Thursday, May 08, 2008
-
A poem that I love
SOMEWHERE I HAVE NEVER TRAVELLED, GLADLY BEYOND
by e.e. cummings
somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond
any experience,your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near
your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skillfully,mysteriously)her first rose
or if your wish be to close me,i and
my life will shut very beautifully,suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;
nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
compels me with the colour of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing
(i do not know what is is about you that closes
and opens; only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands
Currently Listening
Z
By My Morning Jacket
see related
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
-
The kingdom of God
"The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you." -Luke 17:20-21
The kingdom of God, which Christ proclaimed as being "at hand" has been inaugurated by His passion and sealed at Pentecost. So we who are redeemed are living in that kingdom today. It's not a temporal reign, but an eternal one. It is also not something which we have to bring into being, because it already is. (I've been thinking about that aspect a lot this semester as we've been studying the political impulse that seeks to "immantize the eschaton" in Voegelin's terms; i.e., to bring into being some kind of ideal.)
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
-
Spiritual Authority
ON THE SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY OF PARENTS
FROM GALATIANS 3"So then, the law was our guardian," (an intermediary set in place) "until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith." [Galatians 3:24-26]
This describes God's covenant with his people as a whole, but also with each individual person, for everyone is under the law of sin until they are regenerated in Christ. This becomes even more clear after the demolition of the Jewish sacrificial system.
There is an analogy between the responsibility of a parent and the purpose of the Law.
The "schoolmaster" or "guardian" Paul refers to is a pedagogue. He is a slave whose task is to escort a child to school. Parents act the part of the Law, the pedagogue. It is their responsibility to lead their children to Christ. But once the child goes to Christ on his own accord, there is no need for the pedagogue, for he is not the Father, but the guardian."Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed." [v. 23]
Parenthood is not a state of divine delegated authority, but of temporary stewardship. The end of Christian parenting is to bring a child to follow Christ in faith.
The Christian young person has a responsibility to God that is higher than his responsibility to his parents, notwithstanding the fact that his parents are ordained by God as his spiritual guardians. His spiritual head is Christ, no less."Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one." [v. 20]
Parental authority is delegated, and parental privilege is not a "right" ceded by the child, but a position granted by Christ. The responsibility of parenting is itself the privilege; it is a position of trust with God, a stewardship over one of His precious souls."...for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith." [v. 26]
The rebellious and disobedient son is disrespectful to his guardian, and does not see the wisdom of God in appointing this slave over him. But when he falls in love with the glory of Christ, he will be grateful to God for the guardian. This is the meaning of "Honor your father and mother" in the kingdom of faith, where acts of love replace acts of duty."There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." [v. 28]
I will suggest an answer to possible objections. The fact that in the world God has made Jews, Greeks, free and slave people, and male and female, implies that apart from spiritual authority, there are other kinds of authority rooted in the created order. But the authority to command, belonging to parents and civil governments, does not partake of the nature of God's eternal covenant.
Monday, May 05, 2008
-
Stephen's defense
Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, "'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?' " You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
-
"Guarding"
Tom S. (an older student at my school) published an article I thought was insightful and worth quoting here. Feel free to take issue with it
"Enough of the extra-biblical command to 'guard' each other's hearts. If you want a girl's heart, what are you doing trying to protect her heart from you? (Talk about the epitome of self-hatred.) If you don't want a girl's heart, what are you doing claiming her heart as yours to protect?"
"If you are not able to ask a girl how she feels about you, and accept what she says as true, not merely her trying to 'make sense of the world', then you prefer your fantasy over a potentially painful reality."
"Stop it with the my-heart-is-a-treasure-chest-with-one-key-that-can-only-be-used-once idea (<3TC1K1x).
"It would be a curious study to discover the roots of the guard-your-heart phenomenon of Christian fundamentalism; not the I-don't-want-to-get-hurt protectionism that probably dates back to the beginning of time, but the 'sin' of too much emotional investment particular to the Christian community.
"Unless I missed the verse that says, 'Men and women, take care to guard each other's hearts from emotional attachment until it be done in the right way, at the right time, mutually felt, and coordinated through the father,' then this idea was not Biblically derived. Scripture has a lot to say about guarding our hearts from sin. But the heart is deceitful, and if we have troubles judging our own motives, how in the world are we going to accurately judge someone else's?"
"So instead of manufacturing the complexities, just act honestly and intentionally. Play your cards on the table, and if others are hiding some under the table, just ignore it."
"If you genuinely feel the need to stal...protect someone, do so honestly, fearlessly, and deliberately. Cloud 9 or the Ninth Circle is healthier than the in-between."
Currently Listening
Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
By Coldplay
Violet Hill
see related
Friday, April 25, 2008
-
God's amazing grace
It's amazing, free, unsought, unexpected, and totally undeserved.
I want to live in a way that reflects that grace.
Currently Listening
The Beatles 1
By The Beatles
(Take a sad song and make it better)
see related
Thursday, April 24, 2008
-
Trials show God's love
Trials are designed by God for our good. They are custom-fitted for each of us, made with great care and thoughtfulness to help uncover the enemy within and purify our hearts to create a dwelling-place for the Spirit. "The Lord disciplines the one He loves." Trials show God's great knowledge of us--for how else could He design the trial that would benefit the most?--and most of all, His great love for us. God says, "I love you," and this is how he shows his love for you: "I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins" [Is. 43.25]. "For my own sake." God doesn't love us because we are lovable. We are lovable because God loves us and for no other reason. Why should this reassure us? It is because God's love for us is not a matter of our own character, which is changeable and imperfect, but of His eternal nature. We are called by His name, for His glory. This means that God's love for us is linked directly to His love for Himself. Until God ceases to love Himself or desire His name to be glorified, he can never cease to love His people, because it is through us that he has chosen to display the riches and glory of His grace in Christ Jesus. Discipline is never a punishment. God never punishes us, because He already punished Jesus for all of our sins, and there are none remaining that He should punish us for. He only disciplines us for our good. He is the Father who never gets angry at us, who only desires what is best for us. So trials are never a sign of God's wrath, but always a sign of His abiding, eternal love.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
-
DOES GOD NEED HELP?
by Voice, a.k.a. Curtis Allen
Theology and doctrine is necessary but can
theology and doctrine put God in a box when
it's supposed to define the sound from the heretical
and hence birthed the civil war between evangelicals
Now we will choose sides, because what you believe
will define your life and the way you pursue Christ
is both naughty and nice, humility and pride
on both sides, with clear lines of Jekyll & Hyde
Does God choose man, is that what Scripture teaches
or did free will determine who the Gospel reaches
this answer has been the cause of many breaches
and historically has made some authorities speechless
The church lives or dies is to justification
is as amputation is to salvation
Is God's glorification up for debatin'?
well it's not to Him, so let's not be mistaken
If God needs help, and that's really true
does that mean salvation is up to me and you?
If Christ can create the earth, moon, and stars
does His work not work unless it works for ours?
Now the issue's been identified and what hangs in the balance
is Christ crucified and that is the challenge
Give God all the glory for plans predestined
to save man, but man's not the center of the story
Christ was on His throne before any man was known,
He would decide to atone on His own
He would decide it would glorify Himself
to choose a bride for Himself
He will comprise to reside with Himself
He will call all his own and choose
not because of anything man could do, he could never condone
'Cause he knows down to the bone any good deed
to be good He will bleed so that God could be pleased
'cause if God could be pleased by the deeds and the plans
of any man, then Christ would have not had to bleed
And we get this clear picture at the tip of Scripture
man is totally depraved, see Genesis 3 and believe
On his own, man would never choose holiness
he's incapable so Christ chose holes in his wrists
to demonstrate His grace to save any,
though some will argue that it's faith that saves many
apart from Him, like He'll just sit back and watch
and hope some believe before their heart stops
does that sound consistent with the God of the Bible
all-powerful, but in salvation He's idle?
If God needs help, and that's really true
does that mean salvation is up to me and you?
If Christ can create the earth, moon, and stars
does His work not work unless it works for ours?
Let God be true, and every man a liar
Let the beauty of Christ be an all-consuming fire
Let man all appreciate the justified state
in humility, that our works could never create
Even after our response to the gospel call,
we must be careful not to think our growth at all
earns any merit with God, as if man's merit
isn't tainted with sin without Him we'll perish
I know for myself in my pride and arrogance
I can hope my work earns a little inheritance
so I can feel more love when I do right
but He will never love me more than when I accepted Christ
I was fully justified, forgiven, then given
imputed righteousness as if I did no sinnin'
you talk about grinnin' man, I'm all ears
when all these years my disposition was to listen to peers
who asked some wild ideas, and so unclear
it would appear as to the purpose of why we're here
I've heard it said it's a small sphere after all
but far too small for God to be helpless, y'all, so
If God needs help, and that's really true
does that mean salvation is up to me and you?
If Christ can create the earth, moon, and stars
does His work not work unless it works for ours?
Does God need help?
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
-
7-page paper!
Tonight!
More on this as it develops.
UPDATE: Finished (more or less) and turned in. Not a really good experience. I hope this has broken the writers' block and I can write now for all those other papers. On the bright side, I was able to use (probably for the first and last time in my college career) the word Kappelmeister in an academic paper.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
-
Will-Power
Well, today I was reading from J.S. Mill for a paper and the section I read was praising the virtue of the strong-willed individualist.
I'm not one of those. Although I am very stubborn in my beliefs, I get depressed and listless without a clear goal, and my will-power is not enough to keep me going somewhere when I forget why I am going there.
I need something to work for. When there isn't anything, my motivation just collapses.
I need a challenge to focus all my abilities and thoughts and energies on. Something to DO. I need to act, or to create, or something.
True
Chatboard (1)