it's rubbish or Jesus

Jesus is my Victory

2011-06-07T17:52:00.000-07:00

This post is the first of five we will do throughout the summer series. We will cover parts of Christ's atonement that are in the book, Death by Love, but not covered in the sermons. This is the first of them covering the early church's favorite: Christus Victor.

The chapter in the book follows a troubled young women who really just wanted her father to protect her. Instead in her teenage years she filled this void with the approval of sex with boys. This led to many other problems and complications in her life. But through Christ she experienced much redemption and now has a godly husband and a wonderful family. Despite all the victory she still struggles with the shame of it all and the hope of every gaining victory over the lies of the enemy. Her story seems to have really started with demonic oppression that told her lies feeding off of the neglect of love and protection from her father.

Our society is very secular. The modern rise of science has eliminated many superstitious beliefs and relegated the supernatural to ridiculous TV shows hunting for ghosts with electronic equipment. The realm of the paranormal or supernatural is largely considered a figment of people's imagination. A secular society enlightened by modern science has no room for such silly beliefs as ghosts, angels, and demons. Even some scholars have secularized phrases in scripture like "rulers, powers, and authorities" as merely cultural forces set against God. They are only half right. Rulers, powers, and authorities is both spirits and world forces. WWII was as much spiritual conflict as political conflict. They are missing an important part of the Biblical worldview: the reality of spiritual beings that exist as angels and demons.

Angels and demons are not psychological disorders. They are not cultural forces. They are not the ghosts of dead people. They are not imaginary creatures to rule over the simple minded with. They are not gods, demi-gods, or the like. Biblically speaking, angels are messengers created by God. They are finite personal spiritual beings but without a physical body. Demons are fallen angels who joined Satan in his rebellion against God and were cast out of heaven (Ezek. 28:12; 2 Pet. 2:4). Some cultures have considered them as intermediaries between humans and God. Hence, shamans will seek the power of spirits for either good or evil. Biblically, spirits can cause physical ailments but they are not all-powerful, all-knowing, or ever-present. They are finite limited beings that are created beings. Their greatest trick however is lies. Satan himself did so in Genesis 3 where sin entered into humanity.

Like the woman in the chapter, we all have a problem in that we are blind to the schemes of Satan and his demons. We hear a lie whispered in our head or told from someone else and we believe it. We are tempted and enticed with pleasures of this world or false saviors and we take the bait. The enemy has power over us only because we lack faith in God and give in to sin.

Perhaps you think this is all rubbish or that such things only occurred in the ancient world. It is very real and scripture says our battle is not against flesh and blood "but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Eph. 6:12, NIV). I would submit to you that no one encountered demons more than Jesus. Satan tried to kill him when he was born. He tried to deceive Jesus in the wilderness. He thought he won when he influenced Judas to betray Jesus. However, in the wisdom of God the death of Jesus on the cross was our victory and Satan's defeat.

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ shows that Satan and demons have no power or authority over sinners or the world. Jesus defeated sin through his sinless life and by paying the penalty for our sin on the cross. He proved his power over Satan, sin, and death by his resurrection. The doctrine of Christus Victor teaches that Christ set us free from the power of Satan and his demons over us (Col. 2:13-15; Eph. 6:10-20; 1 Pet. 3:22). Some in the early church believed that Satan was owed something by God which Christ had to pay, but that is not what scripture teaches. The legal demand canceled was the debt owed to God which Satan used to shame us, guilt us, and entice us to sin.

Christians apply the truth of this victory in Christ in two ways. One, Jesus gives all authority on heaven and on earth to his disciples (Matt. 28:18). Therefore, demons can be rebuked for their lies in the name of Jesus and they must stop. Two, a Christian must resist sin and live in the power of the Spirit to be holy (Rom. 8; Eph. 6:10-20; Jam. 4:7-10). The armor of God is not a magical invisible suit one puts on. It is clothing oneself in the truth of the gospel and living a life of Christian character by faith in Christ. It is an act of faith to trust in one's righteous status before the Father through Christ and in the power of the Spirit. The heavenly Father loves us and unlike negligent earthly fathers has fought for us and defended us by provided His Son in our place. Rejecting the lies of Satan and believing the truth of God combined with resisting sin is what spiritual warfare is all about. This is done in the name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

No matter what your story is, or how Satan and his demons have been trying to way you down, know that Christ defeated him with his death and resurrection. The loving Father has adopted you in Christ and giving you his Spirit as a seal of your adoption (Rom. 8). Have faith in your status before God and do not listen to the lies of the enemy. The Father loves you tremendously and sent his one and only Son Jesus to set you free. Live in light of the victory of Jesus Christ!

Keeping the Gospel in the End

2011-05-21T16:37:00.000-07:00

Those who know me well, have had the displeasure of hearing me talk what the Bible says about the "end times" and know I have more than a few bones to pick. I must confess, I have always had some problems with end of the world scenarios. I have not always been a Christian. My parents took me to church but little sunk in besides a vague belief in God and morality. That's it. When I became a Christian in college the first two books I read were Mere Christianity and Left Behind. The latter only because it happened to come out near the time I was a believer and a close friend gave it to me. I didn't think about it much. But then I saw the effects of a preoccupation with the rapture. I saw coworkers pushed away from faith in Christ because they were essentially told, "God loves me and will take me and all the good people off the earth while he destroys you and everyone and everything on it because you are so bad." Early on, I sat in on a church class that was an outreach to non-believers and someone asked about the rapture. One of our pastors was from Britain and he started laughing and said, "That is a purely American theology." These brought up questions and a general thought that I was missing something, and many North American Christians are missing something. Shouldn't Jesus returning be a good thing? Shouldn't it inspire faith and not scorn? Shouldn't it give hope? If we can proclaim the grace and mercies of God from any part of scripture or Christian theology should we not also be able to do the same on this subject? Can it be winsome?

Let me introduce a new word into your vocabulary that is essential for studying this subject: eschatology. The Greek word eschatos means "last things" and every english speaker should know if it is connected to -ology it means "study of." Thus, eschatology is the theological subject of the last things, or more commonly (thus revealing our bias) end times. This is a rich and dense subject that is extremely important to the Christian faith. Here is a good quote on its importance:

“From first to last, and not merely in epilogue, Christianity is eschatology, is hope, forward looking and forward moving... the eschatological outlook is characteristic of all Christian proclamation, and of every Christian existence and of the whole Church.” - Jurgen Moltmann

Perhaps Moltmann overstates his case as I understand he is prone to do. But he is essentially right. Eschatology is about the hope of the gospel. It is about God being victorious and making everything right. But I believe eschatology has been hijacked by a bunch of ridiculous silliness that is borderline heretical because it is not gospel centered.

Consider the impressions placed on non-Christians about God rapturing the church. "We are good and you are evil. So we will be spared and you will suffer wrath. So you better believe so that you are spared." That is not the gospel. Judgment is a part of the gospel, but it denies some central tenets. All that God created is good, the earth, people, and everything in it. Our view of the end must not deny this fact, implicitly or explicitly. Everyone and everything is affected by sin, which means no one, including Christians, are sinless or without the stain of sin. No one can claim to be good except God alone. God loves his people and his creation but he must deal with sin and remove it. The story of redemption is about God removing sin from creation while not destroying it. God accomplishes this through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, where the Son of God enters into creation. The climax of God's redemptive move is the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is the firstfruits of the new creation (1 Cor. 15:20). The implications are that God's means of redeeming creation is by recreating people through faith in Christ. God does not destroy creation, he redeems it and recreates it. Religious, legalistic, self-righteous, moralistic Pharisees says things like "God is going to take us good people away while he destroys everyone else." The gospel is we all have been infected by sin, it is a cancer that is inescapable. But God sent his one and only Son to die the horrible death cancerous sin brings to demonstrate his great love for the world... "not because it is so big, but because it is so bad." (DA Carson). God demonstrates his victory over sin and death by raising Jesus Christ from the dead to an eternal glorious reign in a recreated and incorruptible body. God reconciles all things to himself through Jesus Christ blood on the cross (Col. 1:20). The gospel is that God has done this in Christ Jesus and the only means by which we experience the recreative act is through the work of Jesus Christ who is the only one to be victorious over sin. Faith in Christ alone gives us access to God's work through the Holy Spirit to recreate us. Eventually, God will renew all things through the Spirit who completes God's creative work (Gen. 1:2; Matt. 1:18; Rom. 8:11) once all things have been placed under subjection to Christ (1 Cor. 15:25). Praise be to God, Amen. (Okay, so I just had a Pauline gospel side track.)

So let us go to a very popular passage on the "end times," specifically the rapture, 1 Thessalonians 4 & 5. People do read context. It takes 5 minutes to read the whole letter of 1 Thessalonians. I encourage you to do it, to do otherwise is actually extremely lazy.

Chapters 1-3 is essentially Paul giving his longest and most glowing encouragement to the Christians of Thessalonica for their eager reception and obedience to the gospel. He offers further encouragement to maintain sexual purity (4:1-8) and to love each other well (4:9-10). Interestingly, he strongly encourages them to work hard (4:11). Then immediately he discusses their concern about the resurrection, that those who have passed away already have missed out on it. Paul instructs them that those who are already dead will actually be raised first before those who are alive will be transformed into their resurrected bodies (4:15-17; cf. 1 Cor. 15:23, 50-53). Two words are extremely important here. The word here for " the coming of the Lord," is parousia, (also in 1 Cor. 15:23; 4x in Matt. 24; and elsewhere). It means appearance, become present or be present. Its background is very important. It was used of a coming dignitary, king, emperor, or even a deity making an appearance in a town. There was a lot of pomp and circumstance that came with it just like when the President of the United States shows up in a city. Its a really big deal, everyone knows about it and cannot escape it. Jesus Christ's coming is the appearance of a King and a God that everyone will see. The second word is "to meet" or apantesis which is only used elsewhere in Matt. 25:3 & Acts 28:15 (look up how it is used and compare). It is also full of coming dignitary connotations. This word referred to a welcoming party for a coming dignitary and would go with him immediately into the city. This is the word often summarized by the rapture. But, this passage does not teach the church will be removed from the earth when Jesus returns. It also teaches one coming of Christ, not two, as if to come get Christians, judge the earth and then come back later when they are resurrected. It is one single event. We will join him in his arrival on earth and meet him like a coming dignitary, whether dead or alive in Christ. We will be transformed in the twinkle of an eye and we will immediately come down with him to reign on earth. While not said in this context, other things occur when Jesus returns - the resurrection, the judgment of all humanity, the kingdom of God (Rev. 19-22).

But lets move on in 1 Thessalonians. Notice what Paul says next. First, you don't need to know times and dates! It will come suddenly but it shouldn't scare the Christian. Second, let us be "sober" (a Paul term meaning think like a Christian, live in light of the gospel). What does that look like - live a life of faith, love, and hope. DO WHAT YOU WERE DOING! (1 Thess. 5:11). Live the Christian life. Love people deeply and be faithful to God. Be people of hope! Third, get to work! Notice, before and after this section Paul says we should not be lazy and stop going to work knowing the end is near. Jokes about quitting our jobs, or not showing up for school or work because Jesus may come is the EXACT opposite of what Paul says we should do. You should work hard now knowing Christ may return at any moment! Why? Because to work hard in the Lord (Col. 3:18-4:1) is a reflection of living under his lordship. It is also a witness to nonbelievers that you love Jesus and have integrity. It is also you last chance to witness to people and to love them. We need to get to work living the Christian life in full view of everyone or else we will not hear "Well done, good and faithful servant," but "Away from me you wicked servant."

Knowing the end is near, Christ did not flee to the mountains. In fact, he went into the heart of the city. Paul himself, knowing the end was near, did not retreat to the wilderness but went right into the hand's of his enemies in the city, Jerusalem, then the heart of it all, Rome. Christ didn't stock up canned food and water in a bomb shelter and gather his family in it. Christ didn't quit his job, sell his house, spend money frivolously, "party like it is 1999," or anything else. He didn't tell everyone they are wicked evil people but said "Forgive them for they know not what they do." And he sure as heck didn't predict a date for the end of the world (Matt. 24:36ff; Acts 1:6-9).

What did Christ do, Paul do, and so should you? Loved and proclaimed Christ's victory over sin through his death and resurrection until it killed them. Live out the gospel in word and deed. Love until it kills you. This is keeping the gospel in the end. Eschatology is about Christian hope that enables us to live faithful NOW, in the present because Jesus is coming soon. Praise the Lord, Jesus is coming soon.

Encounter with the Real Thor

2011-05-10T19:02:00.000-07:00

I just came across a brief description in a book that reminded me about a real historical encounter with "Thor" of norse mythology.

Wynfrith of England, aka Boniface Apostle to the Germans (680-754), was a Christian missionary to Germanic tribes who at the time worshipped the pagan god Thor. Part of this was reverence for an ancient sacred oak dedicated to Thor. Boniface did was is often described as the rare tatic of a "power encounter" much like Elijah and the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. Before a large crowd of pagans he chopped down the mighty oak tree declaring Thor to be a false god and Jesus Christ to be the one true God. The tree crashed and broke into four pieces. The pagans were cursing him, but then were converted convinced Thor was as powerless as a fallen tree. His act was a clear gospel presentation of the validity of the Christian faith in terms his audience could clearly understand.

So as you go to enjoy the contemporary rendition of Thor based on the Marvel comic, remember Boniface, Missionary to the Germans who demonstrated it is in fact a myth.

The Problem with Rob Bell's method

2011-03-15T19:38:00.000-07:00

It seems appropriate to speak on the biggest issue in Christendom right now (at least its North American wing), which is whether Rob Bell is a universalist.

I haven't read much of Rob Bell. I couldn't finish Velvet Elvis. I watched many of his nooma videos early on and initially loved them. However, eventually I found that something was off. It was extremely subtle. He was engaging, asking great questions, persuasive, seemed to capture the heart of God for people, etc. But there was one piece that first stuck after watching "Dust" for the third time. The line was something like, "You can be like me. You can do what I do." He ended with, "May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi."

Over time, I have heard many critiques and have thought many of them were reactionary, overly harsh, and reeked of superficial dogmatism. At the same time, I haven't bothered to read much more of Bell and I don't really care too. In fact, I am upset I might have to read Love Wins in preparation for a sermon on hell this year. My thoughts have been that there is something many of the pundits are not really getting at. Bell quotes scripture and so do his opponents. Why is one side right and the other side wrong? That little move at the end of dust tells you what you need to know.

The move is the same move made by classic Protestant Liberalism. The move is that Jesus is our ultimate example and we should be inspired to be like him because of his self-sacrifice. What is not said outright is a denial of substitutionary atonement. It is simply understated and put outside as difficult for modern ears. The problem is a lack of clarity on what Christ's atonement actually accomplishes objectively... our atonement for sin. We can't be like Jesus because we are sinners. I think I can rightly say Jesus is only an example for those who place their faith in him and have received the indwelling Holy Spirit (1 Pet. 3:21). He becomes my example when he becomes my Lord who died in my place for me and accomplished for us what we could never do.

All of that is to turn you to the best explanation and critique I have read of Rob Bell's erroneous theological method. If you want specific criticism of specific points and flawed exegesis just go to DeYoung's 20 page review. I am sure he is thorough and I trust his exegesis. But here is a brief and well articulated article on why Rob Bell is in the tradition of Schleiermacher to Tillich.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/april/lovewins.html

Theological Teenagers shouldn't preach

2011-01-15T10:56:00.001-08:00

I began reading a very short little book that was a gift from my wife for Christmas. It is a rather obscure book that I had on my wish list from seminary. It is called “A little exercise for young theologians” by Helmut Thielicke. In this book he discusses for both the lay person and trained minister how to approach theology. So far it has been great. But this one really hit me.

There is a hiatus between the arena of the young theologian’s spiritual growth and what he already knows intellectually about this arena. (p. 10)

He depicts a first semester seminary student who before his formal training, teaches or preaches with what little he knows and his full of life. It is good because of its liveliness even though it may lack theologian depth and exegetical precision. However, they then become a student and now become filled with knowledge that often stifles and intimidates the lay person. The problem is they lack spiritual maturity to match their knowledge. As the scriptures say, “knowledge puffs up but love builds up” (1 Cor 8:1-3).

The caricature he lays out I found all too true and convicting. Seminary students often are all too ready to offer their profound insights and are simultaneously blind to their own lack of character. They identify with a particular theologian, or great saint of the past, assuming they have shared their experiences and know what they are talking about. It often makes the faithful Christian with no formal training feel inferior because they do not possess the same “knowledge,” as if you can only grow in Christ if you have been to school. Unfortunately, those with vast amounts of knowledge are sometimes allowed to teach and preach in churches. And this is where Helmut Thielicke offers his penetrating conclusion.

“Speaking figuratively, the study of theology often produces overgrown youths whose internal organs have not correspondingly developed. This is characteristic of adolescence. There is actually something like theological puberty. Every teacher knows that this is a matter of signs of natural growth over which there is no need to become excited. Churches must understand it and must have it explained to them in every possible way.

It is a mistake for anyone who is just in this stage to appear before a church as a teacher. He has outgrown the naivete with which in young people’s work he might by all means have taken this part. He has not yet come to that maturity which would permit him to absorb into his own life and reproduce out of the freshness of his own personal faith the things which he imagines intellectually and which are accessible to him through reflection. We must have patience here and be able to wait. For the reasons I have mentioned I do not tolerate sermons by first-semester young theological students swaddled in their gowns. One ought to be able to keep still. During the period when the voice is changing we do not sing, and during this formative period in the life of the theological student he does not preach.” (p.12)

Oh Lord forgive me for the times I have taught without true knowledge! I have often taken pride in my own intellect and failed to see where my life does not correspond. Forgive us for living off of the faith of saints we admire. May we live by your very word and may our love exceed our knowledge. Let your Spirit sanctify us and conform us to the likeness of Christ, that by your grace we may teach as ones with authority. Amen.

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Helmut Thielicke. A Little Exercise for Young Theologians. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1962.

Rules from the Playground: Nice only goes so far

2010-07-21T08:09:00.000-07:00

Recently I offered my spare time to a neighborhood youth soccer coach. I have been looking for opportunities to get involved somewhere and I enjoy the game immensely even though I am not good at it. But I suppose it depends on how you measure the quality of one's play. Anyways, I decided I would help coach soccer even though I have never coached at all. Coach David was cool though and just glad someone from the community cares. Immediately, I was caught off guard by two things, how well coached the under-10 team was; as well as how underprepared I was for the under-14 kids. At some point they went from being hard working angels to kids who are unmotivated and lack discipline in more ways than one. My only aim is to be humble, learn, and make some connections in the community all for the sake of Jesus.

Being a part of this world clearly demonstrates to me that I am truly in an alien world. I am a white guy who grew in Colorado, hasn't spoke spanish since High School. I had a career as a engineer, when they see my bike they know its expensive, guess the price and are not even on the same planet. They have played soccer since they were kids and I haven't played since I was kid. How in the world am I supposed to do this?

So here is the scenario: The regular coach is out of town for a month. The other assistant coach works with the U-10 team. I, by default, get the U-14 team. Since coach is gone, they just do a scrimmage and I don't know what to do. We scrimmage and one of the kids, who is the most difficult because he is mouthy and has ball skills, finally finds out I am not a good soccer player. So practice ends with him saying to me, "You suck." I play nice, just like I did as a kid on the playground. He basically leaves shortly thereafter blaming his team's performance on my goal keeping (which I do suck at) instead of his refusal to play defense and play on a team.

What is truly revealed in all of this is that playing nice only goes so far. Playing nice does make you a better coach and it sure doesn't make anyone else a better player. Playing nice might not offend anyone and it might make a few friends, but it is powerless against all kinds of sin, whether individual or systematic. What was highlighted in this practice was not my inferior ball skills but my sin of playing nice.

The truth is Jesus didn't play nice. Jesus loved people they way they needed to be loved and he calls his disciples to love like he does. "A disciple is not above his teacher. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant his master." (Matt 10:24-25, ESV). In this passage, Jesus tells his disciples to proclaiming that the "kingdom is at hand." He says that when they do so they will be persecuted but they must persist. He says they will be flogged, the will be ridiculed, they will be told, "You suck." This is what Jesus and all the prophets of God before him went through. It is what the apostles went through. It is to be expected the way of life for the disciple of Jesus, for the Christian. Nice people don't get persecuted. People who have the guts to point out the real sin, the real savior, and the real kingdom get persecuted. Nice people don't keep the peace either. Nice people just make sure they are at peace while others continue to be affected by sins of omissions and passivism.

The truth is I do not suck at soccer. The truth is we got scored on a lot because no one played defense and the kid with all the ball skills never ever passed and never got back on defense when a player took the ball from him. The truth is the biggest mouth with best ball skills is the worst player on the field. But how will he know unless someone tells him? How will he know unless someone has the guts, the gall, to dish out some tough love? On the playground, the nice kid continues to get pushed around and watches his friends get pushed around. The nice kid, this nice kid, needs to repent of cowardice. Jesus didn't always play nice, though he was always humble and always loving, but he wasn't always nice. It is His kingdom and he alone reigns over it. His reign demonstrates the weakness and the powerlessness of the arrogant, the powerful, the bullies, and transforms the weak into the courageous and the prideful into the humble.

The Real St. Patrick

2010-03-17T11:10:00.001-07:00

St. Patrick's day is no doubt one of the most popular holidays for partying during the entire year. I have always had an affinity for this day because the strongest roots I have are Irish since my Great Grandpa was Irish. Yet that is about the depth of my appreciation earlier in life. I remember once in college going to a pub in Boulder, CO to participate in having a pint of Guinness with millions of others to break some Guinness World Record or something. It has become an excuse to get drunk, drink terrible green beer (its gross trust me) and get stupid. Ironically, this probably resembles Ireland prior to St. Patrick than after him.

In Seminary years after the Guinness incident, I had to read two books on St. Patrick of Ireland. I was inspired and he became a new hero. His letters Confessions and Letters to the Soldiers of Coroticus are the earliest documents in Ireland, amazingly humble and exalting of God's work in Jesus Christ. In these letters we find a man of real faith who was rebellious as a teenager, endured oppression through enslavement by an Irish tribe (Patrick was a Roman-Briton), and courage in following God's voice to flee back home. Despite all this, and the general impression that Ireland was the edge of the civilized world, full of marauding lunatics and half-human barbarians, he responded to God's call to go preach the gospel to the very people who enslaved him. Amazing, most cry for justice and destruction, yet Patrick cried for mercy in Jesus Christ.

He was likely a contemporary of St. Augustine at the time of late 300's to early 400's. St. Patrick's day is supposedly the day he died. Patrick was not the first to go to Ireland as a missionary, it was Palladius of Gaul who failed and died after a year and said the "wild men of Ireland wound not listen to him." Patrick responded to God's call to return voluntarily to Ireland and spent the rest of his life where he reached 30-40 of over 100 Irish tribes and planted 700 churches. The legend of him driving out snakes in Ireland is actually a symbolic story of him driving out the pagan Celtic beliefs and practices that would make even San Francisco blush.

As a result of Patrick, the Irish became the leaders in sending missionaries for the several hundred years later. They planted churches in even Palladius home of Gaul (France) and beyond. They became leaders in Christian art and music and are still quite influential to this day. "Be Thou My Vision" is a classic Celtic Hymn and perhaps why I like it so much. Some argue it was the Celtic missionaries who saved Europe in the Dark Ages.

Above all, we see that St. Patrick and his Irish disciples were not about drinking beer into a stupor, but recognized their fallen humanity and their great savior Jesus Christ.

Here is Patrick in his own words, this is the first section of his letter, Confessions. Immediately you see his heart, I encourage you to read it here or his denunciation of slavery long before anyone else through the condemnation of Coroticus's actions.

I, Patrick, a sinner, a most simple countryman, the least of all the faithful and most contemptible to many, had for father the deacon Calpurnius, son of the late Potitus, a priest, of the settlement [vicus] of Bannavem Taburniae; he had a small villa nearby where I was taken captive. I was at that time about sixteen years of age. I did not, indeed, know the true God; and I was taken into captivity in Ireland with many thousands of people, according to our deserts, for quite drawn away from God, we did not keep his precepts, nor were we obedient to our priests who used to remind us of our salvation. And the Lord brought down on us the fury of his being and scattered us among many nations, even to the ends of the earth, where I, in my smallness, am now to be found among foreigners. And there the Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief, in order that, even so late, I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my insignificance and pitied my youth and ignorance. And he watched over me before I knew him, and before I learned sense or even distinguished between good and evil, and he protected me, and consoled me as a father would his son. Therefore, indeed, I cannot keep silent, nor would it be proper, so many favours and graces has the Lord deigned to bestow on me in the land of my captivity. For after chastisement from God, and recognizing him, our way to repay him is to exalt him and confess his wonders before every nation under heaven. For there is no other God, nor ever was before, nor shall be hereafter, but God the Father, unbegotten and without beginning, in whom all things began, whose are all things, as we have been taught; and his son Jesus Christ, who manifestly always existed with the Father, before the beginning of time in the spirit with the Father, indescribably begotten before all things, and all things visible and invisible were made by him. He was made man, conquered death and was received into Heaven, to the Father who gave him all power over every name in Heaven and on Earth and in Hell, so that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and God, in whom we believe. And we look to his imminent coming again, the judge of the living and the dead, who will render to each according to his deeds. And he poured out his Holy Spirit on us in abundance, the gift and pledge of immortality, which makes the believers and the obedient into sons of God and co-heirs of Christ who is revealed, and we worship one God in the Trinity of holy name. He himself said through the prophet: ‘Call upon me in the day of’ trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.’ And again: ‘It is right to reveal and publish abroad the works of God.’ I am imperfect in many things, nevertheless I want my brethren and kinsfolk to know my nature so that they may be able to perceive my soul’s desire. I am not ignorant of what is said of my Lord in the Psalm: ‘You destroy those who speak a lie.’ And again: ‘A lying mouth deals death to the soul.’ And likewise the Lord says in the Gospel: ‘On the day of judgment men shall render account for every idle word they utter.’ So it is that I should mightily fear, with terror and trembling, this judgment on the day when no one shall be able to steal away or hide, but each and all shall render account for even our smallest sins before the judgment seat of Christ the Lord.

Also check out my fellow Irish-American's blog, O'Driscoll...

Happy St. Patrick's day from one sinner turned saint by the grace of God to another.

Avatar, a Theological Review

2010-01-03T12:44:00.001-08:00

My wife and I saw Avatar last night. A much hyped movie from one of Hollywood’s most successful producers and directors, James Cameron. It was entertaining and as advertised quite a visual display. Unfortunately, too many movies are praised for their appearance and not their substance. On the former, visual graphics have gotten to a point that whatever monumental advances they made one hardly notices. The law of diminishing returns is beginning to infiltrate technology. On the later, Avatar had a recycled plot of which my wife thought was a combination of Pocahontas, Ferngully, and Dances with Wolves. I, being a closet geek, thought it was like half the plots in the infamous Final Fantasy Series.

There are several things that must be noted for the discerning. It was a combination of New Age, Animism, and Hinduism. This is the worldview of Hollywood. Everything is connected to the divine we just have to “realize” it and tap into its spiritual powers. We are all “one” with nature. God, nature, human beings are all distinct things in separate categories. God is not connected to his creation. His creation reflects who he is in the same way that a person’s work reflects their skill and personality. God is present everywhere but he is not spatial “in” everywhere nor is relationally present everywhere. God is not present with sin and is not relationally “connected” to the sinner apart from repentance and faith in Christ. Believers are united in Christ and united by the Holy Spirit but we still obtain individuality. We are one body of many different parts.

One thing I have recently been pondering is the relationship between environmentalism and technology. Movies like Avatar seem to be saying that harmony is achieved by oneness with nature and not technology. Industrialism and technology caused Earth to “die”. There is sort of a naivety and hypocrisy in Hollywood about this. How much did Cameron have to rely on technology to create this movie? How big was its carbon footprint? How big is his? Surely magnitudes greater than mine. As much talk as there is about reducing our reliance on modern conveniences, how far are people willing to go? Are they willing to return to the dark ages with the short life spans, infertility, disease, etc.? I doubt it. Perhaps a more environmental approach would be to do the movie on Broadway instead of the Big Screen. The truth, modern excess and abuse are the result of greed and coveting, that is, sin. Technology is a manipulation of the environment. Things are shaped into a manner that is useful for us. This can be done for the greater good or the greater evil. There is nothing inherently wrong with using resources organic or otherwise. It is wrong if they are used sinfully. More could be said about that issue but we will save it for later.

There are two ways of interacting in a culture that is modeled in this movie. One is the corporation and the other is the “Avatar”. Since I am inspired by Augustine’s “City of God”, where he rejected the blame placed on Christianity for the fall of Rome and argued vigorously for the blame to be on the false ideals of Rome itself. So many movies in America explore the theme of destroying indigenous cultures with ones more powerful ones, reminiscent of our sins against Africans and Native Americans. One thing Hollywood does not recognize is the effect their movies have worldwide. My wife commented that when you hear of a foreign movie its usually always good. It had to be to make it here, but the rest of the world gets to watch whatever garbage we produce. Hollywood is a global force that is influencing people worldwide. It contributes to the rejection of the indigenous culture one grew up with for the culture promoted within Hollywood. The rise of fundamentalism globally is like the rebellion of the Navi in the movie, fighting back against things considered in affront to traditional values.

A whole post could be written about the Avatar and distinguishing it from Jesus’ Incarnation in Christianity. The two are different though there are some parallels. Parallels are with respect to missionary efforts to learn the language and culture and communicate from one culture to another. Those are good things. However, Jesus was born as a human and Son of God. He was fully human and fully divine. He was not a human posing as a God or a God posing as a human. He did not ascend to full humanity or deity at a later point. This is unlike the Hindu notion of an Avatar and the one represented in the movie.

We must move beyond surface level reviews of things in our culture. We must move beyond the external and move to the internal. This is the role of Theology, to see things as God sees them. This is the role a missionaries, to understand and learn the culture and its differences, similarities, and tensions with Christianity.

Comedians preach repentance?

2009-12-05T12:06:00.001-08:00

I have heard Driscoll say he has watched a lot of comedians because they are the only other guys in our society who stand up and talk for an hour. This guy has a great word for us... It's hilarious because its true!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOtEQB-9tvk

Makes me wonder? Are comedians among the few who preach repentance?

Wisdom and Justice

2009-12-01T12:57:00.000-08:00

(Originally posted Nov 24th)
Yesterday morning I got up for my usual devotional time and read 1 Kings 3. The classic story of Solomon and the two women claiming one baby was theirs. Clearly one was lying so Solomon threatens to cut the baby in two. This real mother is revealed by the two women’s reaction to Solomon threat. The verse that struck was the last one in the chapter, “When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.” They observed he had “wisdom from God to administer justice.” Justice in this case I think is simply doing what is right. In the case before him, Solomon made a decision to help discern between a fake request and a real one. Justice was done because of his decision. I prayed that morning that God would grant me wisdom to discern how to administer justice not knowing I would soon need it.

One of the expectations of a pastor is to discern the need of people coming to the front door asking for assistance, usually monetary. Not two hours after I read 1 Kings 3:28 did a man and his son come to the door asking for a place to stay until Dec. 1. Then the money would come through and they could get back into an apartment, he, his wife, and their two teenage sons would be off the streets. I have already learned not to give money on the spot but to buy time to see if the need is legitimate. I asked if there was a way to contact him and potentially tomorrow something might be available. He had an email address, provided a reference, which later checked out, and we made a decision to open a home to them come tomorrow morning.

There were certain rules though. Knowing God issue the 10 commandments after he had a relationship with Israel and delivered them from Egypt. As Andy Stanley says, “They are confirmation of relationship not a requirement of relationship.” So, I decided we should set up some stipulations for the grace being offered. This morning he returned with his son in hand and we presented the offer of a place in process of being fixed up to for rent but they would receive no key and need to respect the property. Wisely, one of the elders of the church was with me and asked the man to go and return with the rest of his family and we would show them the place. He said they would return in two hours. Two hours became 3.5 before word came again. The word, via email, was someone had offered to pay for a hotel for a week and they no longer needed our services. Even more intriguing was that five minutes before the email arrived the family member who served as a reference the night before called asking for the address of the place we offered. As I like to say… “Interesting.”

This is the a part of what it looks like to do ministry. God entrusts us to use what he has given us so that we may administer justice wisely. One of the things that became more clear to me than it had been before was the need to create hurdles. Solomon offered in part what was requested but the way he offered revealed the intentions of the two women. In the event we cannot fully investigate the case, we do as Solomon did, create hurdles to reveal what is just. Those with legitimate needs will jump the necessary hurdles. Only a fool hands over money without questioning its recipient. As much as it is injustice to not care for the needy it is also injustice to provide it to those who are undeserving.

Even in our ministry to the poor we must administer justice with wisdom. We must remain gospel centered. I am reminded by tests like these that the gospel is always our guide. God’s grace extended to all came through the hurdle of the cross. Administering justice with wisdom may often look like something as a simple request to demonstrate one’s case is true before giving assistance.

social justice and the gospel

2009-11-13T13:25:00.000-08:00

There is a huge interest in social justice these days. This is among both the so-called “secular” and among numerous young Christians who long to see social transformation through activism but do not see any churches doing it. The Bay Area in particular has a long history of activism and fighting against discrimination. This is a large concern because what is the nature of true social transformation? What are the connections between the gospel’s individual call to repentance and transformation of a community? There are many young Christians today disenchanted with the church and the mission of God. I spoke with one young man this week who saw his “church” as those whom he was trying to empower and organize to effect change in their community. No joke, he actually used the word “community organizer.” Additionally, as I work with other pastors I fear that some are trying to respond to poverty through humanitarian motives and not truly Christian ones.

This brings up the issue of the connection between social justice and the gospel. What is the difference between a philanthropist and a Christian activist? This must be addressed theologically. It is one of the reasons why I have taken up reading Augustine’s City of God because I believe until Jesus returns there are two trajectories, the kingdom of God through the church and the kingdom of the world. The answer to the question is One loves Jesus and is motivated and rooted in Him. The other loves man, and is motivated and rooted in that no human being should live in such a way. One’s Jesus died on the cross. The other’s Jesus is themselves. They serve as the judge for what a human being should live like. The one who loves Jesus is united with him and his church. They cannot achieve any real transformation without being connected to the Head and the support of the various gifts of the body. The other will seeks to organize all humanity together, in mutual cooperation not unlike in the construction of the tower of Babel. They desire to ascend to the heavens that they may be like God rather than live in submission and by sustained by Him

We should not however resign to merely a individualistic gospel that assumes individual transformation will by default lead to social transformation. Unfortunately, this has led in part to individual piety. One’s faith is a private one. It is just between “me and Jesus” and if that relationship is maintained everything else will take care of itself. God was not passive when seeing our situation, but He was active sending His Son to carry out justice on the world through Him. Jesus endured the wrath of God on sin, and through Him social transformation is possible. Through Him ALL things will be reconciled to God. But it is only through Him and his instrument is the church which ought to reflect the reign of Jesus over us individually and corporately. Because of Jesus, we are moved to be active in the world in the name of Jesus, for the promotion of Jesus, for the expansion of the kingdom. The kingdom of God has not come apart from Jesus and apart from the church over which he is the head. There is no social transformation apart from a body of believers who loves Jesus, loves their neighbor and weeps over their city. Furthermore, we must understand the age in which we live. We must not buy into an over-realized eschatology and think complete restoration is possible. There will be no complete restoration of all things until Jesus returns. The City of God and the City of the World are caught in a constant conflict for the people of this age, until the one true King returns to bring his City to completion and removes the false city for all eternity.

Not so random thoughts...

2009-10-18T12:57:00.000-07:00

So I have made a strange observation and need some advice. I need to make a disclaimer, because I have friends who will likely read this of whom it directly applies.

There are always a few people at church that are not very confident socially. They are often really into sci-fi, trekkies, star wars, or fan fiction and anime. This occurs to varying degrees, and I to some extent identify because I have a bin full of comic books. My point is not the connection between social interaction and sci-fi fans.

But here is my observation: why in churches are they often the kids of fundies? Why do parents who are so concerned about the world polluting their children end up pushing them into the fantasy world of science fiction, Tolkien, or others? What is up with that?

I don't say this to make fun, and I am not saying that everyone who loves sci-fi has fundie parents. Its just too common for me not to ask.

New blog for city church, www.theologicalsynergy.com

2009-09-30T18:14:00.000-07:00

I am going to now contribute twice a week to www.theologicalsynergy.com with Jason Helveston, Joel Helveston, and Adam Fix. I will put my posts from that as well as too here for now...

This is my first post for it, describing what theology is:

To kick off my first post on this brand spanking new blog, I thought I would do a series of posts about what the heck theology is. We are calling this blog theological synergy and the word Theology alone invokes a variety of emotions. Some of us cringe at the word because it conjures up memories of obtuse vocabulary and a description of the Christian faith that is abstract, disconnected, irrelevant and pedantic. This has led many to abandon classical formulations of Christian belief, or at least advocate “a new kind of Christian.” (Whoops… I think I just did an indirect slam.) On the other hand, some of us get fired up and geek out about theology because we recognize its importance and its relevance, even if we are not always enamored with some of its superfluous distinctions. So here is my attempt to make a case for not only what theology is, but in further posts to discuss how it should be done. I will do this over a series of posts that I hope encourages us to embody the mystery of godliness that is the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Tim 3:16).

First, theology is most properly about God. This is the strict definition of the word (theos + logos = study of God). It is not just an academic subject concerning correct content, but it is more importantly an ethical exercise embodied by a community. Plainly speaking, we demonstrate our theology of God with what we say, but even more by what we do. Faith without deeds is dead says James. Since theology is the study of God, we are speaking specifically of the triune God who has revealed himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This God is most clearly and directly revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ (Jn 14:6-7; Heb 1:3). Jesus Christ, the God-man who dwelt among us in a particular time and for all time. Theology is universal and particular. Meaning, the work of theology is to give faithful expressions of who God is and what he does both throughout history and in our specific context. Thus, it naturally follows that the controlling authority in theology is the words of God given to us through the Bible. It is the words of God, given by the Father, fulfilled in the Son, and testified by the Holy Spirit telling us who He is, what He has done, who we are, and how we ought to respond to Him.

We are thus in dynamic work of growing in knowledge of the God of the Bible. The church serves as a living embodiment of who they believe God is. We are called to be holy because he is holy (Lev 19:2; 1 Pet 2:9). The critique of the prophets is largely against those who claimed to know God but did not truly reveal Him by their actions. Instead, the served idols, false gods, and false notions of God. Moses charged Israel’s leaders to “distinguish between the holy and the common, between the clean and the unclean” (Lev 10:10). Paul charged Timothy to “watch your life and doctrine closely” (1 Tim 4:16) and to “preach the word” (2 Tim 4:2). The life of the church, especially its leaders, proclaims who God is, what He has done, and what we ought to do about it. Lesslie Newbigin put it well when he said the church, serves as a “hermeneutic of the gospel” (Gospel in a Pluralist Society). God’s people, those whom he has saved, whether they want to or not, preach theology about Him in word and deed. This also means that those who do not know the God of Bible cannot do theology. Certainly may have attempted but they have all failed.

This also means that the theology of God’s people is a witness to the watching world. What we believe about God, what we proclaim about Him, is a testimony to the world. Hence, we must be aware and approach how we reason about scripture; how we handle the historic tradition of faith; and how we understand our current experiences. All of which is to be in submission to the Bible. In part, the failure of modern theology is most exemplified in its inability to be faithful to the gospel and a faithful witness to the world. The liberal theologies from Schleiermacher to Tillich, and beyond, overly accommodated the world. Yet, much conservative theology has not adequately addressed the contemporary context being overly concerned with content. We can learn from the early church fathers who wrote to specific issues that impacted the church. Luther never wrote a systematic theology, but letters addressing specific concerns. They wrote for pastoral and missional reasons. They wrote so that people would increase in knowledge of the gospel.

Ultimately, the aim is to be faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our hope and aim is not to bore people with details, but to do theology where the gospel is not just read about or thought about, but that it is embodied. The measure of whether or not we are doing theology well is the gospel. The quality of a living theology should be its faithfulness to the gospel. Our success will not be due to talent or by our own efforts, but by whether we are abiding in Christ (Jn 15), only then will this work bear fruit.

The difficulty of translation

2009-09-03T14:35:00.000-07:00

The TNIV is being discontinued.

Wow... I am a little surprised. In my mind I thought that the competition was between the ESV and TNIV for the future dominant english Bible. I thought perhaps they both would win out with the ESV being used by more gender conservative churches and the TNIV by less conservative churches. One problem though, is that the NIV is still a very popular translation though now out of date, not just for language but also due to time giving better insight into the meaning of particular words and passages. The TNIV would have to remarkably different and better to supplant its predecessor. I find myself having to regularly think about how I will "clarify" the NIV translation. It was a good translation and an updated one is needed.

This highlights the difficulties of translating from one language to another. Words have meanings, but its particular meaning is only given with respect to its relationship in its sentence and the greater context. This does not just include the context of a passage or the bible but also the native tongue of the host culture. In order to properly translate Scripture we must wrestle with what a native ancient speaker of Hebrew or Greek would mean by the words "heart, love, God" etc. Translators then also have to be aware of the cultural milieu of the language in which they are trying to translate it, be it English, Spanish, or German. Missionaries have been debating for centuries about the proper word for God to use in Chinese culture. This is the result of the the differences between the way protestants rendered the early translations and catholics. I believe the debate is about the word Tao. You would think God would be one of the easier ones. It is not that simple. Think about it, Theos, the Greek word for God, was the same word used for all the Greek gods in their mythologies. It had connotations that could have compromised the true nature of God presented in the Bible.

The interesting thing about the TNIV is that the controversy is centered not around words like God, but around gender issues. Should the language of ancient worlds which used "man" to refer to all people, men and women, be changed to reflect contemporary gender sensitivity? This illustrates that views on the nature of gender in our culture are extremely unstable right now. Newsweek did an issue a few years ago in light of transgender people that seemed to argue gender is not biologically determined but determined by an individual's preference or desire. This does not even get to more particularly sensitive issues in churches related to the roles of men and women and the problems our culture has in trying to interpret seemingly chauvinist passages like 1 Cor 14:34 and 1 Tim 2:12. What seemed clear less than a century ago is hardly the case now.

I could go on to explain some of the thought that goes into rendering a translation. But the central issue of the matter relates to contextualizing the message of the Bible, the gospel, that God has acted in human history through Jesus Christ to reconcile us to himself and renew all of creation (Col 1:15-20). What is needed is both faithfulness is rendering the language to the gospel message and faithfulness in preaching the gospel for the salvation of its hearers. Translators cannot do it by themselves, but Christians, all of whom are preachers to varying degrees, need to study the word to correct misunderstandings and faithfully communicate God's love of us chiefly demonstrated in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Heb 1:3; 1 Jn 3:16; 1 Tim 4:16; 6:20; 2 Tim 1:8-14).

Reckless Ministry

2009-08-20T20:55:00.001-07:00

Over the past few weeks we have been giving our gospel group format a bit of a test run. Our format is simple on paper but very messy in real life... kind of like theology. We have two weeks of Bible study, one week of community (more technically called "hanging out"), and one week of mission where we serve the community in some way. Some days it sounds great. Some days it sounds really complicated to organize and impossible to carry out. There is no secret to our source for the model, its The Tangible Kingdom by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay. These groups are essential to the success of our church. They are designed to meet people, serve with them, and learn about Jesus with them. There are several questions we have about how these will work. But we seem to be okay that they are dangling there.

Why the strange format? You see, one of the problems with church activities is that no one else does them but church people. But when I read about Jesus, he hung out with all the non-church people. Even his disciples weren't exactly the coolest or the most religious people in society. Jesus' ministry wasn't neatly organized. He didn't have deep esoteric theological debates with the Pharisees. In fact he did the opposite. He spoke plainly, simply and acted deeply. He was probably late to dinner parties because every time he walked around some total not cool person would grab and beg for a healing or something. I confess, many of the church activities I have been in don't resemble Jesus' ministry. They were full of church people, organized to the minute, and talked about the deep truths of the Bible. I love the Bible and theology, but if I hear another Christian tell me they want to go "deeper" I am going to scream.

Case in point, tonight was our first community night in the trial month. I have had two wake up calls so far in San Jose. One was the first night we got together for prayer in the local homeless park. Obviously you can't have a neat prayer meeting in a park full of homeless people. You will be interrupted and little of what is said may make sense except that they are lonely and no one cares. The second wake up call was tonight. We didn't have dinner at one of our homes with ourselves. We went to a bar. It was happy hour and it was full of people hanging out for drinks. We met Shannon, our lovely waitress who was very nice and served us well. I hope we see her again. We had a drink... and it wasn't cola flavored. I asked Jason, "Is this what you had in mind?" He answered confidently, "Yes." I thought, "Oh crap. This is for real." And then I said, "The fundies are going to be really ticked at us."

I was simultaneously excited and scared. Scared because church taught me not to go to these places too much. Excited because I like to and my friends are there too. I think I had a fantasy in my mind that community night would be more like a passover meal with a blessing spoke over it and all sorts of highly "spiritual" stuff. But that is what my family does, not my friends. My family is at church, but my friends are at the bars. All my frat buddies, my coworkers, all the "sinners and tax collectors" frequent the bar. The people with whom Jesus did his hanging out. These are all the people I have normal conversations with about their kids, their jobs, their pasts, and their futures. I don't remember any of the esoteric theological debates I had at church. I remember all the times I set nervously after work, hoping a church member wouldn't see me, having a pint, laughing and joking with my coworkers about real life.

You see, Jesus doesn't call us to a super neat and tidy ministry but to a reckless one. He didn't go to the cleanest places but the shady ones. He didn't hang out with the holiest people, but the unholy. He didn't come for the healthy, but the sick. He was reckless with where he went and with whom he associated. Jesus wasn't worried about these people and places corrupting or contaminating him. They were not going to cause him to stumble and sin. But this is what we tell Christians, "Don't go there or you will sin like they them." Really? Jesus calls us to be holy, but we don't have to go anywhere and do anything to become holy. We just have to trust him and follow him. When Jesus went they began to follow him and they became holy, not the other way around. Jesus' holiness is contagious, (to borrow a book title from my friend and teacher, Craig Blomberg.)

The idea that in his table fellowship with people, Jesus' holiness was contagious is challenging. Perhaps you may say, bars and dinner are two separate things. Or that some people are "weak" and cannot resist the temptation to get drunk. But you can't have a dinner party with people you don't know. If you want to meet sinners you have to go to the places they go and "hang out," i.e. a bar. Also, this message isn't for the weak. Its for those who desire to "go deeper" in knowing God and his Word or those who think God doesn't want you. He does, and he sent his Son for you to prove it. These are the deeper truths of the Bible. The deeper truths are to be as reckless as Jesus to find the lost coin, where the whole house is torn up to find it, and the lost sheep, where the 99 are left to fend for themselves, and the lost son, who is embraced despite being covered in pig crap and betrayal. Jesus wasn't afraid of being contaminated. He didn't give us a Spirit of timidity, but of power and love and self-discipline. He gave us his Spirit so that we can be holy no matter where we go or who we befriend. You want to go deep, be reckless and follow Jesus.

The Forgotten Father

2009-08-11T20:39:00.000-07:00

I have had the leisure this summer of reading whatever I want for the first time in a long time. One of the more important books I have read is Thomas Smail's The Forgotten Father. This book is not only timely, but also unique. Few seem to have taken up to writing about God the Father in recent times.

For modern westerners, especially in an age where family life is very fragmented and often dysfunctional, probably the most difficult thing to understand about God within Christianity is that He is a Father. There are academic, cultural, and experiential problems we have with God the Father. My parents divorced and remarried like so many others in America. My Mom was awarded primary custody so I only saw my Dad on the weekends. Smail's father died when he was too young to know him. Culturally, Dad's are often depicted as buffoons on TV and the "Leave it to Beaver" days are considered a joke and virtual legend. No one has a father like that. Radical feminist theology viciously attacks all male references to God, suggesting he ought to be castrated (seriously, I have read it). Academically, as I was preparing to write my doctrinal paper to graduate seminary, of the six popular systematic theologies I owned, only Louis Berkhof in 1938 directly addressed the person of the Father. Not Erickson, Grenz, Lewis & Demerest, Pannenberg, or the crusader for male roles, Wayne Grudem. Entire sections are devoted to Jesus and the Spirit, but the Father was elusive, not unlike many people's experiences with their heavenly or earthly father.

The seminary knew this was a problem and addressed it by focusing more directly on the Father in our systematic courses. We were pointed to Smail's book as a resource (Thank you Dr. Payne). I did not benefit from this since the change came after me. I got notes from a classmate (Thank you Erin Swanstrom) on that lecture which I then passed on to all who were theologically poor like me.

The opening chapter of Smail begins as he describes the danger we have in projecting the inadequacy of earthly fathers onto our heavenly one. He does this making interesting insights into the role of a father in the life of his son, as contrasted with his mother. He also describes how inadequate understandings of the roles of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God in three persons affects the life and faith of a Christian and the Church. We must be careful not to pick our favorite person of the Trinity and think that we are engaging fully with who God is. God is Trinity. It is not just how God acts (economic Trinity) but who he is (immanent Trinity). All of his being is involved in all aspects of faith. The Father sends the Spirit and the Son so only he can be approached through His Son and in His Spirit. The Spirit does not operate on His own power and such speech about the "Spirit's" presence in individual's spiritual experiences and churches is empty without understanding the Spirit glorifies the Son and speaks only what the Father wishes. Smail explains each of these clearly. The opening chapter alone is worth the book.

Here we see a key task in theology. Not to talk about God from the perspective of mankind, but as he has revealed himself to us. Thus, God's revelation in Scripture particularly through Jesus Christ that we learn what it means that God is a Father. We learn through Jesus (Jn 14:9) who the Father is and what he is like. We do not know the Father God by extrapolating what earthly fathers are like. Rather, earthly fathers look to God to see what they ought to be like. We learn through Jesus that God is loving, good, worthy of ultimate trust, knows everything about us and he cares for those who seek him as he cares for the birds of the air and lilies of the field (Mt 6:25-34). Thus we learn as Louis Berkhof says, "all earthly fathers are but a faint reflection."

Let me highlight a couple of the points of Smail's book that struck me most. Perhaps I will write more about it later...

1) Father as source - God is the creator of all. Both Old Testament and New Testament depictions of God's fatherhood are careful to avoid pagan notions of God being a literal father. He is the Father of all humanity only in the sense that he created all things. God is primarily revealed as Father in the New Testament. Israel as a nation is described as his son. God's fatherhood of Israel is understood in a social and covenant sense, not any natural sense. His relationship to Israel is one of His election. This setups the greater revelation of the New Testament with Jesus.

2) The Father as Abba - God is the Father of His people. Jesus Christ becomes the first to pray to God the Father and to call him, "Abba," the Aramaic equivalent of "Dad" or "Daddy". This is significant for one reason already mentioned, that Jesus alone reveals the Father. Jesus Christ paves the way for us to become children of God. Only through Jesus and in the Holy Spirit, can the Christian claim to be a child of God. The Father has adopted us to be his children, co-heirs with Christ as his redeemed sons and daughters. We are adopted sons and daughters who through the Spirit can cry, "Abba Father" (Rom 8:15-17). Furthermore, it is significant because Jesus Christ makes it possible for us to have such a close relationship to the greatest Dad of them all. Christ models for us obedience to the Father and having life by his name and not by our own devices. This is what is the significance of being "reconciled to God" means in Scripture. We are reconciled to God the Father through the Son and united by the Holy Spirit. It is the gift of God that we can cry, "Abba Father."

This is, as Smail puts it. The heart of the gospel. There is so much emphasis placed upon Christ being our justification its makes the Father sound like a mean judge waiting to punish us until Jesus our lawyer steps in. NO! The other side of the coin to justification is reconciliation. Christ reconciles us to the Father that we may enjoy his love and provision. It is important to note that Christ cries Abba in the garden of Gethsemane. We not only enjoy the Father's love and gracious provision, but also we will share in Christ's sufferings and the Father's sustaining grace and mercy through whatever troubles life can through (Rom 8:38-39). We live through Christ and become the sons and daughters the Father always intended us to be, carried along by the Holy Spirit who was sent to us when we were adopted. This is a beautiful message and is good news indeed.

In case you desire to read it, a little info about how the book reads:
Smail is writing having experienced the charismatic emphasis on the Holy Spirit and the evangelical emphasis on Jesus Christ. His work is a technical theological work but also is very practical. Though it is not an easy read for most people, it is not cumbersome if you have a college reading level. But this is just a little academic info for those of you interested in checking it out since this is not his motivation. I will reread this book in the future. It will definitely be on the shelf of books I look to frequently.

First Impressions of San Jose

2009-08-02T14:16:00.000-07:00

We have been here almost two months now and I think it is safe to make some initial observations of our new home. My wife and I are constantly asking ourselves what the city is like and how it is different or similar to Denver. There is a lot of emphasis in the "missional church" philosophy to take the posture of a missionary in your community. I think that can be overblown now. Yes, America is extremely diverse but it is still America and the differences between different states like California and Texas are more subtle and often exaggerated.

San Jose is interesting because it is being urbanized like so many other places in the world. However, I feel like the Silicon Valley is one big suburb. There are virtually no tech companies in the downtown area. They are all spread out in business parks throughout the whole valley. As for ministry, it is probably best for us to speak of the urban system as we work with people around the city because that is what it is. Transportation is so easy, people will drive wherever they want to go. Thus, it is a more fluid system, than a self-contained geographic area. Downtown's have become places for entertainment and large events in addition to having old school neighborhoods with a centralized location. One of the large problems across the country is that major grocery chains are lacking or moving out of urban areas. Until a the brand new Safeway opens up in DT San Jose, the only choice in the area is a Hispanic grocery store that has had to expand its inventory to meet the greater needs in the area.

I don't know what it is about California, but I have been cut off more times in the last month than in the last five years in Colorado. I don't know if I am not going fast enough, or because I drive a junky old VW it screams cut me off. I am not sure. Maybe, its because I am the only one in the entire valley of 1 million plus people with out of state plates, particularly CO. Maybe they are Californians who moved to CO, didn't enjoy the warm hospitality of the NO VACANCY bumper stickers and left. I have met a few Californians among others with that their story.

I have now repented of my former "Colorado Native" elitism. Yikes, besides it isn't helping me make friends with the locals out here. Not to mention, most people who live in California love it and never left. Unless they have an accent, safe to say they have always lived here. Note to all you in Colorado, better work on your hospitality.

Merging is murder too. I heard several Californians making comments about drivers in Colorado not knowing how to merge. I now know what they were talking about. What they mean is, in Colorado people will get out of the lane you are merging into or adjust their speed to avoid having to slow down because someone pulled onto the highway in front of them doing 35mph. This leads to people never learning how to properly merge and using the entire on-ramp to wait for the perfect moment and then end up being the moron stopped at the end with cars wizzing by at 70 mph. Out here, you are on your own. You better floor it or you will be forced into the next off ramp.

The mass transit system is more developed and cheaper than CO. I don't get the impression people use it a lot. There is talk of shutting down some underused lines. For all the press about California trying to be very progressive in emissions, they still love cars. But lets be honest, this is an American thing, not just a California one. I had a Korean prof in college say that for Americans, "The automobile is an extension of your personality." (must read with Korean accent or its takes away the force). So true... out here, that personality is BMW and Mercedez Benz. In CO, its SUV and Subaru.

One thing I really enjoy... BIKE LANES!!! They have them on nearly every major road. There is no where you cannot easily ride a bike. Its AWESOME! I love it. Of course, like mass transit, it doesn't look too popular so far. I think I can safely say that cycling is not as popular out here as Colorado, but that shouldn't be a surprise. There is little doubt Denver has the most cyclists per capita.

I still don't feel like I have a good idea of what people do here for fun. Downtown is busy on Friday and Saturday night but not like LoDo, not even close. Its still developing its own scene. Plus, with Santa Cruz 45 minutes away, there is no doubt it is the place to get away. People can camp in the Santa Cruz mountains, go sailing, hit the super cool boardwalk, and all sorts of stuff.

Okay, that is enough for now and I didn't even get a chance to complain about the Cali DMV. Wow, was that an experience. That is a post all its own.

The Honeymoon is Over

2009-07-07T20:57:00.000-07:00

When I spent my first few weeks overseas, doing missions trips, tours or whatever, I always wondered what it would be like to be there for more than two weeks. Vacations and missions trips are great, but only a fool thinks its like that all the time. What is it really like to be there everyday, day in and day out? When your daily comforts and familiarities finally pass away? The places you went to escape and be refreshed are gone. What will it be like when the honeymoon is over?

I always loved to hear the story from missionaries about when the honeymoon was over for them. It varies from person to person, for most it is a few months but rarely more than a year. It comes when all the newness wears off, where the place you now live no longer has its "new car smell". I knew one couple who said their honeymoon was over the day they landed in Istanbul. I have wondered when that day would come for Cassie and I, and it is finally here.

We (our leadership team for the church plant) have all been talking recently about how the transition has been more difficult than we anticipated. So this evening, my lovely and always honest wife began with how she is feeling and struggling with the transition. The anxiety of a new job, the discomfort with having to find time to "be downtown" for the ministry, and the desire to just come home at the end of the day. She confessed she was a little depressed. I breathed a sigh of relief for she had named what I was feeling, depressed. They don't write about this in church planting, missionary, or entrepreneurial books. There is no chapter for the realization that you are not home. There is no chapter on the feeling of depression in the early stages.

I thought I would make my next post about San Jose but I said to my wife after our meeting, "We can't begin to love San Jose, until we are done grieving Denver." We caught ourselves complaining about this valley after a great weekend in Santa Cruz, sailing, eating, drinking, and being extremely impressed by Vintage Faith Church. I loved everything about Denver and I try not to talk about it too much. I had numerous awesome ministries to look to. I had more friends and family than I could keep up with. I was busy and I knew what the weather was going to be like. Now, I am having a hard time finding work and wondering when I might need to resort to a entirely new line of work. The few friends I have are very new and I am still getting to know them. The city feels small and the weather is deceptive. It is perfect during the day and quite chilly at night. I don't know where the good restaurants are. I have to use the GPS to get anywhere. There are a million bikes lanes and I don't know where to ride. What's worse, In-And-Out is as great as when I first arrived. The honeymoon is over barely a month into our time here.

But all is not lost for those in the Lord. As I prayed to end our evening I think the Spirit spoke to me with my own words. We will make friends, and we will find our favorite spots and we will have work that we enjoy. Ultimately what matters is that we are living out of his grace. I think the Spirit reminded me that he is satisfied with us and we need not worry about all that we are doing, to rest in his grace. I was encouraged by our common fellowship together, Letitia, Cassie, Jason and I. As we all transition from the honeymoon to life together in, for, and with San Jose.

I am reminded of Lamentations, written by the prophet Jeremiah as Israel was removed from their homeland to Babylon. I think on a small level we feel a common sense of loss, leaving Denver for San Jose. Jeremiah wept for his former city as they were sent into exile. In Lamentations 3, he cries out that God had caused him much pain and sorrow as a result. I love his honesty which is not often seen. The truth is God is causing much of our pain and sorrow now too. We are experiencing it because we choose to follow him. We have left our Jerusalem for our Babylon and so we are grieving our forming city as we learn to love our new one. In the midst of Jeremiah's angst, of listing the woes God had cast upon him, he writes these comforting words which I now understand more fully,
Lamentations 3:21-32
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.
"The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."
The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him;
let him put his mouth in the dust - there may yet be hope;
let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults.
For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;

A New Kind of Evangelism?

2009-06-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

I must confess, I stand among the many who have criticized Brian McLaren without actually have read much of his work. He has published many books at this point and is not short of critics. He essentially takes the heat for being representative of a new kind of liberal Christianity. I have merely trusted the evaluation of others whose work I admire. I now can at least count More Ready Than you Realize among works of his I have actually read. I have long suspected that he was not as bad as some make him out to be, and I think my suspicion is on target. I do not agree with everything he says, and that is the case with this book, but for the most part he is advocating something many Christians should take very seriously.

I became a Christian within a circle of people involved in Campus Crusade for Christ, a group known for its enthusiasm for evangelism. Ironically, I did not get the standard presentation the group has made famous, the "Four Spiritual Laws". I was merely invited to check out a Bible Study and gradually introduced to the church and eventually God through a relationship with Jesus Christ. I was "born again" and became a "Jesus freak". I became involved in Campus Crusade which has a very pervasive culture to evangelize to the extent that one feels inadequate if they don't do it always. It was a culture within the group that spoke louder that individual assurances otherwise. If you didn't evangelize, something was wrong.

The way this worked is familiar to nearly everyone is our society. A stranger approaches you and almost immediately jumps into a sales pitch about how you are messed up and far from God you are and the only answer is Jesus. Just this last week, Cassie and I are walking out of Target and two Green Peace proselytizers were outside. I was hoping they wouldn't bother us but there was no escape except into the mall full of hundreds of other peddlers. This guy was good, many could learn from his evangelism techniques. He said how messed up the world was due to pollution from technology and that most recycling is really just us passing our trash on to third world countries (which is basically true). The solution, the savior, for this great sin problem and barrier to a Utopian world, was to become a Green Peace member and have faith in their political lobbying (kind of a let down for such a dramatic build up). He was a smooth and confident talker. His transitions were great. He didn't waste time. He had his pen ready for us the moment he was done. It was very impressive and I was tempted.

I knew better; and it's not because of Green Peace and its fundies (they do have their own brand of terrorists). Its because I don't think that is the best way to reach people. I don't make friends that way and I didn't make peace with God that way. I got to know God like people make friends. It was a bit indirect because God works primarily through his people. I came to know Jesus through getting to know Spirit-filled Christians helping see how the Father is was trying to reach me. This is what I think McLaren is attempting to get at in More Ready Than You Realize.

His method is the classic "emerging church" lingo of being conversational. At this point in all the latest trends in church "conversations" has become incredibly cliche. He basically argues that many people are craving to have deeper conversations about their life and what that may have to do with God. He uses the example of years of emails he exchanged with one young women in particular and the genuine listening he did. What he should answer and what he should not and just give her questions to help her think about it. He provides an excellent example, and to my delight, uses Acts 10 with Peter and Cornelius as an example. He comes to many of the same conclusions I did in my recent sermon. He argues that evangelism should not be an event but a process of helping people move closer to Jesus. A great question he asks, is not if you are a Christian or know Jesus as your personal savior, but "How would you describe your relationship to God at this point? Are you strangers, acquaintances, dating, engaged, happily married, unhappily married, separated, divorced, or something in between?" (p. 113)

Chapter 17 is the closest you get to a synopsis or systematic explanation that suits a blog. However, like many recent books like this (a cultural trend it seems) its chapters are not indicative of its content. They are like song or movie titles which are usually apropos phrases from some line in it. Anyways, here are his 7 elements:
1) The relational factor - count conversations, not conversions
2) The narrative factor - listen to their story, share your story and God's story, not just propositions or formulas.
3) The communal factor - expect conversion to normally occur in the context of authentic Christian community, not just in the context of information.
4) The journey factor - see disciple making as a holistic process and unending journey, not just a conversion event.
5) The Holy Spirit factor - believe that God is at work "out there" in everyone and not just "in here" at the church.
6) The learning factor - see evangelism as a part of your own discipleship, not just their's.
7) The missional factor - see evangelism as recruiting people for God's mission on earth, not just people for heaven.

I cannot agree enough with all of these. McLaren is right and a gifted evangelist, pastor, and writer.

If you are looking for a critique I am afraid I will disappoint you. In general, I don't think he is a particularly great theologian. I could nit pick here and there for some of his conclusions about why this works and is the healthiest way to interact with people but it would be counter productive. I do not agree with all his reasons and explanations but I cannot critique his method. It is exemplary.

Instead, I want to simply commend this book to Christians who desire to see what effective evangelism looks like regardless of a "modern" or "postmodern" cultural climate. That is, authentic Christians loving their neighbors in a way that faithfully reflects the triune God. Plus, you can read it in no time.

On naming a blog

2009-06-10T21:52:00.001-07:00

I thought I would start my own blog... a suppose a place to ruminate about life, theology, ministry, and random stuff that will make no difference and seem superfluous. Perhaps you may wonder if they are different? Well, yes and no but I will save that rant for another day.

I was trying to be creative and come up with a cool and catchy name for my blog. I think in a sense I dreamed that if I did that more people would read it... but who am I really trying to impress? I realize now I had a few rules for naming my blog:

1) Its title reflects its content and author, intentional or not. You know it's true and I don't even have to explain why.

2) It should be honest with itself. Please, don't let your blog's name be something of which you can't really do. I am shocked at how many young dudes on the internet seem to think they are the next John Calvin... please. I fancy myself a theologian but I doubt I can write the next "Institutes" with my little meanderings.

3) It should seek to grow into its title. Your name has some kind of eschatological reality in it, i.e. what you name is to an extent what it will become. This is how people name their kids. You try not to give your kid the same name as jerks you met or that are easy for people to make jokes with; but one that has meaning and character.

4) It should be kind of spiritual. For me, this means it should have an allusion to Scripture.

This is how my thought process went. Maybe I can do something like "living theology" but someone already did that who has been published. Dang... besides, its doesn't really get at number four. Then, I thought, I will use my favorite verse, Philippians 3:8 "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" (ESV). My creative... more accurately... my dorky side came out when I thought I would use the Greek word for "rubbish" in the title, (skubalon, Greek for... ahem... crap or s**t. Seriously.). Unfortunately, a lot of other theologically disgruntled guys have already done it. Argh... there is nothing new under the sun.

So I came up with "its rubbish or Jesus" because that is what this is. I am not sure what I think of blogging yet. There is a lot of it that is garbage and there is some that is very good.

So here is my contribution to the endless works of humanity, so let my posts be a big pile of dung or by the grace of God may it be gaining Jesus Christ.