Creeds

Prayer requests were taken tonight at 63. I think that was really cool because I was wanting to pass on one concerning a troubled soul overseas. I think it's cool to realize that we are have the opportunity at 63 to pray for God to take over and open the doors for someone in another countrywho desperately needs God's help and grace. Someone we don't personally know. I was going to just pass that request on to one or two people like I normally would, but then John got up in front and asked if anyone had any such requests. It's cool that God provided that opportunity to bring it to everyone's attention, and I hope that there are multiple people who may have gone home and prayed about it and the other requests that were brought up as well...

After announcements, worship, and that time of prayer, they played over the audio system one of my favorite songs of one of my favorite artists: Rich Mullins - Creed. It's a beautiful song reciting the basic Christian creed.

Creed

I believe in God the Father almighty
Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ
His only begotten Son, our Lord
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
Born of the virgin Mary
Suffered under Pontius Pilate
He was crucified and dead and buried

And I believe what I believe
Is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not
The invention of any man

I believe that He who suffered
Was crucified, buried, and dead
He descended into hell and
On the third day, rose again
He ascended into Heaven where
He sits at God's mighty right hand
I believe that He's returning to
Judge the quick and the dead
Of the sons of men

And I believe what I believe
Is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not
The invention of any man

I believe in God the Father almighty
Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son,
Our Lord
I believe in the Holy Spirit
One Holy Church, the communion of Saints
The forgiveness of sin
I believe in the resurrection
I believe in a life that never ends

And I believe what I believe
Is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not
The invention of any man
I believe it, I believe
I believe it, I believe
I believe it, I believe it

- Rich Mullins

John started out with this song as an example of a creed. It's very much based on the Apostles Creed. He then read the Apostles Creed to us, and followed that up by asking us to all read (from the hymnals in front of us) the Nicene Creed.

Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, light from light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,

By the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered, died and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father (and the Son)
Who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
Who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Creeds are a summation of our faith. I think John put it more eloquently than that, but I can't remember his exact words. It was something about a creed being like the fruit falling off of the tree of theology that grows out of scripture. (I think I'm putting that close enough to what he said...) He gave some other examples of creeds. The earliest one being in Deuteronomy 6:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5

This is apparently known as the "Shema" creed (or, along with Deuteronomy 11:13-21 and Numbers 15:37-41, as the "Shema Yisrael" creed). He also mentioned 1 Corinthians 15 (one of the most thorough, I think, in the New Testament), Philippians 2:6-11, and 1 Timothy 3:16. These are occurances in scripture which a lot of people believe were being written as early creeds for the church to follow and understand. It's so easy to think to ourselves now, "oh, how come they didn't know this stuff already?" The obvious (and yet often forgotten) answer to that is that they didn't have this stuff written down and available like we do today. We take The Bible so much for granted sometimes. These were early summations of theology which was evident at that point. They are written down so that we all might have a clear and precise idea of what the church has believed since the beginning. These creeds are important because God wants us to worship Him accurately.

Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

John 4:21-24

The creeds have many applications, but one of them is so that we might know accurately how to worship The Lord. John went into listing some others as well. Specifically, he referred to the Doctrine of the Trinity which is in the creeds. He talked about how it is applicable to marriage, governement, church leadership... He really stepped down here and talked for awhile about submission. I am always slightly amused when a guy is speaking at 63 on the topic of submission in marriage, and that's what John digressed into for a brief moment. I guess I would get more amused if a woman was speaking about it. Maybe I just get amused whenever anyone speaks about it. John really hit the reason why on the head, too. (even though he was, most likely, unaware that the reason is the source of my amusement) We live in a society where everyone believes we deserve equal shares, responsibilities, and authority. Our society preaches the need for us to reach out for everything we can get. The truth is that that is not a Christian ideal at all. The Christian way of looking at things is to try to give someone else everything they can get. "It's about me giving up my good parking spot for you", is how I believe John put it. In marriage, specifically, the scripture says for a woman to be submissive to her husband and for a husband to be loving and respectful to his wife. We are to do this in the same way that the church is to be submissive to Christ and in which Christ has demonstrated his love for us by dying for our sins.

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Ephesians 5:22-33

I know a lot of non-Christian women who have serious issues with those verses. I believe I have known Christian ones who also have had a hard time accepting it. In our society, it is such a hard thing to accept because it places one person in a position of authority over another seemingly based solely on sex. There are people who could argue all day about why it is that way, but I think the truth is best stated as, "It just is." I'm sure there are a lot of good arguments, too. I just think that, when we sit and argue about it, we are actively demonstrating a difficulty on our part in submitting to God. He creates us and the rules. It's not the other was around. In this case, He is not just giving advice on how to run marriages, but also telling us to model those marriages after the relationship between Christ and the church. I think that the beauty of this being modeled after Christ and the church is severely underated by the people who complain about this verse and this idea of submission and respect.

We didn't have a lot of people there tonight. There was a Maverick's playoff game on that started halfway into 63. I'm pretty certain most people were off watching it. When I eventually got home, I turned it on part way through the third, and watched them lose badly. Coincidence? hehehe... At least my Ranger's won. I enjoyed seeing the end of that game. We've now got a 5 game advantage on our division (the AL West). I really like that.

On a sidenote, John and Dan are both going to be leaving this week for Nigeria. (Jos to be exact) So, if you feel like praying for people you don't know in a land far away (or maybe people you do know), pray for their safe trip and success in their mission. I believe they are going to be working with and teaching local pastors... I know they're taking lots of books for these pastors, and they've been talking about holding classes for them. I hope they have good translators. I'm trying to picture them talking about Greek and Hebrew to people who probably don't speak English. lol. Godspeed to them both!

A woman means by Unselfishness chiefly taking trouble for others; a man means not giving trouble to others... Thus while the woman thinks of doing good offices and the man of respecting other people's rights, each sex, without any obvious unreason, can and does regard the other as radically selfish.

- C.S.Lewis ( Screwtape Letters)

"Note that life after death which still seems to you the essential thing, was itself a late revelation. God trained the Hebrews for centuries to believe in Him without promising them an afterlife, and, blessings on Him, he trained me in the same way for about a year. It is like the disguised prince in a fairy tale who wins the heroine's love before she knows he is anything more than a woodcutter. What would be a bribe if it came first had better come last."

- C.S. Lewis - Encounter With Light

"Christianity seems at first to be all about morality, all about duties and rules and guilt and virtue, yet it leads you on, out of all that, into something beyond. One has a glimpse of a country where they do not talk of those things, except perhaps as a joke. Every one there is filled full with what we should call goodness as a mirror is filled with light. But they do not call it goodness. They do not call it anything. They are not thinking of it. They are too busy looking at the source from which it comes."

- C. S. Lewis - Mere Christianity. (Macmillan Publishing. 1978. pgs. 130,131)

"A few more steps and we'll be safe in the fireswamp" - Wesley - The Princess Bride

I slept for so long this morning. I think I slept until 2:00 PM. Es war sehr schoen. However, it was eventually time to wake up, and work. I got distracted. My stomach was the culprit, and it drove me all the way to Whataburger. Good stuff. Lunch and email distracted me for awhile. Finally, at about 5:00 PM, I sat down again to work. I got distracted setting up the remote terminal enviroment. Then, I got distracted trying to upgrade my remote terminal client software. Somewhere during this, the Rangers game started. I didn't see it start though, even though my TV was on, because I was now in the middle of a wunderbar conversation on the phone. Quite awhile later, when I returned, I tried one last time to start again. I think it was around 9:30 that I did this. It didn't work. I no longer had any amount of motivation. This is why it is probably not a good idea for me to work from home. It's a good thing it was not required.

Now, I'm going to go to bed. I've been trying to make it to bed at a good time lately, but this has severely impacted my ability to write well on here. It usually takes me quite awhile to discover what I should write about, and then almost 2 hours to write it. Sometimes, there is another 30 minutes to an hour involved in finding the links and the quotes that run along with it. I wish it was easier. It's because of how much time is involved that I have not been writing as much lately. I can't afford to be staying up until 5:00 AM each night writing posts.

I'm going to keep posting though, even if it's only something small like this. The larger posts will start coming again as ideas and thoughts get bottled up and unexpressed. Those are usually the best kind to write about anyways.

I think one of the best pieces of advice I've ever heard on the topic of love and relationships is posted at the end of this post. It is being spoken to the main character (Sheridan) as he is trying to profess to the Reverand why can't share his problems with his love (Delenn). He points out how many problems of her own she has, and doesn't want to stress her out with his as well. The Reverand responds with the line below.

I remember watching this episode and feeling like a simple revelation had been placed before me as I heard that line. Maybe it reads like common sense, but it seems like every relationship I've ever seen go bad could use someone reading them this quote. (Or, maybe I just don't know what I am talking about...) However you wish to view it, it's still beautiful in my mind.

"You know, before I got married, Emily used to come by sometimes and help me clean out my apartment. Well, I asked her, 'How come you're so eager to help clean up my place when your place is just as bad?' She said, 'Because cleaning up your place helps me to forget what a mess I've made of mine. And — when I sweep my floor, all I've done is sweep my floor. But, when I help you clean up your place, I am helping you.'"

~ Rev. Will Dexter - Babylon 5: Season 3, Episode 20 - The Rock Cried Out

Spamming a Message

When I woke up this morning, there were 17 new anonymous comments on here. Only about 3 of them were unique. Maybe 4... None were on topic, and they were all very generic. So, I deleted them.

They all also had links to random sites... I hope no one clicked on any of them. They were probably autogenerated. How bad is the problem of spam when it goes from email to comments on a blog?!?!

I'm getting to the point where I think that spammers should be lined up and shot. They're as bad as telemarketers except that they don't interrupt you during dinner. Instead, they take up your time at work and home with downloading.

Anyways, the point of all this is that I now have turned on the "comment verification" feature. This means that, if you want to post, you have to type in some letters that will appear in an image. It's not that big of a deal, and it's supposed to help prevent this sort of thing. I hope no one minds.

Both the Rangers and the Mavs were on in HD tonight. I know the Mavs game is big, but I rarely get to watch the Rangers in HD. So, the Mavs playoff game was second to the Rangers early season baseball game. Both local teams won. The games ended within seconds of each other, and I then caught up on the Mavs game via the greatness of Highlights. It seems like Pheonix is getting shut down offensively by the Mavs. This is the Mavericks, who are reputed to be horrible on defense against the amazing Pheonix offense. It's sad how slow analysts like Charles Barkely are to figure out that the Mavs defense is really pretty good. I guess it wil take a hard fought championship. So far, we've taken out the reigning champs, the Spurs. Now we're going against the other really good team in the West, the Suns. Assuming that Detroit makes the finals in the East, we would be going up against the best team in the East, too. These are the best four teams in the NBA this year. So, if the Mavs beat the Suns, I don't want to hear anymore crap about the Mavs "lack" of defense.

No work in the morning. I might do some from home though. It's going to be a mostly boring day from the looks of things. That might be good.

The pastor this morning had a suprisingly good message about living as a "victorious" Christian. I couldn't tell you how many of these sermons I've heard before, but I've always found them lacking or stretching to reach a point. This one was good, and I was suprised at how much emphasis this southern baptist preacher put on the power of the Holy Spirit and the reality of Him in our lives. He had four major points, but I don't think I can recall them all. He did stretch to make them all start with a "D". I remember him starting two of the points with the words "Discernment" and "Development", but that doesn't help me remember the points themselves. doh! (otherwise, I would attempt to share it) I did find it funny that, at the end of the message, he talked about these four points being the "fundamentals" of being a Christian. I realize he means that in a different context than John did the last couple of weeks at 63, but I couldn't help but grin anyways.

Han Solo: "You said you wanted to be around when I made a mistake; well, this could be it, sweetheart."
Princess Leia: "I take it back!"

- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Luke: "I won't fail you! I'm not afraid."
Yoda:"Oh... You will be...you will be..."

- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Princess Leia: "Why, you stuck up, half-witted, scruffy looking Nerf Herder!"
Han Solo: "Who's scruffy looking?"

- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

It's Potato Time

I'm hoping that I, when I ask, I might be allowed to keep potatos inside the fridge at church during the service tomorrow (or today) morning. It's absolutely essential to their survival.

I feel absolutely exhausted, but I know someone who undoubtably did more than I today. Feeling as exhausted as I do, I can only feel empathic sympathy for how she must have felt earlier. All I did was a bunch of errands and go to a Ranger's game. The Ranger's game was exhausting though. It was in the 90's in a crowded stadium. The temperature went down a handful of degrees (possibly), but the air itself got thicker. (think: Carbon Dioxide) On top of that, we probably walked about a half mile to and about a mile from the stadium (we had to take the long way on the exit...). I wouldn't complain about that so much except that it was hot. That, and we only had to take the long way on the way out because they cornered off several blocks around the stadium for fireworks. *sigh* I would of watched them, but the cornering of the stadium pissed us off because it made Daniel and I walk around in order to keep our apparently weekly appointment at Pluckers. (It is a Sat. night after all...)

It's nice to be home, and I have one final thought before I go pass out:

Air conditioning is awesome.

"We have an obligation to one another, responsibilities and trusts. That does not mean we must be pigeons, that we must be exploited. But it does mean that we should look out for one another when and as much as we can; and that we have a personal responsibility for our behavior; and that our behavior has consequences of a very real and profound nature. We are not powerless. We have tremendous potential for good or ill. How we choose to use that power is up to us; but first we must choose to use it. We're told every day, "You can't change the world." But the world is changing every day. Only question is...who's doing it? You or somebody else?"

- J. Michael Straczynski

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

- C.S. Lewis The Weight of Glory (1949)

When you have reached your own room, be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall. If they are wrong they need your prayers all the more; and if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to pray for them. That is one of the rules common to the whole house.

- C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity (1952)

Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also things above it. You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling...Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feelings come and go...But, of course, ceasing to be "in love" need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense -love as distinct from "being in love"- is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by (in Christian marriage) the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God... "Being in love" first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it.

- C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity (1952)

"Give me a single ping, Vasily. One ping only." - Captain Marko Ramius in The Hunt for Red October

I fell asleep on the couch watching TV last night. It was nice, but I forgot to write my blog, feed my cat, brush my teeth, etc. When I woke up, the first thing I did (other than notice the horrible I didn't brush my teeth last night feeling in my mouth) was to give him food. I feel bad for him everytime this happens. Poor Rajah!

The Mavs beat the Suns last night in game 2 of the conference finals. Go Mavs! I didn't pay as much attention as I should of, but, from what I saw, it was a good game. My Rangers also won last night. Tonight, I get to see them in person though. It ought to be a lot of fun. I love going to baseball games. We're going with a group, too (63), and that always makes things better. I wonder if anyone is bringing a camera...

Now, on a much more serious topic, I read an article in the news that morning that has me wondering the following:

This country will mobilize for war over oil, religious oppression, civil rights, and terrorism. In what may seem like a decidedly non-Republican viewpoint on my part, I ask this : Why won't we mobilize to combat AIDS? Millions of children are infected and dying, and not enough is being done for them.

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."

- Jimi Hendrix

Innocous Blips on the Radar

I just read an article in the news that makes me wonder about certain things. The Muslim communities of the middle east don't exactly have a good track record on women's rights. They don't exactly have a good track record of placing value on human life either. Now, in Turkey, where "Honor Killings" have become criminalized, suicide is creeping in as an alternative if someone deliberatly or NOT deliberatly dishonors their family. Here in the West, in the meantime, we are encouraging these communities to join ours. Be it for jobs or security, we are inviting people who welcome suicide and murder for the victims of crimes to become a part of our culture, and to contribute to our way of life. They are stubborn in their ways, and some of us are quite malleable in ours. With our culture of passive acceptance and theirs of agressive non-acceptance, what do we expect to have happen? The growth of Islam around the world is rapid. Would you be so accepting if someone told you that your granddaughter or great granddaughter could, theoretically, be the daughter of an Islamic man or woman and, as a result, end up committing suicide or being murdered "honorably" to save the honor of another family member who might even be the one responsible for the dishonor in the first place?

"She died with Allah's bidding,"

- Nefise Sogut, mother of Bahar Sogut (14) who shot herself in the head with her father's gun. (quote taken from the Reuters article "Rise in Turkish girls' suicides worries activists" by Emma Ross-Thomas)

"Where I come from, we talk to our women. We do not drug them with plants." - Azeem in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

A question was posed to me earlier : "Why are some guys romantic and other guys not?" I can't answer that question. However, I will say that Robin Hood : Prince of Thieves is both cheesy and romantic. And, how can one ever forget "the" Bryan Adams song : "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" (I think this is the only Bryan Adams song I can name, and, yet, it is such greatness...) I sat through the whole of the credits just to hear that song. I don't have it on .mp3 or CD either. Sitting through the credits is the only way for me to listen to it. It was every bit as cheesy as I remember it. The song epitamizes the definition of cheesy. That's pretty bad, right? I always thought that movie was so romantic, and tonight I found myself thinking the same thing again. It's no Princess Bride, mind you (I love The Princess Bride. lol), but it is a bit of fun.

"Men speak conveniently of love when it serves their purpose."

- The Maid Marian in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Little John: Are you bleedin' cracked, girl? You'd get hurt.
Fanny: I've given birth to eight babies. Don't you talk to me about gettin' hurt, ya big ox.

- Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

More on the Fundamentals of Christian Doctrine and a Bit About Why I Hurt My Brain Sometimes

It's been a long day. I have been a bit stressed with work, and I find it reaching over into everything else. I feel overwhelmed. Sometimes, I find myself overanalyzing everything. I realize it is happening, but I still can't seem to escape it. This seems to happen to me whenever I want something to go well really badly. It's my natural instinct kicking in and trying to take control. I realize consciously that I should be let go and trust in the Lord, but I find myself having a difficult time executing that belief. It's not just about trust, but also about fear. What do I know about what God wants for me? If I have a powerful dream or desire, I find myself being afraid to give it into His control sometimes because I fear in the back of my mind that He might deny it. I fear that because not all of my dreams or desires are things He wants for me. So, it's very logical. I even fear giving up control at times when I believe He has told me that what I am dreaming of or wanting is good.

I have a great amount of ability to screw up my life. (surely, I'm not alone in this, right?) Somehow though, God has brought me kicking and screaming through all of my screw ups. Lately, I have been thinking desperatly about how much I don't want to screw up right now. That fear has me fighting over control. I get impatient for things to happen, and I sometimes fear in that impatience that things will not. So, it becomes a matter of waiting for the Lord. Doing nothing becomes the action of surrender. I am reminded of this story :

When the men of Israel saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.
Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul's men began to scatter. So he said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings. " And Saul offered up the burnt offering. Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

"What have you done?" asked Samuel.
Saul replied, "When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD's favor.' So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering."

"You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD's command."

Samuel 13:6-14

Saul sinned in his impatience, and it cost him everything. As his life and reign unfolds through 1 Samuel, it becomes apparent that he had difficulty turning things over to and waiting on the Lord. He needed to be in control. This is the same way I feel at times, and I find myself praying repeatedly in these moments that Christ will free me from that desire for control and from the worry of how much I might screw important things up.

I said I would write about what John spoke about last night. He spoke again on the topic of the fundamentals of Christian Doctrine. He didn't use any sports analogies this week except to reiterate what he said last week. Namely that, whereas knowing the basics of the game completely are absolutely essential in sports, so they are also essential in the life of a Christian. A Christian should know the fundamentals of the gospel. These fundamentals are defined as any thing that, if you removed it from the gospel, would make it no longer the gospel. These are the things which define the message and truth of Christianity.

Last week he talked about three fundamentals :

1. The inerrancy of scripture
2. The doctrine of the Trinity
3. The simultaneous deity and humanity of Christ

The inerrancy of scripture is basically the idea that the scripture is without error. It is not lacking from the original text in any way that would change its meaning. The doctrine of the Trinity basically is about how there is only ONE God, and yet God the Father is God, Jesus Christ, The Son, is God, and The Holy Spirit is God. The simultaneous deity and humanity of Christ is pretty self explanatory. It's the belief that Christ was both FULLY God and FULLY man.

Tonight, he talked about four more fundamentals.

4. The Depravity of the human race
5. The absolute death of Christ as an atoning sacrifice and his resurrection
6. Salvation is by faith in Christ alone
7. That Christ will return as promised

Where does one begin to talk about the depravity of our race? I think I will start with a definition :

de·prav·i·ty

n. pl. de·prav·i·ties

1. Moral corruption or degradation.
2. A depraved act or condition.

It's about sin. It's not just that we can sin or that we occasionally do sin. It's about how we are sinners. We do not become sinners. We are born sinners. The taint of the original sin committed by Adam has been handed down to us throughout the generations. It is not something we aquire. We are "bent" (as C.S. Lewis sometimes called it) when we are born.

It's not hard to see the evidence of our sinfulness. How many people can say they have never lied? How many can say they have never cheated someone? How many have never lusted after someone? How many have not desired something someone else has or maybe stolen from someone to get that something? How many murders and rapes happen everyday? How many people have turned away and rebelled from God? How many abortions are there in our country? These are legalized murders justified by the idea of "free choice". I am unaware of the bible at any point suggesting that freedom means that we can do whatever we want to do. Yet, we have this idea in America that it is exactly that. (I'm going on an abortion tangent for a quick moment) If saving the life of a mother meant killing me instead of her unborn fetus, would society be so quick to save her life? How can anyone argue that that fetus is not alive? It certainly exhibits the signs of it, and, if we accept that there is a human soul (and I believe there is for certain), then at what point does that soul and that fetus become one? (ok, not ranting anymore about abortion for the moment)

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

John 8:3-11

This story not only testifies to Christ's mercy, but it also testifies to the way in which everyone of those people knew they had sinned. Likewise, we all also know in our hearts that it is true that we have sinned.

As John said last week, Christ has to be both fully God and fully man in order to qualify as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. It's interesting to me how, in Genesis 22, God asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac.

Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

Genesis 22:2

Isaac is the son of promise to Abraham. He is representative of every hope and dream God has given Abraham concerning the future. God tells him to sacrifice him as an offering, and Abraham goes to do so.

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

Genesis 22:9-10

At the last possible moment, God stops him :

But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.

"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

Genesis 22:11-12

God reveals it to be a test, and then provides a ram for the offering.

Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

Genesis 22:13-14

This is a perfect example of what Dan likes to call "Messianic Foreshadowing" in the old testament. God sent his only begotten son, Jesus, to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. It is through his death that we have hope of salvation.

It is one of the fundamental tenets of Christianity that we believe that He did die, (and died completely), and that He rose again three days later. He was not only "mostly dead" as the stable bow, Westley, was in The Princess Bride. He was entirely dead. Likewise, when He rose again, he did not rise as a "spirit", but as flesh and blood. This is probably one of the most important of the Christian beliefs. (Although, how can one guage the importance of one fundamental belief over another? If you take away any one of them, it is no longer the gospel and no longer Christianity)

Salvation therefore, is by Christ alone because He is the only possible satisfactory sacrifice for our sins. Our salvation is only possible by His sacrifice. Otherwise, we stand condemned to suffer the proper punishment for being morally depraved creatures. This punishment is to die, to be destroyed. God has given us an opportunity to avoid that condemnation by taking our place in it, but we must first accept His solution. We can't pick and choose another.

Finally I come to the last basic fundamental of Christianity : His return. He went to The Father to intercede on our behalf before The Father's throne, but He promised He would return. He was the first to rise, and He has promised that, on His return, the rest of us shall be raised to be with Him. We have hope in our salvation and in eternal life with Him because of this.

I think a lot of people read The Bible, get to Revelations, and think of it as the end. And, it is the end of this Heaven and this Earth. It is the end of sin, death, and the curse on mankind. But, it is not the overall end of the story. Revelations tells of how God will create a new Heaven and a new Earth, and how we will live there with Him. All of the struggles and sacrifices since the beginning have had a purpose. That purpose is, at the very least, hinted at in the end of Revelations. This is just the very beginning! All of our history and all of our time to this point might well be considered the action of birth! In the scope of eternity, all human history is infinitely short. It is this beginning that we are waiting for. And, it is on His promise that we wait.

It all comes back to patience, right? Obviously, we have a task before us: to spread the news of the gospel throughout the world to all mankind. Yet, that task requires His aid throughout it, and we don't know exactly when it will be completed. It's not therefore entirely a matter of doing nothing, but we still can not make it go any faster. (Nor can I hasten the turning of days, weeks, and months) So, we wait.

He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon."
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen.

- Revelations 22:20-21

Einige Fotographien sind sehr wunderschön

Don't take out the trash at 1:30 in the morning unless you're prepared to be completely startled by a guy walking his dogs, one of them rather large, without leashes. I was not ready for that, and now I have lots of adrenaline.

Some pictures are total schoen, and I saw lots of cool pictures today. I now know what a garden house looks like, and it seems to me very elfish. (or, at least what I always thought an elf's might look like.)

We didn't sing at 63 tonight. We prayed instead. I got there late (but I was late with good reason. hehe). We prayed for awhile about various things in tiny groups. My normal seat ended up being on the side of the room with all but one of the women. So, when we broke into groups, I swapped sides. It seemed appropiate somehow to segment the groups. There's no theological argument in my mind about that. I guess I just didn't feel comfortable tonight with the idea of being the only guy praying in a group of girls. I'm not being sexist here, am I?

It's always weird when we break down into small groups at 63 to pray. It's not the same as at small group/bible study when I know everyone a bit better. A lot of the times, there are people who nobody knows in the group when we do this at 63. Or, at least, people I don't know. I always seem to hear people exchanging names, and then it's real difficult to talk earnestly about prayer requests. We had a list of topics all drawn out for us on things we should pray for, but I never really like that approach. I always feel forced in that scenario. Where's the honesty in being forced to pray about something? Where's the sincerity of heart? If these are lacking, what's the point? I don't mean to sound cynical, but there seems to be a heavy dose of ritual to prayer in church. Being lead in prayer in a service is not what I am talking about, but, rather, an idea that, when done corporately it is all about saying "the right words." Krass! We should be honest before the Lord and before each other. We should be able to share even our most intimate needs with each other. How else can we pray well for each other?!!

It's so tough living in a world that maintains the mindset that we should "mind our own business" and that "my problem is not yours." How many people go to church each week just to get "a dose" of God? That's not necessarily a bad thing, but, if you are going because you think that going to church each week is all you need to do, then you will not have enough. Not that way. I often hate the ritualistic ceremony we have made our Sunday morning services into. They're not good fellowship. They're not filled with testimony from each other's lives. They're lectures sandwiched in between hymns!

Ok, so, I've digressed a bit. My point is that when we get into small groups to pray like that, it is really hard to be open about the personal things in my life that might need prayer. It's really hard to bring up the personal requests I know others have, too. Some people are really good at that, but I am not. So, I prayed quietly in my mind, trusting God to know my heart, whilst others prayed out loud around me about the things listed on a sheet of paper. It was frustrating for me. Praying with other people should not feel oppressive and frustrating. It should be a time of joyous communion before the Lord, with the Lord and with each other. The way with which we sometimes lack strong fellowship with each other often seems to lead us to a strong sense of disconnect, I think, when we get together like that to pray.

This is just my opinion though, and, I don't think we should stop. I just wish it didn't feel that way.

John also spoke tonight. I started to write a huge section about what he spoke about. The problem is that it is now really late, and I need to go to bed (about 4 hours ago). So, I have saved it, and I will pick it up again tomorrow night. It's going to be pretty long.

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.' For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Matthew 6:5-15

* Note : I just spend 4 hours on writing this. It's still not done because I had to move a big chunk into a draft for tomorrow night... Doh!

Go Mavs!!!!

Tonight I may have seen the best basketball game I can remember. It was a tough, all out grind fest between the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs. These two teams are easily the best in the West, and probably the best in the league. Tonight, it was game 7 of the semi-conference finals. The NBA announced it will be changing the way that playoff seeding is done after this series because it's just wrong that this series happened in the second round... It should have been the Western Conference Finals. That being said though, it has been a grueling series. Tonight, in the final game of the series, things went to overtime. When the dust cleared, the Mavs were on top, 119-111. It was an amazing series, and an amazing climax. Now, they will just have to beat two more teams (which they should be able to do pretty well) in order to win the NBA Championship.

I remember hearing in a sermon once that it is stupid to pray for one team to be victorious over another. I don't remember where I heard this at, but the logic was basically : Why should God provide victory for your team over the other team on the basis of your prayers? Surely, someone else is praying for that other team to win, and shouldn't they have just as much weight with Him??!!! It was a long time ago so I can't remember most of his argument for this, but I remember later coming to a decision about the matter : I'm going to pray for my sports teams to beat the other guy's sports team anyways! I brought this up in prayer in bible study a few weeks ago, and we all laughed. Dan called it childish, and he's right. He wasn't making a negative point in saying this though. He said that he childish prayers are good. I agree, and I very definitely was praying for the Mavs to win tonight.

I think God likes simple prayers. I think that the simplest prayers, while often quite selfish, are usually very honest and pleading. Maybe God likes answering our prayers, and we so often assume that He does not that we come to him with no confidence and no faith.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Matthew 7:7-11

So, pray childish prayers! Even if God does not seem to be answering your every whim and desire, at least you know that He knows what they are all the better because you keep reminding Him of them. And, He will never tire of that.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

1 John 5:13-15

Why Are Macs So Difficult?

Mac LC 580 running System 7.5.3

These Macintosh computers are notorious for their "ease of use". But, we (Daniel and I) have a goal in mind. Our desire : to run Linux on these extremely antiquated machines. The last time we tried this we got nowhere.


Daniel's Performa 6400 installing Debian Linux

Daniel's computer (pictured above) was running Mac System 8.1 at the beginning of the evening. (Sorry, no pics of 8.1) As you can see above, it now is the host to Linux. His was the newest of the computers involved though. His was running a PowerPC chip. My task.... My task was more dangerous. I am running on the old 680x0 processors. The machines I am using are worse. The faster of the two basically has a 33 Mhz processor in it. When you consider that that is about 1/100th of the speed of today's computers....(if you consider a "Today's Computer" to be a single core 3 Ghz. machine...which is pretty nice). I spent the evening toying with the slower of the two computers I had. It has issues.


The slower of my two Macs : a Performa 575 with the motherboard of a Performa 520

I don't have the time to go into all the issues we had. Let's just say that a lot of it revolves around the ability (or, rather, inability) to create a good boot disk with CD-ROM support and Drive Setup. I eventually got the CD-ROM support on there, but the Drive Setup was way too big. (a difference of something like 362k to 60k or something like that) When I finally got the CD-ROM support working, I realized that, even though it could now read the CD, it could not properly access any of the files on it. So, Drive Setup is still out of the question. I have to figure out how to burn an HFS format CD. We actually have a System 8.0 install CD that is bootable and has Drive Setup on it. Unfortunatly, System 8.0 does not run on that computer. It's too new.

The real problem is that I need to re-partition the hard drive. It's just a single partition at the moment, and I can't install linux onto that partition. I need to run linux on a different filesystem (ext2 instead of HFS). I also (this is most important) need a swap disk/partition somewhere. (Did I mention this computer only has 20 MBs of Ram? That's not much for Linux even if it is a lot for computers of its age...)

I was originally going to run the partitioning software from the linux installer (see below) :

Debian installer trying in vain to mount a .iso file larger than the amount of memory available to mount it in on my slower Mac. (yes, this is techinically running Linux)

The problem with running the partitioning tool is that the partitioning tool is in the .iso image file that won't mount properly. (doh!) So, until we come up with another solution (there always is one) I am somewhat stuck. We are determined though, and I have not completely given up yet. I have a goal in mind, and, whereas a few days ago I thought we had no hope, today I had this :


My slower Mac booting the Linux (Debian flavor) Operating System

If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.

~ George Bernard Shaw

And on Saturday there was no Pluckers......wait, no. That's wrong. There was (again) Pluckers...

Pluckers was in effect again last night. The third night in a row. That's probably too much, and we all agreed that, if this becomes a practice, we're in trouble. lol.

We played so many video games last night/yesterday, too. I feel like a dork everytime we do that, and there must be other things we could be doing. However, video games can be a lot of fun, and we certainly played a lot. We played Red Alert 2, Starcraft, Scrabble, Doom II, and even some Quake III. We played multiple matches of Red Alert 2. Yes, we are dorks.

Hoggle: You need to understand my position: I'm a coward. And Jareth scares me.
Sarah: What kind of position is that?
Hoggle: NO position! That's my point! And you wouldn't be so brave if you'd ever smelled the Bog of Eternal Stench. It's, it's...
Sarah: Is that all it does, is smell?
Hoggle: Oh, believe me, that's enough. But the worst thing is, if you so much as put a foot in the Bog of Stench, you'll smell bad for the rest of your life. It'll never wash off.

- The 1986 movie Labyrinth

Look, just because it's an armour-plated alien killing machine that salivates unspeakable slobber doesn't mean it's a bad person. What we've got to do is get it round a table and put together a solution package - perhaps over tea and biscuits.

- Rimmer - Red Dwarf Season 3, "Polymorph"

...and Pluckers on a Friday night, too.

We've gone in there enough now that the waitress tonight decided it was time to make a point of learning our names. According to the receipt, her name was Alex. I think that is correct, too. It shouldn't suprise me to hear one restaurant/bar talk about the same issues as another one does.

Shuck 'n Jive was not the first establishment to recieve a regular patronage by myself. That dubious honor goes to a now long dead establishment on lower greenville called "The Flying Saucer". They had over hundred beers on tap, and a patio. Patios are good. They have another location up in Addison that is still open. It's not the same. After that, there was a long period of time during which the only thing even resembling a regular patronage was at a place called "The Elbow Room". It's pretty cool, and I believe it's still there. They have a couple of pool tables and a really good pizza establishment attached to them. Not much of a crowd though even though they are about a block from Deep Ellum. Then there was the Shuck 'n Jive. My first real steady patronage of a bar. It will probably remain the most heavy patronage of a single establishment by myself. I would go up there at least three to five nights a week. Sometimes all seven. It was a lot of fun. When you visit a bar often enough, as they get to know you, they will often bring you free drinks from time to time. I probably had a lot of these. I frequented that establishment in that manner for probably about three years. Well, it was only that frequent in the last couple of those...

So, it is very weird now to be going to Pluckers with enough frequency that they are getting to know us.

David sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:
"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation.
He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior—
from violent men you save me.

I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.

"The waves of death swirled about me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called to the LORD;
I called out to my God.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came to his ears.

"The earth trembled and quaked,
the foundations of the heavens shook;
they trembled because he was angry.

Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.

He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.

He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.

He made darkness his canopy around him—
the dark rain clouds of the sky.

Out of the brightness of his presence
bolts of lightning blazed forth.

The LORD thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.

He shot arrows and scattered the enemies ,
bolts of lightning and routed them.

The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at the rebuke of the LORD,
at the blast of breath from his nostrils.

"He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.

He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.

They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the LORD was my support.

He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.

"The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

For I have kept the ways of the LORD;
I have not done evil by turning from my God.

All his laws are before me;
I have not turned away from his decrees.

I have been blameless before him
and have kept myself from sin.

The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to my cleanness in his sight.

"To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

to the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.

You save the humble,
but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.

You are my lamp, O LORD;
the LORD turns my darkness into light.

With your help I can advance against a troop;
with my God I can scale a wall.

"As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless.
He is a shield
for all who take refuge in him.

For who is God besides the LORD
And who is the Rock except our God?

It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect.

He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he enables me to stand on the heights.

He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

You give me your shield of victory;
you stoop down to make me great.

You broaden the path beneath me,
so that my ankles do not turn.

"I pursued my enemies and crushed them;
I did not turn back till they were destroyed.

I crushed them completely, and they could not rise;
they fell beneath my feet.

You armed me with strength for battle;
you made my adversaries bow at my feet.

You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
and I destroyed my foes.

They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—
to the LORD, but he did not answer.

I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth;
I pounded and trampled them like mud in the streets.

"You have delivered me from the attacks of my people;
you have preserved me as the head of nations.
People I did not know are subject to me,

and foreigners come cringing to me;
as soon as they hear me, they obey me.

They all lose heart;
they come trembling from their strongholds.

"The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock!
Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!

He is the God who avenges me,
who puts the nations under me,

who sets me free from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes;
from violent men you rescued me.

Therefore I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations;
I will sing praises to your name.

He gives his king great victories;
he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed,
to David and his descendants forever."

2 Samuel 22

Pluckers on a Thursday night?

I can't believe we went to Pluckers tonight, but I really enjoyed it. Daniel and I went, and we both think that our buddy, Brian, will be quite jealous. I decided tonight that I need to learn how to make a homemade BBQ sauce. I think this would be good. Some people seem to think that ordinary grilling is the same thing as BBQing. It's not.

I've decided to cut down somewhat in the amount of writing I do on here during the week. I'll still post regulary, but I can't make the really long ones. Aside from the fact that inspiration has been short of late, I also can not take the time to write it all either. When my average post takes about 2 hours to write once I get started, and I can't usually get going until after 2 AM (at the earliest, after midnight), it becomes unfeasible during the week. I'm going to start trying to concentrate on preparing some stuff ahead of time so I can work towards more quality as opposed to quantity. I really enjoy writing on here. I hope people enjoy reading it...

Psalm 130

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;

O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.

If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared.

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.

My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

O Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
for with the LORD is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.

He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.

Are There Real Life Ramifications of Virtual Property?

There has been a lawsuit filed seeking, reportedly, about $8,000 (real money) in restitution over a virtual real estate deal that went bad. The guy who is placing the lawsuit claims to have lost aproximatly $3,200 (also real money) because his account was frozen in this virtual world. Here is the link : Second Life Land Deal Goes Sour

Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good ground for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.

- Bertrand Russell, "An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish", Unpopular Essays (1950)

Lightbulbs are probably more like potatos than basketballs....or are they?

I just finished watching the San Antonio Spurs trounce the Dallas Mavericks. (98-97) That whole game just kind of glazed in front of my eyes. I had another Dallas related topic on my mind. I kept trying to concentrate on the game, but I kept thinking back to this other topic. The game was excellent though. Manu Ginobili made the biggest difference I think. I don't think Avery Johnson has found an answer for him yet. Game 6 ought to be great. I'm predicting a Mavericks victory to end the series.

It has been a very interesting day. A lot of cool things happened. I'm really not even bothered by the Maverick's loss or the Ranger's loss (they lost, too, btw...to the Yankees) because of those other cool things that happened. I bought potatos this morning, got some stuff done at work, had more fun text messaging than I can remember (I'm rather silly, too. I saved a couple of those text messages just so I could go back and look at them with glee later in the day. lol), and I read a story in 2 Samuel today that I don't think I have heard before. The story was 2 Samuel 13-15. It was interesting. Growing up in a Christian home, I heard a lot of scripture, went to sunday school as young child (before my family ended up going to a church that really didn't have one), and have heard a fair number of sermons. So, usually, everything I read triggers the memory of having read it before. These stories this morning did not. I enjoyed that. A lot.

The woman said, "Why then have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, for the king has not brought back his banished son? Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him.

2 Samuel 14:13-14

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished

Romans 3:21-25

"First master the fundamentals." - Larry Bird

It's a Tuesday night. I went to 63. John spoke. He started off his teaching with, first, a comment about how he never uses sports analogies in his teaching. Then, he quoted Vince Lombardi. Is that allowed? I am not sure if I found the exact right quote online, but I'm fairly certain it at least contained the following :

"Excellence is achieved by the mastery of fundamentals."

- Vince Lombardi

John's plan was to talk about the fundamental concepts of the Christian doctrine. You know, if I saw that advertised on a sign outside a church, I probably wouldn't be all that interested. THIS WEEK : LEARNING ABOUT THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE As a Christian, it doesn't sound like it's going to be interesting. This is stuff we should already know, right? However, John was speaking, and it was interesting. (He's quite good)

What are the fundamentals of Christian doctrine then? John described them as this : The basic elemental Christian beliefs that all Christians believe or else they just aren't Christians. There are some topics that cause people to split into denominations (a personal pet peeve of mine) or different congregations, but where they still consider each other Christians. The fundamentals are the things which seperate Christians from any other religions. These are the things that put us apart. He said there are seven primary tenets of the Christian faith. He only focused on three of them tonight. (He's supposed to hit up the other four next week)

The first fundamental he mentioned tonight is the Christian belief in the inerrancy of the scripture. (John sounded like he thought this word, inerrancy, was a word he might have made up. Guess what, Johnny.....it's real! lol) This is the belief that the Word of God is accurate, and that the Word of God has been handed down faithfully. John asserted that a belief in the veracity of the scripture is a basic fundamental of Christianity. I know a few people that would argue with him on whether or not it is, but would count themselves Christians nonetheless. I am not one of them. (In other words, I think it is accurate) The Wikipedia article on The Bible and history would establish a wide view perspective of what different people think Biblical inerrancy is. (inerrancy : still a real word :-P ) I think the "Biblical inerrancy" article is particularly interesting, btw. At least as far as understanding what different people mean by "inerrancy". Back to the point though, what did John say? Well, John quoted scripture (always smart), and quoted the following :

We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

2 Peter 1:16-21

The wikipedia article on the New Testament says this about what defines its documents:

[The New Testament's] the Christian writings recommended by St. Athanasius in 367 AD. Apostolic writings had to be writen by one of those aposles who saw or met the resurected Jesus or their writings were the result of one of their ministries

- Wikipedia article entitled : New Testament

That is inline with what John said tonight. He also made a point of mentioning that all of the books in the new testament were written within 100 years after Christ's death and resurrection. Most, if not all, of the gospels and all of Paul's letters were written within 50 years after Christ's death and resurrection. There are some people who might think that seems like a long time. If those people were to go and examine other texts from around the world that are considered quite historical dating back almost as far as these, they would discover that most were written much farther after the events they depict. I can remember reading somewhere that most ancient historical texts end up being written several hundred years after the events. The New Testament in particular was written very rapidly after the events it portrays.

So, the first fundamental John talked about was the inerrancy of scripture. I hope I haven't done what he said injustice with my scant knowledge of the historical aspects of canonization.

The second fundamental John talked about (and I think this is one of his favorites because he has talked about it so many times. Dan talks about the overarching story, John talks about this.) is the Doctrine of the Trinity. This is the Christian belief that there is only one God, and yet there are three persons in the Godhead. I think of The Trinity as a paradox.

Paradox - n.

A tenet or proposition contrary to received opinion; an
assertion or sentiment seemingly contradictory, or opposed to
common sense; that which in appearance or terms is absurd,
but yet may be true in fact.

- 1913 Webster

I think of a paradox in a slightly more mathematical way. This is also, somewhat, how I approach the idea of The Trinity. I think of it like this : 1=3 That's it. That equation doesn't work in mathematics. It doesn't seem to work according to the laws of the universe. However, I see God as beyond the universe, greater than it. He is not subject to it. It is subject to Him. He says that He is constant. The universe says there is entropy. The universe knows a beginning and end, and it requires them. None of these descriptions of universal laws applies to God. (and thus, when He offers eternal life, I know it can be so because He is over and above the law of entropy) John didn't talk about The Trinity from this angle though, he was talking about it from a scriptural and historical perspective. I wish I could remember the name of the early church time dude that he mentioned. I can't, but, apparently this guy read Colossians 1:15 and came to a heretical viewpoint.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Colossians 1:15

Upon reading these words, this guy came to the conclusion that Christ is not God, but just an image of God created by God. This was at a time when the Christian church was struggling to understand the nature of Christ. The problem with this idea is that no finite being can atone for our sins against an infinate God. It just doesn't work. Christ, however, is fully God. Let's first look at more of Colossians here. One should always try to view things in context.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 1:15-20

He is not just a super created being here. Consider the following also:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

John 1:1-18

The full level of discussion and searching into the nature of any and all of these things can take a lot of time. I believe John even mentioned that before he finished for the night. However, he did discuss one more fundamental tenet of Christianity before he closed down for the evening.

The third fundamental of Christianity that he discussed tonight is the exceedingly important tenet that Christ is both fully God and fully man. I would list this as another of the paradoxical aspects of God. Maybe the equation would look something like this : Father+(Son of God + Son of Man = 1)+Holy Spirit=The Trinity=The One and Only Almighty God (think of it as 1+(1+1)+1=3=1) That equation is silly, and I can already point out flaws in it. But, I talked about what John said about The Trinity above, namely that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all just one God. In the same way that this is mind boggling and totally disobeys the laws of the universe (of which God is not subject), Christ is also both fully God and fully man. You can't isolate some moments and say, "Here He is God", and then take other moments and say, "Here He is man." He is both fully God and fully man at the same time throughout. Consider John 1:14 : "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." If The Word was both with God and also was God in the beginning (see: John 1:1) then Christ (who is The Word) is God. But, He fed the thousands, He was hungry in the desert, He healed the sick, He was tempted in the desert, He drove out demons, He was scourged by the soldiers, He commanded the winds and the sea, He submitted to the earthly authority of Pilate, He raised the dead, He died on the cross, and He rose from the dead. In everyone of these things He was both God and man. He was fully God both when He turned the water into wine as well as when He hid from the Jews when they picked up stones to stone Him.

Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."

The Jews answered him, "Aren't we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?"

"I am not possessed by a demon," said Jesus, "but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death."

At this the Jews exclaimed, "Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?"

Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."

"You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!"

"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

John 8:42-59

It is important, as Christians, to know and believe these fundamentals because there are the things that seperate us from other other religions. These are the tenets that define our faith. In the book of Jude it says:

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

Jude 1:3-4

It is important that we be able to contend for the faith. We can not do this without knowing the basic fundamentals of it. These are the things we should know and know as thoroughly as possible. Obviously, we might not be experts on the full nature of The Trinity (show me someone who is, and I think I will call him a liar), of how Christ can be both fully God and fully man, or even the full depths of accuracy in the scripture. We should still strive to know at least enough about these things to converse on them, and to argue for them. These are things that being a Christian requires us to believe. That we don't fully understand every iota of one or more of them is why we have faith.

So, stay tuned for more next week when we find out what the remaining four tenets are...

*drumroll please*

"...all the books which the Church receives as sacred and canonical, are written wholly and entirely ... at the dictation of the Holy Spirit; and so far is it from being possible that any error can co-exist with inspiration, that inspiration not only is essentially incompatible with error, but excludes and rejects it as absolutely and necessarily as it is impossible that God Himself, the supreme Truth, can utter that which is not true. This is the ancient and unchanging faith of the Church, solemnly defined in the Councils of Florence and of Trent, and finally confirmed and more expressly formulated by the Council of the Vatican."

- Pope Leo XIII, Providentissimus Deus (November 18, 1893)

5,035

I don't have much time to write tonight. I want to get to work at a decent hour tomorrow, and I am running late already. So, here are the lyrics to some of the songs I am listening to right now :

Lord (I Don't Know)

You are the author of knowledge
You can redeem what's been done
You hold the present and all that's to come
Until your everlasting kingdom

Lord, I don't know where all this is going
Or how it all works out
Lead me to peace that is past understanding
A peace beyond all doubt

You are the God of tomorrow
Turning the darkness to dawn
Lifting the hopeless with hope to go on
You are the rock of all salvation

Lord, I don't know where all this is going
Or how it all works out
Lead me to peace that is past understanding
A peace beyond all doubt

Oh, Lord, you are the author
Redeeming what's been done
You hold us in the present
And all that is to come

Lord, we don't know where all this is going
Or how it all works out
Lead us to peace that is past understanding
A peace beyond all doubt

- Newsboys

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

When i wake up yeah i know i'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you
When i go out yeah i know i'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you

If i get drunk yes i know i'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you
And if i haver yeah i know i'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's havering to you

But i would walk 500 miles
And i would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 1,000 miles
To fall down at your door

When i'm working yes i know i'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's working hard for you
And when the money comes in for the work i'll do
I'll pass almost every penny on to you

When i come home yeah i know i'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who comes back home to you
And if i grow old well i know i'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's growing old with you

But i would walk 500 miles
And i would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 1,000 miles
To fall down at your door

When i'm lonely well i know i'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man whose lonely without you
When i'm dreaming well i know i'm gonna dream
I'm gonna dream about the time when i'm with you.

When i go out yeah i know i'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you
When i come home yes i know i'm gonna be,
I'm gonna, be the man who comes back home with you
I'm gonna be the man who's coming home with you

But i would walk 500 miles
And i would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 1,000 miles
To fall down at your door

But i would walk 500 miles
And i would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 1,000 miles
To fall down at your door

- The Proclaimers

Be Still

Be still and know He,
Know He is worthy.
Be still and know He is God.

We have filled our lives with inventions
That have hurried us nowhere fast.
Now we need to turn our attentions
To what will last.

Be still and know He,
Know He is holy.
Be still and know He is God.
Love Him more dearly,
See Him more clearly.
Be still and know He is God.

We're been running without a direction.
We're afraid to get there late.
What we need is strength just to kneel down
And wait.

Be still and know He,
Know He is holy.
Be still and know He is God.
Love Him more dearly,
See Him more clearly.
Be still and know He is God.
He is God.

- Newsboys

Real Good Thing

When we don't get what we deserve,
That's a real good thing.
A real good thing.
When we get what we don't deserve,
That's a real good thing.
A real good thing.

Born to sin
And then get caught.
All our good deeds
Don't mean squat.

Sell the Volvo,
Shred the Visa,
Send the cast to Ma Teresa.
Great idea,
The only catch is
You don't get saved
On merit badges.

When we don't get what we deserve,
That's a real good thing.
A real good thing.
When we get what we don't deserve,
That's a real good thing.
A real good thing.

Doctor's coming,
Looking grim.
"Do you have a favorite hymn?"

Check your balance through the years.
All accounts are in arrears.
Guilt is bitter.
Grace is sweet.
Park it here
On the mercy seat.

When we don't get what we deserve,
That's a real good thing.
A real good thing.
When we get what we don't deserve,
That's a real good thing.
A real good thing.

- Newsboys

Speak To Me

I'm in a fix
Need something quick
My mind is numb
My stomach sick
Broken hearts
Hopeless things
I've seen what defiance brings

Cause the light of day
I've always known
Is in my heart
I'm not alone

Speak to me
Tell me all the things I need to know
I wanna hear You now
Can You speak to me
I've opened up Your Word to free me
I want to hear You now

It's amazing how I forget
Can't live my life for lack of it

But the light of day
I've always known
Is in my heart
I'm not alone

Speak to me
Tell me all the things I need to know
I want to hear you now
Can You speak to me
I've opened up Your Word to free me
I want to hear You now

Make Your Wisdom clear
The Words I hold so dear
Bring light into my dark
I hide them inside my heart

Speak to me
Tell me all the things I need to know
I want to hear You now
Can You speak to me
I've opened up Your Word to free me
I want to hear You now

- Audio Adrenaline

Happy Mothers Day

I'm not going to write much tonight. I have a rather splitting headache. Woke up too late for church, and I spent most of the day watching TV or movies. I told my mom, "Happy Mothers Day" like so many others, and she told me about a pillow she had been patching up for me that is done. I don't ever act as grateful towards my parents as I am. Of course, I am actually pretty much broke at the moment. I felt kind of limited to just a, "Happy Mothers Day."

So, to all of you moms out there, "Happy Mothers Day"

(On a totally different topic, I have a question for discussion : Are or are not moonburns real?)

"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his. "

- - Oscar Wilde

"A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie."

- Tenneva Jordan

Witness

There's a commercial on TV for Nike and Lebron James where you see everyone walking around wearing t-shirts, tattoes, and whatever other creative things that marketing people can come up with saying only one word : "Witness".

They are talking about being witnesses to Lebron James's basketball career. They are trying to encourage everyone to follow suit and be "witnesses" to his play. (Honestly, I would rather not. I think he's a bit overrated, but a lot of other people disagree with me.) How many people will buy t-shirts, etc. and follow suit? Maybe not in the treads of the Nike ad compaign, but in their own ways they will do the same as they hope to, in years after his career, be able to testify about how they can remember seeing him play.

The Holy Spirit does amazing things in our lives. How often to we testify to them? How often are we scared to do so, thinking that, after testifying, we might suddenly find ourselves testifying to God working a certain way in our life that suddenly collapses. It's this crazy fear so many have : What if I feel like God is saying or doing something and it turns out to be my imagination? Here's my question in response : If you don't go with it, where's your faith? There are things that we should know God is not going to say. God's not going to say, for example, "Cheat on your spouse." It's just never going to happen. He's not going to say, "Have sex before marriage." It's not going to happen. He's not going to say that it's ok, under any circumstances to bow to an idol. Not happening. So, why do some people think that He does? The Bible, the Word of God, is pretty crystal clear about the way God views righteousness. It should be pretty straightforward to know what is sin and what is not. God hates sin. He's never going to tell us to do it. Never. Not to save the life of a kid. Not to save the life of a loved one. If that life should be saved, he will take care of it, and we should not sin to make it happen.

All of that being said though, why should we rush to doubt something improbable when we think He is saying it is His will and it is not something contrary to His word? I think that when we feel like we need to know if something is His will or not, we should measure it against His word. If we can find nothing contrary, we should try trusting Him on it. This is not about wishful thinking scenarios, but those times when we find ourselves believing that God wants us to do something that seems inexplicably not of ourselves. We should remember that God can do all things and that He doesn't need us to make it easier for Him. I think it's important to have faith, not so that God will act on our behalf, but so that we might be confident in testifying to His actions. Even as they are happening. I think it is good to have an active and practical faith of which we speak so that we can be true "witnesses" to the world of the wonderous things he does in our lives. It's a little more important than being a "witness" to a basketball career, and it requires more than simply buying a shirt.

"Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation that you believe to be the will of God."

- Jim Elliot

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

- Jim Elliot

"God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, LORD Jesus."

- Jim Elliot

"We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power the Twentieth Century does not reckon with. But we are "harmless," and therefore unharmed. We are spiritual pacifists, non-militants, conscientious objectors in this battle-to-the-death with principalities and powers in high places. Meekness must be had for contact with men, but brass, outspoken boldness is required to take part in the comradeship of the Cross. We are "sideliners" -- coaching and criticizing the real wrestlers while content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged. The world cannot hate us, we are too much like its own. Oh that God would make us dangerous!"

- Jim Elliot

"I broke my own rule. I started to give a ****... and I brought you guys along with me." - Lt. A.K. Waters - Tears of the Sun

I had plans last night to go with a couple of friends to buy dinner and then come back and play games. We did both, but the dinner ended up lasting a lot longer than anticipated. We went to Shuck 'n Jive to grab some Blackened Chicken Pasta, and we ended up learning the greatness of their Jumbilaya. I ended up running into a lot of people I haven't seen in awhile. Got a chance to converse ein wenig in Deutsch. Und, it was a lot of fun. We ended up arguing a whooole lot about politics. Being as it was that the Shuck 'n Jive crew remembered the days of old and started feeding us alcohol regularly, I doubt seriously that any really strong points were made. I ended up ranting a lot about my own personal theory of collusion between the parties, and they generally argued about various individual reasons people should be paranoid of Bush. I say "they", but it was probably more Daniel than anyone else. Him and I disagree totally about everything political. lol. Well, maybe not. The things we occasionally do agree upon end up being stressful because talking about them always results in talking about the things we don't agree upon.

I didn't write anything when I got home last night. I planned on writing today. However, I got distracted when I woke up. I got distracted by Fox showing Tears of the Sun. I didn't catch the beginning of this movie, but, from what I did see, I like it a lot. It stared Bruce Willis, and, I must admit, I was choking back tears at the end. Being that I have been involved in a sehr cool metaphorical journey across central Africa and that Tears of the Sun is set in Nigeria, I was especially drawn in. I felt very near to the story. So, if you have not seen it, go watch it! (WARNING : Tears of the Sun is Rated R)

I've got the Mavericks game on right now. It's unfortunate that the Rangers got rained out today. :( I was really looking forward to watching them. Perhaps it is for the best though as I, instead, did a bunch of things I might have not done out of laziness otherwise. hehehehe...

At this moment, with 6:25 left in the 2nd, the Maverics are beating San Antonio 41-32. I'm going to watch the rest of the game now.

Danny 'Doc' Kelley: How can they do this?
Patience: This what they do. They cut off the breasts of nursing mothers... so that they'll never again feed their own babies. This is what they do.

- Tears of the Sun