This post deals with a specific part of one of my main arguments, TSM, specifically the material part. If you don't know of it, you should probably read it before this.
Originally I relied purely on the concept of infinity to point to the impossibility, naturally, of having an infinite number of particle layers below the atom. This still holds true, infinity is not a real number and cannot be dealt with by mathematics (and therefore science) directly, we need to use limits. However, a more detailed argument about the results of going on for infinity might help persuade the reader.
If you continue to break subatomic particles down into their parts, each successive particle is smaller in volume and has less mass. If you do this for infinity, or as you do this for infinity, the mass and volume of the particles (or whatever you happen to find down there) becomes zero. This is what philosophy (though it sounds like physics) calls a simple. Another definition or property of simples is that they cannot be divided. So we end up with a weird sort of situation where as we continue to divide particles, eventually (which we never reach), we get to simples which can't be divided. This does make sense to me, but it's a little funny. Anyway...
Beyond the indivisibility of simples, they can't really obey the laws of physics. We know that forces exist between particles, like the electrical force between electrons for instance. But if the world is composed of a quantifiable number of simples that have no mass and experience, therefore, a quantifiable force, then they experience infinite acceleration. As they reach the speed of light instantaneously we run into more problems as their mass cannot be increased (they have no mass), so they even muddle with Einsteins laws. On another point, that of mass, if we are composed of particles with no mass, then everything in the universe has no mass and is in effect kind of not existent.
I have absolutely no claim to have a deep understanding of these things, they're just fun to think about. And as I think about them, I am struck more and more with the fact that this universe and all that composes it, it help up in existence purely by the fiat power of God.
31 July 2012
truth and grace
I owe this post in large part to a friend of mine, Matt Richards, who I hope does not mind me putting him in a post.
Essentially it is this: when you are around people who are hurting, just being their friend or whatever, do not be afraid to challenge them, to say things strongly, to call them out on something. I'm sorry it's kind of hard to describe without getting into the lower categories. CAVEAT: only call Christians out with these principles. Non-Christians do not necessarily believe the underlying truths that support these challenges. We should never impose our beliefs on others, only offer it as tantalizing and true. Perhaps with non-Christians the best you can do is promise your support and care.
Essentially it is this: when you are around people who are hurting, just being their friend or whatever, do not be afraid to challenge them, to say things strongly, to call them out on something. I'm sorry it's kind of hard to describe without getting into the lower categories. CAVEAT: only call Christians out with these principles. Non-Christians do not necessarily believe the underlying truths that support these challenges. We should never impose our beliefs on others, only offer it as tantalizing and true. Perhaps with non-Christians the best you can do is promise your support and care.
1) Do not do everything to make them feel better, saying it isn't as bad as it seems, to make the world seem easier than it is. IT ISN'T! That's why, along with the devils lies, that they are down in the first place. Jesus says there will be pain in John 16:33 "“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Speak instead that God is stronger than the world and will always give us that strength. Tell them (and yourself when you find yourself down) to rely on that strength. Romans 8:35-37 (quoting Psalm 44:22) "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."
2) Often they are believing lies. Call them out on this and ask them to fight against the lies. For women it is often 'I'm not valuable or loved.' for men it's like 'I'm not doing the right thing, I'm not strong enough' or for all of us 'Everyone hates me' and 'There is nothing to life beyond this pain, it's inescapable.' Tell them that they are believing these lies, they aren't true, and they should reject and fight them.
3) Oftentimes hurting people having coping mechanisms, things they do or say or think in order to retreat behind a wall or reach out for what they need so desperately. Most of the time these things are wrong and should not be allowed to continue. God gives us pain in order to make us more dependent on him, so dependence on something other than God CANNOT be tolerated. It is a lie and should be demolished. You may thing that denying this person this coping behavior may hurt them. Don't be afraid, it probably will. But the surgeons knife also hurts, God's trials to prove and refine our faith hurt. Hurting is good sometimes.
Proverbs 9:8
"Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you."
qualia again
I highly encourage you to read the wiki on qualia, it is quite excellent in presenting definitions and arguments for and against the non-physical world. What I'll explain here is very brief.
The definition of qualia is a little complicated. However, essentially the only qualia ever discussed is color, so when I saw qualia, just think of color. In long discussions with an atheist friend of mine in college, he seemed to say that color is an illusion, something that our brain conjures up in order for us to think about what we see - it's a filtration or a language. Here is the thought that inspired this post: when he describes our brain communicating color to us, why is he separating us from our brains? He is, in effect, creating two characters. For a language is only created in the context of at least two independent entities. By describing it this way, he is saying that we are not our brains, we are something deeper. What is this? I have no idea what to call it. Labeling it 'soul' might be a little odd, 'will' seems a little off topic. Anyway, I hope you get the idea.
If we did not have this soul, we would not have the perception of thought, of color, or of anything for that matter. We would simply be an incredibly complicated chemical machine that has no consciousness of its own.
You think of yourself, atheist, to be your body. Yet you yourself are one, distinct perceptual entity, and your body is simply a continuous array of matter, only distinct from the matter around it by an illusion in our brains. What part of that matter makes you who you are? How much of your body could we cut away and still have you? If we switched your brain with someone else's, would you wake up in their body or in your own? If we somehow hooked up a second brain to your nervous system, would you have two thoughts going on at once, would you be in mental conversation with that poor other fellow, or just be a whole lot smarter? What if we took only your left brain and switched it? Your right? Your spinal column with basic motor functions? Your other singular brain parts such as the hypothalamus?
Who ARE you? or perhaps as you might say, WHAT are you?
The color we see, the sensation of fabric you're wearing, the feeling of gravity underneath your feet, sound, taste, even thought itself, all testifies to a deeper you, and to the one who created you.
Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."
Psalm 19:1-4, Psalm 97:6 "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night and night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is no heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the earth."
P.S. you may say that animals see color, so do we claim they have souls? No, think as you would explain it. All of their physical functions may work without having a consciousness. I don't know if they have one...I'm not going to even make a guess.
The definition of qualia is a little complicated. However, essentially the only qualia ever discussed is color, so when I saw qualia, just think of color. In long discussions with an atheist friend of mine in college, he seemed to say that color is an illusion, something that our brain conjures up in order for us to think about what we see - it's a filtration or a language. Here is the thought that inspired this post: when he describes our brain communicating color to us, why is he separating us from our brains? He is, in effect, creating two characters. For a language is only created in the context of at least two independent entities. By describing it this way, he is saying that we are not our brains, we are something deeper. What is this? I have no idea what to call it. Labeling it 'soul' might be a little odd, 'will' seems a little off topic. Anyway, I hope you get the idea.
If we did not have this soul, we would not have the perception of thought, of color, or of anything for that matter. We would simply be an incredibly complicated chemical machine that has no consciousness of its own.
You think of yourself, atheist, to be your body. Yet you yourself are one, distinct perceptual entity, and your body is simply a continuous array of matter, only distinct from the matter around it by an illusion in our brains. What part of that matter makes you who you are? How much of your body could we cut away and still have you? If we switched your brain with someone else's, would you wake up in their body or in your own? If we somehow hooked up a second brain to your nervous system, would you have two thoughts going on at once, would you be in mental conversation with that poor other fellow, or just be a whole lot smarter? What if we took only your left brain and switched it? Your right? Your spinal column with basic motor functions? Your other singular brain parts such as the hypothalamus?
Who ARE you? or perhaps as you might say, WHAT are you?
The color we see, the sensation of fabric you're wearing, the feeling of gravity underneath your feet, sound, taste, even thought itself, all testifies to a deeper you, and to the one who created you.
Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."
Psalm 19:1-4, Psalm 97:6 "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night and night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is no heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the earth."
P.S. you may say that animals see color, so do we claim they have souls? No, think as you would explain it. All of their physical functions may work without having a consciousness. I don't know if they have one...I'm not going to even make a guess.
27 July 2012
Occams razor again
Occams razor (or Ockham) is a principle in philosophy that suggests this: if you have two explanations for something, you should chose the one that is simpler.
Multiple times I have seen debates head in this direction. Which is simpler, atheism or theism, the universe or God?
I used to say that God, being a single object, was simpler than the uncountable individual particles in the universe. Unfortunately, the validity of this approach depends on the definition of simple. (By the way, philosophy is all about definitions).
Is simple about having fewer objects, less complex/detailed objects, something easier to understand, something that can be described with fewer words or concepts, having no excess concepts than are needed to solve the problem, some other measure, or some combination of measures?
I did some digging around and found a stanford article. It seems that people tend to use two measures of simplicity: the number of objects (elegance, syntactic simplicity) and the number of kinds of objects (ontological simplicity).
Even with these two measures it is a little difficult. Looking at the universe and considering its simplicity from a physics standpoint almost no one claims that the universe is only one object, but rather that it is made up of innumerable small ones. As for its ontological score, that is not yet known. My physics professor told me that, as far as they know, the electron and...the gluon?... have proven to be fundamental particles for a long time. Wikipedia mentions quite a few others. String theory, claiming that everything is fundamentally vibrating strings of energy, fails the physics-philosophy definition quite readily. For if it can vibrate relative to itself, it certainly has multiple parts.
The theist side is more confusing. In one sense, Christians claim only one original object - God - who then scores as high as can be expected on both measures. However, some may claim that God is not one object, pointing to the trinity. However, I postulate that the different persons of God are simply ways for us to start understanding a single God that is far more complex and on a higher level than we are.
So who wins, God or the universe? From a purely definition standpoint, it's God (unless you try to argue that God is more than one object). However, it can certainly be posed that God is infinitely complex, not a measure used for formal simplicity but certainly deserving of consideration.
So in the end it's up to you. What do you consider more simple? Or on another strain, do you prefer a single origin/starting point for all things or can you accept the assumption, the starting point, of all matter individually?
And lastly, we must remember that Occams razor is more of a philosophical preference rather than something that determines truth. No fundamental observation about the universe says that the simpler explanation MUST be true.
Multiple times I have seen debates head in this direction. Which is simpler, atheism or theism, the universe or God?
I used to say that God, being a single object, was simpler than the uncountable individual particles in the universe. Unfortunately, the validity of this approach depends on the definition of simple. (By the way, philosophy is all about definitions).
Is simple about having fewer objects, less complex/detailed objects, something easier to understand, something that can be described with fewer words or concepts, having no excess concepts than are needed to solve the problem, some other measure, or some combination of measures?
I did some digging around and found a stanford article. It seems that people tend to use two measures of simplicity: the number of objects (elegance, syntactic simplicity) and the number of kinds of objects (ontological simplicity).
Even with these two measures it is a little difficult. Looking at the universe and considering its simplicity from a physics standpoint almost no one claims that the universe is only one object, but rather that it is made up of innumerable small ones. As for its ontological score, that is not yet known. My physics professor told me that, as far as they know, the electron and...the gluon?... have proven to be fundamental particles for a long time. Wikipedia mentions quite a few others. String theory, claiming that everything is fundamentally vibrating strings of energy, fails the physics-philosophy definition quite readily. For if it can vibrate relative to itself, it certainly has multiple parts.
The theist side is more confusing. In one sense, Christians claim only one original object - God - who then scores as high as can be expected on both measures. However, some may claim that God is not one object, pointing to the trinity. However, I postulate that the different persons of God are simply ways for us to start understanding a single God that is far more complex and on a higher level than we are.
So who wins, God or the universe? From a purely definition standpoint, it's God (unless you try to argue that God is more than one object). However, it can certainly be posed that God is infinitely complex, not a measure used for formal simplicity but certainly deserving of consideration.
So in the end it's up to you. What do you consider more simple? Or on another strain, do you prefer a single origin/starting point for all things or can you accept the assumption, the starting point, of all matter individually?
And lastly, we must remember that Occams razor is more of a philosophical preference rather than something that determines truth. No fundamental observation about the universe says that the simpler explanation MUST be true.
naturalism discredits reason
This post was sparked by reading the "Naturalism" chapter of "Worldview in Conflict" by Ronald H. Nash. The core of his argument is that naturalism, believe that only the physical world exists, suggests that all reasonings are change reactions of chemicals in our brains, and therefore discredits the reasoning that support naturalism to begin with, a self-defeat. Lennox brought this point up in a similar way in his talk with Dawkins. See time stamp 12:20 my post "on Lennox vs. Dawkins 10/21/08".
On the surface, this argument seems valid. Looking deeper, we should question it. Looking still deeper, we can still find some good, valid points.
First of all, the basic proposition of naturalism is that nothing exists in the real world save that which is the physical, material world contained in space and time - scientific things by the cultural definition. There are no distinct objects, though they may appear to be, all is simply a giant conflagration of interacting particles. Second, Nash says it naturally follows that all events, all states of being in the universe, are mere products of the interactions of everything else. In a certain sense this may be seen as chance, but it seems to me that a good accompanying tenet of naturalists is determinism. Determinism is a philosophical school of thought which holds that if anyone had perfect and complete knowledge of the state of the universe right now, they could perfectly and accurately predict the future state of things any amount of time into the future. Essentially, there is no chance.
But that is beyond the point. If the thoughts in our minds are simple interactions of chemicals and do not have any sort of individual identity to them, they cannot be assigned the term truth. On the surface this is true. However, Dawkins combated this idea by saying that the natural selection engine of evolution tends to produce truth in our minds.
In this sense he is holding to the pragmatic definition of truth - "what works". In this sense we have diminished the standard of truth a little. What we know to be true, how we use reasoning, how we perceive and think, is simply what has allowed us to survive better than the monkeys for the last 15 million years. Depending on your aspirations for greatness, this might be old news to you, or it might be very disheartening. Besides, the process of natural selection still goes on. Some of us, arguably perhaps most of us, are being left behind by a few of our species that are adapting better, thinking better. How do we know which ones of us are thinking better? Who's thinking is valid? I think it is reasonable to accept that our basic understanding of logic and reason can be depended on.
However, it is certainly not something that can be wholly depended on. A second doubt can be placed on our evolutionary, pragmatic definition of truth. A great claim of atheists and others is that mankind has invented Gods for their own purposes, to help them deal with the pain and uncertainty of life. Mankind has deceived itself to dull the pain. Could it not also be so that all of mankind has deceived itself into thinking that its method of reasoning is valid? And if we have deceived ourselves, is there any sense in which we can discover out deceit, especially through the reasoning which may be false? In this way the pragmatic definition of truth breaks down even more.
Of course this argument may be turned around on Christians, or anyone for that matter. Many groups and individuals would agree that many people have deceived themselves in some way. In fact, it's so fundamental and annoying that philosophers might dismiss it just because it's so annoying for everyone. However, some groups may have explanations that waylay the problem. For instance, Christians claim that it is the devil that speaks lies to us, and we simply believe them, that we want our own way and so ignore Gods plan, that we idolize the good things God has made and so deceive ourselves into thinking they are worthy of our worship.
So, does naturalism discredit the reasoning that derived it? Meh... At the least it heavily lowers the standard of truth. I think there are a number of other, better ways to attack naturalism. Lack of moral standards and qualia would be two of them.
On the surface, this argument seems valid. Looking deeper, we should question it. Looking still deeper, we can still find some good, valid points.
First of all, the basic proposition of naturalism is that nothing exists in the real world save that which is the physical, material world contained in space and time - scientific things by the cultural definition. There are no distinct objects, though they may appear to be, all is simply a giant conflagration of interacting particles. Second, Nash says it naturally follows that all events, all states of being in the universe, are mere products of the interactions of everything else. In a certain sense this may be seen as chance, but it seems to me that a good accompanying tenet of naturalists is determinism. Determinism is a philosophical school of thought which holds that if anyone had perfect and complete knowledge of the state of the universe right now, they could perfectly and accurately predict the future state of things any amount of time into the future. Essentially, there is no chance.
But that is beyond the point. If the thoughts in our minds are simple interactions of chemicals and do not have any sort of individual identity to them, they cannot be assigned the term truth. On the surface this is true. However, Dawkins combated this idea by saying that the natural selection engine of evolution tends to produce truth in our minds.
In this sense he is holding to the pragmatic definition of truth - "what works". In this sense we have diminished the standard of truth a little. What we know to be true, how we use reasoning, how we perceive and think, is simply what has allowed us to survive better than the monkeys for the last 15 million years. Depending on your aspirations for greatness, this might be old news to you, or it might be very disheartening. Besides, the process of natural selection still goes on. Some of us, arguably perhaps most of us, are being left behind by a few of our species that are adapting better, thinking better. How do we know which ones of us are thinking better? Who's thinking is valid? I think it is reasonable to accept that our basic understanding of logic and reason can be depended on.
However, it is certainly not something that can be wholly depended on. A second doubt can be placed on our evolutionary, pragmatic definition of truth. A great claim of atheists and others is that mankind has invented Gods for their own purposes, to help them deal with the pain and uncertainty of life. Mankind has deceived itself to dull the pain. Could it not also be so that all of mankind has deceived itself into thinking that its method of reasoning is valid? And if we have deceived ourselves, is there any sense in which we can discover out deceit, especially through the reasoning which may be false? In this way the pragmatic definition of truth breaks down even more.
Of course this argument may be turned around on Christians, or anyone for that matter. Many groups and individuals would agree that many people have deceived themselves in some way. In fact, it's so fundamental and annoying that philosophers might dismiss it just because it's so annoying for everyone. However, some groups may have explanations that waylay the problem. For instance, Christians claim that it is the devil that speaks lies to us, and we simply believe them, that we want our own way and so ignore Gods plan, that we idolize the good things God has made and so deceive ourselves into thinking they are worthy of our worship.
So, does naturalism discredit the reasoning that derived it? Meh... At the least it heavily lowers the standard of truth. I think there are a number of other, better ways to attack naturalism. Lack of moral standards and qualia would be two of them.
24 July 2012
Marriage at the last supper
The
following are not my own words, they come from the blog of the band Tenth
Avenue North, Mike to be specifically, which can be found
at http://tenthavenuenorth.com/thelatest/category/journal, under July
19th, 2009.
It
shows how the main theme of the last supper was probably marriage between JC
and his disciples, with a lot of historical/cultural/contextual info, good
rhetoric, and good fun. Please read:
The
disciples must have thought Jesus was crazy. Seriously. I can only imagine
their faces. So confused, so perplexed, uncomfortably glancing back and forth
between each other, wondering if they had misheard, wondering if someone could
help them understand. Meanwhile, you got Jesus, unnerved, unfazed, just sitting
there cooly, looking them dead in the eyes, asking them to marry Him. Yes, you
heard me right…marry Him. With nothing more than a cup of wine, no less, the
Lamb of God was proposing. So you can imagine their confusion right? “Wait.
What? Come again? Jesus, you feeling alright brotha? I mean, I don’t think that
I’m exactly what you’re looking for! You want to think about what you’re saying
for a minute?”
Of
course, we don’t see it that way, because we’re not Jewish. But they were, and
they did. See it that way, I mean. “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood
of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” We
hear these words and we think Communion, Eucharist, Last Supper. The disciples
heard this and they’re thinking wedding bells.
Apparently, “In those days,”
when a Hebrew man decided to take for Himself a Hebrew woman, he’d go to his
father and say, “Her, Dad. I want to make little rabbis with her.” So then the
dad would go to her dad and they’d talk camels, or sheep, or whatever the
payment was going to be, and after they’d settled on a figure, the groom would
call in all his friends and family, set a table in the middle of a room, set
the aforementioned girl down in front of said table, break out a cup, fill it
with wine, and set it in front of her saying, “This is my covenant with you,
take and drink it.” And if she did, that was her answer. With a simple gulp and
swig, she was saying, “I do,” and that was it. No rings, no fancy songs or
dinners, just a cup and an invitation. And oh yeah, all their relatives sitting
in the room watching. I mean, talk about pressure. But yeah, that was it. Her lips
to the glass was the same as saying, “I accept your life, and I give you mine
in return.”
Now, If the girl said yes, “in those days,” she would then go
immediately back to her home, where she would be known as, “one who was bought
with a price.” It’s true. That was her name. Kind of long and tedious, and
extremely hard to shout out in a game of soccer, but that was it. And with her
new identity, she would go back to her town, and start preparing for the
wedding. And really, she’d just start waiting for future husband to finish what
he had to do and come and get her. What was he doing? Well, during the
engagement, the groom’s primary responsibility was to build a mansion for him
and his bride to be.
Now girls, before you get too excited, let me explain. “Mansion”
in Hebrew means, “apartment.” And what’s even better is that this apartment was
actually more like an addition, because the groom would build it onto his
parents pre-existing house. Yes. You heard me correctly. Their first home would
be with the in-laws. And right now, I can just imagine how many girls are
thinking, “oh please don’t let me marry a Jewish boy.” It’s true though. He
would build his “mansion” onto the family “insula,” which is what they would
call the family dwelling. You see, the entire family would just keep building
on and building on until you had what was basically a city block, all comprised
of one big bustling Jewish family. (And you thought My Big Fat Greek Wedding
was bad) Crazy, but also true.
Well, as you can imagine, this process could
take quite a while. I mean, it’s a house for crying out loud. Some scholars say
it was six months, or even a year before the poor guy was finished. And get
this, the only one who could decide if it was finished was the father. So he’d
be working and working and working, and every day looking to his dad, saying,
“Are we done yet?” And I can just imagine the father messing with him. Taking
his time, looking it over, and then just saying, “Almost.” Could you imagine?
Oh, the agony! And to top it all off, the groom and the bride weren’t even
allowed to talk to each other. Nothing. Nada. Zip. They couldn’t see or speak
to one another during the entire engagement, except for one outlet. The best
man. He’d be the instant messenger if you will. Taking notes back and forth
between the doting couple. And those moments were probably pretty funny.
“Here’s your note, ‘one who was bought with a price.’ Check yes, no, or maybe.”
Unbelievable.
But you know, how much more beautiful would that day be when the
father finally approved? That day when the groom was finally finished, and he
could gather up his homeboys, or ‘groomsmen’ as we westerners would say, and
imperiously march into his fiance’s town? Oh it was sweet. And that’s just what
he’d do. He’d get his bridal party together and they’d come to her house, and
without any prior announcement or advanced warning, they would blow a shofar,
which was a ram’s horn that served as a trumpet, and upon hearing it, the
pining bride would come bustling out her front door and practically straight
down the aisle, and into her beloved’s arms. The period of waiting and wanting
would be over, and the two would be united at last to consummate their
long-awaited union. Joy. Happiness. Little Rabbis… You know, all the good stuff.
So
then, back to the dinner table with the 12. Can you sense where this is going?
Jesus breaks into this marriage proposal, cup out, wine-filled, offering his
covenant with them. They accept. “I do” to Jesus. Gulp, gulp. “I accept your
life, and I give you mine in return.” So then, what does Jesus do? He explains
how they have to spend some time apart. Naturally. Only this is going to be
longer than a year. However, the best man was coming. His name? The Holy
Spirit. So when Jesus leaves, off to get busy preparing a “mansion” for them,
(“in my Father’s house there are many rooms”) He doesn’t leave them alone, but
instead sends His own mediator, the Holy Spirit, to keep the messages going
between Himself and his Beloved. Meanwhile, the bride is left behind in her
town, keeping watch, day and night, not knowing the day, time or hour that the
bridegroom will appear. Until finally, after a long-awaited return, and we’re
talking seriously, long awaited; centuries and milleniums waited people, after
this much awaited consummation, the Father alone will announce that the time
has come, and Jesus will be coming back for all His faithful, all who are His
bride. With a posse of angels and loud trumpet call of their own, He will take
us home, to the marriage supper of the Lamb! And we will share in
ever-increasing joy and intimacy with Him forever and ever. As C.S. Lewis so
brilliantly articulated, “Further up and further in!”
I don’t know about you
but in light of this information, it puts Jesus in an entirely different light.
He’s no longer an ideal, or a belief system. He’s a person. And to put it more
precisely, He is a groom in love with his bride. And not just any bride, but a
wayward, adulterous bride. A bride who is half-hearted at best, chasing other
lovers and other interests more than Him. And still, He keeps on loving. He
keeps on being faithful, He keeps his promises.
In the Old Testament, He tells
his prophet Hosea to marry an unfaithful woman, to show everyone the way He
loves his people. (see Hosea 3) In the New, He tells us that divorce will never
be an option for Him. (Phil 1:6) Over and over and over again, From Isaiah, to
Ezekiel, to Ephesians, He tells us that we are not just his children, but we
are his bride. Faithless though we might be, we are His, and He is ours.
And
like I said before, this changes everything. It changes the way I view prayer.
It changes the way I view marriage. It even changes the reasons that I obey. As
Donald Miller once said, “it’s a far different thing to break a rule, than it
is to cheat on a lover.” I only pray that it changes things for you.
I don’t know about you
but in light of this information, it puts Jesus in an entirely different light.
He’s no longer an ideal, or a belief system. He’s a person. And to put it more
precisely, He is a groom in love with his bride. And not just any bride, but a
wayward, adulterous bride. A bride who is half-hearted at best, chasing other
lovers and other interests more than Him. And still, He keeps on loving. He
keeps on being faithful, He keeps his promises.
In the Old Testament, He tells
his prophet Hosea to marry an unfaithful woman, to show everyone the way He
loves his people. (see Hosea 3) In the New, He tells us that divorce will never
be an option for Him. (Phil 1:6) Over and over and over again, From Isaiah, to
Ezekiel, to Ephesians, He tells us that we are not just his children, but we
are his bride. Faithless though we might be, we are His, and He is ours.
And
like I said before, this changes everything. It changes the way I view prayer.
It changes the way I view marriage. It even changes the reasons that I obey. As
Donald Miller once said, “it’s a far different thing to break a rule, than it
is to cheat on a lover.” I only pray that it changes things for you.
In the Old Testament,
He tells his prophet Hosea to marry an unfaithful woman, to show everyone the
way He loves his people. (see Hosea 3) In the New, He tells us that divorce
will never be an option for Him. (Phil 1:6) Over and over and over again, From
Isaiah, to Ezekiel, to Ephesians, He tells us that we are not just his
children, but we are his bride. Faithless though we might be, we are His, and
He is ours.
And like I said before, this changes everything. It changes the way
I view prayer. It changes the way I view marriage. It even changes the reasons
that I obey. As Donald Miller once said, “it’s a far different thing to break a
rule, than it is to cheat on a lover.” I only pray that it changes things for
you.
And like I said before,
this changes everything. It changes the way I view prayer. It changes the way I
view marriage. It even changes the reasons that I obey. As Donald Miller once
said, “it’s a far different thing to break a rule, than it is to cheat on a
lover.” I only pray that it changes things for you.
And
people still want to insist that Christianity is no more than a religion.
15 July 2012
thoughts from 4 atheist talks
Recently I have realized that I do a lot of thinking in a void, that is, without much input from other people, especially atheists and those of other religions. So today I went on a search for various debates on youtube, especially ones including Richard Dawkins. Some I came across tried to make Dawkins look incapable, some were in favor of atheists, some were just recordings. What follows are some short thoughts brought about by these videos:
Abraham and Eden: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjx7hZbqmjQ&feature=related
Occams razor and Jesus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4uG3qC6KBw&feature=related
The flood, animal distribution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdrSkQqNj6M&feature=related
Testimony vs. arguments: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVCXM-KBRoo
(1) Testimony vs. arguments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVCXM-KBRoo
The video features two or three men discussing the hypocrisy Christian apologists use logical arguments when talking with atheists, but personally came to faith through more emotional religious experiences, also saying that many Christians come to faith emotionally and then read apologetics books to validate such faith.
a) Both of these observations I agree with at least in part. It seems odd to me that we apologists do not at least mention the way we were converted. Personally, I was interested and motivated by the lives of Christians around me, I saw that their behavior could not be driven by a simple delusion or fake enthusiasm. In a sense this is emotional, but it is related to my interpretation of the ontological argument as well. Furthermore, I was actually brought to faith through arguments. You can search for 'TSM' on the labels column for the main argument. I also had a great drive and search for meaning that kind of peeled back the layers on my assumptions about the universe, and I came to realize, through analysis, the all-encompassing fundamental before-everything nature of God. "In the beginning God..." start with him.
b) Personal arguments of religious experience do have some validity, however. If you have really experienced God touching you in some way that is tangible, it is literal empirical evidence. Often it is claimed that God is unobservable to us, but perhaps he is not. Two ways come to mind. Miracles happen, I have witnessed three, one of which was quite clear. Second, God can be present personally. In a way this cannot be replicated (and thus not scientific), I can't ask God to touch you on demand, but if you seek him he has promised to show up. It may not be immediate, but he will sometime.
c) In regards to reading apologetics after conversion to back up ones faith, is this not like science? If you have a hypothesis, you test it out. If you have a observed scientific law, you still test it over and over again in schools, and sometimes you even question it. Recently some researchers are wondering whether they have observed particles breaking the universal speed limit of light.
(2) The flood and animal distribution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdrSkQqNj6M&feature=related
Here Dawkins is claiming that the current distribution of animals across the earth support evolution rather than what we would expect coming from the flood, given the isolated nature of Australia and the Arctic He observes that animals all across the world are somewhat different, but have striking similarities. Also, they are evenly spread out.
I do not claim to be an expert on the subject by any means, but I have two thoughts:
a) From the evolutionary model, would we not expect a greater diversity of animals from Australia to the rest of the world? If they evolved independently by random chance, why on earth are they so similar? I would say that the similarities more support a younger earth and a contained number of species.
b) It is true that perhaps the evolutionary model suggests a more even distribution than the story of the flood. But let us take the propagation of humans, for instance. It is claimed that we began somewhere around Egypt or Iran or Turkey (hmm...right where they think Mt. Ararat is). But in the 5000 years of recorded history, we have spread immensely. We get too populated and so the more adventurous of us go looking for more open land and bountiful opportunity. Could not other animals do the same? It only takes 3 years to traverse the silk road across Asia, and creationists estimate they had around 6000 to 8000 to do it. I'll take that.
c) How did animals get onto Australia? I'm thinking Pangaea. I know a lot of Christians will run me up the rail for this because the Pangaea seems like a non-Christian concept. But does anything in the bible seem to dissuade us from the Pangaea? And personally, I saw how the continents fit together even before the concept was introduced to me. Besides, the pangaea almost supports the flood. What else is of such a magnitude to force such a split? It had never rained before, and enough water came out from under the earth to cover it, that's pretty big. There is a man ten generations after Noah who's name is Peleg, which means "when the earth was divided". This may indicate Pangaea breakup or it might be indicating Babel, I don't know which.
Anyway, animals could have spread to Australia before the breakup.
(3) Occams razor and Jesus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4uG3qC6KBw&feature=related
This is a video that tries to make it look like a college professor, Lennox, 'beat' Dawkins in a debate. I will first talk about a piece of content that I liked, and then comment on the debate aspect.
By the way, I don't like the way they presented this debate. Personally I don't care about winning, I just want to learn. I think we've won when we come to a mutual understanding, either ending in disagreements about evidence that needs more research, convincing one person, or some other sort of stalemate.
a) The video does all the work for me on my favorite point: if you ask 'who created God?', then let us ask 'who created the universe?'. For if you believe that the universe has eternally existed, that time, space, and matter are fundamental assumptions, what is the difference between that and God? You may argue that we cannot observe God, but I look to God as the one upholding the existence of the very universe you so revere. We agree on the laws of nature, on science, you simply claim that the things which science describes are self-evident, whereas we look to one who designed and upholds them. A common counter argument to this regards Occams razor, which is a philosophical principle. The principle states that if we are confronted with two explanations, we should chose the simpler one. So which is simpler, God or evolution? The creationist model may look like adding God to the atheistic model (which would make the theist model more complex and therefore inferior), but I like to pose it as the uncountable individual particles, cubic meters of space, and seconds of time that make up the universe versus the one infinitely good and powerful God who designed it all based on a purpose.
b) i) They begin discussion with the mechanical function of evolution and whether God made it, move into the razor, and then the Christian seems to change the subject a little rudely to Jesus. I'm not sure if he was really using a proper argument or whether he just went and hid behind a ton of Christianese language. If he had a real argument I think he was saying that the way the world is, perhaps our need for justice, is evidence that God designed it, not random chance. But if he did have an argument, he didn't make it clear. ii) Dawkins was pretty clearly shown to contradict his own book. Unless the christian was lying (which I would doubt with such a concrete question), Dawkins claimed in his book "The God Delusion" that most historians disagree that Jesus even existed. In the debate, Dawkins seems to admit a couple times that Jesus may have existed. In fact, he even says once "maybe I alluded to the possibility that some historians think Jesus never exist[ed]. I take that back. Jesus existed [?]ly." I don't want to make fun of Dawkins, because the Christian professor also rudely changed the subject. All I take from this is a personal warning. I'm not a genius, and I can certainly make mistakes too. If I go into a debate, I'd prefer to make a disclaimer that I may take a while to think and have long pauses, actually take those pauses when I'm confused, and never have to bite my words or dishonor anyone with whom I talk.
(4) Abraham and Eden
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjx7hZbqmjQ&feature=related
Dawkins talks with a Christian mostly with the question "Why did God have to sacrifice Jesus, couldn't he have just forgiven us outright?", and I do not think this Christian does a very good job at debating.
a) Dawkins points out the ugly story of how Abraham sacrifices Issac and how God sacrificed Jesus. Why does it have to be so terrible? Why can't God just forgive us? The Christian first points to the good life of Jesus and how that's not ugly, talks about Adam sin needing a parallel in Jesus, and then points to Gods love in giving us Jesus. None of these I think are proper answers, at least explained the way the Christian did. Here's my answer: God just can't forgive us of our sins because then he would be saying in effect "I really don't care if you sin". You forgive people because they actually haven't hurt you, or rather, they haven't shaken you to the core, you still have something to hold on to. In the case of Christians, we can forgive because no matter what God loves us. If God forgives sin outright without sacrifice, he's saying "That didn't really affect me" but it DOES, because God not only wants a relationship with us, he wants our good, that is, he wants to turn us into awesome people. That awesomeness is a perfect standard, and he can't just ignore it and let us sin. So he has to both save us, but also punish our sin through Jesus.
b) One minor point Dawkins repeats is that of original sin. How did taking the fruit reverberate down through generations? The Christian does not answer this very well either. He references Romans 5, which parallels Adam and Jesus, the first the bringer of sin and death, the second the bringer of life. Now, I don't think my view on original sin is very common, so I won't say it's very certain, it's just some ideas. Let's parallel Jesus and Adam again: Jesus made the opportunity for us to be saved, we become saved by deciding to take what he is offering. In the same way, Adam, by sinning, showed the rest of humanity to come that evil existed, that is was an option. We do evil by accepting that invitation. In this way, original sin is not something latent in DNA, it's just the fact that when Adam sinned, death (which results from living without consideration of God and the way he made the universe) came into the world. To make it more stark, God cursed the ground because of Adam to demonstrate that sin brings death. Now we live in a world that is broken, and therefore it offers us opportunity and example to sin. Adam was the bringer of this in the sense that he was the first, that he introduced it, and that he is the father of us all. In ancient times (and in other parts of the world now) ancestry was very important, so if Adam our ancestor sinned, we in the ancient culture are seen to take on his actions much stronger that our current culture trains us to think.
Abraham and Eden: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjx7hZbqmjQ&feature=related
Occams razor and Jesus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4uG3qC6KBw&feature=related
The flood, animal distribution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdrSkQqNj6M&feature=related
Testimony vs. arguments: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVCXM-KBRoo
(1) Testimony vs. arguments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVCXM-KBRoo
The video features two or three men discussing the hypocrisy Christian apologists use logical arguments when talking with atheists, but personally came to faith through more emotional religious experiences, also saying that many Christians come to faith emotionally and then read apologetics books to validate such faith.
a) Both of these observations I agree with at least in part. It seems odd to me that we apologists do not at least mention the way we were converted. Personally, I was interested and motivated by the lives of Christians around me, I saw that their behavior could not be driven by a simple delusion or fake enthusiasm. In a sense this is emotional, but it is related to my interpretation of the ontological argument as well. Furthermore, I was actually brought to faith through arguments. You can search for 'TSM' on the labels column for the main argument. I also had a great drive and search for meaning that kind of peeled back the layers on my assumptions about the universe, and I came to realize, through analysis, the all-encompassing fundamental before-everything nature of God. "In the beginning God..." start with him.
b) Personal arguments of religious experience do have some validity, however. If you have really experienced God touching you in some way that is tangible, it is literal empirical evidence. Often it is claimed that God is unobservable to us, but perhaps he is not. Two ways come to mind. Miracles happen, I have witnessed three, one of which was quite clear. Second, God can be present personally. In a way this cannot be replicated (and thus not scientific), I can't ask God to touch you on demand, but if you seek him he has promised to show up. It may not be immediate, but he will sometime.
c) In regards to reading apologetics after conversion to back up ones faith, is this not like science? If you have a hypothesis, you test it out. If you have a observed scientific law, you still test it over and over again in schools, and sometimes you even question it. Recently some researchers are wondering whether they have observed particles breaking the universal speed limit of light.
(2) The flood and animal distribution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdrSkQqNj6M&feature=related
Here Dawkins is claiming that the current distribution of animals across the earth support evolution rather than what we would expect coming from the flood, given the isolated nature of Australia and the Arctic He observes that animals all across the world are somewhat different, but have striking similarities. Also, they are evenly spread out.
I do not claim to be an expert on the subject by any means, but I have two thoughts:
a) From the evolutionary model, would we not expect a greater diversity of animals from Australia to the rest of the world? If they evolved independently by random chance, why on earth are they so similar? I would say that the similarities more support a younger earth and a contained number of species.
b) It is true that perhaps the evolutionary model suggests a more even distribution than the story of the flood. But let us take the propagation of humans, for instance. It is claimed that we began somewhere around Egypt or Iran or Turkey (hmm...right where they think Mt. Ararat is). But in the 5000 years of recorded history, we have spread immensely. We get too populated and so the more adventurous of us go looking for more open land and bountiful opportunity. Could not other animals do the same? It only takes 3 years to traverse the silk road across Asia, and creationists estimate they had around 6000 to 8000 to do it. I'll take that.
c) How did animals get onto Australia? I'm thinking Pangaea. I know a lot of Christians will run me up the rail for this because the Pangaea seems like a non-Christian concept. But does anything in the bible seem to dissuade us from the Pangaea? And personally, I saw how the continents fit together even before the concept was introduced to me. Besides, the pangaea almost supports the flood. What else is of such a magnitude to force such a split? It had never rained before, and enough water came out from under the earth to cover it, that's pretty big. There is a man ten generations after Noah who's name is Peleg, which means "when the earth was divided". This may indicate Pangaea breakup or it might be indicating Babel, I don't know which.
Anyway, animals could have spread to Australia before the breakup.
(3) Occams razor and Jesus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4uG3qC6KBw&feature=related
This is a video that tries to make it look like a college professor, Lennox, 'beat' Dawkins in a debate. I will first talk about a piece of content that I liked, and then comment on the debate aspect.
By the way, I don't like the way they presented this debate. Personally I don't care about winning, I just want to learn. I think we've won when we come to a mutual understanding, either ending in disagreements about evidence that needs more research, convincing one person, or some other sort of stalemate.
a) The video does all the work for me on my favorite point: if you ask 'who created God?', then let us ask 'who created the universe?'. For if you believe that the universe has eternally existed, that time, space, and matter are fundamental assumptions, what is the difference between that and God? You may argue that we cannot observe God, but I look to God as the one upholding the existence of the very universe you so revere. We agree on the laws of nature, on science, you simply claim that the things which science describes are self-evident, whereas we look to one who designed and upholds them. A common counter argument to this regards Occams razor, which is a philosophical principle. The principle states that if we are confronted with two explanations, we should chose the simpler one. So which is simpler, God or evolution? The creationist model may look like adding God to the atheistic model (which would make the theist model more complex and therefore inferior), but I like to pose it as the uncountable individual particles, cubic meters of space, and seconds of time that make up the universe versus the one infinitely good and powerful God who designed it all based on a purpose.
b) i) They begin discussion with the mechanical function of evolution and whether God made it, move into the razor, and then the Christian seems to change the subject a little rudely to Jesus. I'm not sure if he was really using a proper argument or whether he just went and hid behind a ton of Christianese language. If he had a real argument I think he was saying that the way the world is, perhaps our need for justice, is evidence that God designed it, not random chance. But if he did have an argument, he didn't make it clear. ii) Dawkins was pretty clearly shown to contradict his own book. Unless the christian was lying (which I would doubt with such a concrete question), Dawkins claimed in his book "The God Delusion" that most historians disagree that Jesus even existed. In the debate, Dawkins seems to admit a couple times that Jesus may have existed. In fact, he even says once "maybe I alluded to the possibility that some historians think Jesus never exist[ed]. I take that back. Jesus existed [?]ly." I don't want to make fun of Dawkins, because the Christian professor also rudely changed the subject. All I take from this is a personal warning. I'm not a genius, and I can certainly make mistakes too. If I go into a debate, I'd prefer to make a disclaimer that I may take a while to think and have long pauses, actually take those pauses when I'm confused, and never have to bite my words or dishonor anyone with whom I talk.
(4) Abraham and Eden
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjx7hZbqmjQ&feature=related
Dawkins talks with a Christian mostly with the question "Why did God have to sacrifice Jesus, couldn't he have just forgiven us outright?", and I do not think this Christian does a very good job at debating.
a) Dawkins points out the ugly story of how Abraham sacrifices Issac and how God sacrificed Jesus. Why does it have to be so terrible? Why can't God just forgive us? The Christian first points to the good life of Jesus and how that's not ugly, talks about Adam sin needing a parallel in Jesus, and then points to Gods love in giving us Jesus. None of these I think are proper answers, at least explained the way the Christian did. Here's my answer: God just can't forgive us of our sins because then he would be saying in effect "I really don't care if you sin". You forgive people because they actually haven't hurt you, or rather, they haven't shaken you to the core, you still have something to hold on to. In the case of Christians, we can forgive because no matter what God loves us. If God forgives sin outright without sacrifice, he's saying "That didn't really affect me" but it DOES, because God not only wants a relationship with us, he wants our good, that is, he wants to turn us into awesome people. That awesomeness is a perfect standard, and he can't just ignore it and let us sin. So he has to both save us, but also punish our sin through Jesus.
b) One minor point Dawkins repeats is that of original sin. How did taking the fruit reverberate down through generations? The Christian does not answer this very well either. He references Romans 5, which parallels Adam and Jesus, the first the bringer of sin and death, the second the bringer of life. Now, I don't think my view on original sin is very common, so I won't say it's very certain, it's just some ideas. Let's parallel Jesus and Adam again: Jesus made the opportunity for us to be saved, we become saved by deciding to take what he is offering. In the same way, Adam, by sinning, showed the rest of humanity to come that evil existed, that is was an option. We do evil by accepting that invitation. In this way, original sin is not something latent in DNA, it's just the fact that when Adam sinned, death (which results from living without consideration of God and the way he made the universe) came into the world. To make it more stark, God cursed the ground because of Adam to demonstrate that sin brings death. Now we live in a world that is broken, and therefore it offers us opportunity and example to sin. Adam was the bringer of this in the sense that he was the first, that he introduced it, and that he is the father of us all. In ancient times (and in other parts of the world now) ancestry was very important, so if Adam our ancestor sinned, we in the ancient culture are seen to take on his actions much stronger that our current culture trains us to think.
11 July 2012
acting by faith in spite of emotions, feeler version
I may have mentioned before the principle that you should sometimes do things that you don't want to do, but you know you should do. For instance, even though you may not enjoy reading your bible, you know you should, and you trust that spending time with God really is the best thing for you, and so you do it anyway. This demonstrates the dominance of the Will over the Heart. We have the ability to change our own hearts (well, God enables us to, praise the Lord) towards whatever we know is best.
I realized recently that this may be described from the thinkers point of view, trusting God through the knowledge that it is truly best for us. So perhaps this can be rephrased for those of you who are feelers: Trust that it will be better later, trust that God is the best thing for you. The key word there is trust. I'm sorry I can't describe it better than that.
The function is this: information, processed either though thinking or feeling (depending on what your natural mode is) informs your Will, which supercedes the sinful/unaligned inclinations of your heart to take action which is Godly and best for you despite whatever you may want.
I realized recently that this may be described from the thinkers point of view, trusting God through the knowledge that it is truly best for us. So perhaps this can be rephrased for those of you who are feelers: Trust that it will be better later, trust that God is the best thing for you. The key word there is trust. I'm sorry I can't describe it better than that.
The function is this: information, processed either though thinking or feeling (depending on what your natural mode is) informs your Will, which supercedes the sinful/unaligned inclinations of your heart to take action which is Godly and best for you despite whatever you may want.
07 July 2012
5 elements of christian living
6/26/12
Over the last year or so, some concepts have come to significant clarity in my head, and on the 26th I realized that they are all elements of Christian living, a game plan if you will, for personal, communal, and kingdom growth.
Really, none of these elements are isolated. One blurs over into the next and we begin to see the unified spirit of Christian living.
Disclaimer: I am extremely hesitant to quantify and limit things as large as Christian living. I do not claim this is an exhaustive list, especially considering the blurred categories effect. However, I do believe it covers nearly everything (without getting into specifics), though it may prioritize things incorrectly.
1) God devotion
Devotion does not mean some things you have to do, like reading your bible and going to church, that somehow draw you closer to God and keep you in a 'good place' with God. Devotion means to intentionally and passionately dedicate, lay upon your heart. (and by heart I mean your actual desires, that which drives you). Pursue God, know that he is worthy of pursuit and will ultimately be the most rewarding thing you've ever done (literally, absolutely) regardless of how you may feel at the moment, or any moment, regardless of what circumstances may seem like, and regardless of what the world tells you.
God devotion/pursuit is a decision, not a feeling. It is a pattern of behavior, not a state of being. It manifests itself differently in different people, because we all have different parts of Gods character in us. However, normally this means doing some sort of daily devotional time reading the bible, praying, worshiping, listening to sermons, or whatever. When you have effectively ingrained it into your heart, it comes out when you are reminded throughout the day about things you need to apply in your life, ways you can speak truth to other people, and evidences of Gods work, etc.
a) Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." and Psalm 119:105 "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." (and all of Psalm 119 for that matter). Gods word is insanely invaluable. Read it, memorize it, chew on it.
b) Prayer, worship, fasting, etc is the main method by which we communicate to God - especially prayer. Pray daily about a variety of things and do not give up on things that you pray for a long time, be faithful as God is faithful. Ambitious prayer for big things combined with humility and confession are the ingredients for revival.
2) Discipleship (+chains)
Although some Christians in closed countries or isolated tribes find themselves alone, this is not preferred. Other people are huge helps that God put in place to carry us though tough times, to speak truth into our lives, to hold us accountable, etc. Let me call you out on this, if you distance yourself from all Christian friends, mentors, etc, YOU WILL DIE. (spiritually). It may be painful, you may be afraid of people finding out about your sin, you may have been rejected before, you may have been betrayed before. Because of those things you may feel it's not worth it. Lies, I speak against those lies. When God is truly working in someones life, nearly all the time it will benefit you immensely to know them well and develop a relationship with them (though beware of cross-gender).
Here is your action point: if you have not already, find someone who is more spiritually mature than you and as them to talk with you, preferably once a week, at minimum once a month. If you're over 30 or 40 and have been a Christian for a while, this is significantly less practical, so use peers. Additionally, always find someone less mature than you or a good friend that is not a Christian to pour into.
a) 2 Timothy 2:2 "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others." See how there are four generations of disciples mentioned here? Paul > Timothy > Reliable people > Others. Discipleship is meant to be chained like that.
b) Discipleship is useful for male and female roles. Older men and women disciple younger ones and teach them the roles they are to play as such, challenge them to greater things, and give approval. Be sure to pass on the things you have learned about the spiritual role of your gender to younger people (in increasing degrees as you get older).
3) Community
Do a little bible study of your own on Acts 2:42-47, Acts 4:32-37. Note a few things, it's basically like communism:
a) They had everything in common. It is so much more efficient to have say... one guy with a big trailer for hauling things who lends it out to anyone who needs it (especially in the community of believers), than to have everyone have to pay for one and store it. The more fluid possessions are, the more options, the greater efficiency. The larger capacity due to the larger body of shared possessions than individually, the more capable the system is of handling emergencies and daunting projects. The primary way this will actually manifest itself is probably money. Somebody is hard-up, do not be stingy with your money. Someone in my community recently had his car break down. Paying for it out-of pocket would have put him back quite a ways, so in a week the 20 of us pitched in the $500 necessary to have it fixed. Bingo. 1 Cor 10:26 (Psalm 24:1) "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it." So if everything's Gods, it's not yours. Give freely to those who are in need. Honor one another above yourselves. God is the great Jehovah-jireh "I will provide", so do not worry about tomorrow, what you will eat or drink, your heavenly father knows you need them and will provide.
b) "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts" Acts 2:46. Meet together a LOT. People hold you accountable and spur one another on towards love and good works.
This is not to be done at the expense of other things. Continue to meet with God alone regularly. God is your ultimate relationship, everything else is a shadow of it. And do not just hang out all the time. Spur one another on. Your community should be such that you randomly end up in spiritual conversations frequently, you ask deep questions of each other and deal with real issues, you volunteer together at ministries or go together to do outreach. Maybe you are a magnet community and operate by bringing many unbelievers in and soaking them in the lives of Christians.
4) Intentional, missional living
This blends in a little with what I have just been saying a community should do. Be intentional about the larger components of your life: where you live, who your friends are, what proportions of your time you devote to certain things.
a) A great idea was introduced to me by a city pastor a couple of months ago: you may chose a house that is out of your comfort zone in the middle of a needy area, such that your everyday interactions with your neighbors automatically reach out to them in a spiritual way. Chose to live in a broken down part of town. My parents did this as well. It may be more risky, it may not be suburban utopia, but it is very rewarding. People who need God are fifty yards away all day long. They play in your street. In my parents case, their children knock on your door, hungry for food and real love. It's incredibly easy.
This can be done in any number of ways. Any place that you set up as 'home', like a workplace, somewhere you go for coffee everyday, the park, etc. Be intentional about the people you interact with everyday.
b) Who your friends are: Have christian friends, yes. This is neccessary as per point 3. However also have non-christian, regular, deep friends. Jesus was called a friend of sinners. That's not just a nice marshmallow term, it means literally a friend, a hang out dude, of messed up ugly people.
c) Go to the 'home base' of the not-yet Christians. Kind of like living in a foreign community, going there for a short visit is also very powerful. Go to a bar, for instance. Simply by the fact that you, a hoity -toity Christian (depending on whether they know you're Christian or not) are there, they will be affected. Why is this guy willing to hang out with us? What motivates him to come here? Be interested in them, love on them, and they will react strongly, and (probably) after a while begin to ask you why you are there and what you believe. Think about what Jesus did. He did what? He came to OUR home base, lived with us, and died for us. And compared to heaven, earth is the deepest filth hole you can find. Do what Jesus did.
5) Missions organizations [I added this part 7/7/12]
Beyond the organic ministry that rises out of random conversations, friendships, outreaches of your Christian community, and neighbors whom you have chosen to live next to, there also exists a place for straight-up missions and missions organizations. You should definitely get some experience volunteering with them and chatting with their staff, simply to get an idea of how this arm of the kingdom functions. If you ar.e already in a job, maybe you could be a missionary, but maybe not. What you can do right now is, at the very least, give your 10% away to the church, christian humanitarian orgs, or missionaries you hear about. Our purpose here on earth is not to survive, it is to be a part of the charge to re-take the earth from Satan. There are no lolly-gagers just idling around in the military, everything that is possessed by the military is pointed towards the goal. In the same way, you do not make money to survive or to get nice things, as long as you are comfortable-ish and not working yourself to the ground, you make money in order to restore the world. Every word you say, every decision you make, it's all for God. I don't mean to be mean. This does not rise out of do-it-or-else orders. Do this because nothing in this world is really valuable except what God has given and what HE plans to do. Invest in things that matter, not in things that will pass away. I love to quote by Jim Elliot, the guy from End of the Spear "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."
0) General exhortations
Be intentional about what you do, never do something just because you've done it all the time. Be alert, be alive, take your life seriously. Do not live on earth simply to survive, simply to make it to the next day, simply to make life easy. God is living in you, gol-darn it! You don't bloody need to care about any of that! LIVE! Take hold of the mission that God has set before you, enter into the dance, the sole relationship with God, the dance in the secret places. God has given us so much more than pardon for sin, he has invited us to not only die with him to sin, but live with him in righteousness, and it is awesome! If you do not think or feel that it is awesome, know that it IS, regardless of what it may seem. Know that God himself sent his own son down to die for you, and that alone testifies to the gravity of what has been done for you. Do not take it lightly, you have been called to glorious light.
Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.
Live in the light, dance with the prince of peace, honor the king.
God be with you.
Over the last year or so, some concepts have come to significant clarity in my head, and on the 26th I realized that they are all elements of Christian living, a game plan if you will, for personal, communal, and kingdom growth.
Really, none of these elements are isolated. One blurs over into the next and we begin to see the unified spirit of Christian living.
Disclaimer: I am extremely hesitant to quantify and limit things as large as Christian living. I do not claim this is an exhaustive list, especially considering the blurred categories effect. However, I do believe it covers nearly everything (without getting into specifics), though it may prioritize things incorrectly.
1) God devotion
Devotion does not mean some things you have to do, like reading your bible and going to church, that somehow draw you closer to God and keep you in a 'good place' with God. Devotion means to intentionally and passionately dedicate, lay upon your heart. (and by heart I mean your actual desires, that which drives you). Pursue God, know that he is worthy of pursuit and will ultimately be the most rewarding thing you've ever done (literally, absolutely) regardless of how you may feel at the moment, or any moment, regardless of what circumstances may seem like, and regardless of what the world tells you.
God devotion/pursuit is a decision, not a feeling. It is a pattern of behavior, not a state of being. It manifests itself differently in different people, because we all have different parts of Gods character in us. However, normally this means doing some sort of daily devotional time reading the bible, praying, worshiping, listening to sermons, or whatever. When you have effectively ingrained it into your heart, it comes out when you are reminded throughout the day about things you need to apply in your life, ways you can speak truth to other people, and evidences of Gods work, etc.
a) Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." and Psalm 119:105 "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." (and all of Psalm 119 for that matter). Gods word is insanely invaluable. Read it, memorize it, chew on it.
b) Prayer, worship, fasting, etc is the main method by which we communicate to God - especially prayer. Pray daily about a variety of things and do not give up on things that you pray for a long time, be faithful as God is faithful. Ambitious prayer for big things combined with humility and confession are the ingredients for revival.
2) Discipleship (+chains)
Although some Christians in closed countries or isolated tribes find themselves alone, this is not preferred. Other people are huge helps that God put in place to carry us though tough times, to speak truth into our lives, to hold us accountable, etc. Let me call you out on this, if you distance yourself from all Christian friends, mentors, etc, YOU WILL DIE. (spiritually). It may be painful, you may be afraid of people finding out about your sin, you may have been rejected before, you may have been betrayed before. Because of those things you may feel it's not worth it. Lies, I speak against those lies. When God is truly working in someones life, nearly all the time it will benefit you immensely to know them well and develop a relationship with them (though beware of cross-gender).
Here is your action point: if you have not already, find someone who is more spiritually mature than you and as them to talk with you, preferably once a week, at minimum once a month. If you're over 30 or 40 and have been a Christian for a while, this is significantly less practical, so use peers. Additionally, always find someone less mature than you or a good friend that is not a Christian to pour into.
a) 2 Timothy 2:2 "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others." See how there are four generations of disciples mentioned here? Paul > Timothy > Reliable people > Others. Discipleship is meant to be chained like that.
b) Discipleship is useful for male and female roles. Older men and women disciple younger ones and teach them the roles they are to play as such, challenge them to greater things, and give approval. Be sure to pass on the things you have learned about the spiritual role of your gender to younger people (in increasing degrees as you get older).
3) Community
Do a little bible study of your own on Acts 2:42-47, Acts 4:32-37. Note a few things, it's basically like communism:
a) They had everything in common. It is so much more efficient to have say... one guy with a big trailer for hauling things who lends it out to anyone who needs it (especially in the community of believers), than to have everyone have to pay for one and store it. The more fluid possessions are, the more options, the greater efficiency. The larger capacity due to the larger body of shared possessions than individually, the more capable the system is of handling emergencies and daunting projects. The primary way this will actually manifest itself is probably money. Somebody is hard-up, do not be stingy with your money. Someone in my community recently had his car break down. Paying for it out-of pocket would have put him back quite a ways, so in a week the 20 of us pitched in the $500 necessary to have it fixed. Bingo. 1 Cor 10:26 (Psalm 24:1) "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it." So if everything's Gods, it's not yours. Give freely to those who are in need. Honor one another above yourselves. God is the great Jehovah-jireh "I will provide", so do not worry about tomorrow, what you will eat or drink, your heavenly father knows you need them and will provide.
b) "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts" Acts 2:46. Meet together a LOT. People hold you accountable and spur one another on towards love and good works.
This is not to be done at the expense of other things. Continue to meet with God alone regularly. God is your ultimate relationship, everything else is a shadow of it. And do not just hang out all the time. Spur one another on. Your community should be such that you randomly end up in spiritual conversations frequently, you ask deep questions of each other and deal with real issues, you volunteer together at ministries or go together to do outreach. Maybe you are a magnet community and operate by bringing many unbelievers in and soaking them in the lives of Christians.
4) Intentional, missional living
This blends in a little with what I have just been saying a community should do. Be intentional about the larger components of your life: where you live, who your friends are, what proportions of your time you devote to certain things.
a) A great idea was introduced to me by a city pastor a couple of months ago: you may chose a house that is out of your comfort zone in the middle of a needy area, such that your everyday interactions with your neighbors automatically reach out to them in a spiritual way. Chose to live in a broken down part of town. My parents did this as well. It may be more risky, it may not be suburban utopia, but it is very rewarding. People who need God are fifty yards away all day long. They play in your street. In my parents case, their children knock on your door, hungry for food and real love. It's incredibly easy.
This can be done in any number of ways. Any place that you set up as 'home', like a workplace, somewhere you go for coffee everyday, the park, etc. Be intentional about the people you interact with everyday.
b) Who your friends are: Have christian friends, yes. This is neccessary as per point 3. However also have non-christian, regular, deep friends. Jesus was called a friend of sinners. That's not just a nice marshmallow term, it means literally a friend, a hang out dude, of messed up ugly people.
c) Go to the 'home base' of the not-yet Christians. Kind of like living in a foreign community, going there for a short visit is also very powerful. Go to a bar, for instance. Simply by the fact that you, a hoity -toity Christian (depending on whether they know you're Christian or not) are there, they will be affected. Why is this guy willing to hang out with us? What motivates him to come here? Be interested in them, love on them, and they will react strongly, and (probably) after a while begin to ask you why you are there and what you believe. Think about what Jesus did. He did what? He came to OUR home base, lived with us, and died for us. And compared to heaven, earth is the deepest filth hole you can find. Do what Jesus did.
5) Missions organizations [I added this part 7/7/12]
Beyond the organic ministry that rises out of random conversations, friendships, outreaches of your Christian community, and neighbors whom you have chosen to live next to, there also exists a place for straight-up missions and missions organizations. You should definitely get some experience volunteering with them and chatting with their staff, simply to get an idea of how this arm of the kingdom functions. If you ar.e already in a job, maybe you could be a missionary, but maybe not. What you can do right now is, at the very least, give your 10% away to the church, christian humanitarian orgs, or missionaries you hear about. Our purpose here on earth is not to survive, it is to be a part of the charge to re-take the earth from Satan. There are no lolly-gagers just idling around in the military, everything that is possessed by the military is pointed towards the goal. In the same way, you do not make money to survive or to get nice things, as long as you are comfortable-ish and not working yourself to the ground, you make money in order to restore the world. Every word you say, every decision you make, it's all for God. I don't mean to be mean. This does not rise out of do-it-or-else orders. Do this because nothing in this world is really valuable except what God has given and what HE plans to do. Invest in things that matter, not in things that will pass away. I love to quote by Jim Elliot, the guy from End of the Spear "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."
0) General exhortations
Be intentional about what you do, never do something just because you've done it all the time. Be alert, be alive, take your life seriously. Do not live on earth simply to survive, simply to make it to the next day, simply to make life easy. God is living in you, gol-darn it! You don't bloody need to care about any of that! LIVE! Take hold of the mission that God has set before you, enter into the dance, the sole relationship with God, the dance in the secret places. God has given us so much more than pardon for sin, he has invited us to not only die with him to sin, but live with him in righteousness, and it is awesome! If you do not think or feel that it is awesome, know that it IS, regardless of what it may seem. Know that God himself sent his own son down to die for you, and that alone testifies to the gravity of what has been done for you. Do not take it lightly, you have been called to glorious light.
Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.
Live in the light, dance with the prince of peace, honor the king.
God be with you.
04 July 2012
Short journal entries #2 of 2
6/9/12
Every person is an eternal being. They will live forever. Think of that when you see people walking on the streets, in the groceries stores, and places where you think people are less than average. ALL people are valuable, having in them certain facets of their creator, even as unbelievers.
6/5/12
God exists in trinity. Members of the trinity love each other and support each other. Likewise we, made in Gods image, naturally outpour to something, and this is an/our idol.
6/4/12
See people as pyramids (that is, personal truth and top-down processing pyramids). Christians are people whose pyramids are right at the top (to an extent), but the stuff below is in-process, top down alignment processing. Let me try to explain that in more common language: Christians are people who know the most important things in life, and they have those down for the most part (though we have other things as idols above God nearly all the time). However, Christians haven't finished aligning the rest of their beliefs, or rather their heart, to what they know to be true.
For instance, you become a Christian and know that God loves you like crazy. However, you may not yet realize, or have it applied to your heart, that HE therefore, replaces your desperate need for relationships, for he is the greatest and only forever relationship. Sometime down the road, as a part of your sanctification, you realize this in your head, and work towards training your heart to follow so that you treat relationships, women, your wife, etc in a God-honoring way.
6/4/12
To add to sets of two:
There is a balance (or we might just say a duality) between work and rest in Christian life, and they are based on two truths coming from God. In terms of work, there is the glory and sonship that God has called us to, the Great Commission and life living like him. On the other hand, we are still fallen, still sinful, still weak. We need to remember that JC paid for it all on the cross, that 'my yoke is easy and my burden is light', that God will never tempt us beyond what we can bear, that he loves us as dear children.
So, I would add another line to the list of sets of two:
Past Future/ongoing Category
Blood Body Communion
Death Baptism Life of JC
Communion Baptism Sacraments
Blood Water JC wound, 1 John 5:8
Human* Divine JC duality
Rest Work Christian life
*JC is not done being human, so maybe this doesn't fit.
Every person is an eternal being. They will live forever. Think of that when you see people walking on the streets, in the groceries stores, and places where you think people are less than average. ALL people are valuable, having in them certain facets of their creator, even as unbelievers.
6/5/12
God exists in trinity. Members of the trinity love each other and support each other. Likewise we, made in Gods image, naturally outpour to something, and this is an/our idol.
6/4/12
See people as pyramids (that is, personal truth and top-down processing pyramids). Christians are people whose pyramids are right at the top (to an extent), but the stuff below is in-process, top down alignment processing. Let me try to explain that in more common language: Christians are people who know the most important things in life, and they have those down for the most part (though we have other things as idols above God nearly all the time). However, Christians haven't finished aligning the rest of their beliefs, or rather their heart, to what they know to be true.
For instance, you become a Christian and know that God loves you like crazy. However, you may not yet realize, or have it applied to your heart, that HE therefore, replaces your desperate need for relationships, for he is the greatest and only forever relationship. Sometime down the road, as a part of your sanctification, you realize this in your head, and work towards training your heart to follow so that you treat relationships, women, your wife, etc in a God-honoring way.
6/4/12
To add to sets of two:
There is a balance (or we might just say a duality) between work and rest in Christian life, and they are based on two truths coming from God. In terms of work, there is the glory and sonship that God has called us to, the Great Commission and life living like him. On the other hand, we are still fallen, still sinful, still weak. We need to remember that JC paid for it all on the cross, that 'my yoke is easy and my burden is light', that God will never tempt us beyond what we can bear, that he loves us as dear children.
So, I would add another line to the list of sets of two:
Past Future/ongoing Category
Blood Body Communion
Death Baptism Life of JC
Communion Baptism Sacraments
Blood Water JC wound, 1 John 5:8
Human* Divine JC duality
Rest Work Christian life
*JC is not done being human, so maybe this doesn't fit.
Mans mission.
6/12/12
Being a man is a set of actions. For that matter being a son or daughter of God is a set of actions. It's a mission, an intention to work salvation to the world. Being a man is a set of responsibilities based off a set of beliefs. God reigns, and our actions should reflect that. We men are harbingers of truth, heralds and envoys of the coming king.
Men - I call you out. Be workers of the kingdom. You seek war, you seek battle, honor, something worth it, something to make your blood churn.
But you also feel unable, that the task is unclear, that somehow you may not measure up. It shows all the time. Little hesitations, mistakes made from fear, passed up opportunities due to doubt. We feel we should be something more.
Men, even those who feel like boys, even those who are young, you CAN be strong. How?
Have you not seen? Have you not heard? The Lord is a mighty whirlwind, his voice shakes the deserts and turns the seas to blood, the mountains melt like wax before him. And this God wants to make you his son. Nay, you ARE his son. And he has given you all the faculties and abilities to accomplish everything he asks of you. Even more, listen to these few things:
1 Do not listen to the world, to what the world expects of you, what it wants you to do. Test some of them, are they honorable? Are they actually useful? Do they build up or destroy? If you lived in a land, would it work to be destroying things all the time? GOD defines what is best. I repeat, GOD, and none other, GOD is the only one who can tell you anything worth a ****. He's MAKES the right path, the only path down which you will receive any honor. Follow him, my friends, follow him.
2 Which is more manly to do: punch a man who's offended you or forgive him? Which is easier? Which is harder? Anyone can lash out. Animals lash out, hurt people whimpering in corners can still lash out in anger and hurt. What is forgiveness? By forgiving someone you're saying 'that hurt, but it's still ok'. Why is it ok? Because you are a MAN, and you aren't threatened by every small insult or embarrassment. You know that you have it together because GOD is looking out for your reputation, and his opinion is the only one that matters. It is a strong man who can be insulted and yet forgive. By this you will confuse the one who offended you and cut him far deeper than a broken nose, you might even help him. Would you rather look back on a burning city and say 'yeah, I did that' or look back on a city that you built from the ground, a thriving place and say 'yeah, I did that'. Which is harder to accomplish? Anyone can destroy.
3 Has any video game you've played ever NOT included some sort of battle? Do you enjoy movies that don't have a struggle? Of course not! We're men. But so often we look at the Christian life and we think 'boring' because there's no battle. I don't want to be a 'nice guy' marshmallow for Jesus. I want to fight, I want a battle.
The battle is there, guys, and possibly more important than physical battle. It has to do with lies, and the father of lies, Satan. Wage war against lies and idols in your own life and in the lives of others. Which is better when you meet a man in battle, to kill him or to convince him to join you? In both cases you lose an enemy, but only in the latter do you gain a friend.
Lucifer is the father of lies, cunning as the snake and as hungry as a lion. Pray to God for wisdom and vigilance to uncover the lies that he has seeded deep in our souls and the souls of those around us and cut them to the ground with the sword of truth. And who is the truth? Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life. Be sure to bring the sword of truth wherever you go.
And the battle is hard. Many fall asleep on the watchtowers. In real war, do you think they spend more days locked in battle or more days watching for the enemy to come and preparing themselves? Take note, my friends. Prepare yourselves for battle and stay alert.
4 Do you feel insufficient? Let me put this scenario before you. It is often, very often, useful to think of God as a father. A father knows the abilities of his son very well, and is trying to teach him more. Would the father ever ask his son to do something he couldn't? No. And if the son ever asked 'hey, can you teach me this?', in nearly all cases the father would be delighted to teach. In the same way, your heavenly father cares about you, knows your abilities, wants you to learn, and will never give you something you can't handle. He may want you to ask for his help, but he will never leave you cold.
So in conclusion, God defines your mission, to be warriors of truth wielding the sword of truth, obedient in all things to his command, knowing you are secure in him and so able to respond in a controlled way, always leaning on the lessons and strength given by God.
Being a man is a set of actions. For that matter being a son or daughter of God is a set of actions. It's a mission, an intention to work salvation to the world. Being a man is a set of responsibilities based off a set of beliefs. God reigns, and our actions should reflect that. We men are harbingers of truth, heralds and envoys of the coming king.
Men - I call you out. Be workers of the kingdom. You seek war, you seek battle, honor, something worth it, something to make your blood churn.
But you also feel unable, that the task is unclear, that somehow you may not measure up. It shows all the time. Little hesitations, mistakes made from fear, passed up opportunities due to doubt. We feel we should be something more.
Men, even those who feel like boys, even those who are young, you CAN be strong. How?
Have you not seen? Have you not heard? The Lord is a mighty whirlwind, his voice shakes the deserts and turns the seas to blood, the mountains melt like wax before him. And this God wants to make you his son. Nay, you ARE his son. And he has given you all the faculties and abilities to accomplish everything he asks of you. Even more, listen to these few things:
1 Do not listen to the world, to what the world expects of you, what it wants you to do. Test some of them, are they honorable? Are they actually useful? Do they build up or destroy? If you lived in a land, would it work to be destroying things all the time? GOD defines what is best. I repeat, GOD, and none other, GOD is the only one who can tell you anything worth a ****. He's MAKES the right path, the only path down which you will receive any honor. Follow him, my friends, follow him.
2 Which is more manly to do: punch a man who's offended you or forgive him? Which is easier? Which is harder? Anyone can lash out. Animals lash out, hurt people whimpering in corners can still lash out in anger and hurt. What is forgiveness? By forgiving someone you're saying 'that hurt, but it's still ok'. Why is it ok? Because you are a MAN, and you aren't threatened by every small insult or embarrassment. You know that you have it together because GOD is looking out for your reputation, and his opinion is the only one that matters. It is a strong man who can be insulted and yet forgive. By this you will confuse the one who offended you and cut him far deeper than a broken nose, you might even help him. Would you rather look back on a burning city and say 'yeah, I did that' or look back on a city that you built from the ground, a thriving place and say 'yeah, I did that'. Which is harder to accomplish? Anyone can destroy.
3 Has any video game you've played ever NOT included some sort of battle? Do you enjoy movies that don't have a struggle? Of course not! We're men. But so often we look at the Christian life and we think 'boring' because there's no battle. I don't want to be a 'nice guy' marshmallow for Jesus. I want to fight, I want a battle.
The battle is there, guys, and possibly more important than physical battle. It has to do with lies, and the father of lies, Satan. Wage war against lies and idols in your own life and in the lives of others. Which is better when you meet a man in battle, to kill him or to convince him to join you? In both cases you lose an enemy, but only in the latter do you gain a friend.
Lucifer is the father of lies, cunning as the snake and as hungry as a lion. Pray to God for wisdom and vigilance to uncover the lies that he has seeded deep in our souls and the souls of those around us and cut them to the ground with the sword of truth. And who is the truth? Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life. Be sure to bring the sword of truth wherever you go.
And the battle is hard. Many fall asleep on the watchtowers. In real war, do you think they spend more days locked in battle or more days watching for the enemy to come and preparing themselves? Take note, my friends. Prepare yourselves for battle and stay alert.
4 Do you feel insufficient? Let me put this scenario before you. It is often, very often, useful to think of God as a father. A father knows the abilities of his son very well, and is trying to teach him more. Would the father ever ask his son to do something he couldn't? No. And if the son ever asked 'hey, can you teach me this?', in nearly all cases the father would be delighted to teach. In the same way, your heavenly father cares about you, knows your abilities, wants you to learn, and will never give you something you can't handle. He may want you to ask for his help, but he will never leave you cold.
So in conclusion, God defines your mission, to be warriors of truth wielding the sword of truth, obedient in all things to his command, knowing you are secure in him and so able to respond in a controlled way, always leaning on the lessons and strength given by God.
02 July 2012
Short journal entries #1 of 2
What follows are summaries of recent journal entries of mine:
6/30/12
Jimmy Needham has a song "Clear the Stage" in the album "Clear the Stage". It speaks of whole devotion to God, searching our hearts for idols, sitting still and listening to God, and submitting our plans to God. It's excellent. You can find it on grooveshark.com
Spiritual warfare against idols:
Simply thinking and wishing often takes a long time to destroy idols in our hearts, and we need to be AGGRESSIVE against them. Try this: write the names of your idols on some material and then destroy it. Your idol is whatever you need to no longer think about so much, or has been taking too much priority, be it power seeking, popularity, recognition, accomplishment, fear, pain, sex, fame for your kids, your spouse, etc. The material depends on what you can find. Personally I would love to get a cement block and a sledgehammer, but that might not be practical. Use paper, clay, fruit and a baseball bat, anything. Then just beat it up.
Demonstrate to yourself that you HATE this idol, that it is a lie and a work of the devil, and you want God to be first. Men of God, we can't run around these days killing dragons, but we can kill idols and lies, for ourselves and be vigilant to help others, this is our true battle.
6/28/12
Current statistic: there is only about 1 missionary sent per 40 to 70 churches in America. Think about that.
This is extremely sad, and a little annoying. Even small churches ought to be able to send 1 or 2 missionaries alone. If we can do this, we can increase the number of missionaries 50 to 100 fold. Wouldn't that change the world?
So DO it. If your church does not have a missionary, talk to the pastors, to friends, etc and make it happen. BE that missionary. Find supporters.
6/28/12
In thinking about what your life should go towards, find an area where these four intersect: things your enjoy, things you're good at, things the world needs (or you think it needs), things God has put in your life or been calling your specifically to (although that should get first priority, I guess).
Remember, you can and should do ministry RIGHT NOW, wherever you are and however equipped you are. Don't think your work will come later. Remember also, keep your future open and listen to God, needing only the next step lighted for you (and maybe not even that). Read Numbers 9:15-23. My bible commentary says this is one of the few things the Israelites did right.
6/26/12
Some major pillars for kingdom living strategy:
1 Devotion to God - includes digging into God's word, personal idol smashing, and worship/ prayer
2 Revival seeking - confession and realness as a community, intercessory and radical prayer for miracles and movements among people. Earnestly seeking him. Listening to Gods voice and tugs of the holy spirit.
3 Communism - early acts strategies of having everything in common, all bound together by love and a trust that God will provide, breaking bread together every day, living in community. For me, I see multiple families living under one roof, cutting a lot of costs and gaining much through say...babysitting, cleaning, community discipleship and accountability, etc. Families could also take in college students, orphans (mass adoption), etc. Practice hospitality.
4 Men and women - personal identity and God calling roles. The roles of men and women as truth fighters and beauty givers, sons and daughters of god, heirs of the kingdom, wholly loved by God, bride of Christ. Inspiration. Sanctification. Discipleship, Paul and Timothy chains, 2 Tim 2:2 chains, raising up leaders to replace you, etc. Read books (esp. book #1) like your life depends on it if you don't have wiser people around to teach you.
5 Missional life - having a mindset so trained that it is subconcious, living to pour out energy and love towards others, expressing through actions, attention, and words that you love them, because you are safe, protected, provided for by God, therefore you are able to love them without fear of losing something yourself. Devote a good chunk of your time to actual evangelism type stuff. Working in humanitarian organizations, going out into bars and the dark places to simply meet people who often don't meet Christians or get love from anyone. Follow up with these people and do relational evangelism.
6/23/12
People laugh (esp. kids) not necessarily because something is funny, slapstick, or makes them feel good about themselves, but because they are loved and so have joy, love giving them the freedom to be playful.
6/23/12
Community (christian or non) can be channeled into community service, kingdom service, bible study and whatnot. This may be a useful sort of relational evangelism. Building a community with a lot of non believers and then channeling towards activities that spark conversations about more meaningful things.
6/19/12
It is not necessarily the environment or the current situation of the world we are trying to restore for the kingdom, it is mostly just the people. People control everything and are the most valuable. And people have their choices given by free will which you cannot change and should not force. Therefore, it is only (or primarily) how YOU act that you can change, and simply by this beacon, and how you give love to others, allowing the holy spirit to do the rest, that you can change the world. Honorably proclaim gods truth.
6/14/12 (this concept is much older)
We have no right, and should not interefere, with anyone who is acting immorally but does not believe he/she is doing wrong. We can only call out fellow Christians. Not-yet-Christians should first WANT to follow the truth, THEN we can call out behaviors. Before that point, answer moral questions honestly but perhaps a little guardedly and steering towards love. For whom did Jesus condemn but the pharisees, not the sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes who hung out with him so often.
Well, I could go back farther than this but I need to get back to work.
God bless you all.
6/30/12
Jimmy Needham has a song "Clear the Stage" in the album "Clear the Stage". It speaks of whole devotion to God, searching our hearts for idols, sitting still and listening to God, and submitting our plans to God. It's excellent. You can find it on grooveshark.com
Spiritual warfare against idols:
Simply thinking and wishing often takes a long time to destroy idols in our hearts, and we need to be AGGRESSIVE against them. Try this: write the names of your idols on some material and then destroy it. Your idol is whatever you need to no longer think about so much, or has been taking too much priority, be it power seeking, popularity, recognition, accomplishment, fear, pain, sex, fame for your kids, your spouse, etc. The material depends on what you can find. Personally I would love to get a cement block and a sledgehammer, but that might not be practical. Use paper, clay, fruit and a baseball bat, anything. Then just beat it up.
Demonstrate to yourself that you HATE this idol, that it is a lie and a work of the devil, and you want God to be first. Men of God, we can't run around these days killing dragons, but we can kill idols and lies, for ourselves and be vigilant to help others, this is our true battle.
6/28/12
Current statistic: there is only about 1 missionary sent per 40 to 70 churches in America. Think about that.
This is extremely sad, and a little annoying. Even small churches ought to be able to send 1 or 2 missionaries alone. If we can do this, we can increase the number of missionaries 50 to 100 fold. Wouldn't that change the world?
So DO it. If your church does not have a missionary, talk to the pastors, to friends, etc and make it happen. BE that missionary. Find supporters.
6/28/12
In thinking about what your life should go towards, find an area where these four intersect: things your enjoy, things you're good at, things the world needs (or you think it needs), things God has put in your life or been calling your specifically to (although that should get first priority, I guess).
Remember, you can and should do ministry RIGHT NOW, wherever you are and however equipped you are. Don't think your work will come later. Remember also, keep your future open and listen to God, needing only the next step lighted for you (and maybe not even that). Read Numbers 9:15-23. My bible commentary says this is one of the few things the Israelites did right.
6/26/12
Some major pillars for kingdom living strategy:
1 Devotion to God - includes digging into God's word, personal idol smashing, and worship/ prayer
2 Revival seeking - confession and realness as a community, intercessory and radical prayer for miracles and movements among people. Earnestly seeking him. Listening to Gods voice and tugs of the holy spirit.
3 Communism - early acts strategies of having everything in common, all bound together by love and a trust that God will provide, breaking bread together every day, living in community. For me, I see multiple families living under one roof, cutting a lot of costs and gaining much through say...babysitting, cleaning, community discipleship and accountability, etc. Families could also take in college students, orphans (mass adoption), etc. Practice hospitality.
4 Men and women - personal identity and God calling roles. The roles of men and women as truth fighters and beauty givers, sons and daughters of god, heirs of the kingdom, wholly loved by God, bride of Christ. Inspiration. Sanctification. Discipleship, Paul and Timothy chains, 2 Tim 2:2 chains, raising up leaders to replace you, etc. Read books (esp. book #1) like your life depends on it if you don't have wiser people around to teach you.
5 Missional life - having a mindset so trained that it is subconcious, living to pour out energy and love towards others, expressing through actions, attention, and words that you love them, because you are safe, protected, provided for by God, therefore you are able to love them without fear of losing something yourself. Devote a good chunk of your time to actual evangelism type stuff. Working in humanitarian organizations, going out into bars and the dark places to simply meet people who often don't meet Christians or get love from anyone. Follow up with these people and do relational evangelism.
6/23/12
People laugh (esp. kids) not necessarily because something is funny, slapstick, or makes them feel good about themselves, but because they are loved and so have joy, love giving them the freedom to be playful.
6/23/12
Community (christian or non) can be channeled into community service, kingdom service, bible study and whatnot. This may be a useful sort of relational evangelism. Building a community with a lot of non believers and then channeling towards activities that spark conversations about more meaningful things.
6/19/12
It is not necessarily the environment or the current situation of the world we are trying to restore for the kingdom, it is mostly just the people. People control everything and are the most valuable. And people have their choices given by free will which you cannot change and should not force. Therefore, it is only (or primarily) how YOU act that you can change, and simply by this beacon, and how you give love to others, allowing the holy spirit to do the rest, that you can change the world. Honorably proclaim gods truth.
6/14/12 (this concept is much older)
We have no right, and should not interefere, with anyone who is acting immorally but does not believe he/she is doing wrong. We can only call out fellow Christians. Not-yet-Christians should first WANT to follow the truth, THEN we can call out behaviors. Before that point, answer moral questions honestly but perhaps a little guardedly and steering towards love. For whom did Jesus condemn but the pharisees, not the sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes who hung out with him so often.
Well, I could go back farther than this but I need to get back to work.
God bless you all.
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