Surface Scratches

The problem is not the government. The problem is not the structure. The problem is us. The problem is me. The solution is Christ in us. The solution is Christ transforming us. The solution is Christ transforming me. The solution is going from autonomous to co-laboring with Christ. It is not about the agenda of man, but God's agenda and His original purpose for what He created. What is freedom? What is "for the good of society"? What is "good"? No one is good but God alone. God's presence is for the good of society.

"Jesus replied, 'I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.'" John 8:34-36

The problem is not external. The problem is internal. Both external and internal are valuable, but one must be healed before the other can be healed.

Untitled

"We in the West are well trained to do jobs. We are not skilled in building relationships. Yet the fruit of the Spirit are expressed in relationships, and relationships are at the heart of all lasting evangelism." Paul Hiebert

"Both dogmatic scientism and extreme relativism had disastrous consequences. In one case the point of departure was the utter reliability of unaided reason; in the other it was personal preference or experience. In both instances it was purely self-referential; its criteria were immanent. Both models celebrated freedom; but people were unprepared for the freedom they have arrogated to themselves: they cannot handle it." David Bosch

"It is not enough that we should understand others (this can be a subtle form of patronizing); they must also understand us." Eugene Nida

"Christ did not teach and suffer that we might become, even in the natural loves, more careful of our own happiness...We shall draw nearer to God, not by trying to avoid the sufferings inherent in all loves, but by accepting them and offering them to Him; throwing away all defensive armour. If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as the way in which they should break, so be it." C.S. Lewis

Scholar on Fire

Just recently I found a treasure trove of GCTS videos that some talented folks at my school made concerning the seminary. Some of the more interesting ones for me have been the alumni videos that briefly look at what GCTS alumni are doing now. The following is a video of the adjunct professor for the OMP course prior to my trip last summer. He is one of my favorite personalities on campus and radiates a genuine Christ-like character. I am truly blessed by the global perspective he and other professors give with their lives.

Alumni Profile: Dr. Paul Borthwick from Gordon Conwell on Vimeo.

Revelations During Crossfit?!

I've recently joined this thing called CrossFit and it's pretty amazing so far. Well, it feels amazing after the workouts - during them you feel like you're going to die :) I like it because if I went to a gym on my own I would be staring at a bunch of equipment that I wouldn't know how to use and I wouldn't know how to push myself/know when I've gone too far. I also like that the workouts are different every time and I'm not just running around in circles. A definite plus. I could keep going, but trust me, this isn't a commercial for Xfit - I promise. What amazed me the other night was that during the crazy workout I got a download from God. What? Apparently I can think about other things than just reminding myself to breathe during these times.

Here's something I jotted down that night about it:

Did squat clean thrusters today. Wanted to work on my form, so I started with just the bar. I did ok, but felt awkward: I was arriving at the different positions correctly, but the movement to each position was off. I decided to add weight, a little nervous that my form would only lessen and get sloppier. However, to my surprise, my form got better - way better - with more weight. So, technically I did something more challenging better than something less challenging. I was reminded of the spiritual life and how God strengthens us. We are not meant to be stagnant, but progress, and we are in better form when things are more challenging, not when they're less challenging.

"...we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." Romans 5:3-4

Exit Manipulation

Jesus does not hold His sacrifice over our heads. He does not make us feel guilty for what He did on the cross. This could only happen if He was forced and obligated to die. But Jesus did not have to do what He did. He did it voluntarily out of His freedom as God. Jesus sacrificed His life willingly. Jesus gives gifts purely and without impure motives or strings attached. God is self-sufficient, therefore He does not need to nor can He manipulate us with His gifts and His ultimate life sacrifice in His Son. May our pride and walls subsequently melt away at the knowledge of this.

"...he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." -Psalm 103:10-12

God does not give me what I deserve. He does not repay evil with evil, but with good.

My God does not criticize or judge me. Some reflections on the elder son in the parable of the prodigal son that apply to this:

"The harsh and bitter reproaches of the [elder] son are not met with words of judgment. There is no recrimination or accusation. The father does not defend himself or even comment on the elder son's behavior. The father moves directly beyond all evaluations to stress his intimate relationship with his son when he says: 'You are with me always.' ...the father's unreserved, unlimited love is offered wholly and equally to both his sons." -The Return of the Prodigal Son, Henry Nouwen, p. 80

If you want to be wrecked, read the above book. You won't be disappointed.

Nothing Greater

True wisdom will not be seen as such and rather as foolishness unless God gives us eyes to see and ears to hear. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

"To the discerning all of them [Wisdom's words] are right; they are faultless to those who have knowledge." -Proverbs 8:9

Who gives knowledge? Who gives discernment? Who gives wisdom? How can we know God? It is only because God reveals Himself in ways that are accommodating to us. We have no capacity for these things unless God intervenes. And He has. Revere the Lord. He is holy. There is none like Him. He bestows value and honor on us continually by loving us unconditionally. We must come to the place where we realize our position as creatures before the Creator. He is God and we are not.

Even so, He has made a way for us to know Him - we are created in His image. We share in the Trinity's unity of love through the work of Jesus. There is nothing greater than sharing in this.

Confessions and Spiritual Friendship

Transitioning into a new semester means shifting books around, sorting papers, and rediscovering previously finished work that one has otherwise forgotten. In two books I found lists of memorable quotes I had "scribed," and some are definitely worth sharing:

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Excerpts from Confessions by St. Augustine

"But we enjoyed playing games and were punished for them by men who played games themselves. However, grown-up games are known as 'business,' and even though boys' games are much the same, they are punished for them by their elders...my games delayed my progress in studying subjects which would enable me to play a less creditable game later in life."

"We learn better in a free spirit of curiosity than under fear and compulsion."

"For your [God's] goodness is almighty; you take good care of each of us as if you had no others in your care, and you look after all as you look after each."

"You [God] follow close behind the fugitive and recall us to yourself in ways we cannot understand."

"Make your dwelling in Him [God], my soul. Entrust to Him whatever you have, for all that you have is from him."

"I did not know that if my mind was to share the truth, it must be illuminated by another light, because the mind itself is not the essence of truth."

"If a man is to please you [God], surely it is not enough that he should know facts like these? Even if he knows them all, he is not happy unless he knows you; but the man who knows you is happy, even if he knows none of these things."

"A statement is not necessarily true because it is wrapped in fine language or false because it is awkwardly expressed."

"You [God] are there to free us from the misery of error which leads us astray, to set us on your own path and to comfort us by saying, 'Run on, for I shall hold you up. I shall lead you and carry you on to the end.'"

Excerpts from Spiritual Friendship by Aelred of Rievaulx

"It is thus impossible to prefer a friend to morality; as soon as morality is damaged, friendship vanishes."

"Effort in great things is itself great."

"Scarcely any happiness whatever can exist among mankind without friendship, and a man is to be compared to a beast if he has no one to rejoice with him in adversity, no one to whom to unburden his mind if any annoyance crosses his path or with whom to share some unusually sublime or illuminating inspiration. 'Woe to him that is alone, for when he falls, he has none to lift him up.' He is entirely alone who is without a friend."

"Since, therefore, among the good, friendship always precedes and advantage follows, surely it is not so much the benefit obtained through a friend that delights as the friend's love in itself."

"And so we ought not, like children, change friends by reason of some vagrant whim. For since there is no one more detestable than the man who injures friendship, and nothing torments the mind more than desertion or insult at the hands of a friend, a friend ought to be chosen with the utmost care and tested with extreme caution." (spoken like a true infj in my opinion!)

"A truly loyal friend sees nothing in his friend but his heart."

"Indeed, a man owes truth to his friend, without which the name of friendship has no value." (I think "name" has the sense of "character" here.)