Faith - i - a short intro

Christians, whether we realize it or not, have a tendency toward extremes. And why not? We are human, in spite of accusations to the contrary by our detractors. We are human, and simply put, we like black and white categories.

So it is with faith. We see these two extremes most easily identified as the 'intellectual', or the 'experiential'. I'd like to address these extremes from the perspective that they are not at all what we should strive for, let alone recognize as true faith. In the following three short (I hope) essays, I will share what I think is a biblically recognizable understanding of what faith really is, and why each of these extremes does not fit the definition of true faith. You of course, are welcome (AND ENCOURAGED) to share your thoughts.

May God bless us all on this leg of our journey!

where has the time gone?

The last several weeks have been filled with an incredible amount of reading and writing, culminating in the completion of a 5 week Wednesday night course I taught at Narberth Pres. on The historical development of Christology called 'Who Do You Say I am?'; a ten-page paper critiquing Walter Brueggemann's use of 'Counter-Testimony' in his Theology of the Old Testament; a thirty-eight and one-half page exegetical analysis of Matthew 16:13-20; and just off the presses and turned in today, a fifteen page overview of Karl Barth's Christology, or his Christocentric approach to theology. And now I wonder, where has the time gone?

To say the least, my brain is feeling somewhat mushy, and it is my deepest hope that I actually may remember much of what I've learned. But one of the things I did learn this past April is that after four years part-time and one full year of studies, I am poised to finish my Masters in Theological Studies in Contemporary Theology at the end of the 07 Fall semester. All I have before me is Biblical Hebrew (this Summer), and in the Fall, writing two theses. I'm very excited, but also quite nervous, I don't mind admitting. Not only do I need to consider what I will be writing my theses on - and who will be my readers - but I must also start looking at and considering doctoral programs, as well as prep for GREs in the Fall. And again, I wonder, where has the time gone?

I hope you're still visiting, dear reader, dear friend. I'm sorry that I've not "written" in so long, at least in this context. But I hope that you are experiencing the fullness of God, and living out His holy and perfect will. Drop me a line, and let me know how you are doing.

God bless!

a sermon on evil and suffering

This Spring 07, I'm taking a class called 'Persevering Hope: The Theology of Evil, Suffering, and the Goodness of God. The first major assignment for this class is due next week. From the title of this entry, you've probably guessed that it's a sermon we had to prepare. Because there's some twenty people in the class, we don't have time to deliver these sermons to the class, as was the original intent. But we had to write a sermon with a particular tragedy that had effected our specific congregation at some point in recent memory.

I was challenged to come up with something; that is, I was challenged to come up with something other than the only real, true evil event that I could recall from my time at my church: the murder/suicide of a divorced couple who had both been members of our congregation. I really didn't want to write a sermon on this. But nothing else came to mind. I didn't want to write it because I realize that deep down, I'm still deeply saddened about it, and I didn't want to go back and revisit that hurt and pain. I also didn't want write on it because I didn't know what I could possibly say, even what I could find within Scripture that could possibly come across as anything but trite.

But I wrote it. Just finished it and printed it out earlier in the hour. I don't know about it. I'll have my wife read it over, and get her input. It might do it. It might not. I don't know. But I do know that if there's anything good about it, anything worthy to it, I give God the glory. As I was writing, wondering what points am I going to be able to make, the Lord led me to John 11, and three points within the story of Lazarus. Praise God for anything good and worthy in it.

If you're at all interested in reading it, drop me a line with your email, and I'll be happy to share it with you. That is, if it floats.

Coram Deo.

Evangelicals for Human Rights

dear friends and family,

I was visiting a fellow Palmer student's blog recently, and was interested by one of his entries to visit the above mentioned site (you can click on the title - it serves as a link to Evangelicals for Human Right's site). I was moved enough to read and sign the Evangelical Declaration Against Torture. Forgive me if I seem on a soap box; I don't mean to preach. Christians live in this land, and we have benefited in many ways over the history of this country. But as Christians, we have a greater loyalty to the Lord, and when the culture and/or government make decisions or policies that go against the Kingdom of God, we as God's people are called upon to be His voice and justly critique that which stands at odds with God.

I'm inviting you to go to the site, and read the Declaration - but please only read it when you have the time to read it from start to finish. Read it, and consider visiting the above linked site in order to learn more and sign the declaration yourself. You'll find the declaration is both grounded in God's Word, and articulates well what I believe is a good and proper Christian response to human rights violations. Each one of us is created in the Divine Image. Whether or not you believe that all people are God's children, or only those who call upon the name of the Lord, we all share His image. To violate that image in anyone, Christian or non-Christian, is to violate the image in all people everywhere.

Consider this, read it, and prayerfully consider signing this declaration, and share it with others. May He who grants us life and breath daily ever lead each of us to choose life always. God's best blessings to you in Christ.

In His Spirit,
David

my favorite Bible passage (right now)

13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" 14They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" 16Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

17Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

(Matthew 16:13-20, NIV)

This is my favorite passage in Scripture right now. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I'm trying to answer the question myself: "Who do you say I am?"

We come to "church" every Sunday morning (or afternoon, or even evening for some), and we say something to the effect of "Jesus is Lord!", or "Praise the Lord!", or "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart!" (Where?) But who do you, dear reader, say Jesus is? Are we saying Jesus is Lord, when we worry more about having enough money to entertain ourselves than we have concern about how much we're tithing? Who are we saying Jesus is when we buy expensive cars whose monthly payments are more than our two-thirds world brothers and sisters make in a year? And what kind of Lord are we worshiping when we drive these giant SUVs the size of elephants, that wastes the proverbial 30 gallons to the mile, all to transport you and your little one? Who do we say Jesus is when we pray for God to restore the environment and then do nothing ourselves?

But don't worry. Because I'm right up there with you. I didn't initially oppose the war in Iraq. And now I'm not confident that pulling out would do anything but create bigger problems for the Iraqi people, believe it or not. And driving stuff? Well, my one car is pretty economical. But the other is a mini-van - now granted, I have three kids, and I'm the one who drops them off at school every day, and if they don't have enough lebesraum they get, let's say, a little fiesty (okay, that's as much a rationalization as anything). I generally vote Republican - but let's face it, Dems and Reps are merely two sides of the same coin - they're both rotten. I like to eat all sorts of food that's not good for me in the long run.

So you see, we're all struggling to answer this question of who Jesus is. I want Him to be my Lord. I want Him to be my Savior. I want to be His servant. In my tradition, we believe that it is by the grace of God that we can even be Christians. Its not that we don't "believe" in free will; we just tend to believe that God's sovereignty tends to trump free will. All of that's to say that I struggle not only to answer the question, but to believe that God's love for me is absolutely secure. And I struggle to believe that because I struggle to give an honest "my-life-is-consistent-with-my-words" sort of answer to who do I say Jesus is.

In the end, at the end of the day, when it's all said and done, I say Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. I believe this because right before Easter some twenty-plus years ago, God revealed Himself to me, and offered me a choice between life and death, because He knew I was ready to choose death, and He wanted me to live (My three kids and my beautiful wife seem to be glad I accepted His offer). Without Jesus, I am dead. Or, I want to die. There is nothing to life without Him. And yet, in some ways, I feel no closer to understanding what it means to say, 'Jesus is the Christ' than when I first professed faith in Him, and accepted His death on my behalf.

I struggle with the question and the implications of the answer, too. I'm no better than you. Okay, maybe I am just a little, but that's beside the point, because in God's eyes, I'm really not. The truth is - always becareful when people tell you the "truth" - that we are not to answer this question in the vacuum of our own space. The answer, I am thinking, is to be given in the very context where we are most likely committing the greatest hypocrisy - our time together at church. Saying Jesus is Lord is a team event, and it requires our being the people of God, yes, the very Body of Christ together to get it right, to keep one another honest, to read and listen to Scripture together, and then lovingly hold one another's feet to its flames (not in a legalistic, mean-spirited way), that is we're all standing in the flames together, and together we are to endure them. I'm talking about the presence of God - it's dangerous to be in the presence of God. And we were never meant to stand in His presence by ourselves.

Okay, this has taken a direction I had not anticipated, nor foresaw. But it is what it is. What do you think? It's not as concise as I had originally thought it would be. My blogs sometimes go "Joycian" on me. But in the end, Jesus is the Christ. I just need God's help through you to be able to live that belief.