow again from Plantinga: our humanity (as well as the entire Cosmos) has been “vandalized” by sin. And with the entrance of sin, Shalom has been broken as “death” has infiltrated the entire created order. Things (all things) are not “The Way They Are Supposed to Be” (Plantinga). We need redemption! The creation needs redemption! And so, Christ has come—Jesus the Christ, the last Adam and True Man! What was typified in the paradigm of the original creation has found its anti-type in the fulfillment that has come in Christ! It’s not simply that He restores all things (including “man”) to its original created design and function; no…Christ fulfills the typology of “Eden” so that all things find their purpose & meaning in Him. As I’ve mentioned before in various contexts, God’s purpose from the beginning was to have all things made complete in Christ. When I speak of “restoration” I’m speaking of the fulfillment of the purpose of God to “sum up all things in the heaven and earth in Christ”. The design and purpose of Creation (“Eden”) is fulfilled or completed in its purpose & meaning in Christ!

I’ve spent a bit of time talking about the concept of “life” out of “death” (see Redemption Part-1) so that we will realize that the Life that we’ve been granted in Christ is the “life” of true authentic humanity. As the True Man, Jesus Christ is the only fully authentic human being that has ever lived (remember, Adam was “perfect” in his humanity as a type of Christ—even Adam finds his true and full humanity in the True Man, Jesus Christ). And as the True Man, only as we are joined to Him by the Spirit through faith, only as we are participants in His life through the indwelling Spirit (new creations), only then are we “redeemed” to our created purpose and function as authentic human-beings who truly and fully (though not always or perfectly until the consummation) bear the image of God. Jesus Christ is the fountainhead of a new humanity because we have become “new creations” in Him. We now truly (though again, imperfectly until the consummation) bear the image of God as the Spirit works to conform us into the likeness of Christ. By God’s grace through faith, we now share in the Life of Christ! Death has been swallowed up in victory because it’s been swallowed up by the Life of Christ, by the Life that is found only in Christ. Christ has overthrown the curse and restored all things to their created design and function in Himself (the “summing up of all things in Christ”).

Redemption is so much more than simply “the forgiveness of sin”. There are many salvific ideas related to redemption (e.g. justification, propitiation, imputation, reconciliation, etc.), but redemption is not confined to any one of these soteriological aspects: Redemption is no less than re-creation! Beginning with Man, the first-fruits so-to-speak, Christ’s redemption is no less than the inauguration of the New Creation (what the Scripture refers to as the Kingdom of God-a concept that deserves its own “series”) in Himself. Eden has not simply been recovered, it’s been redeemed! It’s been fulfilled in Christ!

Of course, there is the already/not yet aspect to the work of Christ in redemption; He has already redeemed and fulfilled all things in Himself, though we still await the not yet of the consummation when His completed work will realize its full fruition. But the reality of what He has accomplished is certain and is even now present as the Kingdom of God continues to grow by taking into its realm people from every tongue, tribe and nation to glory of God our Savior!

So how does all of this speak to the issue of “How Are We To Live”? Stay tuned for the Consummation/Conclusion where I hope to tie it all together and show us that God’s calling upon humanity (all of us!) is the same today as it’s always been: “Be perfect as I Am (your heavenly Father is) perfect”—only the paradigm has changed.

The Body of Christ--A True Blessing!

2009-03-16T09:08:00.004-06:00

I just wanted to share with you all what a blessed time we had at church yesterday. This was a "special service" of Scripture reading, singing and testimonies. We just completed our series on The Sermon on the Mount and, like we did upon finishing our series on God With Us (what I call our Sacred Space series), we capped it off with a service of testimonies on how the Gospel teaching in the series has affected our thinking and our living. I so look forward to these times of sharing because, as I've already shared with our Body, it helps me to "fill out" my own understanding of the Gospel. To paraphrase Paul, the Body causes the growth of the Body! Only as we minister to one another do we truly grow in our faith because it's through our mutual ministry that the Spirit within each of us ministers Christ to each of us. While all of us are not gifted and called to be Preachers or Teachers (in the formal sense), we are all gifted and called to be ministers of the Gospel--to one another as well as the "world".

To be honest, at our church we do all minister to one another on a regular basis in our conversations and our fellowships (and various classes and studies throughout the months); but services such as these allow each of us to gather our thoughts and express a particular aspect of the Gospel teaching that has affected our individual thinking and application for life. It's in these services, as I said, that a particular sermon series becomes "filled out" in my understanding. In a series as large as our God With Us or The Sermon on the Mount series, my mind, like most I suppose, latches onto certain aspects of the teaching more than other aspects. Our minds can only process so much at a time and we tend to take a special interest in the ideas that affect us personally, or speak to our individual hearts. What may stick out in my mind may not be what someone else is motivated by and vise verse. I need to hear the thoughts of my Brothers and Sisters concerning the Gospel. I need to hear what I missed! I need to know what aspect of the series has affected my Brethren so that I grow with respect to Gospel itself (and by extension, God) and with respect to my Brothers and Sisters in the Lord.

As a "worship leader", I may have been intimately involved with the series each week; but as I've said to our congregation, I still get "tunnel vision", so-to-speak, and focus on certain things that stand out to me. I need to have my understanding of the series complimented by the understanding of my Family members. Our Pastor also recognizes his need to hear from his Brothers and Sisters not only to be encouraged by the fruit of the Spirit in their lives, but to have the Gospel ministered to him! He understands that even though he has been the most intimately involved with the material, he still needs to hear how the Spirit has ministered these things to us so that his understanding of the Gospel is made full. We must be faithful with one another as fellow ministers of the Gospel to one another.

This is also an important way in which we show our love for one another. As my friend Jim continues to stress, we're called to love one another! And if we hold back from ministering to one another, then we are not loving one another. We need each other to grow up in our faith! We need each other to grow up with respect to the Gospel; to grow up with respect to our love for God, to grow up with respect to our love for one another, and to grow up with respect to our love for the "world" that doesn't know the love of God for them in Christ. Without the mutual ministry of the Saints one to another, each of us is deficient in our spiritual growth.

I wanted to take this opportunity to publically thank my Brothers and Sisters at SGCC for their faithfulness to me. And I also want to encourage you, my readers, to be faithful in your ministry to the Body that God has placed you in. I'm so blessed to be a part of a congregation that truly loves one another and shows it by seeking the good of each of its members. As Paul says, "We, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another." Let's be faithful to the Spirit as He continues to remind us of who Christ is and who we are in Him by the power of the Gospel. And let's continue to be faithful minsters of the Gospel one to another for our maturity in the faith unto His glory--in the church and in the world. Amen!

How Are We To Live? Part-3 (Redemption Part-1)

2009-03-09T11:30:00.003-06:00

Redemption is a word that covers a lot of theological and interpretive ground. Since this is simply a “blog” post, I won’t go into all the various ideas and nuances of what can be represented in the word redemption. For my purpose, as it implicates my title question, we’ll look at one aspect of redemption, though I believe it is the crucial and often overlooked and misunderstood aspect: Life out of Death.

For those of you who have been here for awhile, you know (whether you agree with me or not) that I believe redemption to be universal in scope. I don’t believe that every human being will be “saved”, but I believe that Christ’s Person and Work takes everything into its grasp and leaves no area of creation untouched. Redemption is cosmic—Christ came to redeem the entire creation and recover Sacred Space (see previous posts on Sacred Space and SGCC sermon series--God With Us). Everything that has been affected by the curse, which is…everything, will not simply be restored, but fulfilled to its created design and purpose. Don’t misunderstand me: I’m not saying that every human being will experience the salvation that is in redemption; there will be countless people experiencing an eternity of estrangement from God in hell. I’m simply saying that God’s redeeming work in Christ extends beyond merely “man” to take in the entire Cosmos that has been cursed due to sin. Christ didn’t come merely to redeem “man”; He came to redeem Creation, to recover Sacred Space in full!

Hoekema puts it this way in his excellent work, “The Bible and the Future”:

To fully understand the meaning of history, therefore, we must see God’s redemption in cosmic dimensions. Since the expression “heaven and earth” is a biblical description of the entire cosmos, we may say that the goal of redemption is nothing less than the renewal of the cosmos, of what present-day scientists call the universe. Since man’s fall into sin affected not only himself but the rest of creation, redemption from sin must also involve the totality of God’s creation (p. 32).

Hoekema goes on to quote Ridderbos: “This redemption (wrought by Christ)…acquires the significance of an all-inclusive of a divine drama, of a cosmic struggle, in which is involved not only man in his sin and lost condition, but in which are also related the heavens and the earth, angels and demons, and the goal of which is to bring back the entire created cosmos under God’s dominion and rule” (Ridderbos, “Paul and Jesus”, p. 77).

And this ‘redemption” in its most fundamental and powerful expression, especially in reference to man, is: Life out of Death. We see this paradigm as early as the creation itself. In the very act of Creation, we begin to understand the paradigm of “life” out of “death”. When God “created the heavens and the earth”, we’re told in the first chapter that the Spirit was “hovering” over the “formless void” of the dark “waste” or emptiness of Creation. In a very real sense, God created the heavens and the earth in the context of “darkness” and “death” and in His six days of “work” the Spirit brought “light” and “life” to the Created Order. Then the Spirit went about “ordering” the universe by establishing “realms” and “rulers of realms” culminating in the creation of Man as God’s vice-regent and supreme (created) ruler over the works of God’s hands. Man, as with every aspect of the Created Order, was created out of “death”, as it were.

The paradigm of “life” out of “death” (as well as the concepts of “light” and “darkness”, which I’ll leave for a future post) as seen in the original creation is recapitulated throughout the Scripture and culminates in the New Creation in Christ. After “The Fall”, not only Man but the entire created order was cursed and now all things exist in the context of “death”. Where once Shalom and with it, “life” and “light” characterized the created order, now estrangement and with it, “death” and “darkness” mark all things. But God doesn’t leave His creation in the state of “death”—He redeems! God in His mercy and for His glory brings “life” out of “death”.

Immediately after The Fall, our parents attempt to cover themselves with fig leaves. They recognize their nakedness, their “death” (estrangement) and attempt to hide themselves from themselves while also attempting to hide from God. But God, being rich in mercy, will have none of that! Death will never win out over Life! Out of “death”, He clothes them again and proceeds to promise the restoration of “life” in the Seed to come from the woman. Adam, confident in the promise of his Maker, once again takes up his role and “names” his wife “Eve, for she is the mother of all the living.” Out of the context of “death” comes the promise of “life”.

We see again this paradigm of life out of death in the story of Noah. There are many typological aspects of Noah himself and the story of the flood; we’ll consider the typology of the New Creation. When God determines to destroy the world and start over, He does so through one man—a man who God calls “righteous”. God will “re-create” the world, saving it through the righteousness, so-to-speak, of one man. All who would participate in this New Creation must do so in connection with (by joining themselves to) the “righteousness” of the one man. They must exercise faith in God by heeding Noah’s warnings and enter the Ark with him. “Life” is brought forth in the context of “death” as God destroys the world and brings a New Creation.

Life out of Death is again in view as we see the promise of a son to Abraham. Not only are Abraham and Sarai too old to have children (Abraham considered his body as “dead”—Rom. 4:19), but Sarai had a “dead” womb! Yet, in God’s mercy and according to His promises, He determines to bring “life” out of “death”. Isaac is born! But again, lest God not be clear yet about how He determines to “save”, Abraham is commanded to kill the “promised seed”. How can God keep His covenant with Abraham if his only begotten son is to die? Abraham’s faith never wavered (and it was reckoned to him as righteousness) for he was fully persuaded that what God had promised He was also able to perform—even if that meant raising Isaac from the dead!

Time won’t allow me to bring up every example of this principle, but we can see it throughout the Scripture as time and time again the promise of God is in jeopardy. His promise to bring forth the “Seed who will crush the serpents head…” who is also the “Seed of Abraham” who will become a great nation is constantly in danger—not only from the “seed” of the serpent (remember the enmity between the two “seeds”), but from God’s people themselves. The “death” of God’s promise always seems near. Abraham tried to give Sarai to Pharaoh…then to Abimelech. And Isaac followed in his father’s footsteps! After “Israel” is “born” through God’s deliverance from Egypt (“life” out of “death”), the nations was in constant danger of being wiped out completely (remember especially Esther and the Babylonian captivity). Moses himself, while not in the line of Messianic descent, is also an example of God’s principle of life out of death as he was hidden and then rescued when his brethren were being killed upon birth. The nation of Israel itself, as previously mentioned, was “born” out of “death” again as they were delivered from famine as Joseph preserved them and then yet again as they were delivered from “death” in Egypt to be consecrated as God’s “son”.

The point is: from the beginning of creation, God’s principle in redemptive history is of a redemption that is “life” out of “death”. And this principle culminates in the resurrection of Jesus as He gives Life based on His redemptive work on the cross. He died and rose again to give life to those who are dead. Those who come to Him by faith were once those who were “dead in (their) transgressions and sins” but are granted Life as those who, after having been “crucified with Him” and “buried with Him” and “baptized into His death”, have now been “raised to walk in newness of life”. For those who’ve come to Christ by faith, they have “died…but their life is hidden with Christ in God.” Life out of Death is the paradigm of our redemption! Life is the participation of the New Creation in Christ—a New Creation that extends beyond "man" to incorporate all things (the entire created order) in the consummation through the “summing up of all things in Christ”!

So what’s the point? The point is…(coming soon in Redemption, Part-2)

Sermon on the Mount interlude

2009-02-27T16:01:00.006-07:00

Since I've been very busy lately and we've had a couple of difficult weeks recently (see last post), I haven't had the chance to post the third part in my "How Are We To Live" series. I'll probably post it within the next couple of weeks and then the final one a couple of weeks after that (Lord willing). And since they've been so spread out, I may group them together in another single post sometime after that. I'm beginning to think I should never set out to do any "series" because I never get them done in a timely fashion (or at all, in some cases!).

Anyway, I wanted to post a link to our church's PDF file of our latest sermon in our Sermon on the Mount series. I've also posted the audio link in the sidebar. This was a tremendous sermon on what it means to "do the will of God". This sermon is on one of the most misunderstood passages in the New Testament: Matthew 7:21-23. So many people use this section to teach the very thing that Jesus is opposing.

As Jesus has stressed throughout the SOTM, it's "Authentic, intimate relationship with Him, not behavior (that) defines doing the will of God and determines who enters the Kingdom of Heaven" (Culver pg. 135). And this "relationship" is born through faith; by coming to Christ and believing in Him we are "born again", estrangement is gone and we now have intimacy with God as His Children. And it's this idea of "relationship" that's been the focus of the SOTM from the beginning, even from the beginning of Matthew's Gospel as he introduced us to Jesus as the fulfillment of the Scripture.

This lack of relationship was Jesus' condemnation on the people. They didn't really know God as their Father and God didn't really know them as His "sons". The people thought that their heritage, their genealogy as Abraham's seed secured their "sonship"; and "Israel" was certainly called God's son throughout the OT upon His bringing them out of Egypt. God certainly did relate to them as a Father to His Children (and also as a Husband to His wife) even though they continually rejected Him; so they had precedent to believe that they were His "sons". Of course, they failed to realize that their whole existence as the "son of God" as a nation was typological and spoke of Christ, the true Son and then all those who would be Children of God through union with Christ. But still, they had a precedent for believing that they were "sons of God" in Abraham.

The problem, though, is that there was no true relational knowledge between Israel and God. Even though God treated them as "sons" as He continued to paint the portrait of His true Son, they didn't really know God as their Father and God didn't really know them as "sons" because they didn't believe their Scripture; they didn't believe Him! The people thought they were doing the will of God as His "sons" by "obeying" the Law/Scripture--but it was the Scripture that spoke of Christ. So to obey the Law/Scripture, to 0bey God, is to believe God: to believe that Jesus is who He and the Father say that He is--the fulfillment of the Scripture, the Promised One who has, in Himself, fulfilled and accomplished the purpose of God to redeem His Creation and Establish the Kingdom of God.

And we obey God, we do the will of the Father when we believe Him and come to His Son by faith, trusting in Him for our very lives; believing, as John says, that He truly is the Bread of Life. We do the work of God, again as John says, when we believe in Him whom God has sent. We obey God when we "believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another."

To obey is to believe; and by believing, to live the life of faith, which is to say, as we know, the life of love. We live by faith by walking in Christ's righteousness, not our own. God knows us as His Children because He's joined us by His Spirit to His Son. We're "sons" in the Son only by His grace through faith, not by our works..., even those done in His name!

These people are removed from the presence of Christ because He didn't know them! It didn't matter that they did so many "good things" in His name. All the good things that they did in the name of Christ, all the "good works" of so-called obedience in His name are worthless. He even calls them lawless ones! Those who meticulously keep "the Law", are called "lawless ones"! The only thing that matters, the only way into the small gate on the narrow road is if God knows us! The issue is not what we've done in God's Name: prophesying, casting out demons, performing miracles, feeding the hungry, etc. The issue is whether or not God knows us. And God only knows His people (knows them "relationally") as He knows them in Christ.

Matthew 7:21-23 is the capstone of the SOTM. Jesus has been telling the people since the beginning that it is only through Him that anyone enters the Kingdom. He is the fulfillment of all the Scripture and to obey the Scripture (Law), to obey God is to believe Him and come to Christ by faith as the Promised One of the Scripture.

In Honor of a Beloved Sister

2009-02-18T10:15:00.004-07:00

For the past two Sundays, our services have focused on the “life of faith” in the midst of affliction. The first of these, “Faith in Suffering: the Fight for Faith”, was preached on the occasion of the relapse of cancer in a dear friend of SGCC, Jennifer Uwarow. The following Sunday’s sermon (both sermons now on sidebar) was preached on the occasion of her death. Our Pastor went to California to minister to her and the family one week as she lay dying; the following week he went to minister at her funeral….

Jennifer’s story is a tragic one and one that countless Children of God have experienced either in their own person, or in loved ones who are experiencing the ravages of disease. I think immediately of my sister-in law Corinne, a dear Christian woman who has suffered with cancer for more than three years, with five operations already. Through it all she has been the source of strength and encouragement to the family (especially my brother) even as we have sought to comfort and strengthen her in the grace of our Father.

Jennifer’s story is similar to Corinne’s in that there was a time when it looked like her cancer was gone. Hope and prayer gave way to joy and gladness that God had purposed to heal! But then the inexplicable: Corinne’s cancer not only returned, but it spread; Jennifer’s cancer not only returned, but it took her life. How could this be? God had “healed” them…why would He allow this cursed disease to return? Isn’t He most glorified when performing a miracle? Aren’t we most blessed when He removes our suffering and affliction?

Jennifer, in her death, and Corinne, in her life (as long as God extends it) continue to teach us about the Grace, Love and Mercy of our Father. We, even as Christians, live as though affliction is to be cursed and avoided at all reasonable costs. We tend to believe that when we suffer, God cannot be glorified and that we cannot be counted as blessed. We conclude that God cannot be glorified because we falsely believe that His glory is only manifested in our “abundant life” of successful living—in our “work” for the Lord, in our church, in our happy homes, in our jobs, etc. We can’t believe we are blessed in our affliction because we falsely believe that God’s “blessing” is antithetical to suffering. The Apostle Paul would have none of this kind of thinking. He understood that not only do we grow in our faith and in our maturity as Children of God through the things that we suffer, but he also recognized that the power of the Gospel is on display through our affliction as the Life of Christ in us is manifested to the world—the Gospel is “preached” through our affliction! Paul understood that our affliction is the means by which God works for our good and His glory!

The lives of Jennifer and Corinne have spoken a loud “Amen!” with Paul. They teach us in the here-and-now what Paul taught us (and continues to teach us) so long ago: “My grace is sufficient for you, for (My) power is perfected in weakness” (2Cor. 12:9). The Gospel is preached and the Child of God is blessed as she, with Paul, suffers affliction in this life; for with Paul she can say, “I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with mistreatment, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” This was the life of Jennifer; this is the life of Corinne.

Though we would never wish pain and suffering on ourselves or our loved ones, we need to see them as gifts of God, used by Him for our good and His glory. God not only “causes all things to work for the good to those who love Him, for those called according to His purpose…,” He “causes (the) all things (that) work for (our) good…”! We must not simply confirm in our hearts that God allows pain and suffering; we must recognize that God brings affliction to us as a gift. We live our Christian lives (even our “abundant life” as Children of God) in the context of “death” by God’s design! Paul’s life in the context of “death” bears this out (Rom. 8:18-39; 1Cor. 15; 2Cor. 4; Philippians 3; etc.). He suffered greatly throughout his life, yet he considered himself the most blessed because he was not only bearing in his body the suffering (dying) of Christ, but through his suffering the “life of Christ” in him was testifying to the world of the Gospel (2Cor. 4:10)! Paul was experiencing the most intimate relation with his Lord while at the same time proclaiming the Gospel—by or through his suffering!

The abundant life for Paul wasn’t measured by his health, the material “blessings” of this world or even his successful endeavors for the Gospel; for Paul the abundant life was the life of faith in the context of “death”. Corinne’s life in the context of “death” is a testimony to this. Jennifer’s life in the context of “death” testified to this. Does ours? How does our life look in the context of “death”? Do we simply endure the trials of life? Or do we, as Paul (and Corinne and Jennifer), embrace the goodness of God in them?! This is the “Life of Faith” that we’re called to and empowered by the Spirit to live into! Will it be easy? No…but that’s why we must always come back to the Gospel: the “Life of Faith” is the “Life of Believing God”! Do we?

I encourage you to read this post (and others) from Jennifer’s blog. She was an encouragement to all who knew her and to those who knew of her. I hope after reading we can all share in her eternal perspective. Thanks Jennifer….

How Are We To Live? Part-2 (The Fall)

2009-02-02T14:55:00.004-07:00

As I stated in Part-1, one aspect of Adam’s being a type of Christ is his humanity. As a type of Christ, Adam’s created “perfection” was his authentic humanity. But then…The Fall.

What really happened in The Fall that would require the coming of the Son of God? What changes occurred in man? in Creation? Many volumes have been written on the subject of The Fall and it’s not my purpose here to go into each and every facet of the consequences of The Fall. One thing we can say in general is that the affect of the curse is cosmic in scope—it affects all of Creation. Where there once was harmony and peace in the world (Shalom), now estrangement and death characterizes God’s “very” good creation. Where there was once intimacy between God and man, there is now separation, distance. The entrance of sin brought a curse that affects (or better, perhaps, infects) every aspect of the created order. (For a more detailed treatment of the effect of The Fall see SGCC Sermon Series “Roman Excurses”) One thing we can say in particular is that because of the entrance of sin, the essential nature of man has been damaged—not destroyed, but damaged. Cornelius Plantinga uses the phrase, “The Vandalism of Shalom” to describe the cosmic effect of sin. This phrase is appropriate for the consequences that have come to man—our essential nature as human beings who bear the image of God has been “vandalized”. We still bear the image of our Creator, but that image is marred because we’ve become less than human—the “perfection” of humanity has been damaged. As with the rest of creation, we as human beings, to borrow again from Plantinga, are “not what we’re supposed to be”.

Man was created with a certain design for a certain function—we are “image-bearers”, designed to live as “sons”. We are image-sons—this is our “humanity”. As “image-sons”, we enjoyed intimate communion with our Father in the “heaven” of our Garden-Paradise: God dwelt with His people! And through us, the rest of creation also “enjoyed” intimate communion with its Creator as we faithfully carried out our responsibility as “sons of God”; cultivating Creation (Sacred Space—God’s Dwelling Place) and building the City of God on the earth according to our cultural mandate. Shalom reigned as God’s creation “lived” together in harmony; each aspect of creation “living for” the universal flourishing of the whole in intimate communion with God through His intimate communion with “man” (as man faithfully “cared for” creation as its “steward/ruler”).

This shalom, however, this harmonious “wholeness” of existence within the created order has been broken by The Fall. The curse has brought estrangement to all of the relationships within the created order: God and man (and as a result, God and the created order), man and man, man and himself, man and the created order. Shalom has been “vandalized”. The “life” of harmony, the “universal flourishing” that once characterized God’s “very” good creation has been spoiled. The “death” of estrangement now affects (because it infects) every aspect of creation. Sacred Space (see SGCC Sermon Series “God With Us”) has been lost and is now in need of recovery. Creation needs Recovery! Creation needs Redemption!

As human beings, we no longer live according to our created design and function. We see this clearly when we turn on the television, when we read the newspapers, as we simply look around us…at our jobs, at the grocery store, in the malls, in our own homes, etc., and as we look inside ourselves as we struggle to do what we know is right. What Paul says is true of us in Romans 1 we know innately: we’re “not the way we’re supposed to be”! We’re still “image-bearers”; we’re still “image-sons”. We can’t just relinquish the reality of who we are (a concept that we’ll return to later when we look at the “re-creation” of the New Covenant)—it’s not in our power. But even though we’re still “image-bearers” by creation, this is not what characterizes us because we fail to live into that reality anymore. And this is true because our essential nature has been changed—not destroyed, but damaged or “vandalized” by sin. Sin has entered the equation and so the Bible speaks of our needing a new nature: we must be “Born Again”. For us to once again be truly “human” (or, to be more biblically accurate and precise: For man to finally be fully human), Christ had to come as the True Man to take away sin, reverse the curse and restore God’s “very” good creation. Since Adam and the rest of Creation was only typological and spoke of the state of all things as they will be “summed up in Christ”, only in Christ, then, does man become fully human. Only in so far as the TRUE MAN, Jesus Christ, redeems an individual does that individual become what he/she was created to be. To paraphrase Philip Hughes, man only becomes fully and truly man when joined by the Spirit to the True Man, Jesus Christ. The destiny of humanity is found only in Christ.

Much, much more could be said about this, but my goal is not to write an exhaustive Christology or anthropology; that’s already been done masterfully and without equal by Philip E. Hughes (The True Image: The Origin and Destiny of Man in Christ). My goal is simply to give a general overview in order to help us better understand what has happened to us in Christ. I want us to begin to comprehend the transformation that has taken place in us with the coming of Christ so that we live into the freedom that is our inheritance as “sons of God”. If our mentality as Christians is that our “obedience” is something that we must now do in order to be pleasing to God (or as some would have it, in order to stay in relationship with God) rather than something that we must be (which is the work of the Spirit in us), then I’m afraid that we’ve simply renamed and redesigned the same yoke of the Pharisees that Jesus has freed us from.

Why do we insist on putting the yoke of the Pharisees on again? Because we still don’t fully believe the Gospel. Oh, we believe enough of it to be “saved”, but we effectively deny its power when we separate sanctification from the Gospel, when we live as though our sanctification is a work that we must do. Like the Pharisees, we simply refuse to listen to Moses (and the Law, the Prophets and the Writings) and believe! We don’t believe God, so we put the “yoke” of performance back on our shoulders and we trudge around day after day with our never-ending and never-completed checklists hoping against hope that we’ve done enough to please our Father today. Is this how Christ lived His life? Is this the life of Christ in us? Is this the “freedom” that has been granted to us in Christ?

Next time, Lord-willing, we’ll catch a brief glimpse of what really took place with the coming of Christ. Something really did happen to us (to all of creation) in this redemption that has come in Christ. The Gospel is much more than “fire insurance” or a “life insurance policy”. Among other things we could say about it, the Gospel is transformative! Where there once was “death”, there now is “life”—what is more “transforming” than Life out of Death?! Amen?!

GGM Is Back From Freezing Florida

2009-01-26T06:35:00.011-07:00

Yes...Florida was colder than Denver for much of the time we were there. We went to Disney World (of course) and it was so cold that we were reminded of our cruise to Alaska (substitute Cinderella's Castle for Glacier Bay and you get the idea!). At least it was sunny. We had a great time at Disney (as always) and visiting family (as usual :-). I'll post some pictures soon.

While on the trip (mostly while in the air both ways), I began a few more books. This time, however, I plan on finishing them all. Here's what I'm currently reading (along with "The Shack"):

Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling, by Andy Crouch. I'm reading this book as part of a book club that I've joined on Facebook (L2 Denver Church Book Club). I've read through four chapters and it is a very good book so far. As you can tell from the title, it is a book that deals with our role in the world as Christians. We have been created as "cultural" beings (it is in our nature as human beings to "create culture") and we, as image bearers, have been given a cultural mandate (Gen. 1 & 2). In fact, it can be said that our purpose on earth is to create culture. Bruce Hegeman, in his book "Plowing in Hope", says that there is "a biblical vision for culture-making" and that "culture has a central place in God's overall purpose for the human race." Hegeman goes on to say, "Culturative history is God's unfolding purpose for man, in which mankind plays a chief role in the development and transformation of the earth from garden-paradise to the glorious city of God." I've read a couple of "culture" books already (see below), so I'm interested to read this book. As I said, so far the book is good (and rather detailed). I'll probably post some comments as I get further into it.

I'm also re-reading "Plowing in Hope: Toward a Biblical Theology of Culture", by David Bruce Hegeman, and "The Calvinistic Concept of Culture", by Henry Van Til. Both of these books are excellent and I highly recommend them. I especially liked the Hegeman book because it is very short, easy to read and to the point. This is one of my favorite books on the Christian's calling in the world. It seems like I'm highlighting and making notes on every page. If you have a significant amount of time, the Van Til book (a very excellent book) is a comprehensive look at culture that pretty much leaves no stone unturned. I'm interested in comparing this one with the Crouch book. I'll be posting some quotes from both of these books as I continue to re-read them.

"Don't Stop Believing: Why Living Like Jesus Is Not Enough", by Michael E. Wittmer. Having just recently finished his excellent book, "Heaven Is A Place On Earth: Why Everything You Do Matters To God", I had to read his latest. In case I haven't mentioned it before, the "Heaven" book is one of my all-time favorites (I'll have to make a list some-time of all my "favorites") and I'll probably re-read it several times in the next few years. The "Don't Stop" book tackles the Emerging Church and Fundamentalist movements and shows us that doctrine really does matter and that it should lead to authentic Christian living. Far too often in our day, doctrine and the life of "love" are pitted against each other, as if we must choose between the two. So far this book is living up to my expectations (though I'm not yet even half way through).

And now a book that may end up on my list of all-time favorites: "Because He Loves Me: How Christ Transforms Our Daily Life", by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick. I am loving this book! I saw it referenced on The Vossed World a while back and finally made a book run and got it. Like Wittmer's "Heaven is a Place on Earth", I don't want this book to end. I've just finshed the fifth chapter and I've highlighted and made notes (mostly positive) on practically every page. The author reminds us that it is the Spirit working through the Gospel (and only the Gospel) that enlivens us to live out the reality of who we are as Christians, as Children of God. Contemporary Christianity tends to exile the Gospel to the "Four Spiritual Laws" and once we "come to Christ" the Gospel has served its purpose. Now, having believed the Gospel, we can begin to concentrate on our "santification". The Gospel brings us to Christ, now we work on our relationship with God through our obedience to His laws. When we think this way (which will manifest itself in how we deal with the failures of our daily lives) we fail to recognize that the Gospel is our life, or more precisely, Christ is our life; and the Gospel is not only the means of our salvation, but also our santification. The Gospel declares who God is (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and what is His purpose, who we are in Christ and the fulness of His redemption, and continues to direct our living precisely because it continues to direct our thinking! The Gospel isn't only for the unbeliever. The Gospel doesn't lose its importance after we've "come to Christ" but becomes even more significant as the Spirit uses it to guide and direct us as Children of God. Fitzpatrick recognizes this and writes with clarity and force as she reminds us of the richness and power of the Gospel. I'm almost halfway through and I highly recommend this little book.

Well, now that I'm back in freezing Denver from freezing Florida, I hope to get back to "How Are We To Live" in the next week (as well as catching up on my blog reading).

Short Hiatus

2009-01-14T14:45:00.003-07:00

Great Googly Moogly is taking a short hiatus. Mrs. Moogly and I are having our "Christmas Vacation" with family in January. I'll post "How Are We To Live: Part 2" dealing with The Fall when I return.

In the meantime, check out the two latest posts by my friend Chad at The Vossed World. Chad's blog should be a regular stop for you all by now anyway, but in case you've forgotten I recommend checking it out again. Also, Bob at Vanguard Church is back. His is a strong and gracious voice in the Post-modern culture that we live in today. He has a profound understanding of the magnitude and scope of the Gospel in our lives and the world in which we live. Click here for a quick sampling of some great insights. And besides, he's a "prog-rock" fan...like me! :-)

So...until I return...

How Are We To Live? Part-1

2008-12-31T14:58:00.004-07:00

How Are We To Live? Part-1 (Introduction & Creation)

As we begin our entrance into another year as image-bearers, I’d like to consider the motivation we employ in living our day-to-day lives. Whether “Christian” or not, every human being is, by God’s definition, an “image-bearer” and therefore obligated before God to live in a certain way. Though every Christian would agree with the general principle that we all (Christian and non-Christian) are to live our lives to the glory of God, exactly how are we to accomplish this goal? Is the “Law of God” our motivation? Or is our motivation the consideration of the popular refrain, “What Would Jesus Do”? Or could it be a re-conception of the WWJD idea into, “What Would I Do” or “What Would You Do”? Exactly how does a person purpose to “live to the glory of God”? And is the how any different for the unbeliever than for the Christian? To be sure, only the Christian can live in this way; but is that to say that the Christian’s call to do so is based on radically different criteria? In other words, is the basis for the Christian’s call on his life any different than the basis for the unbeliever’s call on his life?

What is God’s call on our life? Whether you’re a Christian or not, God’s call for every human being is to “be perfect” as He is perfect. This is the fundamental requirement that God lays upon all of us. The fact that no person can answer that call in and of himself does not negate the call, though it does result in another call on our lives—the call to faith in Him, or more specifically, faith in Jesus Christ. And the first call isn’t superseded by the second call. All human beings are required to be perfect as God is perfect and, subsequently, because of our inability to accomplish the first call, we’re all called to faith in Jesus Christ. Without debating aspects of the “eternal decree”, generally speaking Christians agree that the Bible asserts both calls on all people, everywhere. The question is: What is the relationship (if any) between the calling to “be perfect” and the calling to faith in Christ? And if there is a relationship between the two, how are either of these callings (or both of them) understood in the life of a human being, whether the Christian or the non-Christian?

(When I use the masculine “his” or “him”, or even the term “man” in referring to a human being, I’m doing so for ease of use and clarity: “And God created “man” in His own image, in the image of God He created him [man]; male and female He created them [man].” Man, therefore, refers to human beings, whether male or female.)

We must first understand what it means to be “perfect”. If we look at Adam, we can easily see how both callings of God are implicated in the life of a human being. God created all things “good”; and with the completion of His creation in His “image-son” (man), He proclaimed His work “very good”. Biblically, we can speak of perfection in the created order in two senses: perfection before The Fall and perfection in the Redemptive State. There is a sense in which the Scripture speaks of Creation before the fall as “perfect”. In Eden, we see the Shalomic perfection that typifies the consummative state in the New Creation. In Eden, all is as it should be (though not what it will be): Shalom reigns as all of God’s creation exists in harmony and fullness of being. We can understand the perfection of creation as the authenticity of every created thing being fully what it was created to be, existing in this world fully aware, so-to-speak, of its created function and therefore relating with integrity, in truth to every other created thing and to the Creator Himself. And on the seventh day, God rested; all of Creation was to follow Man (Adam and Eve) into the eternal Shabbat of God’s Rest. The creation was “perfect” for its purpose. The perfection of man, specifically, was his authentic humanness as image-bearer; his calling to be perfect was the calling for him to live his life as he was created to be—an authentic human being, God’s “image-son”.

Like Adam, the call on our lives now as human beings created in the image of God is to be what we were created to be--authentic human beings who bear the image of God! To be perfect as God is perfect is for us to be fully conformed to our (created) nature. This is not something that we're called to do but something that we're called to be. God's perfection lies in the fact that He is who He is--always! Like Adam, we're called to be "perfect as God is perfect", which is to say, we're called to be who we are as image-sons--always! As a type of Christ (as Christ is the "last Adam", He is the true Man, the fountainhead of a new humanity), Adam's created "perfection" was his authentic humanity.

But then…

(to be continued...)

The Great Googly Moogly (throughout the years) wishes you a Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T18:26:00.004-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Merry Christmas!

When we say or simply consider these words, it seems that the focus (at least for Christians) is the Babe in the manger. We think mainly (or only, sometimes) of the story of the Birth of Christ. Our minds are filled with visions of shepherds and angels, wise men and stars (or, more precisely, the star), the virgin birth and the power of the Spirit; we think of prophecies both old (Isaiah, Micah & Malachi, etc.) and new (Gabriel, Zacharias & Simeon) and the magnificent Magnificant of Mary; we consider the wonder of God coming in the flesh, of Emmanuel--God With Us! Our Christmas celebration abounds with the joy of the Good News that Christ has been born!

And there's nothing wrong with this. We should be filled with joy and wonderment, even a sense of awe and astonishment when we consider the story of the Birth of Christ. In Christ, God really has come in the flesh. And, we rightly understand and proclaim, He came in order to secure our redemption. But it seems that our Christmas celebration begins and ends, more often than not, only with the story of the Birth of Christ with little regard to the full meaning & purpose of His coming. Sure, we acknowledge in our conversation and even in our cards (when we can find them) the fact that Jesus was born in order to save us from our sin, that He came for our redemption. But do we acknowledge and proclaim (or even understand) that His birth is really the beginning of the fulfillment of all the Scripture; that in the birth of Christ the purpose of God for His entire Created Order is in process of being fulfilled?

The "Christmas Story" is really the story of the whole Bible. From the very beginning of Redemptive History (and even prior, but that's another post!), when God promised a "Seed" to the woman, the trajectory of the entirety of the Scripture was pointed to the coming of Christ. The Seed of the Woman who was promised to come is the One who will crush the serpent's head, reverse the curse and recover Sacred Space (see previous posts) ushering in the New Creation--the New Creation that is already upon us in the Kingdom of God of which we're a part of now, and the New Creation that will be consummated in the redemption of the entire Created Order upon Christ's return. This is the One who will redeem not only God's people, but the entire Created Order; and not simply to its original Shalomic state before The Fall, but to its consummate Shalomic state--the state of Creation that Eden only typified in its non-exhaustive or non-consummate perfection. The coming of Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament and means that we're in the "Last Days". The Birth of Christ means that God's purpose to set things right will be fulfilled; God will "sum up all things in Him (His Son). The Christmas Story is really the story that is told from Genesis to Revelation; it's the story of Redemption from beginning to consummation! The Birth of Christ is simply one aspect to the Christmas Story (though, obviously, a crucial aspect)!

As I've suggested in other places, the purpose of the Old Testament is simply to paint the portrait of Christ--who He is & what He is to accomplish. Since God's purpose in redemptive history is to redeem His creation and recover and consummate what was lost in The Fall, and since He does so by "summing up all things in Christ", then every idea, concept, event, situation, people group, etc., (including "the Law"), that contributes to His purpose adds brush-strokes, so-to-speak, to the portrait of Christ. There is nothing in the Old Testament that falls outside of the purpose of God in Christ. That being the case, when we celebrate Christmas, we're celebrating the accomplishment of the purpose of God--to redeem His creation! We can't just begin and end our celebration with the Babe in the Manger; we need to celebrate the New Creation that has come in & through the Babe in the Manger who is also the Man on the Cross who is also the King on His throne! We're celebrating Communion this Sunday and this is every bit a part of the Christmas Story as is the Birth of Christ. And that's because the Christmas Story doesn't begin and end with the Birth of Christ--it begins at Creation and ends at Consummation!

Our Christmas celebration is the celebration of Jesus Christ and the meaning of His birth. Do we celebrate Him in His fullness? Do we celebrate Him in the full knowledge of who He is & what He came to do? Everything in the Old Testament contributes to painting His portrait. Jesus Christ is the promised Seed of the Woman, the Seed of Abraham, the Seed of David; He's the true "Israel", Servant, Disciple and Witness. He's the Messiah, King, High Priest and Lamb. He's the Prophet, the Prince of Peace, Mighty God and Eternal Father. He's the true "Chosen One", the Man of the Spirit, the true Son of God. He really is Emmanuel--God With Us! And He's come in fulfillment of the Scripture to recover and restore God's good creation! This is Christmas! This is what we celebrate at this time of year and always!

SGCC Leadership Enjoying the Season

2008-12-19T06:38:00.003-07:00

This is what our leadership does during the "Leadership meetings"--Sshhh, don't tell them I witnessed this insanity!

My Favorite Christmas Album

2008-12-11T11:52:00.003-07:00

This being the "season" and all...

I just received my copy of Kemper Crabb's Christmas CD and DVD. I've been waiting for this for a very long time. He had made a video of his Christmas show last year or the year before but as far as I know he never released it. If you check out his website, you can watch clips of that video. I assume that video corresponds with his "Medieval Christmas" CD. The CD that I got was "Downe in Yon Forrest: Christmas From the Middle Ages" and the DVD is different than the video clips on his site. I don't know if he scrapped the idea of putting the first show on DVD or not, but, as you can see, I've been trying to get that (or any) video of the Christmas show that he puts on.

The "Downe in Yon Forrest" show and CD has a very similar set-list and style as the "Medieval Christmas" show, but the arrangements are more intricate on the one they finally released on DVD. The selections that I've uploaded give you a taste of the quality and beauty of Kemper's music. This is my absolute favorite Christmas CD. I hope he makes another one with different titles next year.

My favorite song on this CD is, "Of the Father's Love Begotten". This arrangement is the best I've ever heard. In fact, I would say that this is my all-time favorite song on my all-time favorite Christmas CD. Listen to it closely. You'll notice that Frank Hart's cello solo in the middle is "Joy to the World". It is very subtle, yet powerful--as if it was always supposed to be there! Enjoy!

Garage Band is Killing Me

2008-12-06T16:51:00.003-07:00

I'll be posting again soon. I've been busy working, preparing for Sundays, commenting on other blogs, and trying to learn Garage Band on my Mac. I'm not complaining; I've been enjoying all of this "busyness"...except Garage Band! I really want to learn it, but I'm not progressing very quickly. I've got a new keyboard now; a Casio that has a USB connection, so I'm finally able to "talk" with the program. That's a start. Now I need to configure a few things on the keyboard and get Mrs. Moogly to start playing some songs into Garage Band.

My purpose in this is to have Mrs. Moogly play a lot of songs into Garage Band so that I can pull out my bass and "practice with her" anytime I want. As most of you know, I often "lead" the worship service at church; but I also enjoy playing with my wife on occasion. The problem is that I don't have time to practice with her enough to feel competent enough to play on Sundays. Besides, she gets really tired of practicing with me because I tend to have her play the same song over and over and over...until I get it down. With Garage Band, I can play any song (and any part of a song) as often as I like whenever I like. This way, I can "practice" with her all the time and end up having a fairly large repertoire in my back pocket for playing on Sundays. I have it all figured out--except how to use the program! Soon....

Anyway, that's where I've been the last couple of week. I plan on posting some on our Christian "ethic". The popular refrain "What Would Jesus Do", with its accompanying bracelets, necklaces, t-shirts, ad nausea is really a crutch, at best, and another conduit to "law-keeping", at worst. The principle of WWJD should be changed to WWID--What Would I Do. Jesus is not our exemplar; He is the source of our LIFE. He is our example only in the sense that He shows us what a "son" of God looks like in relation to his Father. We don't look to Jesus and try to decide what He would do in a certain situation; we look to Jesus to see how it is that a son lives in relation to his father. And in that way, we then respond in the situations of life as He did--by faith, out of love and respect for our Father.

I'll expand on this line of thought soon. But for now, just begin thinking about how you normally think to respond in certain situations. Do you have to consider the "law"? Do you have to think about how Jesus would respond? Or do you realize that you are a child of God who possesses "everything pertaining to live and godliness" and who responds accordingly? Our lives are to be lived "naturally" as children of God--not out of compulsion.

Think about it and be ready to interact in the coming posts.

In the meantime...Garage Band is calling me..."MEH" (just for you, Abster!).

Sermon on the Mount 21:Hypocrisy and the Ethic of the Kingdom--Prayer

2008-11-25T11:10:00.003-07:00

If you missed the audio of the previous sermon, just follow the link to our page on Sermon Audio and you will find it.

No commentary from me this time; just enjoy the sermon as we continue to hear Jesus' "Gospel of the Kingdom".

Part 21: Hypocrisy and the Ethic of the Kingdom--Prayer

Brief Sermon Overview:

In introducing His kingdom's ethic, Jesus first showed, through a series of contrasts/comparisons, that it stands upon the fulfillment of the Law of Moses. From there He applied the same sort of approach to three notable examples of Israel's practical piety (6:1-18). The second of those involves prayer, and in this passage Jesus effectively demonstrated that authentic prayer belongs only to those who have been renewed and reconciled to God in Christ. The reason is that prayer expresses actual communion between God and men, and there is no communion where a human being is estranged from God. What the world calls "prayer" is really only one more manifestation of fallen humanity's enslavement to a self-referential, self-centered existence. Thus prayer is itself a central feature of the ethic of the kingdom of heaven - the kingdom of the new creation.

Hypocrisy and the Ethic of the Kingdom: Almsgiving

2008-11-20T10:36:00.003-07:00

Here is the latest in our Sermon on the Mount series. This is part 20 (SOTM-20) and the audio is linked to the right. Again, I encourage you all to start at the beginning (if you haven't been following along) in order to understand the full meaning of, "Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven" and "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Too many people come away from the Sermon on the Mount thinking that Jesus is telling them to "try harder" to obey, or to "be sincere" in our obedience. Jesus isn't merely "reinterpreting" the Law or bringing better clarity to the Law...He's explaining how it is that He's the "fulfillment" of the Law (Matt. 5:17-18) and that His Kingdom comes to all (and only) those who participate in Him.

Remember, Matthew has spent 4 chapters leading up to the Sermon by introducing Jesus as the long-hoped for and promised King/Messiah. As far as Matthew is concerned, the coming of Jesus marks the coming of the Kingdom. The Sermon on the Mount is essentially Jesus' "Gospel of the Kingdom". And the Kingdom has arrived in Him because He has come in fulfillment of the Law (Torah--the Scripture!). Everything spoken of in the OT is coming to its realization in the Person and Work of Christ. The Seed of the Woman is here! God's Kingdom has arrived! And it will continue to grow until the King returns at the consummation where the creation itself will join in the redemption of the Sons of God when we are revealed in glory.

In the Sermon on the Mount, we're not called to obedience, per say...we're called to transformation--we're called to a life of Love . And this is impossible while we're still in our old Adamic nature. The Kingdom Citizen that Jesus describes in the Sermon on the Mount is a person who has come the King, who has been "born again" by the Spirit. The Kingdom Citizen is the one who the Spirit indwells and proceeds to transform back into the image and likeness of Christ. The Kingdom Citizen is the one who, by grace through faith in Christ, has been joined to Christ and has become a "New Creation". The Kingdom Citizen is the one who now is not only capable of "love", but actually lives a life of "love" by the power of the indwelling Spirit. The Kingdom of Heaven (the Kingdom of God) is the Kingdom or Realm of the New Creation and only those who participate in the New Creation are God's Children and Citizens of the Kingdom.

This is what the Sermon on the Mount is all about. It's simply missing the point if we relegate the Sermon to some "Israelite" Kingdom out there in a future "dispensation", or if we determine in ourselves to begin to obey the "spirit" of the Law in obedience to commands. Our righteousness must surpass that of the Scribes and Pharisees. We must be perfect as God is pefect. This is an impossibility that Jesus explains is a reality for those who are joined to Him because He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets (the Scripture). In Christ, His people are "righteous" because they have been restored to their created destiny as image-bearers.

Remember, Clicking on "Part 20" brings you to the PDF notes for the sermon.

Part 20: Hypocrisy and the Ethic of the Kingdom: Almsgiving

Brief Sermon Overview:

Jesus began His treatment of His kingdom's ethic by considering it in relation to the Law of Moses and its fulfillment in Himself. From there He turned His attention to three religious exercises - alms-giving, prayer, and fasting - that epitomized Israel's practical piety, using those practices to illumine and rebuke Israel's religious hypocrisy (6:1-18). What Jesus specifically sought to show is that, consistent with all men in their estranged condition, the apparent devotion to God of Israel's "holy men" was just that - nothing more than appearance. The reality was that their religious energies and efforts had themselves and their own glory and honor as their true object. Their "righteousness" was the damning pretence of self-righteousness. This message considers alms-giving as the first of the three practices Jesus cited.

I Couldn't Resist

2008-11-17T09:20:00.004-07:00

I'm not really a "Garfield" fan (I prefer "Get Fuzzy" and "Calvin and Hobbs") but Mrs. Moogly showed this to me and I couldn't resist. Enjoy!

Singe best one-off Sermon on the Role and purpose of The Law

2008-11-10T10:24:00.009-07:00

Please listen to the sermon. Click the play button to the right in the "Law of Moses and the Ethic of the Kingdom" link. You can listen to it here, or you can download and listen later.

As I say in the title, this is the single best one-off sermon that I've ever heard on the role and purpose of The Law. I've spent some time in my own writings as well as linking other sites, articles and audio trying to show that Jesus has completely fulfilled the Law or Torah (which is to say, the entire Scripture) in Himself. By doing this, by fulfilling the Law in Himself, He shows Himself to be the true "Israel" (the One that the Law prophesied of). Jesus has fulfilled the calling of "Israel" because He is the true "elect" Son of God who is, in Himself, what Israel was called to be--the faithful son, servant, disciple, and witness.

We misunderstand the purpose and role of The Law because we misunderstand the purpose and role of Israel--and they are intimately connected. As our Pastor states in his notes (and the full PDF link will be provided as with the previous Sermon on the Mount Series posts): The Law defined "Israel" and demanded that the convenant nation be "righteous" by authentically and faultlessly fulfilling its identity and calling; (by) being God's son, servant, disciple and witness.... The Law demanded that Israel be Israel....

Remember, Paul tells us (in agreement with the whole of the Scripture) that the Law served the Promise. This tells us that the Law was not intended to behave in any way that did not directly implicate the promise. So the question becomes...what promise? Paul tells us that the promise is the covenant that He made with Abraham. And since the Law, which came well after the promise, "does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise" (Gal. 3:17), it is the promise, the Abrahamic Covenant, that is the progenitor or source of the Law (and thus Israel) which, Paul says, only serves to bring the promise to its fulfillment. In other words, the Law is the means by which the promise moves forward (as a first-level fulfillment) and is but one stage along the path of the ultimate fulfillment of the promise. And that fulfillment, as Paul says, is coming of the (singular) Seed to whom the promise had been made--Jesus, the Christ.

So as you can see, the Law served the promise by prophesying of the One to whom the promise was made. The nation of Israel, as the "first-level" fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant (as the "seed" of Abraham and the (elect) "son" of God), was also prophetic as it spoke (in and of itself) of the One who to come who is the true "Seed" of Abraham and the true (elect) Son of God. The New Testament (especially Paul) has never viewed the nation of Israel as the heir of the promise, as the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant. Jesus Christ is everywhere understood in the NT as the true Israel and the One to whom the promise was made; and that's because Christ is the One who is the fulfillment of all the Scripture. It is Christ alone who has accomplished the purpose of God; and He does so not primarily because of what He does so much as who He is! He fulfills the Law not simply because He perfectly obeyed the commandments (which is how contemporary Christianity so often understand this); He fulfills the Law because He is the One of whom the Law spoke of as the true and perfectly righteous human being ("Israelite", in the redemtive historical context). Jesus is the "seed" of Abraham and the Covenant (promise) is fulfilled only in Him!

Here are the notes and brief summary of this message which is a continuation of our Sermon on the Mount series at SGCC. Please read the notes (click the "Part 19" link) in conjunction with listening to the sermon. The notes only go so far; the audio fills in the spaces.

Part 19: The Law of Moses and the Ethic of the Kingdom

Brief Sermon Overview:

In Matthew 5:17-48 Jesus addressed in broad terms the relationship between the ethic of His kingdom and the Law of Moses. That relationiship follows the larger biblical structural pattern of promise and fulfillment (5:17-18), and this message considers and summarizes the core aspects of that pattern as applied to the Law of Moses by Jesus in this context and throughout the New Testament.

The "Day After" Rant

2008-11-05T09:33:00.003-07:00

This is an off-the-cuff "rant"--take it for what it is.

Obama is President…so what?! I (reluctantly) voted for McCain (who I still say really didn't want to win based on his choice of Palin for VP and the way he ran his campaign), but I don't think this nation will now implode (or explode) because Obama is President. Even if he is a "secret Muslim" or a Socialist or the most liberal man who ever walked the face of this earth; even if he can't trace his ancestry back to Africa (whatever that's supposed to prove!) and is not really "black" at all (I wish the Radical Christian Right morons would just shut up and quit giving my Lord a bad name!! Do they even know what the Gospel is? I doubt it!!); anyway, even if Obama is the "anti-Christ", so what?! My life hasn't ended because my guy didn't win the White House.

Since when did we as "Christians" start believing that we had the "right" to...well...anything! Oh yeah...it's in our Constitution. So what?! Did the early Church have any "rights"? Well, yes they did, I guess; they had the right to be persecuted unto death! And they rejoiced!! The greatest growth in the Christian church came as Believers were faithful to Christ all the while being persecuted throughout the world (beginning in Judea, Samaria and unto the ends of the earth). And do we see anywhere in the NT where we, as Christians, are said to have any "rights" whatsoever?! Do we see in the NT a call for us to act like the most despicable people possible in our opposition to someone that we don't agree with?! Where in the NT are we called to despise individuals who don't agree with us? We are called to LOVE all people! EVERY HUMAN BEING has been made in the image of God and because of this EVERY HUMAN BEING deserves to be treated with integrity and respect (as God defines it)!!

This continued waste of time and energy decrying and fighting against this Political Monster of our Government (national as well as local) is really beginning to...aggravate me!! If "Christians" were as concerned with sharing the Gospel as they seem to be with creating a Sacral Society (which isn't the same as a "Gospel Society"--see Constantine and the Roman Empire), then much of our angst with the government would go away--because true Christians would vote according to godly principles and possibly even take office themselves. The goal of the Christian, however, should not be a (supposed) Christian government but sharing his faith and being used by the Spirit to help build the Kingdom of God! Christ never promised to us a Christian nation (until He returns, that is); what He promised us is that while we will be persecuted in this world (because His Kingdom is not of this world) He will never leave us nor forsake us; He promised that His grace is sufficient for us and that we can endure and even triumph in all things through His Spirit who strengthens us; He promised that all things work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose; He promises that one day He will return! And then there will be a righteous rule over all the earth because only then will it be truly His rule.

Christ's Kingdom is a present reality (as those of you who have been following our Sermon on the Mount series have been shown); but it's a reality that is spiritual, not earthly. America is not the Kingdom of God...it never has been! The Church (the true Church made up of true Christians) is the Kingdom of God that is in this world but not of this world. It's hard to fathom the absurdity of calling America a "Christian" nation...as if Christ Himself has ever ruled this country. Sure, we should do our part to spread the gospel--but it's not by all the hate-mongering, political activism that seems to captivate our "Christian Leaders". Our hope is not in government but in Christ! We should be better students of the NT. The Apostles never called on us to be political activists (in the worst sense of the word); they called on us to live by faith and to share the Gospel hope that is within us. Our calling is to make disciples not governments (here or in Iraq!).

Obama is now President; and the world will not end because of it, not even America (and there is a difference no matter what Bill O'Reilly thinks!). I hope that we (those of us who call ourselves Christians) can get our eyes back on the ball, or as Paul says, "...forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus." Our goal should be to faithfully live out our lives as God's Children by the power of the indwelling Spirit; which is to say, honoring our Lord and Savior by living lives of love!

We who claim the name of Christ--who are we? Republicans? Democrats?...or Christians?! After all the mud-slinging and Political idolatry we've witnessed during this election (and past elections, of course), I'm not sure Christians even know what being a "Christian" means. All I can say is that Christ is my Messiah...not McCain, or Bush, or Reagan (don't shoot me!) or Clinton or Obama or this constitutional amendment or that law or this policy or...!

Thank God it's over!