Iced-Tea and Seminary

2009-02-18T08:53:00.000-08:00

Random Johannine Exegetical Trajectory for Greek class.

Sinning and sickness (John 5.14)
μηκέτι ἁμάρτανε, ἵνα μὴ χεῖρόν σοί τι γένηται.
“Sin no longer, so that nothing worse might befall you” (NAS) The easy interpretation of this verse is that at least sometimes sickness can be a direct result of sin. The urgency of Jesus’ command in this verse indicates that the man must, in the future, stop sinning, and he should have the purpose of his not sinning in mind: that nothing worse would befall him. (ἵνα purpose subjunctive). “Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries generally held that suffering was a direct result of sin” which adds some clarification to this difficult passage. (Murray, 182). Perhaps this verse is better understood in the context of the next pericope, (vv 17-30): It is Jesus who “carries out the work of God in deliverance from sin and death for eternal life.” (B-M 74). The “something worse that might befall” the man should not be seen as a more tragic illness than being paralyzed, but have a broader view of judgement and hell for those who do not believe. This is the fundamental premise of the passage: that while Jesus healed temporary, though significant, earthly sicknesses, his main purpose was to heal the soul from sin to bring about eternal life.

Short exegetical thought from John 4

2009-02-11T06:55:00.000-08:00

Brand-new believers Spreading the word of Christ to unbelievers

In John 4.39 there is the ending part of the story of Jesus talking to the woman at the well in Samaria. In the city Jesus and the woman were in, many people came to believe in Christ because the Samaritan woman had such an incredible encouter with Jesus that she testified to others about the conversation they had, namely that Jesus was able to tell her of all the things she had done. As she “testified” there is a question of how to translate the participle, for it is anarthrous. Some would take it to be an adverbial (temporal) usage, which could be translated “because of the word of the woman as she testified.” (Kostenberger, 164). Perhaps a better translation though would be to take the genitive participle as an object of the preposition διὰ. Though this an interesting option, it should rather be taken as a substantival participle, because when a participle is anarthrous it can be either adjectival or verbal. (Wallace, 619) Thus, the better translation is “because of the word of the woman who testified…” Regardless of the choice of interpreting the anarthrous participle, the importance of her testimony or testifying is that the Samaritans believed in Christ as the savior of the world!

1st Peter 1.1-2

2009-01-11T21:46:00.001-08:00

Sermon on 1st Peter 1.1-2

Introduction
These two verses are the introduction to the book of 1st Peter. Why a sermon on merely two verses introducing a book? Because they are, in a sense, a casual reminder of the basics of Christianity – (by the way, in case you didn’t know or forgot, this world is not your true home and God has chosen you).

First way of being chosen:
To be chosen means to be selected by God, “generally of those whom God has chosen from the generality of mankind and drawn to himself.” God in his infinite wisdom has decided to pick you and me out of all the people of the world, and chose to draw us into his presence. How amazing is that!

“you have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the father.” There are a couple of different ways at looking at this word ‘foreknowledge.’ The first takes it as meaning a complete knowledge ahead of time. The second, which I prefer, takes it as meaning more of a ‘determination of God’s omniscient wisdom and intention.’ “Regardless of whether one accepts the idea of individual election before creation, ‘the essential point is that Christians are in the church not merely by their own decision, but by the initiative of God who has called them.’”

This foreknowledge of God is not from Jesus Christ, but from the Father. There is a deeply theological and trinitarian feel to this passage – the Father has foreknowledge, the Spirit deeply cleanses and sanctifies, and we are to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood.

Despite the various views on foreknowledge, it cannot be denied that God in his infinite wisdom foresaw and chose you ahead of time. When things aren’t going very well in life, you can look back and trust the foreknowledge of God that he truly knows what he is doing, and that he has specifically chosen you as his child. It is something to take incredible comfort in (after arguing over it theologically of course).
The Baker commentary on 1st Peter puts it so incredibly well that it is worth quoting: “Peter reminds his readers that the God who took the initiative in their lives has drawn them into an intimate, loving, and redemptive relationship with him, but also one in which God claims supreme authority over their lives. Such a reminder is apt at times when Christians are troubled by the circumstances in which they find themselves, confused about how to live, and tempted to doubt God’s goodness or faithfulness.”

Second way of being chosen:
It is through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit that we have been chosen by God the Father. How amazing is that? As the blood of Christ that cleanses us from our sins, the Holy Spirit consecrates us and moulds us into holiness. It is interesting – this is a means of how we were chosen, rather than the expected Christian response to God’s choosing us (in this passage, at least). This sanctification that God has called you to is also described later in this book: 1 Peter 3:15 “5 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.” It is a separation or decision to separate oneself – 3.15 to set apart Christ as Lord. In these two verses though, it is a separation that goes back to the first verse – we are aliens in this world, foreigners, as our citizenship is in heaven. In light of that, there should be some distinction between us and those of the world. It is through that distinctiveness of being a Christian in a non-Christian world, this sanctification, that we have been chosen!

First purpose of being chosen:
You have been chosen…to obey Jesus Christ. Obey means to “being in compliance,(one listens and follows instructions).” If you’re in a situation where you don’t know how to be obedient to God, perhaps it would be a good time to listen first for God’s voice. It is only then you will be able to obey, knowing and
having heard the voice of Jesus Christ. It is what you have been chosen for.

Do you feel like you never read enough of the Bible? Beat yourself up over only reading a chapter every few days, and compare yourself to all those other great Christians out there who read massive amounts every single day and have a perfect life with God? A wise person once said that the answer to that is a question: is there anything in the Bible that you already know about that you’re not obeying? Start there! Start with praying for the convicting presence of God so that you might fulfill the purpose of God choosing you – to obey Jesus Christ. You have been chosen to obey Christ, which might include reading more of scripture, but scripture is a means toward obedience to Christ, and not an end. Read the Bible until God convicts you – one verse, one chapter, it may take 3 seconds or 3 hours – then obey his Word, as is what you have been chosen to do.

Second purpose of being chosen:
God has chosen you not only to obey Jesus Christ, but also to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ. Perhaps the best explanation of this is scripture itself, for Hebrews 10:18-22 says
18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. 19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Do you ever feel like God could never save someone so messed up as you? God saves other people, he cares about other people, but God doesn’t really, truly care about me. Do you ever say that you believe God loves you, but find yourself in your mind doubting it?

You have been chosen by God to be sprinkled with his blood. You have been chosen by God to have your sins washed away. It is with the blood of Jesus Christ that our hearts are purified, our hearts are cleansed, and it is through his blood that we have salvation. This indeed is the culmination of God’s choosing of us – for us to be both obedient to Christ and to have salvation through him!

Conclusion
Though merely an introduction to the rest of the book of 1st Peter, sometimes it is good to be reminded of the basics of Christianity – while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God in his infinite wisdom knew ahead of time that he would choose you to be obedient to him and to be cleansed by his blood.

In the midst of all the economic crisis in the world, remember: this world is not your home; you only reside here as an alien, because your citizenship is in heaven. As these two verses are only the introduction of the letter to encouragement in the midst of suffering, may grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

James 4

2008-12-05T22:38:00.000-08:00

This month's devotional exegesis has been and is a work in progress on James 4:6-10.

Two verbs pop out at me after syntactically analyzing the passage: "he will exalt", and "humble yourselves." Two greek words, that is.

Bauer defines the particular usages of those words as follows:

"humble yourselves": to cause to be or become humble in attitude.

"He will exalt" (you): to cause enhancement in honor, fame, position, power or fortune. This is reminiscent and indeed the same verb used in the Septuagint when Moses "lifted up" the golden snake that people could look at and be healed. John 3:14-15 says "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life."

The significance I found intriguing above all this, however, is in the particular verb tense of "humble yourselves." Any normal person might use a present tense, or imperfect - which would suggest a presently active ongoing humbling of oneself. However, the usage here is Aorist, which to clarify, has a broad range of translational ability. Generally, the rule of thumb is that it refers to a completed action that happened at some point in the past.

Second, which baffles me equally, is that it is a passive, whereas I would have expected a middle. Middle voice means that it is reflexive - I would be the one doing the humbling to myself, in a similiar way as I put on my own shoes on my own feet. Passive, however, indicates that the humbling is done to me. I wouldn't stake a whole lot more significance than that on this, as I'm not sure how much much more grammatical ground it has, but it is indeed significant that the humbling is done to us.

Thirdly, it is an imperative. It is a command. We, as believers, are commanded for humbling of ourselves (in the presence of the Lord as the verse says) to happen to ourselves. We are commanded to be the recipient of humbleness.

It is in light of all this that the verse finishes with "and he will exalt you." Thus, humility comes before exaltation, and it is the Lord who does the exalting, not us.

Cancer surgery went well

2008-11-14T17:03:00.001-08:00

Indeed. I had cancer, the worst kind too - of the heart. I didn't even know I had a particularly nasty, virtually undetectable kind of cancer - what in some medical textbooks is known as "pride."

It was pretty well covered up. I thought I was going to go to another state and teach at a Bible college, that people would get ministered to, fed the word, and grow in God. True. But...the cancerous prideful motivation was something that God somewhat bluntly and rather unexpectedly pointed out to me at the spiritual warfare retreat with Dr. Blom a couple weeks ago. I never would have thought I was prideful. I don't think too many others would have either. Fortunately, it was a relatively minor surgory - just a few pricks, a couple incisions, and a deep pulling out of the sin of my heart. I say relatively easy because once the shock of finding it was over, repentance came fairly quickly.

what do I care about more than God?

2008-10-26T15:20:00.000-07:00

In preparation for the spiritual warfare retreat I'm going on this week, perhaps there is a reason this is at one of the most inconvenient times of the semester for me. A spiritual warfare retreat in the critical, pivotal point of large papers due both before and after..but I realized that's not my problem. My problem is...

These are the things I value more than God:
- ability to do homework
- time to do homework
- friends
- control over my body through food
- control over my body through sleep

I renounce these things I have held as idols over God. Through the blood of Jesus Christ I have been cleansed from my sins, and can now live a life victorious in Christ. It is through Christ that I am able to put these things in the proper place in my life.

Spiritual Warfare Reflection #6 or so

2008-10-24T22:53:00.000-07:00

This is a copy of a reflection I wrote for class. figured I would post it.
________________________________
1 John 2:14-17 14 I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world-- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-- comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

I don’t want to, but many times I love the things in the world more than God. I love things that don’t come from God. When I choose to love things more than God, and it indeed is a choice, the love of God isn’t in me. When I look back over my life and see the things I’ve chosen over God, to love and to push God aside for, they are extremely insignificant. They have passed away.

I initially thought it was sort of a sliding scale, with the less one loves the world, the more the Father dwells in them. It doesn’t appear that way though, and it seems black and white. If I love lusting and boasting, then I do not love God. I’ve boasted before, and I can look back and say that it indeed did not come from the father, but from the world.

It seems so trivial that we love things of this world, like a particular video game, more than God. A couple years ago I had this incredible desire/lust to play a particular game. It didn’t satisfy my soul, and I look back wondering why in the world I would choose something so trivial to love rather than God. It has passed away, it is no longer popular, and most people have never heard of it. But for a week or two, I loved that video game more than God. I boasted about it, though I doubt anyone cared. I craved it. These things did not come from God. Looking back, I can tell there was a deeper spiritual battle going on over my love for God.

In contrast to the video game I craved and desired so badly, which passed away and I don’t even care about anymore, if I do the will of God I will live forever. As opposed to the month at most of which I was sinning in my heart by loving the things of this world, I will have the expanse of eternity to spend with God if I simply do his will and do not love the world or the things in it. What an amazing trade-off!

You have cancer

2008-10-18T09:05:00.001-07:00

...Is what I told three different friends of mine, on three different occasions in the past week or two. Cancer of the heart. Sin in the heart. They each had various problems, such as not being able to find time for God, or not feeling an obligation to read the Bible but not believing it would make a whole lot of difference. Those were not their problems, however. Sin is.

The only way to get it out is open heart surgery. Painful. But God only wounds us so that he can heal us. He only cuts so that he can heal and make us whole. In the same way that doctors don't demand to cut out veins or whatever it is they do in people, perhaps God is the same way. Doctors don't demand you come to them, you come to them and demand they take cancer out. And, you expect it to not come back, with the doctor's assurance, of course.

So, why do we let sin reign in our mortal bodies? good question...

Don't look at porn

2008-10-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

So, I have a friend who I was talking with the other night. He's struggled with porn off and on for quite a while, probably not unlike many Christians. One of the questions I asked him is what scripture he would tell himself, if he were God talking to him. He mentioned "flee from youthful lusts."

Well, I said, that immediately requires us to go do a couple word studies, because I don't know what that means. What we came up with is this:

Now flee from youthful lusts
and
pursue righteousness, with those who call on the Lord
from a pure heart.

[and pursue]
faith,
love
and peace,

"Flee" means to keep from doing something because of its potential damage: flee, avoid, shun

"Lusts" means a longing or craving for something forbidden

"Pursue" means to follow quickly in order to find something: to run after, to pursue

"Righteousness" means the characteristic of upright behavior: uprightness, righteousness

So, what we determined, is that fleeing from youthful lusts does no good. It makes you run around in circles, because you don't know why or where you are fleeing to. So, instead of looking at porn or masturbating, Christians should avoid it because of its damage. They should ALSO run after and pursue righteousness WITH those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

So, telling God you're sorry over and over and over is wrong, because you're not obeying the second half of this passage. So, this person repented of two things: looking at porn, and he also repented of not pursuing righteousness.

Scripture is amazing if we simply put time into it to see what it really says, rather than talk about it like we know everything. That passage has incredible power (with only a moderate amount of research) which brought out the depth of the richness of the Word.

As we had that talk, I realized I've been fleeing from youthful lusts, and I've been pursuing righteousness, but I have not been pursuing righteousness with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart. So, everyone has something to work on...

From the blomblog...

2008-10-07T00:19:00.001-07:00

The blomblog is my spiritual warfare log so that I have things to write about in my strategic spiritual warfare plan (10pages or so) at the end of the semester....

Wednesday, 10/1 I was in class, midieval and patristic theology, and had severe eye spasms the first 5 minutes of class. Thought of and almost ditched. I prayed, “God if this is a demonic attack, may the Lord intervene” and instantaneously I was able to look up, take notes, participate. About %5 of the spasm still remained, nothing that made me leave though. I also prayed, “if only the Lord would work in my heart as quickly as he worked in my eyes.”

2008-09-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

Galatians 1.6

I am amazed at how quickly you turn away from the one who called you, in the grace of christ, to another gospel...

In diagramming the greek text for this, I had to post here because I amazed at how quickly I turn away from the one who called me, to another gospel, which if you read further is a psuedo-gospel, not really a gospel at all.

Gospel, the good news of Christ...How quickly i can go from the gospel of christ to whatever would seek to replace it in my life. How ridiculously fast I can end up in whatever sin it is, and wonder how I strayed so far from the love and compassion of the Savior...God forgive me!

God in the midst of discouragement

2008-09-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

I had incredibly low point of discouragement yesterday. I don't speculate about this often, but it is likely there was some demonic involvement. I was reading outside on my balcony, and realized I would have to quit just after starting, because my eyes started twitching. By itself, not a big deal. But when I began to think of how every single semester at multnomah I have dealt with this, dropped classes, skipped classes because I couldn't see, didnt work for a summer because I was unpredictably unable to see, quit a job because of this, and how out of 30 classes about 26 of them I have gotten a lower grade (and failed one) because I couldn't do all the reading.........

Every time, every class, has been met with a difficulty no one can see, leading to a struggle that typically ended with me barely squeezing by and/or dropping classes. With all that, the enemy didnt really have to say much, other than to gently remind me of how hard life has been. Strangely enough, the enemy didnt remind me of each semester when I came to a point where I had absolutely no hope but in God, and somehow, in some way I indeed have been able to barely finish each class that I didnt drop.

Yep...It was incredibly discouraging. Yet as I went down the stairs in my new house, I still struggled to find God in the midst of this almost suicidal discouragement. Yet I did find God. I thanked God for my difficulties, for I know that in the midst of great opposition often God is doing the deepest, long-lasting work that can come only out of hopelessness and anguish of the soul.

Untitled title

2008-09-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

I've found myself in the last day or two dealing with pride. I've caught myself twice doing or saying something, then realizing that underneath it, I was motivated by sin. All I really wanted to do was to impress people, or make them think I'm awesome because of this or that. I've repented. But I saw the result, in some ways I got what I wanted. Someone told me what I wanted to hear, but instead of it feeding my ego, I had a deep sorrow in my heart, for I was sinfully motivated. God forgive me.

Lot of things to write about

2008-09-05T17:05:00.000-07:00

Wow! I actually have about....10 things on a list of things that I want to blog about. Funny thing, sometimes I feel like I'm writing a blog in my head, but then never remember to write it down, thus forgetting it...

yeah, quite a bit to write about. when I have more time.

Washing Dishes and Grocery Shopping

2008-07-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

I've discovered something about myself, in the past few years or so. I've discovered that the most incredible, intimate times I've had with God have been doing mundane things. Often I draw closer to God through doing the dishes than corporate prayer times at church or school. Often I have a deeper appreciation for what God has done for me by walking to the safeway across the street, than...you get the idea. I just had one of those moments.

I realized I had no fruit, so I decided to go to the grocery store to buy some banannas, and ice cream. As I walked back, I began to have a deep appreciation for everything God has provided me with. At that moment, I began to smell cigarette smoke, which is fatal for me, as I am strongly allergic to it. So I held my breath and walked faster, as I usually do. A minute later, I was still incredibly grateful for how God has provided for me above and beyond what anyone should deserve.

Occassionally I've thought about pastors in other countries, or people in churches I have been to, who have told me that they long to go to school to study the Word. I think of people, who their deepest desire and passion is to study and know scripture better so that they can minister better to their congregations.

I have what they don't. In addition to that, though I have amassed a small fortune in student loans, I have every single need provided for. I have more than many, many people have, even besides the opportunity to study God's word full time for the past three years.

As I'm sitting here late at night, I hear the words to the song "How deep the fathers love for us" in my mind:

it was our sin that held him there
that we should be his children
that he should give his only son
how vast beyond all measure

When you feel abandoned and forgotten by God, He Sees and Hears

2008-06-13T17:05:00.000-07:00

Man, how life has changed dramatically in some ways since the last posting...

So, today I finished up a weeklong course on Narrative Preaching. Myself, and 4 others in our half of the class got to preach, and listen to each other preach this morning.

I've never had, and will probably never have again, the opportunity to hear sermons from one chapter of scripture after the next. sermons on Genesis 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16, in order, just one after the next, and it was amazing. I had the last one, and while everyone said they felt unprepared, I truly felt the least prepared. I was hoping my sermon would be at least good enough that no one would remember it. I was shooting for mediocre.

As a class, we discussed how important it is that it is God alone who works through preaching, and a successful sermon is not determined by how prepared or how well crafted it is, but on whether the Holy Spirit uses it to reach into peoples hearts. I think somehow, thats what happened.

Compared to the two times I went through it, I found myself speaking extraordinarily clearly, much more animated than I thought I would be, and found myself articulating and pulling together thoughts much better than I had planned.

When you feel neglected, abandoned, and forgotten by God, as Sarai did, waiting year after year after year for the child of the covenant God promised, God sees and hears, and knows and cares for our deepest desires.

Narrative Preaching was truly one of the best classes I've taken in all my 7 years of Bible College and seminary....

God speaks

2008-04-14T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hebrews 1:1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways...

So, at this particular moment, I am listening to a sermon by John Piper on the first four verses of Hebrews. There is so much depth to the word here, that apparently he preached three separate sermons on this passage.

One of the main points: God speaks. The depth of that is incredible - we have a God who speaks - and he speaks to us!

I guess John Piper's approach to preaching is exactly what I need - there's this incredible exegetical depth underlying his sermons, where you know that he has spent some serious time with the Word and with God.

When I go to church, as I was saying to myself today, I want to hear the Word. I want the scriptures to point out my sin, for the sharpness of the Word to pierce my heart and cut it out. I want to be bleeding from the wounds. There's a proverb that says that the wounds of a friend are faithful, while the kisses of the enemy are deceitful. How much more faithful can the wounds of removing sin from our heart be, when it is Jesus Christ who himself was wounded for our transgressions?

So, as the Word pierces my heart, and I am bleeding, and need Jesus more than ever, I want to hear scriptures that heal, that transgressions are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.

So, all this...is what I want, and I find I rarely get what I expect at church. Thats why its so incredibly important for our pastors to spend hours and hours and some more hours in the Word, because there is so much power in the Word, yet we treat it so lightly. So, if anyone reading this preaches, preach with passion, preach with conviction, and know that there are people that desperately need to hear their sin blatantly confronted and how to deal with it.

2008-04-08T00:09:00.000-07:00

I havn't really blogged in a while. If you didn't know, I had an awesome spring break at the emergency room, and I have just finished recovering from that. I have had moments in the past few weeks where I have been incredibly drawn to prayer - to seeking God's face, and they have been great. I wish I could pray more, or simply involve God in more aspects of my everyday life than I have been.

I will be (hopfully) preaching at my church sometime this month. I have been thinking about the passage a lot - the fruit of the spirit... It doesnt seem like the fruit of the spirit is the main point. One of the things that really suprised me is that we are commanded to walk by the spirit, and in addition, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

Well thats great, very insightful. Except, that the "not" used here is the most emphatic not possible - you could insert an expletive here. So, its more like, we are commanded to walk by the spirit, and HELL NO we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

So, been thinking about that for a while. Especially when temptations come my way, I have been asking myself if I am walking by the spirit, because if I give in to those desires, then I am not walking by the spirit....which when it is worded so bluntly, makes me ask myself why I would choose sin over righteousness. In that sense, it becomes obvious, and easier, to choose the spirit rather than the flesh.

any comments?

Theological Pudding

2008-04-01T01:36:00.001-07:00

So, I am listening to a sermon online, and...heard something about theological pudding...I'm not really sure what that entails, but I hope that its chocolate...

2008-02-02T23:34:00.000-08:00

how is it possible? I'm wondering how its possible to have godly intentions to do something, and then find yourself doing the exact opposite of what you intended to do. seriously...like, for an example, say I had planned on giving...100 dollars to a church ministry, but oops I accidently spent it on...say...something ridiculously selfish. At that point, you find yourself forgetting all about what God had been leading you to do, but only about how this might serve my own interests... Its a bit vague, but, so is life

Theological Theology

2008-02-01T21:49:00.000-08:00

So, I'm fairly comfortable leaving this passage with
theological areas to explore...

Colossians has a passage, which I'll summarize, that says for us to let the word of Christ dwell in us (richly, I might add) through three things: preaching, teaching, and singing spiritual songs and hymns...

So, through doing these things, the logos of Christ dwells in us...

John 1:1 speaks of how in the beginning was the logos...and Jesus is the logos

So, we are to let the logos (word) of the logos (Jesus Christ) dwell in us

or, we're to let the word of the true word dwell in us...richly! abundantly!

either way, isnt it incredible that christ dwells inside us? I find it amazing...

Do not forsake me...

2008-01-26T08:44:00.000-08:00

After an entire semester of Hebrew, and just starting the next one, I finally found some valuable insight into scripture I would not have seen without translating scripture. This was the first, of many I hope, times that all that study has shown itself.

Psalm 38:21-22
21 Do not forsake me, O LORD; O my God, do not be far from me!
22 Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!

The first verse is what really turned my wheels. The "forsake" has a variety of translation options, including to abandon, to let go, to leave...

The "be far from" has the translation options from the noun form, which is translated Distant, Far away, Remote

So, putting the pieces back together, it is a cry, a demand in a sense, for the Lord to not abandon me, to not forsake or let me go, but instead, on the other hand, an additional command for the Lord to not be far removed from me, for the Lord to not be distant or in a remote location far away from me.

22 then describes how there is an urgency for the Lord to help, and not just any Lord, but the Lord of my salvation.

So, in some sense, I guess at times I've felt abandoned by God, as if he went to the mountains for a while and left me - that if I cried out to him, it would take him a while to even hear it, much less come and do something about it. But, the cry of the psalmist is for this to not happen, but for the Lord to make haste and help....

Title?

2008-01-19T19:57:00.001-08:00

So, I have been hanging out with a friend of mine...I'll call her name...Andrea. So, Andrea is the sort of person that people like to hang out with, but at the same time, well, there's better things in life to be doing, know what I mean? I was chillin with her this morning, and realized something. I always thought that God was and had finished working in my heart about something, but I suppose I was incredibly far off course.

There's a hebrew word for what I'm thinking of. SM', or ShaMa' which has several different ways of translating. The most common translations are of "to hear, to listen to, to understand, to obey."
So, Deuteronomy six is occassionally referred to as the shema, which in verse four is begun by this verb. 6:4 - Hear O Israel...

So why am I bothering to write about this? Well, my problem is not so much in hearing. I hear God fine. I even listen to God and understand what his word says. My problem is that I'm a little slow on the obedience side, occassionally... which, incidently, is explicitly mentioned in John, that those who love God follow his commands, of which the greatest commandment is to love God. So its this endless love cycle.

My problem is occassionally I directly go against what God speaks, which, in reference to the passage in John, means that I don't love God. If I did love God, then I would do what his commands were, but if I'm not doing or following him, or abiding in his word, my love for God has diminished....the more and more you fight God, and don't let him have his way or follow him, the less of a fight it will be, and eventually you will get what you want, which is for God to go away. This of course, is general, and in some sense an Armenian approach, but hey...

hows that for a thought for the day?

Its Ironically Ironic

2008-01-12T22:44:00.000-08:00

Something just occured to me. Its that, well, I don't actually drink iced tea anymore. Its a long, complicated, confusing story that goes back to my childhood, but I stopped drinking iced tea this summer. I'm a caffine-free hot-tea man now.....

John 1:1

2008-01-10T22:24:00.000-08:00

So, i was reading my greek n.t. today, going through John 1.1, randomly, primarily to refute Jehovah's witnesses, who inaccurately translate this text to say that Jesus Christ is a God, as opposed to a trinitarian understanding of this text. The greek text is adamantly clear that the "word" is not "a" God, but is "the" God, as designated by the articles, grammatically speaking. These particular verses are very woodenly structured, so it is difficult to make grounds for anything other than a literal translation. It could be somewhat translated this way:

"In the beginning, was the word, and the word was with[the] God, and the word was [a]/[the] God. He was in the beginning with [the] God."

Jehovah's witnesses love to point out that the second "God" can and in most cases would be translated as "a" or as indefinitely, referring to the general concept of - such as a table vs. the table, with the second referring to a specific table. The definite articles before the first "God" and second "God" though, thoroughly refute that, for how could it be that the word was a, or an indefinite God among other gods, when there is a specific God mentioned both before and after this usage?

But anyways, this was all an academic approach. Later I was thinking about the implications of that, and how Jesus Christ was truly in the beginning. Jesus Christ, who came down to earth to save us, was "with" God in the begining. There's quite a bit of theological depth to this. This brings about the concepts that Christ not only came to earth to save us from the despair of our sins, but since he existed from the beginning, it was a conscious choice to do this - he was not simply born and then figured out he was God.

Suffice it to say that I found myself praising God, and Jesus Christ, and I think my worship was more focused on the vastness and the incredible plan of God that he had from the beginning...

2008-01-01T02:41:00.000-08:00

So, I'm taking a class on preaching epistolary literature this semester. I've discovered that one of the sermons I have been assigned to preach is on widows in the church, and how the church is to take care of them if no one else can. Fun!

Actually, I'm pretty excited about this semester. Taking Hebrew 2, a theology class, and a leadership class - which incidently is online, and involves no actual leading...

So, I had pretty low expectations for a 300 page book about biblical eldership, some of you might have read it.... I was thinking, man, this book is going to be so incredibly boring...but actually, its very insightful, and very practical. As qualifications for being an elder in a church, an elder is to be able to teach and preach the word. I find this is not true in most churches....actually, I can only think of one church that does that, and I've never actually been there.

But, I found this convicting, for among other things, elders are to be this sort of....support network, of which the pastor is in a sense first among equals, that church leadership is more of a shared network rather than a top-down CEO style that is fairly common today. So, its convicting in the sense that when I apply this to my own life, I think of all the people I could be pastoring, or being an elder to, and yet I hold back because I'm afraid, though thats another story. So, perhaps a good new years resolution is to be more like and develop the characteristics of the qualifications for elders in the church. I think so....

How I'm going to pay for seminary....

2007-12-22T09:12:00.001-08:00

I've decided on a marketing scheme to pay off all my student loans.

So, TBN gives useless crap away if you donate x amount of money to them. I've decided to look into developing something even more useless: The Limited Edition Joel Osteen Prayer Floss. thats right. You too can use prayer and floss to have the same gloriously white perfection of Joel's teeth. All for a $50 donation to My Student Loan Ministries. If you act now, I'll even throw in two tubes of Joel's newest Joel Osteen Prophetic Tooth Paste, which gives a special blessing to those who use it to pray and floss every single day.

All for a $50 donation, man, the retail value of these "gifts" alone is got to be somewhere around...29.98 plus tax.

I can be poor, hungry, and homeless...through christ who strengthens me!

2007-10-18T23:00:00.000-07:00

Scripture says that "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." What most people are not aware of, however, is that the preceding verses have Paul describing how he has learned to be satisfied whether hungry or fed, whether poor or rich... So as a homeless man in prison, in the midst of his circumstances he wrote "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

I can do all (homeless, hungry, cold..) through Christ who strengthens me

So, God has miraculously provided for me. It would take a while to really explain how, but in the end, its not really about that.

I was looking at something, and got to a point where I would have been okay if God had not provided....truly okay with this thing that I struggled with for...13 months. A few days later, an idea popped into my head, a ridiculous...ridiculous idea...which turned out to not be ridiculous at all.

The preacher I don't Like

2007-10-16T01:33:00.000-07:00

So, my parents are not really what I would call christians. They're not really opposed to christianity in any way, they just...aren't christians. ALthough, they are strangely supportive of me going to seminary and into ministry...but thats another story.

So, my mother mentioned that she had seen a special on 60 minutes about a certain unnamed televangelist preacher. I'll call him J. Osteen...no, perhaps Joel O. for short. But anyways, my parents remembered me telling them he was not a preacher to be trusted, so they took me for my word, and had a suspicious mentality while watching it..."Thats the preacher our son doesn't like" is what they told me.

I'm searching for the word, but its good and yet strange to know that the things I told them have influenced them in how they don't know much about christianity or doctrine, but will at least listen to me in certain aspects....

Feelings and...Hebrew?

2007-10-05T00:49:00.000-07:00

Yeah, we got this feelings paper that we hung up as a joke...sort of...so theres a list of 50 or so feelings with little faces, and we each have a pin....

Hebrew is pretty hard....not hard per say, but hard in the sense that it takes forever and ever for me to learn the vocabulary, and then for some words I end up remembering them as the ones that were hard to say instead of the meaning, but........other than that, I really enjoy hebrew, learning the scriptures is a privilege...

but God is faithful, "and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men" col 3:23

So, I dont know who actually reads this blog, but if you do, let me know!

First sermon I preached...

2007-07-21T21:37:00.000-07:00

So, its been three months since I preached, and I have been actively avoiding listening to the copy of the sermon I have on my computer. Revelation 3 was the basis...

I dont think it would do justice to say that I'm a little critical of myself. I have extraordinarily high standards for which I think I should have met, and at times I wished I never even preached in the first place.

But on the positive side, its not as bad as I thought. Maybe its even pretty good, though I'll stick with not as bad as I thought. I noticed I said uh and uhm quite a few times. ...

If anyone wants a copy, just let me know and I'll send it to you...

Sin

2007-07-12T23:59:00.000-07:00

You ever have that moment.....when you realize how ugly sin is? How much it separates you from intimacy with God?

When i look back at my sin, I wonder why in the world I would choose such an insignificant, extraordinarily short-lived sin, over the peace and presence of the eternal God. Why would I do that? Because I'm foolish, because I'm a sinner. I'm good at it too! sinning that is.

Lies come so natural when we try to hide our sin from others, from ourselves.
When we try to put ourselves in the best light, we adjust the truth to our advantage...

Where is God in the midst of all this? He simply watches, and waits, and longs for us to turn toward him with all our heart. Do you think God loves you?

Revelation 3, "...Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline..."

2007-07-10T23:35:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I'm amazed when I look back at what God has done. I wonder why he would choose me, a sinner, to do his will

...my own worship is half-hearted. I need to repent.

I think of the first sermon I preached on. In the very midst of reading the passage in front of the congregation the word of God spoke so powerfully, even more powerful than I had even imagined, so bluntly pointing out sins in our lives, and that God loves us and because he loves us he rebukes and disciplines us.

I wonder why God has such a calling on my life. What did I ever do? All i have done is turned away from God and toward sin. I dont necessarily like sin all that much, but I seem stuck, and part of me refuses to turn back to GOd and give him control of every single aspect of my life.

What the church of God needs

2007-07-01T22:42:00.000-07:00

I've realized something this past year or two. The church of God loves to send pastors and missionaries out into the world. Only problem is, they don't give any Biblical foundations, other than having a heart for reaching the lost.

So, I was thinking about if there were two guys that were supposed to each dig a large whole in the ground. So the first guy heads out monday morning, and finishes on Friday. He had nothing but his hands and perhaps some Iced Tea.

The second guy decides that it would be better to spend all day monday driving around town, buying the equipment he needs. He digs the whole, and finishes early Tuesday afternoon. Now it cost him something to have the tools he needed, but he did a much better job with much less effort, and he didn't wear himself out pointlessly. I think the church of God should approach training its teachers, pastors, evangelists, and missionaries toward the second method, equipping and training.

The second guy could easily have dug another three holes in the same amount of time the first guy did one, and not be nearly as worn out.

what do you think?

Iced Tea?

2007-06-24T19:14:00.000-07:00

Yeah, well, you know. I "discovered" it....On a good day I drink up to a half-gallon...I actually can't remember the last day I have not have iced tea...

God in the midst Of

2007-06-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most of the people reading this know who I am. I'm probably equally sure that very few people know the intense struggles that I have and am going through. Seminary in and of itself I do not think would be all that difficult for me. I think that without the problems I face, I would be a 4.0 student (minus inductive of course..). Yet I find myself barely passing because of extreme physical problems, to the point where I have been close to giving up most of the time I have been here.

So, i have an eye problem where sometimes I can read until I pass out, and sometimes I can read nothing more than half a page for the day. It is predictable to a point, yet sometimes I just dont know. So, I got reading glasses and that made it worse. I went to an opthamologist, he said it was not an eye problem, just that my face sucks. Apparently I have a tic in my eye nerves, so I'm going to go to some sort of specialist relatively soon.

So, I know that God called me to seminary. I have no doubt about that. Yet I find myself facing yet another insurmountable problem, to the point where I was forced to quit my job because I couldn't see. So now I'm pretty bored, finding it difficult to get a job where I may or may not be able to see.

What I miss most is sitting down and reading scripture for long periods of time. At best I can read a chapter a day, usually its just a few verses. But I hold onto those verses. I'm doing a Bible study on the book of Proverbs, I'm not actually sure how its possible that its working out, but it seems to be.

I'm not at all suicidal because of my problems. But they are so insurmountable, that....yeah, I have been pretty depressed, I feel like much less of a man because I am unable to work and forced to basically sit around and watch tv and surf the internet and hope that somehow my eyes just...get better

So, James 1:2-4 says, "2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. "

so, I take joy in my circumstances, because I was thinking that...suppose I did not have this problem, I would probably do extraordinarly well in seminary, but I think my heart would be a little harder, and that I would not be as closer to Jesus. I think I might have a little less of...pure joy, if you will. So I definitely did not choose this, but perhaps God gave it to me for a reason. So I will consider it pure joy