Seminary Day 12

 Apologetics –
In his book Creation Regained, Al Wolters introduces the concept of structure and direction. This conceptualization helps us to think about things in terms of what they were meant to be by the creator (the “structure”), and how it has been distorted by our rebellion against him (the “direction”). One can employ this to think about something as simple as a tree or as complex... as economics or the arts. Briefly, how is a tree distorted from its intended creational use? Perhaps the most obvious way is by those who worship nature instead of the True and Living God, but it is also in the abuse of forests for mere profit (for example). We were given care over the creation and while it is there for us to use, the way in which we use it matters. Trees have key functions in our environment, like that of producing oxygen and of preventing erosion with their roots. Likewise, the concept of money and economics is a gift from God and is good, but it has been distorted by our rebellion. No longer is money a servant, but to many it is their master. It reveals hearts of greed, which then place security, power, or pleasure over the wellbeing of others. It is not money that is the root of all sorts of evil, but the love of money. Finally, we can appreciate the goodness of the arts, their ability to stir the soul and to challenge by showing reality, yet because we are fallen, we can use the arts to merely shock, titillate, to push our own agenda, to glorify evil, to entice people into buying things that won’t provide happiness, and to degrade others. Yet the structure-direction concept allows us to look at things not merely in a black and white manner, but to recognize the creational good in something, while seeking to correct the fallen direction that has distorted it.

Reformation History -
In 1541, Calvin presents proposal for church reform in Geneva, but does not get all he wants. He asks for weekly communions, but gets quarterly ones. For Calvin, this is less about sacramentalism and more about church discipline. He wants ordination by the laying on of hands, but is turned down. He also wants prospective pastors to be examined exclusively by other pastors and only upon approval to then by brought to the council for their approval. Instead the council insisted that it be included in this first step as well. At this time in history because there was not separation between the church and state, there are some things they did that seem to our society unpalatable. Adultery, for example, is not merely an ecclesiastical matter, but it is a civil crime. To be excommunicated was to be placed for all intents and purposes, outside public life. This is also why non-conformists, such as the Anabaptists, were not seen merely as those with differing opinions, but as subversive radicals. Thus, the Consistory (having 4-12 pastors and 12 counselors or elders) met once a week and held the power of excommunication. People were summoned and despite rumors that they always went for the harshest sentence, they operated with great pastoral sensitivity – but they did make bad missteps. There was also a feeling that this was a French institution intruding upon their society.

Seminary Day 11

Apologetics -  Pop Culture is produced in a world of general revelation - a world where the creation itself testifies of God's existence and his power and invisible qualities. A world where mankind, in order to continue the belief in autonomy, suppresses this revelation like pushing a beach ball under the water in a pool. No matter how hard man tries, the reality of this creational witness pops up so ...that none of us have an excuse. As we seek to engage the world and make connections, pointing to the reality of God's World, we are challenged to consider the ways in which the Image of God expresses itself in our lives, and where sin and rebellion has distorted and led us to misinterpret this image and general revelation.

As an example, we considered a music video by Jonsi, for his song "Go Do." Ted Turnau, the author of Popologetics, led us through a discussion of this video. I will include the lyrics here for those who are not familiar with who he is (I wasn't), but the music video includes a depth of communication that is not there with merely the lyrics.

What is the story, the narrative, or the mood in the video? Jonsi appears as an anthropomorphized bird, caged; liberation theme; drawing on the walls and breaking through them; liberation through expression; existentialism; issues a moral imperative - "we should always know we can do anything."

What is the imaginative world this is projected into? There is a lot of cold black and white, red and black in the beginning - the bird is the exception. There is a move to flesh tones and warmth as the video progresses. Jonsi was the focus of every shot except the lovers montage, and they employed many jump cuts, which give it a sense of frenetic energy - which reflects the title "Go do."

What is good, true, and beautiful about this (i.e. where is common grace evident)? The theme of freedom, the optimistic view, the idea of rebirth and renewal, and the creativity in the video. There is a longing to be freed to nature which is evident, and birds as a symbol of that freedom.

How does it show the fallenness of humanity? There is a commitment to autonomy - that Jonsi is the authority you should listen to. There is an idealization of nature - for instance, there is no predation in the world we are shown. Even the idea of freedom - is it freedom from all authority (yet he includes his own "should"), from all boundaries? Or freedom to be what you were meant to be?

What direction might a conversation take to talk of our fallenness? What if the thing that is imprisoning you is not outside you, but within you? There seems to be a contrast of great effort and "letting go" to achieve liberation. Is it just your own efforts you have to let flow? Doesn't this idealized view of nature belie the fact that predation spoils the idea that nature is our goal of salvation? Just as energy must be directed and perhaps even organized by an intelligence to be helpful and healing rather than destructive and decaying, so too freedom and creativity are not just blasted all over life. Do the lives of many creative people show that perhaps unfettered freedom or creativity leads to destruction and chaos in life? Is it merely "Go do?"

How does the gospel speak into this world and redeem it? There is a God worth trusting. This God gives you the joy of belonging and the freedom to struggle and work out your freedom. You no longer need to struggle to be free, but you are free to struggle from within that relationship. If you are the source of the restraints on you, you need a new relationship outside yourself. We need a relationship with someone who has the authority to give us a new identity - and creativity under this healing authority means you don't have to hurt others in expressing it. Ultimately, we don't create ourselves, but have been created by our creator with a plan and purpose in mind, and true freedom comes in being who you were created to be.

 

Doctrine of Man - Meredith Kline spoke to three components to the image of God in man. Mankind's role as vice-regent over creation reflection a functional or official image, a judicial overseeing and an exercising of lordship under God's Lordship. The second component is the formal or physical image. God is Spirit and thus had no body, yet our eyes reflect that he is the God who sees,... and our hands reflect that he is the God who creates. If we insist that physicalness is not part of the image of God, then our bodies become incidental to salvation - and the resurrection does as well. But God the Son takes on humanity and thus brings humanity into the Godhead, not making us gods, but rather becoming the perfect mediator between God and man, the perfect sacrifice for sinful man, and the perfect image of God. The third component of the image of God in man is the ethical component. Adam was inclined to holiness but Eden was not his destiny, There was always an ultimate maturity in view, a change from a simple righteousness to a confirmed righteousness. Adam was in a sense in his "infancy of righteousness."

The goal of redemption is not merely a return to Eden. In Eden, Adam was given all that he needed to obey, but he was not yet confirmed in his righteousness and thus could fall. But Jesus, the second Adam, does not merely return us to the probationary period of righteousness Adam had, but rather fulfills Adam's role as representative and brings us to the final destiny of humanity - a confirmed righteousness from which we cannot fall.

 

Church History, Reformation - Like Luther (and all of us), Calvin was a flawed man. He was a product of his times, though he brought great reform as well. He was a Lawyer as well as a Theologian. There are multiple editions of Calvin's Institutes, showing growth, depth, and reforming of his own positions as he went on through life. When Geneva becomes Protestant, a lot of the intellectual elite and skilled labor leaves the city (for the RC Church was the primary means of education then). But, there is also an influx of skilled labor from Calvin's homeland of France. Because Protestantism is a religion "of the Word" it attracts readers, which helps counter the earlier loss - but immigrants are not easily welcomed into the city, and much of the clash has an ethnic quality to it.

There is much crossover from the church to civic leaders, and theological crimes are civic crimes with civic penalties. Calvin preaches and writes, and his exegetical works are one of the few works from the 16th century that are still useful today. Calvin has a pastor's heart and weaves pastoral application throughout his exegesis. In 1541, he presents proposals for church reform: weekly communion (more about church discipline than sacramentalism), ordination by the laying on of hands, and pastors to be examined exclusively by other pastors and then passed to the council for approval. He gets quarterly communion not weekly, they say no to ordination by laying on of hands, and the council changed the examination so that it (the council) was also included in that first step.

In Scotland, church discipline dealt with issues of folk religion, but in Geneva, the issues were pertaining to marriage. The Consistory was formed and met once a week. It operated with great pastoral sensitivity, but there were rumors that it always went for the harshest resolution to matters - this was untrue, but it did have missteps. It banned pubs at one point, turning them into places to read and discuss the Bible, but that lasted only 2-3 weeks. There is a sense among Genevans that this is a French institution imported there.

One of the most infamous moments of the Consistory is when Cervatus comes and denies the Trinity, making him guilty of blasphemy. One of Calvin's students brings the charge. Because Calvin is a lawyer as well as a theologian, he brings the prosecutions case against Cervatus, who is found guilty and burned at the stake. This has the effect of enhancing Calvin's power, as he becomes known as "the man who finished off Cervatus." (The same error of Cervatus continues to this day, as Socinianism morphs into Unitarianism) A man name Castellio who does not see the Song of Songs as canonical (because of the sexual content in it), and who does not agree with Calvin's interpretation of the assertion in the Apostle's Creed that Jesus descended into hell, and who was censured by the civil authorities, argues against Calvin here, making the case that theological crime is not a civil case.

Seminary: Day 10

Day 10

Apologetics: We don't just appeal to facts as if they were neutral, for behind every interpretation of the facts is a worldview that shapes our interpretation. Our hearts actively rebel against the creator and only because reality is so unavoidable in areas such as mathematics, hard sciences, and engineering is the rebellion subdued to a large degree. Socrates is reported to have said t...hat "The unexamined life is not worth living" and Santayana observed "he who does not remember the past is condemned to repeat it." Few of us ever consciously examine the basic assumption by which we live life, yet these assumptions fall into common categories. Most worldviews have flaws that are self-contradicting, and eventually they show through. For instance, Sigmund Freud exposed the flaw in his world view in a simple statement in a love letter: "Let's not talk about philosophy, just love me irrationally." Materialism fails when it tries to claim a universal negative ("There is no ...") and especially when it speaks to the non-existence of the non-material, which by definition lies outside the realm of the material. John Cage was an American composer and musical theorist who pioneered indeterminacy in music. The purpose of the universe, he said, is purposeless play. He has authored pieces such as 4:33 where the pianist closes the lid of the piano for 4:33. He also was a hobby mycologist (someone who studies fungi), where he admitted "If I approached my mushrooms the way I approached my music, I would die." And finally, postmodern architects may do unusually things in their designs (like staircases that go nowhere), but foundations of houses are never done to such post-modernist musings, but standards where there is a right and wrong way to do them. We play at the edges of absurdity with our worldviews, but there is always something we do to belie that we know the truth ... Our desires point to the reality of fulfillment, and the saddest moment of an atheist's (or non-theist's) life is when they feel thankful, but believe there is no one to thank ...

Church History: There is a tendency for us to look back at history anachronistically, that is, by assuming that time is like ours and that the sensibilities of today are the same as they once were. We can easily go into the examination of this history with a tendency to assume either that Luther definitely contributed to the Anti-Semitic fray that led to the Holocaust, or to assume he did not. Because the Holocaust is catastrophic evil, it is hard for us not to look back through history and see it building up to that moment in time. William Shirer's thesis in "The Rise and Fall of the 3rd Reich" sees Luther as the source of German Anti-Semitism, and he links together Luther, Wagner, Huston Chamberlain, Hitler, and Gorbineau - thus linking Luther with the hideous "final solution." Thus, the issue for Shirer is the Pathological Anti-Semitism of Germany and Luther is the source. But we must be aware of the logical fallacy of anachronism!

First, Anti-Judaism doesn't start with Luther - Edward I in 1290 expelled the Jews from England. The Puritans were split on the idea of bringing them back. By the 12th century, there was the common slander of blood libel against the Jews (for which there is no evidence), which becomes part of anti-Jewish writings. Nothing in Luther's writings were original with him. Second, Luther does have a cross-centered piety, which did cause speculation on "who" put him there (my answer: I did). Third, there were not such strong national identities at that time, so that those who were outside the Catholic (and then what became the Lutheran) Churches were "outside society" (along with other groups such as the Anabaptists). This persecution was not really a racial issue (it is questionable whether they would have even looked at race the way we do today), but primarily a religious problem. Fourth, It was not until the 19th century when the anti-Judaism was more racial in character, which can be shown by looking at the Nuremburg laws, which did not care whether the Jews religiously converted, where in Luther's time that would have settled the issue for most.

Finally, as we consider two of Luther's writings, we must remember a historical principle: "What is normal for the time does not need explanation, but the abnormal does." In 1523, Martin Luther wrote a piece explaining the Jewishness of Jesus - this was highly unusual for the time. But in 1543, Luther wrote his piece "The Jews and their Lies," which was (unfortunately) not that unusual in those times. So, in reality, it is the 1523 piece that needs the explanation - so why did Luther write it? Luther had a very strong sense that the Reformation was bringing about the end times, and he thought that evangelism would prosper and the Jews would accept the gospel. But during the following years of the 1530's and 1540's, he becomes discouraged, realizing that the end times are not being ushered in, and he looks for someone to blame. His dreams are not coming to pass, and he becomes in many ways a bitter old man who reverts to the attitude of his surrounding culture with a vengeance.

So we must not be simplistic in our answer to the question: "Did Luther cause the Holocaust?" But we must not shrink back from saying "yes" and "no." It is clear that his writings are used to justify the horrors of what was later done. And it does seem that his anti-Semitism helped the line of metamorphosis that became the devilish hatred of the Jews. But Martin Luther was not the source of such anti-Semitism, and he did not always hold such views. And he is certainly not responsible for the evil in the hearts of those that followed him and took his writings further than we might hope he ever wanted to go. But Luther stands in church history as a great reformer, but as a deeply flawed man who faced his God at death with a less than stellar record in his final years. God does not cover up the flaws of faithful men and women in Scripture (Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Rahab, David, Paul, etc.), and neither should we. Because of his belief in the Jewish Messiah Jesus, even the sins of Martin Luther were placed on Him and He received the full punishment for them. And Martin Luther - and I - will be eternally grateful for such mercy and grace.

Seminary: Day 9

Day 9

AP: There are no "brute facts" because there is no one who is truly neutral and everything is interpreted. We all have preconditions or presuppositions that give thought and life meaning. In our natural state, every one of us has a sense of God, but we suppress it. Yet, it is like holding a beach ball underwater - it will continue to exert pressure on us and pop up. Issues of conscience... point to an ultimate reality of right and wrong, but we suppress this evidence because we desire to be autonomous. Our presuppositions point to what we think is ultimate in life, and they are points of contact with God's self-revelation in the Bible.

DM: Martin Luther's theology was "reformed" as he thought through the implications of the doctrines he rediscovered in the Word by examining the writings themselves. He came to see that man was given all that was necessary for him to obey in the garden, which is why the fall was such a tragic decision. The righteousness of Christ is imputed (not infused) to those of faith, which replaces what was lost in the fall. Calvin said that the Imago Dei (Image of God) are "those marks of excellence which God had distinguished Adam over all other living creatures." In the fall, we became a frightful deformity, however mankind both loses and retains the image of God after the fall. In Genesis 9:6, the argument is made that if anyone sheds man's blood (murders), man shall shed his blood - for God made man in his image. If man has completely lost the image in the fall, then this argument loses its force. Yet it is also clear from Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3 that there is a difference between the "old man" and the "new man." This is a renewing into God's image by the power of the gospel.

CH: Martin Luther at the end of his life only considers two of his works worthy of reprinting: his catechisms and The Bondage of the Will. Luther focuses on the perspicuity (clarity) of scripture and the nature of the will. For Luther, much of this discussion revolves around the issue of certainty. He was haunted for years to know how a sinner stands before a Holy God, and for him that certainty is peace and stability. Erasmus has doubts about the assertion of anything - he holds a view of Scripture that it is fundamentally obscure and therefore you need the magisterium of the church to help you.

Seminary: Day 8

Day 8

　

AP: "I believe; I believe. It’s silly, but I believe." These are the well-known words spoken by young Susan Walker in the popular Christmas movie Miracle on 34th Street (1947). They provide just one example of how faith is commonly portrayed in our culture as a blind leap in the dark—believing for no reason at all. Fideism is belief without reasons. But Biblical faith is not fideism.

　

Faith, according to the Bible, is not irrational or "silly." It is not a blind commitment or an arbitrary feeling of closeness to God. What is faith then? Christianity has historically defined saving faith using 3 terms: notitia, assensus, fiducia. Notitia signifies that saving faith believes something - it has an intellectual content. Assensus refers to the intellectual conviction that the knowledge one possesses is factually true and personally beneficial. The third element is fiducia, or trust. Without this, "faith" is purely an intellectual enterprise - like the demons who know God exists, yet shudder at the thought. They refuse to trust him because they hate him. Fiducia is a personal trust in Christ as he is offered in the gospel and a complete reliance upon Him for salvation.

　

Certain opponents of Christianity confuse fideism with true faith, like Richard Dawkins who asserts that faith stifles critical thinking. Fideists believe because they believe, but the Christian fait rests on facts of history, and it is a robust worldview able to withstand questions from honest seekers.

　

CH: Martin Luther comes to disagree with the Roman Catholic view of the mass, but still sees a real presence of whole Christ in the elements. He keys in on the phrase "Hoc est corpus deum" where Christ says "This is my body." Zwingli believes that communion is a memorial, keying in on the phrase "Do this in remembrance of me." Because of Luther's dealings with radicals like Karlstadt, who also believed in a symbolic view of the elements, he associates anyone whose view is symbolic with radicalism, even going so far to say that a symbolic view is non-Christian. Calvin comes along and gives another view of communion. He says that parts of the Lord's supper are a mystery and that we must resist the urge to go beyond what Scripture says - at those points, we kneel in worship. The Lord is truly present in the Lord's supper, but it is not a physical presence. We receive the body and blood not because Christ is in the elements, but because we are united with him in heaven. These sacraments are "the visible word" and are communicated through the senses in an olfactory way. God has accommodated us in communicating through language in the Word and in the sacrament through the senses. Many years later when Luther hears of Calvin's view, he admits that had Calvin been present in his disagreement with Zwingli, they probably could have come together.

Seminary: Day 7

Day 7

AP: We have rebelled against God and deserve nothing but wrath and judgment. Yet God has provided a way to uphold justice in the universe, to uphold his goodness of character, while providing a way to escape the coming wrath. Not by breaking the rules (i.e being inconsistent with his character) or overlooking evil, but by crediting us with his goodness, and crediting Jesus with our rebellion. Christ was actively obedient, obeying God at all times throughout his earthly life, and he was passively obedient - accepting all suffering that came his way though it was unjust. He became sin and accepted the full force of God's wrath that we deserved, died the death sin brings, and rose from the grave, showing that his sacrifice was accepted. This "great exchange" (our sin for his goodness) is applied to all who believe and trust in Him. His work fully accomplishes our salvation - there is nothing we do to add to it, and in fact if we try, we have not grasped the gospel. Because of this, when we believe we are accepted by God and adopted into His family - never to be cast out.

ST: God made man in his own image, but the language used is particularly peculiar: "Let us make man in our image." As people have tried to understand this verse through the centuries, a number of views have surfaced. The first view is that God is talking with the angels - but in no other place in Scripture are angels said to create; there is a single Creator God. The second view is that God is making use of the "royal we" - as if a Queen says "We are not amused." The third view is that this is a glimpse of the Trinity, that God is having a self-directed discussion between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This option is particularly appealing because there are other places where the Old Testament is like a fully furnished room that is dimly lit - such as where what is sometimes called the "proto-gospel" is in Genesis 3:15 when God curses the serpent: "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Later, the more full revelation of truth comes in Jesus. With no other creature does God say he will make it in "our image." This image is not an add-on to humanity, but is the essence of what it means to be human. Mankind was also uniquely given dominion over the creation as God's vice-regent. Adam was good, with no flaw in his reason, knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, having the law of God written in his heart and having the power to fulfill it, but he was not yet confirmed in his righteousness (or not yet glorified or not yet in his eschatological state) - i.e. his relationship with God could be lost. Mankind fell from this lofty position when Adam rebelled, but the gospel does not merely return us to Eden, but takes us to Eden's goal. The second Adam - Christ - succeeds where the first Adam failed and thus secures for all who believe that final state of glorification where sin is completely removed, which means heaven is not another trial as Eden was, but is a relationship with God that cannot be severed because sin and the desire to sin will be removed from us.

CH - Zwingli was a different reformer than Luther was, for many reasons - not the least of which that there is no "Zwinglian Church" or "Zwinglian Reformation." Zwingli was a humanist in the 16th cetury use of the word - a man of letters (learning), a man of the city - while Luther was a man of the countryside, a man more in touch with the medieval sensibilites. Zwingli, like Luther (and all of us) was a flawed man, and there were rumors (assumed to be Catholic propaganda by some) that he got a woman pregnant outside wedlock. Some years later, a confession was found in a book in Zwingli's handwriting that this was in fact true. This and Luther's (a former monk) marriage to a former nun was used by Catholic opposition to say that the Reformation was really just about sex. For Zwingli, the reformation was about the sovereignty of God in light of the plague, during which 25% of the population of Zurich died. Zwingli, like Luther, did not reject everything from the Catholic church (hence the title of "reformer"), for instance, he still believed in the perpetual virginity of Mary, and his Marion devotion continued. But Zwingli was a pre-modern man, and the plague was a mysterious act of God. His "95 thesis" moment surrounds the eating of sausages (!), breaking the Lenten fast. Zwingli did not actually eat, but sat among those who did. This leads to a series of disputations, and with the advent of the printing press, word spreads quickly. (Incidentally, printers at that time were considered very radical, and there were risks when printing controversial material). These disputations accented the role on the Bible as normative for life, and he swings violently against the Anabaptists. Because the church and state were so closely tied at this point in history, people like the Anabaptists were considered on the fringe, opting out of society. One other interesting development at this time is in ministerial training where a gathering of ministers sat and each expounded on a passage (the same one), starting from the least experienced and proceeding until the most experienced pastor would speak. Zwingli eventually rejects the sacramental view of the Lord's supper, seeing it as a memorial. It was an argument in essence about the meaning of the word "is," as in "This is my body." Zwingli argues that the use of "is" here is more closely related to "symbolizes" than one of identity. Thus, a "pamphlet war" broke out on the presses of the day

Seminary: Day 6

Day 6

Apologetics: Mankind knows God, but processes that knowledge wrong, because we reject God's authority over us. There is, however, a general mysticism that many people are attracted to, but they reject the True God who is truly greater and above all creation, the One who transcends our experience of life. Others affirm a rationalistic or naturalistic approach to life, rejecting this tran...scendent God who is also immanent - as close to us as our next breath. It is only because we reject this God that we seek something vaguely similar to him to satisfy our inner being. But we suppress the truth because we want to live life according to our desires: "My kingdom come, my will be done ..."
Romans 1:19-21 "...what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened."

Church History: Martin Luther was a sort of medieval "rock star," but the reformation went in some directions he never intended. He certainly was not a perfect man, and some of his sins are stains on his reputation to this day. His writings against the Peasants and against the Jews perhaps sully his reputation the most. At the end of his life, the only works Luther himself considers worthy of reprinting are his 2 catechisms and "The Bondage of the Will." Luther genuinely believed the reformation movement was the ushering in of the end times. Some identified Luther as one of the angels in Revelation 14, and while he does not say that himself, neither does he refute it. During this time, large crowds follow Luther wherever he goes, and the trade in Luther posters boom. But Luther is scared and he has reason to be. Most Diets (Trials) in those times did not end well for the accused - and burning at the stake was a real probability. At the Diet of Worms where he is told to recant his works, his response is to divide them into 3 groups: writings on morals that even his enemies affirm are good and true, others written against the papacy over which if he is tried, the Diet should be as well, and writings against individuals where he admits that he may have been over the top. But when he is asked for a straightforward answer, he gives his famous answer that includes "unless I am convinced by Holy Scriptures and sound reason, I cannot and will not recant, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me." At the conclusion of the Diet, Luther is kidnapped (to save him from being kidnapped by his enemies), by his benefactor Frederick the Wise, who sends him to Wartburg. He disappears for 11 months, during which time he translates the Scriptures into German, the language of the people. Later, there develops a division on the issue of the Lord's supper - are the elements merely symbolic, or is the body and blood of Christ really present? Karlstadt, who leads a very radical wing of the reformation, views them as symbolic and for the rest of his life Luther will not be able to separate a symbolic view from radicalism, which will color his meeting with Zwingli in 1529.

Seminary: Day 5

Day 5

Tim Keller proposes four basic models for cultural engagement. Each has its strengths and weaknesses, which means that perhaps we should not limit ourselves to one particular model, but self-consciously modify the one we most naturally lean to in order to combat its weaknesses.

Transformationalist - pursue your vocation from a Christian worldview with the goal of transforming it; sometim...es this worldview is too cognitive and not enough responding of the whole person to the whole creation, and it doesn't deal with the worship of the heart.

Relevance - Christian faith is fundamentally compatible with the surrounding culture - God has not abandoned the culture "out there;" sometimes the gospel is minimized or even forgotten and the distinctives of the church get blurred.

Counterculturalists - purpose is to show that the world is at enmity with God. In this worldview, there is no confusion or false hope about this world - our treasures are in heaven. Sometimes very pessimistic about social change, tends to demonize business, markets, and governments. It can also downplay justification and the atonement because "we're the good guys."

Two kingdoms - Christ and culture in paradox; Christ governs the church by his word, and the world by the sword. Puts a very high value on secular callings, and doesn't see merely one way of being a "Christian dentist." The state is there to give freedoms. It does seem to place more emphasis on "common grace" than even the Bible does. Christians can also be silent on social issues when they shouldn't be - for example, many pulpits were silent on slavery in the 1840's and 1850's.

After creation, God did not rest because he was tired, but he ceased from his creative activities - though he remains active in sustaining and redeeming creation - as an expression of his kingly sovereignty. This seventh Day has never ceased. The cycle of 6 days of work plus one day of rest for mankind anticipates entering God's rest, which will never end. Thus the command to set aside one day for rest is a breaking in of God's rest in on this fallen creation. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Sabbath rest as he inaugurates the Kingdom and enters the rest of God, which is why Christians moved the Sabbath to Sunday. With Christ's resurrection, the rest is not at the end of the week, but the already-not yet rest has begun. We enter God's rest not by works, but by resting in Him by faith.

Martin Luther had a law-gospel divide in viewing scripture in his early days. He saw God's Word as powerful and living, and that you preach law to slay self-righteousness, then the gospel when despairing of one's own efforts to lead to Christ. But by 1525, Luther sees a need for ethics and gets a more Pauline balance in his preaching and teaching. Good works are not to be done to earn salvation, but works to be done to delight God and for our fellow human beings in unconditional love. And by later in his life, he realized there was more to sanctification than merely the realization that you have been justified in Christ.

Seminary: Day 4

Day 4

Unlike many of the religions man has come up with, God has revealed that mankind has an inherently high dignity because we are made in the image of God. We are not merely beasts of burden for the "gods," nor are we merely fortunate accidents. Mankind is God's vice-regent who has delegated lordship over the creation. We are given the task of making sense of the world, of bringing it into o...rderly submission. In the fall, we rejected our creaturely dependence on God and distorted the three offices given to man. We have distorted the role of prophet, reinterpreting God's Word to suit our desires. We have distorted the role of priest, serving other gods and false idols. And we have distorted the role of king, ruling poorly and even abdicating our role. Even with all this, God has not condemned us, but provided redemption - not merely restoration - to all who will trust Christ for their escape from the coming wrath.

The medieval authority of the Roman Church was tied to sacramentalism. Luther reduces the sacraments to 2 or 3 (depending on how you view the 3rd). He thought the medieval view of baptism was too low, since one needed the other sacraments when sin rises up in you. Baptism was regenerational in his view. He also believed that transubstantiation in the mass was an Aristotelian import (though it probably was not this), and said that the bread & wine and the body & blood must all be present. And the third sacrament, though he did not stress it or command it because he did not see it in Scripture, was the idea of Penance or confession. He saw this sacrament as a means of tyranny or social control, and the "keys" were not tied to an office, but to the church as a whole.

Seminary: Day 3

Day 3

In Exodus 17, the Israelites are camping out at Rephidim but had no water nearby, so they quarreled with Moses about this. The Lord told Moses to go out in front of the people with the elders of Israel with the staff he struck the Nile with. Then the Lord says something that is easily overlooked in the text: That He will stand upon (Hebrew “al” – aleph lamed) the rock and Moses is to st...rike the rock, and water will come from the rock for the people to drink. So Moses did and the people had water.
This moment is a foreshadowing of what God would later do on the cross with Christ. The people deserved judgment but God himself was symbolically struck in their place, and the result was that the life-giving water was given to the people. Many years later, Jesus would become our sin, our rebellion, and take our punishment from the Father on the cross so that we might be given the life-giving Spirit.
______________________
Science, like everything else, is done by human beings and is therefore not impersonal and cannot rightfully claim an uncorrupted interpretation of data. There is a strain of conservative Christianity that exhibits a fear or shunning of science, but the creation itself is worthy of examination. There is also a strain of liberal Christianity that exhibits a fear of scientists, letting science be its own separate sphere within the world, but to disengage is to lack the “fear of the Lord” (or reverent respect). To be sure, men of faith have sometimes had too much confidence in their interpretations of the Bible that led to unnecessary stands on issues that were not really put forth by Scripture (i.e. that the earth was flat). None of us come to scripture without our own leanings, biases, and assumptions. But there is more to life than merely the physical, material world. Science has provided us with many great things – but it cannot give us ultimate things, a reason for existence, a goal for life.
________________________
In 1518 Martin Luther lays out his developing theology in the Heidelberg Disputation. Thesis 28 says “The love of God does not find, but creates, that which is pleasing to it. The love of man comes into being through that which is pleasing to it.” We love because we find something to be lovable, but God loves the unlovable and makes them lovable. Which is great news, for there is nothing in us to commend us to God.

Seminary: Day 2

We each wear our own "interpretive glasses," through which we try to make sense of the world. All of us know God through the creation around us, but because we do not want God, our interpretations of this creation are tainted by error and pride. This resistance goes so deep in us that we have no hope of getting an accurate picture of God - unless he has taken it upon himself to reveal himself to us.

Seminary: Day 1

As a learning aid, I have decided to try to summarize my classes each day in order to pick out the main points, try to become more succinct in my writing, and to study.  And perhaps it will be interesting to others as well.  ... here's Day 1 ...
(the classes I am taking are Introduction to Apologetics, Doctrine of Man, and History of the Reformation.  Once in a while I may add something from chapel, too).

 

“We bargain away our souls for cheap thrills” – Os Guiness. We settle for merely a quiet life, a good job, health, entertainment, power, or a host of other things that are mere trinkets compared to what is offered and what we give away. We make a Faustian bargain, not taking God seriously when he says “What does it profit someone to gain the whole world and forfeit their soul?” We are like children preferring to make mudpies in the street when a vacation at the shore is offered … The value of what God offers the sinner in forgiveness and adoption far outweighs all the gold in the world – nay, even the world itself. "Let us eat, drink, and be merry - for tomorrow we die" is our life philosophy ...

- Our culture sees guilt as something you feel, but Biblically, guilt is something you are. Shame and guilt are shunned and minimized today, yet shame and guilt make us aware of our need for someone to rescue us. The Gospel is only good news for those who understand the bad news.

- The conflicts and heresies throughout church history have strengthened our understanding of what is true and necessary in the gospel.

Book Review: Spiritual Leadership

Spiritual Leadership
Principles of Excellence for Every Believer
by J. Oswald Sanders

This book was required reading for me for a course. I've found it to be helpful in some areas, but I have questions about others. Dealing with the issue of Leadership, Sanders is at his best when he deals with the "inner life" or "private life" of the leader - there's no divide between the character of the leader as leader and as a private person. This is a continually welcome message for both the church as well as the culture. He deals quite well with the fact that Jesus' choice for leaders in the early church was quite different from what the world would have chosen.

He rightly reminds us that God is most interested in our relationship with Him and our relationship with others. One might be quite smart, or quite down-to-earth, or quite charismatic - but that does not mean one would be a leader in the mold of Christ. Service is perhaps the best word Sanders uses to define what Leadership within the church looks like.

He deals with practical issues of time management, reading, delegating, training others, and making yourself exspenable to the place you serve. He highlights the cost of leadership, the perils of leadership, and the tests of leadership. All of this is great stuff, because it reflects scriptural principles to a large degree.

However, I do wonder if there is too much focus on the "religious" at times. I recognize that prayer is time we spend with God, but the "old-time" focus on three, four, or five hours of prayer a day makes me wonder if we have not allowed religious ideas or even a bit of asceticism to creep in. I also wonder if we too easily excuse neglect of family in the name of "serving the Lord." I have heard that many of the leaders of these "great awakenings" have not had the best family life - and, without judging them, I wonder how much we should listen to them in their spirituality?

My final issue that I will voice is one I have with many evangelicals today - the reference to Charles Finney as a positive example. From what I know, Finney denied that Christ's death on the cross did anything for mankind, or for individuals - except that it was an example to follow. From my understanding, that places Finney not just outside the bounds of orthodoxy, but outside the "church." How can we quote a man's methods whom Paul (see Galatians) would apparently oppose?

Book Review: CrossTalk - Where Life and Scripture Meet

CrossTalk: Where Life and Scripture Meet by Mike Emlet

OK, another book from CCEF that cracks my top 10 all time books. I'm going to have to make it officially a top 20 books just to keep some other authors visible ...

To sum up a response to this book, I say “Wow !" I wish I had read this book years ago, but I doubt I was ready for it – in any case, the Lord is sovereign and I have read this book (and it has been published) in His timing, which is perfect. I have lived as a perfectionist, as someone who functionally based my justification on my supposed sanctification, and I have lived in a community where the Bible is always reduced to “rules.” It has been difficult to realize that I am always looking for the “call” on someone’s life – mine or a friend’s – and that much of my personal ministry was looking for “corrective verses” instead of the “whole-istic” view of ministry presented in Scripture. It was like being in a band where on the flat notes could be struck, and thinking that this was the only kind of music there was.
I have struggled even in my own reading of scripture not to turn everything into a demand, into a rule that needed to be followed in order for “approval” to be had. The first chapter continued to whet my appetite for more – something that CCEF resources have been doing for a couple of years now. The imagery of ditches and canyons struck home – I wanted everything to be a ditch, and I felt inadequate for anything wider than a few inches. Saying to me that the Bible is NOT primarily a book of do’s and don’ts has felt like making the Bible a foreign book – if THAT was not what it was for, how do I understand it? But then to go even further and say that the Bible is not primarily a book of timeless principles for the problems of life – well, statements like that will get you labeled with the “L” word. And yet, there is something that rings true, something that warms my heart, something that creates longing in me when I see what is meant by the proper use of Scripture in ministry. As I am learning in my Prolegomena class, it is improper for me to sit in and judge Scripture, and so I must confess that my feeling of “rightness” has no impact on the actual rightness or wrongness of any method, and yet I do want to affirm that this approach seems to be more in line with the Jesus I see ministering to others rather than the people I see around and including me.
The idea of meta-narratives, of seeing myself and others within a story that is part of a larger story seems quite revolutionary to me – and yet, by transferring my gaze off of my own little world, I gain an others-centered perspective that keeps me from spiraling in on myself. By explicitly focusing on the saint-sufferer-sinner model, it prevents me from falling back into old habits – of merely attacking the points of sin. I am reminded to see people as God’s beloved children, being redeemed, who suffer due to their own sin and the sin of others – and not just as projects who need fixing. I love the concrete examples that are given of using a passage from the Old and New Testament in a ministry setting – and not just “easy application” passages. This again seems to resonate in my heart with a “I knew there was something better out there but couldn’t find it” response.
I find myself longing for the time to re-read this book and to sit down and think through specific ministry situations with the framework it presents. Quite frankly, at this stage of my life - I find that I have little time for anything. And yet, I am smack in the middle of ministry – so much so that I desperately need to make time for this. Most of all, I want time to go through Scripture and change my view from a “rule-search” or a “principle-search” to a search for Christ. It really is He that I want most of all, and yet so much gets in the way – including myself. I think this book will get worn out from my use – at least I hope so – and I want to be able to incorporate it into the “second-nature” of my thinking.

Tiger and me ...

It appears Tiger Woods is human after all. Oh, there was never really any doubt, but as we do far too often in our culture, we place athletes and celebreties on pedastals where they should not be and then revel in their fall. I don't know much about Tiger, and I'm not much of a golf fan, but I do feel for him. Don't get me wrong, what he apparently did was wrong and I have far more empathy for his wife than for him. And yet ... I understand. Our desires are insatiable. Here is a man married to someone who was a model, if not a supermodel. Our culture tells us that he should be the happiest man on earth. He has money, fame, a beautiful wife, the envy of much of the world, and he gets to play a game for a living. And yet, it was not (apparently) enough.

These things never are enough to satisfy our hearts, our longings - and our desires can outgrow the ability for anything to satisfy them. We see this play out in the news (and the tabloids) time and time again. The human condition is one of searching, of longing, of wanting, of needing ... yet being unfulfilled. We have brought it on ourselves, yet we refuse to hear the solution. We suppress what is readily apparent about the universe because we like our sin. We don't want to be accountable to anyone or anything outside ourselves. We certainly don't want to hear that our lives will be evaluated for what they were in the end ...

I'm not sure women appreciate the all-consuming nature of lust. There are probably some women who do, but as a whole, the reactions I have seen from women lead me to say that they don't get it. Why, for instance, would Tiger stray from a supermodel wife? Isn't that enough? Could he possibly want more than that? Yes. It is, in a very real way, like an analogy to food I heard. You could put the best piece of apple pie ever made beforre a hungry man and let him eat it. He could take his time, savoring each bite with the most appropriate beverage ever devised. Maybe he takes an hour to eat that pie. When he's all done, he sits back and reflects on the best piece of apple pie ever made. Could he possibly want more after that? If someone came along with a store bought cherry pie, could he possibly want that? Yes, we all know full well that one (male or female) could have a desire to eat that cherry pie even after finishing off the best piece of apple pie ever made. Why? Because our desires, ultimately, are insatiable.

There must be something else that captures our hearts more than our desires - or we will destroy our lives. Whether through an affair or over-indulgin in pie, we all die a slow death this way. Tiger, what you (apparently) did was hurtful, dumb, and sin. You and I both need a Savior. Without Him, we shall be consumed ...

What about MY shame?

I went to a conference recently, and a lot of great things were said. One of the speakers touched on something that I have personally witnessed in my interaction with others. For most of us, Thanksgiving and Christmas are days we look forward to as we consider spending time with cherished family and friends. But they are not so for everyone. Some people are far away from their family by distance, death, or rejection. The holidays are not times of joy for them, but times of sadness and sorrow. There are still others who are dealing with great tragedy in their life who cannot seem to find any reason to rejoice at this time of the year. The gospel has much to say to these people in their circumstances. But there are others for whom the shame of what has been done to them colors all of life. Most of us see how the Gospel relates to things that we have done – but how does it relate to things that have been done to us?

Shame is something we see coming on the scene immediately after Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. Before, they walked and talked with God openly, and they were naked and not ashamed. As soon as they sinned however, we see them hiding from God – and we see God graciously providing coverings for them. This is a hint of what was to come, for we needed more than animal skins to cover our shame before a Holy God. In Exodus 28, we see God providing garments to the priests – giving them “dignity and honor,” for the priests represented the people in the tabernacle/temple. Adam and Eve, in addition, were driven from the garden – they were literally “outcasts.” In the Old Testament, those who were unclean were outcasts. God provides again for the shame of His people as He details sacrifices for the people, sacrifices for sin and uncleanness. In Leviticus 10:10, God tells them to make a distinction between the holy and the common, between the clean and the unclean. The unclean was not to be touched, for the unclean could contaminate the clean. Those who have been sinned against can often feel this sense of “uncleanness” – and how does one get rid of this sense? What can make the unclean clean again? The Holy can make the unclean clean!

Fast forwarding a bit to when Jesus comes on the scene. We find him doing what ought not be done with the unclean - He's touching them. On purpose! Touching lepers to make them clean, touching blind people, touching all sorts of “untouchable” people! He even touches dead bodies (i.e. Jairus’ daughter)! Can you imagine the sense of healing, of wholeness given to those who have been outcasts for years by Jesus touching them and healing them in this way. Lepers who perhaps had not had human contact for years were touched by Him! Lepers who had to go through the streets yelling "unclean! unclean!" so that others could avoid them were now healed! In Luke 8, we see a woman who had been bleeding for 8 years trying to secretly touch the hem of Jesus’ garment – and when she does, she is healed! Jesus doesn't allow that to be the end of the healing, for when he publicly brings her forward, he gives her words of acceptance and peace – affirming that she did not “steal” the healing. When Jesus comes on the scene, we see him pursuing the worst sinners, the outcasts, the ones whom no one associated with. He does not allow a sense of shame, of uncleanness, to come between these people and His love. The “Holy” had come on the scene, and uncleanness itself is banished! Know that if your life is colored by shame, Jesus is willing to touch you, to heal you, and to extend his love to you!

Mark Driscoll strikes a similar tune in his book “Death By Love.” In the chapter on expiation (the cleansing of the stain of sin on our soul), he writes a letter to a woman in his congregation who had been raped. In his own style, Mark Driscoll speaks to her of the gospel – what the gospel has to say to her in her pain. Jesus did not only take the punishment for our sins on the cross, but he also took on our shame! He became a curse for us (Gal 3:13), he became rejected by men and God, spit upon, beaten, and crucified. It is not just that we can be forgiven from whatever we have done – the gospel also cleanses us from any and all shame of what has been done to us! Christ is the Holy One who comes and touches us, who cleanses us, who remakes us into His image - the one who can make us Holy! If you struggle this Thanksgiving and Christmas season because of what has been done to you, look to Christ and see how the Gospel sets you free and cleanses you from even this! Your hope is in Christ!

Falling in Awe at the Savior's Feet Together

See Life Differently: Dealing With Lust

I found an old post on a blog that I am unfamiliar with (and so do not endorse anything on it) that I found particularly insightful on lust.

See Life Differently: Dealing With Lust

The key section (in case the link gets broken) for me is:

"Wouldn't it be better if a woman in a bikini didn't even register on my radar because I am so in love with my own wife? Wouldn't it be best if I could actually overcome my lust altogether, rather than merely trying to control the sinful behavior that results from it?

How come no one's talking about how to change the heart? Hmmm?"

Some thoughts:

There actually are some people who are looking at heart change, rather than merely external boundaries. The people at CCEF have been dealing with this for years, and they don't get enough traffic, as far as I'm concerned. They have some fine resources on dealing with "how people change" that deals primarily with heart change.

If I might summarize to the best of my ability: we need to realize that we do, in each and every moment, exactly what we want to do. We always follow our greatest desire. The question is, how do we desire something else?

First, we must realize that what we want often kills us slowly. We ingest poison - poison that gives us a rush - and then wonder why we are deteriorating. We choose to swallow the lie, that thing offered to us that promises life, and find only once it gets into our stomach that it is bitter.

Second, we must realize that we undervalue Christ. We think the gospel is only for the moment of salvation and we're on our own to "make it the rest of the way" through life. We do not see that the Gospel is for ever day living. We do not see the all-surpassing glory of Christ that would far outshine these momentary pleasures if we would just look! Instead, we suppress our knowledge of Christ in order that we might pursue this created thing - or perhaps we have never had an accurate picture of the Glory of the Risen Christ!

Third, we fail to realize that we cannot change ourselves - or others. The one thing everyone needs - and the one thing no one can do for themselves or others - is a change in the heart. We can't reach into someone else and flip a switch, as it were, so that they crave the right thing. The best we can do is show truth to them, to hold up Christ in all His glory, and pray that he will draw this person to himself.

Fourth, we must see that life is a series of realizations that we have turned from Christ and to something else - that we have sought life in another. We then turn from the thing that has captured our affection and look to Christ. We need to deny ourselves this momentary pleasure for something far more satisfying. To paraphrase John Piper's words: we must stop dwelling on "our mud pies in the slums" and see the value in the "holiday at the sea" that is offered. We are far too easily satisfied.

Fifth, and perhaps this is out of order, we must realize that if we are united with Christ, our Sovereign Lord has arranged the details of your life so that you will continue to walk down the path of Christ-likeness. We are guaranteed to reach our destination, as the deposit of the Holy Spirit attests. We will one day be like Him - when we see Him face to face. Your life is bigger than your life, and the "Grand Play" going on around you will display the Lord in all His Glory. Your life is a part of that reality. There is nothing that happens to you by chance, by happenstance, by randomness (as if that were a force anyway) - every detail is arranged according to plan. The sovereign Lord speaks into all of life - and He cares far too much about His children to let them settle for mud pies. He will do whatever is necessary to free them from the power of sin - for if He has given us Christ, what good will He withhold?

No, for whatever reason, God does not see fit to perfect us in this life. But as we walk with Him, we will be more like Him. And I have a suspicion that when all is revealed, our joy and His Glory will be ever-intensified because of the path He has taken us through.

So, as we struggle with lust, remember:
1. We are falling for the trap and lie of the enemy that life is found in a sexual experience rather than fellowship with God
2. Lust is destructive and will destroy us
3. We do what we do because we want to
4. We need heart change, but are dependent on God for that
5. Christ's Glory far surpasses the mud pies we play with - so behold Christ!
6. Because we are united in Christ, one day this struggle will be over - but that day is not today

“What do I want?”

This is a great question to ask yourself, and to ask of others. It’s simple and straightforward, and yet the desires, thoughts and motives of our very core can be displayed by honest answers to this question. It fits just about any moment of any situation. What is it that is driving me to say, do, feel and think the things I do right now?

This question is in essence a summary of some of the work of Jonathan Edwards as he considered God’s Word. He spoke at length to the desires we all have in his work “The Freedom of the Will.” Edwards’ thesis in this work is that “we are free to choose that which we most desire.” Why do you do what you do in each and every moment of your life? Because you want to – you desire to. Even when we have competing desires, we will always pursue that which is greatest. This is why the things we do reveal our hearts – even though no one can see our inner motives.

“Wait,” you say, “I know there are times I would rather be fishing than at work, or times I do the dishes for the thousandth time when my back hurts.” How can you say that I always follow my greatest desire when so often I feel like I must do something out of a sense of duty, if nothing else? It is true that sometimes we do have a desire to do something other than what we are doing that seems greater. But it is not just these two desires competing, but a third (at least) enters the picture. You know that to abandon work (not speaking of vacations) is to put you job in jeopardy, and your job is how you provide for your family, support the work of your church and other causes you value, and that on occasion, it really does provide you with a sense of purpose. Thus your desire to protect your family, help others, and have a sense of accomplishment with the talents you have been given overrides the momentary desire to be fishing. Thus, even though you’d rather be fishing – you really would rather be faithful to the other causes more important to you than your own enjoyment. So even when we think we are sacrificing a greater desire, we are really doing it in service to a greater desire yet.

“Following our greatest motivation” thus highlights why sin is so offensive. When we sin, we do it because we want to do it – in spite of God’s desire for us. We believe the lie that life is found in this other thing we want rather than in God’s plan for us. This is why sin is so insidious – it promises to us exactly what we want, but hides the price we will pay. Even as Christians – people committed to Christ and His Glory – we often trade the life he offers for a momentary pleasure or power or comfort.

Next, this shines light on the reality that we are not all tempted by exactly the same things. Yes, we are tempted by the similar categories of sin – i.e. pride, lust, greed, self-centeredness, etc. – but the actual things that “hook” our hearts may be different. The things that set off pride for a businessman may be different than for a pastor or a stay-at-home mother – yet they all struggle with pride. The things we want may be as different as our hobbies, careers, or tastes in food – but it is the desire that is in our heart that tempts us (James 1:13-15). Thus, what tempts me may be perfectly innocent for my brother, and we must be careful not to assign our struggles to someone else.

The final thing this points to is the fact that external remedies (isolation, boundaries, fleeing etc.) may be of some value in the moment, but ultimately the thing we need the most is heart change (and it’s the one thing none of us can do for another or even ourselves). We need to desire different things. I am not kept pure merely by the avoidance of situations that may tempt me – although it is Biblical and wise to flee moments of temptation rather than to fall into sin – but by the change of my desires from the things of this world (yes, even good things out of proportion) to the things that please God’s heart. Monasteries were a fine idea – until humans were let in. In spite of their extremely rigorous rules and ascetic conditions, monasteries still found the same sins present as in the rest of the world. The human heart will find ways to go on its own, to chase its own desires. We don’t need a better environment, ultimately – we need a Savior. Christ is yet our example: when the “pressures” of all He went through in his crucifixion and separation from the Father, look at what came out of his heart. When the sponge is squeezed, the liquid that comes out was what was already in there. What comes out of your heart when the pressures of the moment squeeze you?

When Christ is lifted up in all His Glory, he not only draws men to himself for salvation, but captures more and more the hearts of his children. I am convinced that what I need more often than not is a true, vibrant mental picture or understanding of the glorious appeal of Christ for who He is so that the trinkets of earth that so easily amuse me fade into dust in comparison with Him. I need not just to shun sin, but to desire Christ more!

If the gospel has any power – and it does – then it is the answer for us not only when we first come to Christ, but for living life every day thereafter. “What do you want?” – a simple, but powerful spotlight on your heart.

Review of "Lost in the Middle"

Lost in the Middle
Midlife and the Grace of God
by Paul Tripp

Life interrupted my reading of this book. I read the first three quarters of it a few months ago and put the book down in favor of other pressing responsibilities. Now that they are completed, I have had time to pick up this book again, and it was refreshing. Reluctantly, I will admit that I am now in "mid-life" - although I surmise that Paul includes just about anyone whose life has shaped up to be different than they planned, but not yet contemplating "retirement." In short, just about everyone.

I have less hair than I used to, and my beard is peppered now. I have been going to the gym to try to regain at least a rough outline of my wrestling physique. My life is certainly not the way I would have arranged it or predicted it, and this book helped me to continue to deal with the fact that the plan my loving heavenly Father has for me is better - even though I don't understand it.

I love Paul's style and his use of real life as examples. I may not be able yet to identify with all the particulars of his examples - but I can see they are just around the bend ... however, the underlying categories of struggles are more than familiar to me ...

My Story is not primarily about me, and it is not limited to my myopic view of the world. Paul points at that we must recognize that there is a larger story in history, a story that includes millions and billions of people - individuals known by name to the Lord and yet gathered as a people for His Glory. Unless I see the bigger story, and see the hand of the Lord moving in my life to make me more into the image of his son for his glory, I will not be able to make sense out of life. If I live for money, pleasure, prestige, or anything other than God, midlife has a way of exposing empty dreams and unfulfilled promises. Just as Adam and Eve fell for the serpent's lie and found much bitterness in following him, we too fall for his tricks as we live for things that will ultimately not satisfy.

God is present in the midst of our lives, and he is present in our sufferings, mistakes, and sins. He is there because He is committed to us for His name's sake more than we are committed to our folly. Thus, we must know the end of the story - where He is taking us - before we can make sense out of where we are ...

I am planning to give this book to a number of people in my life, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is between graduation and the grave ...

The Path ...

You have hurt me
You have wronged me
What you have done deserves death
You deserve to die a painful death
You deserve hell

The path I travel is a painful one
A path of remembering
A path of looking behind more often than ahead
A path of pain
A path of sorrow
A path of brokenness
A path of unfulfilled potential
A path of tarnished dreams
A path that should never have been

I will be your everlasting judge
Whenever you come near me, you will face my wrath
I will cover my contempt with smiles and hugs
But you will know my loathing for you

At times, I will actively hate you
I will work for your undoing
I will seek your demise
I will pluck the flesh off your bones
Every day will be life-sucking

Other times I will ignore you
I will not think of you
You will not enter my thoughts
It will be as if you never existed
You will not have the joy of my companionship
You will not be comforted
You are exiled

Someday, you will get yours
When that day comes, I will cackle
Over your broken body
I will rejoice in your demise
I will send gifts to those I love
Rejoicing that your name will soon be forgotten
But not by me
For your name will be a curse
A word I will use to show contempt
A word that I will use callously and trivially
I will dream of your screams
I will know the sound of your bones being crushed
Justice
For all you have done

This is a path of stinking dung
Dung so deep my legs sink in to my knees
Muck so thick that I struggle to take the next step
Each time I labor to lift my foot
There is a sucking sound
As if the muck tries to pull me in
If I stand still
All is lost
I will drown
And I will be added to the muck and mire
Seeking to bring others down to me

My sin
My sin is against the One who is love
My sin is against the Creator and sustainer of all things
My sin is high treason against a good and perfect King
My sin is worse than despicable
My sin stinks up the whole universe
My sin wraps around my neck like the vines of a rose bush
Promising flowers but delivering piercing thorns dripping with blood
It pulls me down to the grave like so many science fiction monsters
But this is real
It pulls me down into the depths of the grave
Into hell itself
My very name
Is a curse to me

I have chosen my own way … rather than the way of one who loves me perfectly
I have chosen to try to rule my own life … rather than to trust Him
I have chosen to set up my own Kingdom … rather than build His
I have chosen to pursue my own comforts … rather than serve Him
I have chosen my foolishness … rather than His wisdom
I have chosen darkness ... rather than light
I have chosen death … over life

Death
Darkness
Silent screams full of terror
Disorientation
Not knowing which way is up
Unable to breathe
Flames lapping at my feet
But never quenched
Justice
For all I have done
Despair

Hope
A light piercing the darkness
The last word not yet spoken
Destinies can be changed
If only
If only there was a King
A King greater than our sin
A King more loving than our hatred
A King committed to Himself
And all that is right and good and true
More than we are committed to our folly
A King with grace and mercy as his companions
A King whose word is his bond
And whose heart is true

Where is this King
We look for this King
Could he be the One
Whom we have disregarded
Whom we have spat upon
Whom we have flogged
Whom we have forsaken
Whom we have cursed
Who has forgiven us freely
For no other reason than He wanted to

We who have brought shame to His Name
We who have insisted on making our own path
We who have judged others
We who call on mute idols to save us
Like riches, power, position, pleasure, or independence
We who fought to be the Captain of our souls
And then shipwrecked upon those jagged rocks of sin
Always seen, rarely feared
We who scourged him
We who drove the nails in
We who crowned him with thorns
We who pierced his side
And mocked his nakedness
And watched him die
No justice
For what had he done to deserve this
For the joy
For the joy set before him
For the joy of bringing many sons and daughters into the Kingdom
For the joy of forgiveness
For the joy of restoration

Forgiveness is not free
Someone paid my debt
Someone took my punishment
Someone took my death
That I fully deserved
That I fully earned
That someone is him
While I was still his enemy
While I was still a rebel
While I was still a thieving murderer loose in his kingdom
He died
He died for me
He died in my place – not just that I might live
Not just that I might be a good slave
Not just that I might have a second chance
He died to make me His
He died to make me His child
He gave me full rights as a child of God
Where I go, I do not deserve
Where he leads, I go – and rejoice

His people resemble him
His children rise and call him blessed
His people call him Faithful and True
Compassionate and Loving
Just and Merciful
Righteousness clothed in unrighteousness
Beauty clothed in ugliness
Majesty crowned in criminality
Paradox
Wonder of wonders!
Life clothed in death

Justice upheld
Mercy triumphant
Love fulfilled
Grace granted
Only believe

The path of a citizen
The path of one forgiven so much
The path of an adopted one
People of the Kingdom forgive
Ambassadors of the King forgive
Children of the King forgive
The path of a beloved
The path of a son
His path

Forgiveness

Not because they must, but because they want to
They want to resemble their King, their Savior, their Father …
We are most like God when we forgive those who have wronged us
Those who have hurt us
Those who have done things that deserve punishment and condemnation

Forgiveness is the loosing of the hand on the noose
The dropping of the whip to scourge
The burning of the ledger of debts

Forgiveness is setting down the hammer and spikes
Time and time again
As you find them in your hands

Forgiveness is remembering the price paid for my great debt
and the smallness of the debt before me
and doing holy math

completing the divine equation
letting flow from my heart what has flowed into it
receiving grace as I kneel before the King
and freely offering it to my worst enemy

Forgiveness frees us from hanging on to the one who hurt us
Bitterness binds us to them every step they take
Forgiveness allows us to see the world again
Bitterness draws the one who hurt us nose to nose that we might extract vengeance … and see nothing else

I’m remembering the hurt … again
The pain … the tears …
I need to remember
Remember the great debt you forgave me
That I might not see this debt through a microscope
Making small things large
And yet, this pain is so overwhelming
It is impossible to forgive
Father, you excel in the impossible
You make your great name and power known
Through change
Change in people like me
To do impossible things

Father forgive us our sins
As we forgive those who sin against us
Father cleanse me
As I release others from my grasp

This path is hard
This path is painful
This path is self-denying
This path
Leads
To
Life

This path
Leads from a cross
To the throne
Of our Father
We must walk it
More than once
And lead others
Through it

This path
Is good