All by God

Justification by faith, then, is a death-and-resurrection experience. Three important theological comments on this contention must be stressed.

First, justification is not in any sense a self-generated experience. The passive voice—”I have been crucified with Christ”—implies an external agent, a divinely initiated action. As Paul says in Gal 3:1-5, he “exhibited” Christ crucified, the Galatians received the Spirit, and they responded with “faith.” This can only mean that the Spirit somehow effected the Galatians' experience of co-crucifixion and co-resurrection. We cannot here solve the mystery of divine initiative and human response, but we must rule out any semi-Pelagian or Pelagian interpretation of faith (and specifically co-crucifixion and co-resurrection) as something that initates or effects one's own salvation.

Second, justification is not a private experience but a public and corporate one...

Third, justification is an experience of both death and resurrection, and both must be stressed. But the resurrection to new life it incorporates is a resurrection to an ongoing state of crucifixion: I “have been” crucified means I “still am” crucified. Therefore, justification by faith must be understood first and foremost as a participatory crucifixion that is, paradoxically, life-giving (cf. 2 Cor 4:7-15).——Inhabiting the Cruciform God, pp. 69-70

<idle musing>
I really like this: "justification is not in any sense a self-generated experience." It is all God from beginning to end. I like to say that you can tell a lot about a person by whom they have as the subject of their sentences...
</idle musing>

Death equals life

Justification “by faith” is for Paul justification by co-crucifixion. Those described as “hav[ing] come to believe in [eis] Christ Jesus” ([Galatians] 2:16)—meaning those who have responded affirmatively to the gospel with faith and thus moved from outside Christ into Christ—and having been justified by pistis Christou rather than by doing the works of the Law, are subsequently redescribed (if we assume that Paul is speaking representatively) as those who have died to the Law and been crucified with Christ in order to live. It is hard to resist the conclusion that faith is, for Paul, a death experience, a death to the Law (and/or to the “flesh”) and a death with Christ. —Inhabiting the Cruciform God, p. 67

<idle musing>
Are you starting to get the picture? Death to self = alive in Christ. Real life, vibrant life, real freedom, true freedom. All available to us here and now through Christ, as long as we are in Christ
</idle musing>

Where is God in all this

is the question that Lawson has been asking this week here and here. He is looking at the destruction of Shiloh and wondering why it happened. Of course, we all know why it happened, but Lawson gives lots of good details in the first post, which you should definitely read.

But, where was God? He still didn't answer that until today when he—well, I'll let him tell it in his own words:

God often speaks through the contrarian voice, the voice questioning all our assumptions, challenging our most basic ideas, the ones we take for granted. Even as the sons of Eli defile the women of the sanctuary and despise the Lord’s offerings (1 Sam. 2:29) we, the readers, know that these two men had a death-warrant on them, straigh from God. I once practically emptied a room full of clergy by preaching a sermon on 1 Samuel 2:25b…”for the Lord was minded to slay them.” Two clergy whom God wanted to kill! Admittedly, presumptuous for a young man, but God had a strong opinion about these two, and when Eli failed miserably at confronting them, God brought the Mysterious Stranger to remind them that long ago, he had revealed his truth. God is often in the last voice we really want to hear, reminding us of truths we have never really found false, just been false to…

God is also present in the form of his call to a young man, Samuel. He lived at the epicenter of the corruption and degeneration of Israel. In a mongrelized sanctuary, in a messed up liturgy, among corrupt or indifferent priests, one young guy hears God’s voice. Eli has been awakened just enough to know in the voices coming to Samuel, God is at work. Eli at least remembers how one is supposed to answer when God calls. That much we can give old Eli. At least when confronted with the real thing (for the second time!) he knows how to tell the kid what to do.

And last…that captured ark, hauled off to Philistia…God is present in his ark! I love this. When the Israelites tried to manipulate the ark for their own purposes, it was just a funky box. But as soon as it arrives in Philistia, the ark declares war! You can read about it 1 Samuel 5-6. While the Israelites are moaning and groaning in defeat, the ark is cleaning out a Philistine temple, scoring two knock-downs and a KO against Dagan, the Philistine corn-king deity. Then the ark books itself a free trip back to Israel courtesy a couple of Philistine milk-cows! It’s almost comic.

A beat-down, hurting, praying woman; a cranky, contrary stranger saying all the inconvenient stuff; a kid swimming alone in a sea of corrupt mediocrity and outright evil, learning to say “Yes, Lord” for the first time; A sacred artifact that is more alive than anyone realized, that still serves God’s purposes (not his peoples!)…

God, it seems, is busier than we had realized. We just have to look in the right places.

<idle musing>
We frequently are looking in the wrong direction—usually because "God is often in the last voice we really want to hear, reminding us of truths we have never really found false, just been false to…"

Good stuff to chew on...
</idle musing>

Gardening books

Ever since the beginning of January, I have been checking books on gardening (and cheese making) out of the local library. I don't know how many, probably 15-20. Of those, only two of them stood out enough to actually buy. I took a few notes from most of them, but then returned them. So, here they are...

The first one is for the new gardener. If you have never gardened and are scared, this is the one for you. Personally, I think he is a little too full of himself, but his ideas are good:
All New Square Foot Gardening



If you have gardened for a while and want to increase the season a bit (like all year!), then this is the book for you:

Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables From Your Home Garden All Year Long



I read the earlier edition from the library and am now reading the newer edition. This book has so many good ideas that I had to either write almost the whole book on note cards, or buy it. I bought it :)

What about you? Have a favorite gardening book? Or, do you disagree with my choices?

More on co-crucifixion

We come next to Paul's distinctive understanding of faith—pistis—as the human response to the gospel and the instrument of appropriating justification, and therefore also once again to what Paul means by justification itself. Our focus will be on the two passages where Paul uses the Greek verb sustauroo, “co-crucify”—each time in the passive voice. We will see that, according to Gal 2:15-21 and Rom 6:1-7:6, faith is co-crucifixion with Christ; faith is a death experience. For Paul, justification—restoration to right covenant relations with God and others—occurs, not through performance of or zeal for the Law, but through participation in Christ's quintessential act of covenant-keeping. This restoration to right covenant relations is therefore an experience of death and resurrection, or resurrection via death.—Inhabiting the Cruciform God, p. 63

<idle musing>
I frequently say that people want to go from Romans 5—freely justified by faith—to Romans 8 without going through Romans 6—buried with Christ. We want the benefits, but we don't want to die. I think Gorman is correct here; without death, there can be no resurrection and new life. After all, if the old life is still living, why would you need a new one?
</idle musing>

Co-crucifixion

I want to suggest that for Paul there is one soteriological model: justification is by crucifixion, specifically co-crucifixion, understood as participation in Christ's act of covenant fulfillment.—Inhabiting the Cruciform God, p. 44

<idle musing>
This is central to Gorman's thought. I think he is correct, but the last 200 years of cheap grace have dulled this concept for the majority of Western believers.

What do you think? Have you heard a sermon on death to self recently? I know I have heard occasionally about taking up your cross, but usually that just means you have to endure a bit of discomfort—which is not what the gospel writers had in mind. In the ancient world, the cross had but one purpose: death!
</idle musing>

New books

I just received a new book from Hendrickson Publishers, compliments of Bobby (thanks!).

Vines Intertwined
A History of Jews and Christians from the Babylonian Exile to the Advent of Islam
by Leo Dupree Sandgren
Hendrickson Publishers, 2010
xxiv + 835 pages, English
Paper, 6 x 9
ISBN: 9781598560831
List Price: $34.95
Your Price: $29.71
www.eisenbrauns.com/item/SANVINESI

This is a monster of a book, size-wise, and it even includes a CD in the back with the text of the book in PDF format! At the price, how can anybody not pick this up if they are interested in the subject matter?

I have no idea when I will get around to reading this, but when I do, you will hear about it :)

Talking about size and good deals reminds me, this just arrived late last week:

The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha:
Apocalypic Literature and Testaments
2 volume set
Edited by James H. Charlesworth
Hendrickson Publishers, 2010
1056 pages, English
Paper, 6 x 9.25 inches
ISBN: 9781598564891
List Price: $69.95
Your Price: $39.87
www.eisenbrauns.com/item/SETCHAOLDTES

Another great deal! Sure beats the hardcover price...now all I need is the time to read them all!

cheap grace

There have always been legitimate theological arguments about justification, as well as less noble but understandable interconfessional squabbles. But it may also be the case that there is another, more subtle (and thus more dangerous) theological reason for at least some aspects of the current situation regarding justification. To paraphrase Dietrich Bonhoeffer, parts of the Christian church have become enamored with cheap justification. Cheap justification is justification without justice, faith without love, declaration without transformation.—Inhabiting the Cruciform God, p. 41

<idle musing>
Just like cheap credit, cheap grace is alluring. But, in the long run, again, just like cheap credit, it will eat you alive. It isn't real and, so, it can't save or transform.
</idle musing>

Cheese update

On Saturday morning, I made yogurt, as usual. But, I also started some colby; the process from start to the beginning of pressing took about 3.5 hours, maybe a bit more. My press is a home made one that cost about $5.00 to make, maybe a bit less. I'll try to remember to get a picture of it posted. Without a picture it is difficult to picture the problems I had, but I'll try...

You are supposed to press the cheese for 20 minutes at 20 pounds of pressure. If you have a fancy $250 + press, that is easy. My $5.00 one relies on me adding weight to the top. Well, I know that a gallon of water weighs about 7 pounds, so that means 3 gallons of water. I proceeded to balance 3 gallons of water on a 2 x 4 on top of a 10 x 12 frame on top of a 2 x 4 placed vertically. It worked! After that, you flip the cheese and increase the weight to 40 pounds. That was easy; I just put a 40 pound salt bag on top. Well, it didn't quite work out so nice; the bag tipped and one side of the cheese had more pressure than the other. After an hour, you flip again and add 50 pounds. That took some figuring, but I finally came up with a criss-cross of 2 x 4s that allowed me to put 7 gallons of water on it. But, it fell over after about an hour :( I finally put the 40 pound salt bag back on and just added 2 hours to the time. The cheese came out looking beautiful.

I put it on a mat to dry in my study. It needs to dry for a few days before waxing and then aging for about a month. About halfway through Sunday, my curiosity got the better of me so I cut it in half and sliced off a nice chunk to try. Hmmm, not bad. It tastes like colby, but milder. I think it might be OK after aging a bit.

On the mozzarella front, Jim and Shannon came over Saturday evening and we made another batch. Delicious, the best batch so far. I think mozzarella sticks are going to be a staple around here! So much fresher—and they even squeak as you eat them. That's the real test of freshness!

Today's thought

We are all like caged wolves that may escape at any moment—Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, III/4

Can you separate justification and sanctification?

Our goal is to show the connection between justification, on the one hand, and co-crucifixion and co-resurrection on the other, arguing that for Paul justification is an experience of participating in Christ's resurrection life that is effected by co-crucifixion with him.

This is a much more robust, participatory, and costly understanding of justification than one often finds attributed to Paul. It does not, however, in any sense whatsoever reduce the need for, or meaning(s), of Christ's death as God's gracious salvific act on our behalf while we “still were sinners” (Rom 5:8) and were “dead through our trespasses” (Eph 2:5). Nor is justification by co-crucifixion a form of self-justification or justification by “works,” for it is only by grace and the work of God's Spirit that co-crucifixion is possible. What justification by co-crucifixion will imply, however, and not surprisingly, is that a theological rift between justification and sanctification is impossible, because the same Spirit effect both initial and ongoing co-crucifixion with Christ among believers, a lifelong experience of cruciformity, or, in light of chapter one, theoformity—theosis.—Inhabiting the Cruciform God, p. 40

<idle musing>
I like this, "a theological rift between justification and sanctification is impossible, because the same Spirit effect both initial and ongoing co-crucifixion with Christ among believers." That sums up my view pretty well.
</idle musing>

Suicide bombings, U.S. style

Jim West has a comment on the guy who flew his plane into the IRS building in Austin:

...amidst all our concern about attacks from Muslim terrorists, we have plenty of our own home grown murderers to be more concerned with. It wasn’t Muslims who blew up the Federal building in Oklahoma City. And Mr Stack doesn’t appear to have been a Muslim either.

America, perhaps it’s time to look at the cancer within and uncover its cause so it can be cured. Or to use a biblical image- perhaps we need to look at the beam in our own national eye before we try to clear out the speck in the eye of Islam.

<idle musing>
Let's expand on that a bit...You can claim that the Muslim attackers are motivated by religion, and the one yesterday wasn't. But, wasn't it really religiously motivated? I submit that his god was money—and he didn't have as much as he wanted. Take a step back and think about it. Where were the 9/11 attacks aimed? At the real gods of the U.S.: Money and military might. They didn't waste their time on the Statue of Liberty or other symbols that we claim are important; no, they attacked the real gods in our culture. They saw more clearly than we do as to what is really important to us.

Don't you think it is time we repented?

Just an
</idle musing>

Books

I saw this post today about books via Andy Unedited. Here's a snippet or two:

I agree with the monk in Normandy who, in 1170, wrote that “A monastery without a library is like a castle without an armory. Our library is our armory.”

This means we should engage in building it, fortifying it, at every opportunity. When I was in graduate school, I recall one of my professors saying that we should have a line-item in our budget for books. That building a good library is one of the most important things we can do in ministry and for impact.

I tell my own graduate students the same thing - to invest in books. They are our tools. A mechanic has his set of wrenches; a doctor has his stethoscope; a chef has his cookware. Those of us in ministry, or scholarship (and ideally they are joined at the hip), have our books...

The great concern of George Orwell, as conveyed in his novel 1984, was of a day when there might be those who would ban books.

Aldous Huxley’s portrait of the future in Brave New World was more prescient; Huxley feared that there would be no reason to ban a book.

Why?

There would be no one who wanted to read one.

<idle musing>
Interesting that the people in Brave New World substituted drugs and sex for reading. Or, how about Fahrenheit 451? They substituted entertainment for reading. Take your pick, either one describes our culture quite well, doesn't it?
</idle musing>

Another new sale

I just posted a new sale on the Eisenbrauns web site. Here's the scoop, from BookNews:

BookNews from Eisenbrauns

For the next 10 days, I am taking a risk: these books are
all Eisenbrauns titles that I have read from cover-to-cover
in the last 12 months, give or take a month or two. It doesn't
include any that I have read a chapter or two in, that list
would include most of our recent books.

Got a better list? Why not submit your own to me for a future
sale consideration? It has to be Eisenbrauns titles, and you
have to have read them from cover-to-cover, although it doesn't
have to have been in the last 12 months.

As always, all sales on this web sale are final; no returns
will be permitted. Offer is good only on orders placed at
www.eisenbrauns.com through February 28, 2010.

To go directly to the weekly sale, click on this link:
http://www.eisenbrauns.com/pages/NEWSLIST
============================================================
"Cult and Character: Purification Offerings,
Day of Atonement, and Theodicy"
by Roy E. Gane
Eisenbrauns, 2005. Cloth. English.
ISBN: 9781575061016
List Price: $49.50 Your Price: $34.65

"Critical Issues in Early Israelite History"
Edited by Richard S. Hess, Gerald A. Klingbeil, and Paul J. Ray Jr.
Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplement - BBRSup 3
Eisenbrauns, 2008. Cloth. English.
ISBN: 9781575068046
List Price: $44.50 Your Price: $31.15

"War in the Bible and Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century"
Edited by Richard S. Hess and Elmer A. Martens
Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplement - BBRSup 2
Eisenbrauns, 2008. Cloth. English.
ISBN: 9781575068039
List Price: $34.50 Your Price: $24.15

"Bridging the Gap: Ritual and Ritual Texts in the Bible"
by Gerald A. Klingbeil
Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplement - BBRSup 1
Eisenbrauns, 2007. Cloth. English.
ISBN: 9781575068015
List Price: $39.50 Your Price: $23.70

"Chosen and Unchosen: Conceptions of Election in the
Pentateuch and Jewish-Christian Interpretation"
by Joel N. Lohr
Siphrut: Literature and Theology of the Hebrew Scriptures 2
Eisenbrauns, 2009. Cloth. English.
ISBN: 9781575061719
List Price: $39.50 Your Price: $27.65

"The Eden Narrative: A Literary and Religio-Historical
Study of Genesis 2-3"
by Tryggve N. D. Mettinger
Eisenbrauns, 2007. Cloth. English.
ISBN: 9781575061412
List Price: $29.50 Your Price: $17.70

"Literate Culture and Tenth-Century Canaan:
The Tel Zayit Abecedary in Context"
Edited by Ron E. Tappy and P. Kyle McCarter Jr.
Eisenbrauns, 2008. Cloth. English.
ISBN: 9781575061504
List Price: $37.50 Your Price: $22.50

"The Biblical Saga of King David"
by John Van Seters
Eisenbrauns, 2009. Cloth. English.
ISBN: 9781575061702
List Price: $49.50 Your Price: $34.65

More Kenosis

The counterintuitive God revealed in Christ is kenotic and cruciform, the Eternal vulnerable and self-giving One, the God of power-in-weakness. Thus we may now paraphrase Ernst Käsemann, who said that the cross was the signature of the Risen One, and assert that the cross is the signature of the EternalOne. Any other understandings of God are henceforth rendered either incomplete or obsolete or idolatrous.—Inhabiting the Cruciform God, pp. 32-33

<idle musing>
It certainly is counter-intuitive; the mind can't really grasp it. But, to call it idolatrous? But, when you think about it, it is creating a different God than the biblical one. And that is definitely idolatry.
</idle musing>

Kenosis

Option two [of a translation of Phil 2:6] would be something like the following:

Although Messiah Jesus was in the form of God, a status people assume means the exercise of power, he acted in character—in a shockingly ungodlike manner according to normal but misguided human perceptions of divinity, contrary to what we would expect but, in fact, in accord with true divinity—he emptied himself and humbled himself.

In this reading, Christ exercised his deity. What is out of character for normal divinity in our misguided perception of the reality of the form of God is actually in character for this form of God. That is, although Christ was in the form of God, which leads us to certain expectations, he subverted and deconstructed those expectations when he emptied and humbled himself, which he did because he was the true form of God.—Inhabiting the Cruciform God, p. 27

<idle musing>
We just don't get it, do we? It is too radical, too incomprehensible to us. But, so like God!
</idle musing>

The work of the Holy Spirit

Guy Muse just posted an old tract that you might find interesting. I'm not a big fan of tracts, but this one I liked—maybe because it is directed at Christians instead of non-Christians... Here's a snippet, but do take the extra minute to read the whole thing.

Others may boast of themselves, their work, their successes, their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing. If you begin to do so, He will lead you into a deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others may be allowed to succeed in making great sums of money, or may have a legacy left to them, or may have luxuries, but God may supply you only on a day-to-day basis, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence on Him and His unseen treasury.

Imitation of Christ

When Paul describes himself as an imitator of Christ and calls others to be imitators of him and thus of Christ (I Cor 11:1), he is speaking, not about an option, but about a nonnegotiable mandate in which one does not deny but rather exercises one's true identity as an apostle (and one's true apostolic freedom), or, more generally one's identity (and true freedom) as a “Christian.” Imitatio Christi (or, better, conformatio Christi) is nonnegotiable because those whose freedom is defined by being in Christ must be conformed to Christ, as Phil 2:5 suggests by linking 2:1-4 to 2:6-11.—Inhabiting the Cruciform God, p. 23

<idle musing>
I like that, conformatio Christi. And, we definitely can not be in Christ unless we are being transformed and conformed to Christ. I'm really liking this book...
</idle musing>

Inhabiting the Cruciform God

Several—OK, I just checked and it was over 6 months ago!—Nick Norelli mentioned a book, calling it the most quotable book of the year. It was the next book on my booklist at the time, but got bumped multiple times. I recently finished Inhabiting the Cruciform God, and I have to concur. I am going to extract some stuff for the next week or so, but this is just barely skimming the surface. You would serve yourself well to buy/rent/beg/borrow a copy.

In a careful analysis of the text to determine the validity of this theological interpretation, the question arises—answered affirmatively by a line of exegetes from C.F.D. Moule to N.T. Wright, Gerald Hawthorne, Markus Brockmuehl, and Stephen Fowler—whether the first words of thepoem should be translated “Because he was in the form of God” rather than “Although he was in the form of God.” This chapter, consisting of an exegetical explanation followed by theological reflection, contends that Phil. 2:6-11, as Paul's master story, is (in part) about the counterintuitive, essentially kenotic—or cruciform—character of God. More specifically, we will argue that the Greek phrase en morphe theou hyparchon in Phil. 2:6 (“being in the form of God”) has two levels of meaning, a surface structure and a deep structure (to borrow terms from transformational grammar), one concessive and one causative: “although he was in the form of God” and “because he was in the form of God.” These two translations, which, as we will see, are really two sides of the same coin, correspond to two aspects of Paul's understanding of the identity of the one true God (or “divine identity”) and manifested in this text: its counterintuitive character (“although”) and its cruciform character (“because”).—Inhabiting the Cruciform God, p. 10

<idle musing>
This seems to fit well with I Corinthians 1: God's wisdom is foolishness to mankind. I like it, and all the more since it appears to be based on sound exegesis :)
</idle musing>

Eisenbrauns Valentine's day contest results

The results of our third annual Valentine's day contest are in!
Our judge and webmaster has made his final decisions; it's too late to bribe with chocolate, hot peppers, etc. The entries this year, as always, reflected a good deal of thought and talent. You can see the results here:
http://www.eisenbrauns.com/pages/VDAY2010

The results this year:
Honorable Mention:
Houria Lauffenburger, with a cuneiform heart
B.C. Hodge with a dialog between Gerlab and Helomatt
(in Hebrew and Ugaritic, no less)

Third Prize and a $25.00 Eisenbrauns gift certificate:
Rosa Hunt with a Syriac poem

Second Prize and a $50.00 Eisenbrauns gift certificate:
Max Roglund with a Hebrew poem entitled "The Song of the Four Locusts"
complete with translator's footnote

And, finally, First Prize and a $75.00 Eisenbrauns gift certificate:
Olivier Lauffenburger with an Old Babylonian Love Poem

Congratulations to our winners, and thanks to all who entered. Those of you who procrastinated now have a head start on next year. I know there are a lot of talented people out there; don't you want fame and glory (and an Eisenbrauns gift certificate)?

Cheese making

is a lot of work. I made two batches of mozzarella over the weekend and got the starter going for cheddar, colby, etc. The first batch of mozzarella didn't turn out very well; I got too anxious and didn't let the curd set long enough. It looked ok, but the flavor was weak. The second batch turned out much better—good flavor, with a good texture to the curds. We saved some of the curds out on the second batch to eat as curds; they were nice and squeaky.

My favorite part was cutting the curd and watching what looked like a solid mass begin to lose its liquid and shrink by about 80%. Debbie's favorite part was stretching the mozzarella; it's sort of like pulling taffy. Fun stuff! But, time consuming...

What am I doing this weekend?

Debbie just called me a bit ago and told me that my cheese making supplies arrived today. Finally, about 25 years after first deciding I wanted to try making cheese, I will. We'll see what happens... I'm starting with mozzarella, since it doesn't need aging. But, I hope to make cheddar, colby, brick, muenster, and maybe swiss. Again, we'll see.

Don't expect results on those others too soon, though; they have to age anywhere from 30 days to 6 months. So, maybe I'll have a nice aged cheddar for Christmas :)

The Christian life

I've been reading the autobiography of our Staples delivery man, Facedown. He had a rough upbringing and even after becoming a Christian had some issues to work through. But, one thought keeps recurring over and over in the book, this particular version is from page 255:

I knew for certain hope was attainable, not by anything I could do, but I learned the priceless commodity of truth.

I knew there was healing in repentance.

I knew I would never be alone as long as I walked with God.

I also knew there was a force out there ready to perch on my shoulder and take me down. It happened every time I wasn't moving forward, learning from and depending on and trusting in the God who showed me mercy.

<idle musing>
I think that about sums up the entire Christian life.
</idle musing>

Job versus Ruth

"The whole concern, from beginning to end of Naomi's story, is how to deal with calamity in such a way as to restore those whose lives have been so grievously diminished. what a contrast with the almost interminable theological disputation in Job 3-26!

"One could, then, take the book of Ruth and the book of Job as case studies in how to, and how not to, come to the aid of friends and neighbors who have suffered one or another of life's calamities. The besetting temptation of religious folk — especially those who are concerned with right doctrine — is to offer an explanation of why the calamity has happened and what God is doing in it...The men and women in the book of Ruth engage in no theological explanations. They just set about helping Naomi and her daughter-in-law get back on their feet. In this way they are the counterpart of Job's brothers, sisters and kinfolk in Job 42:11."—At the Scent of Water, page 114

<idle musing>
Interesting, the way he parallels the two stories of disaster, isn't it? I have to confess that far too often I am in the Job 3-26 group. What about you?
</idle musing>

Annual Eisenbrauns contest

I haven't mentioned it here yet this year, but:

Get those styli ready! We're continuing our annual Valentine's Day contest. If you haven't started composing your sonnet yet, get going on it, this is the week:


http://www.eisenbrauns.com/pages/VDAY2010

The judging is extremely arbitrary, and the prizes are thus:
1st Place: $75 Eisenbrauns Gift Certificate
2nd Place: $50 Eisenbrauns Gift Certificate
3rd Place: $25 Eisenbrauns Gift Certificate
Honorable Mentions: Fame and glory.

Have fun!

The measure of all things

The problem with Jung's statement, and with all arguments from the triangle [of good God, all-powerful God, people suffer] that give up on divine goodness or justice, is that in doing so we pay ourselves the compliment of possessing within ourselves the high-water mark of moral consciousness. That is a claim on behalf of the finest moral consciousnesses among us, which I for one find immodest. The implication is that in this respect we are superior to God and in a position to instruct God on issues of right and wrong. But then, who among us is to be the teacher? Especially now, in our so-called postmodern world, there will be many applicants for the position, and not only their credentials but their pedagogical programs will differ from one another. And if our claim to possess a moral consciousness superior to God's in fact amounts to self-deification (as in Gen 3:5, “you will be like God (or gods), knowing good and evil”), the result will be a cacophonous polytheism.—At the Scent of Water, p. 62

<idle musing>
Wow! Talk about hubris! We know more than God. We rarely put it that baldly, but that is exactly what we do—all the time. Whenever we whine or complain, we are basically telling God that he isn't doing it the right way, id est, my way.

Lord, forgive us and have us see things through your eyes, not ours!
</idle musing>

Sports and Christianity

I haven't read the whole article yet, but I sure am going to...Huh? February's Christianity Today's cover article on sports. Here's a short little snippet from the first page:

Americans are consuming sports on an unprecedented scale. The ancient Romans, long considered the gold standard for how sports-crazed a culture could be, were dilettantes compared to the sports fans of this century. The Romans could squeeze 50,000 spectators into the Coliseum for gladiatorial contests—a quaint assemblage next to the 107,000 seats regularly sold for University of Michigan or Penn State home football games. In 2006, Americans spent over $17 billion on tickets to sports contests and $90 billion on sporting goods, over double what they spent on books ($42 billion).

<idle musing>
America's true religion. Be sure to join the sacrifice this weekend, lest you offend the gods. As the article goes on to say:
</idle musing>

None of this has been lost on evangelicals, who have been quick to harness sports to personal and institutional agendas. Less than a century ago, major segments of the evangelical community considered sports a cancer on the spiritual life; today their denominational progeny lead the parade to stadiums. The cozy coupling of sports and evangelicalism shows itself not only in the outsized athletic complexes that are common features of church architecture, but also in the ease with which sport and its symbols show up in the sanctuary. Pastors incorporate pithy sports metaphors into their sermons. Famous athletes are invited to pulpits to tell how their faith helps them compete. Some churches celebrate Super Bowl Sunday by canceling the evening service and assembling in the sanctuary to watch the game on large-screen TVs. "Faith nights" sponsored by local baseball teams draw entire congregations to the ballpark. Evangelistic organizations that center on the public's fascination with sports flourish.

<idle musing>
Does anybody else see this as a problem???

Anyway, read the article, I know I will be finishing real soon—unless I throw up first from the way the church has sold its soul...
</idle musing>

The glories of the past

“We need to sift through the dirt of history to find the gems, no matter what tradition we come from. Part of my frustration with the Methodist tradition that I was raised in was that I began to read John Wesley and I began to fall in love with his life, writing and teaching… and it put me at odds with many of the things I saw in Methodism today. I mean it had a fiery beginning, that’s why there is fire wrapped around the cross in the Methodist symbol – fire and cross – if we’re not careful the only place the fire will remain is on the cover of the hymnal and the pages of the past. We can’t forget our histories and the men and women who made it. I’m not talking about war heroes, but church heroes, heroes of the cross. Talk about John Wesley – there’s a radical leader. We cannot forget these folks from the past. Methodists need to read Wesley again. We need to take the best that our little part of Church history has. We need the fire of the Pentecostals. We need the roots of the Catholics and Orthodox. We need the sharp thinking of the Episcopalians and mainliners. We need the politics of the Anabaptists, the grace of the Quakers. And we need to confess the dark sides of church history, where our denominations justified slavery with the bible, where we baptized the crusades and militaries, where we killed each other over theology. True leaders are able to see the good and the bad… to confess the bad and try not to repeat it, and to celebrate the good and try to reproduce it.”—Follow Me to Freedom: Leading As an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne and John Perkins

<idle musing>
I can identify, being raised Methodist. Once I started reading Wesley, I wondered what had happened! But, on a larger scale, what he is saying is true; we need to identify the heroes from whatever tradition. We also need to confess the sins of our fathers in the faith. But, above all, we need to be true to Jesus.
</idle musing>

Buy local, but commute to church...

“One of the things we have nearly lost is the simple idea of a neighborhood parish. Every neighborhood should have a congregation or parish that they can walk to, worship with and learn from. But we can’t get sloppy with our language. We don’t call services or meetings on Sunday “church.” We call them “public meetings”. Weekly services are great things to do—gather publicly for worship, share prayers and needs and upcoming events, put our money together, to read Scripture, share communion. But that is not Church; that’s just the Church gathering together in a building. We are the Church. We don’t call a building a “church.” The Church is who we are—the body, the bride, the living incarnation of Jesus in his people...So the idea of a “commuter church” or “church shopping” becomes quite senseless, especially if the sermon or soloist is not the center of our public meetings—but what is the center is Jesus, taking communion together, sharing needs and activities coming up and ways to find community. You can do those things anywhere. And they don’t need to be fancy or take lots of money. These make a lot more sense to be grounded within walking distance or close to it from where we live. One of the congregations we are connected to here in Philly is growing rapidly. The Spirit is just doing beautiful stuff among us. But every time we grow beyond 200 people in services we start up a new location for public meetings. We don’t need them to be big, in fact they work much better small.”—Follow Me to Freedom: Leading As an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne and John Perkins

<idle musing>
Yes! The church is not a building; you can't go to church. Church is people, Christian people. Once you realize that, the size of a church is inversely proportional to how much it can truly be a church.
</idle musing>

Why publish?

is the question that Lawson Stone asked today. His wording of the question and the answer are worth repeating:

Why do scholarship anyhow? It sure isn’t for the money! Very few scholars make much money with their writing. The ones that do could make more moonlighting as refrigerator repairmen! And it’s not for the power either. That a few professors think you are cool because of some obscure article you wrote doesn’t get you free coffee, even in your own school! And believe it or not, people who go into scholarship thinking they can change it for the kingdom, make it a more friendly and positive place for faith, are often self-deceived. Scholarship is tribal, and those who think they can change the cynics, skeptics, relativists, and atheists with their brilliant arguments end up either giving up, or having their audience confined to those who already agree with them, whom they encourage and support...

So…why have I invested so much in restarting something for which there are not a lot of romantic, exciting reasons? It’s actually very important, and very simple.

Accountability.

In the classroom, we professors spout off our opinions and theories with a lot of authority. We typically persuade our students, who think we have a great “take” on this or that issue. But the simple fact is, very few students are equipped or inclined to offer serious resistance. They don’t know the biblical languages as well, they don’t know the cognate languages and literatures, they don’t know the history of research, in short, they just don’t know enough to be sure that what I or my colleagues is giving them is really worthwhile.

And popular publishing won’t help on that point. If I write an evangelical Christian book, published by an evangelical Christian publisher, sold in evangelical Christian bookstores…am I really putting my views before a critical, competent, potentially hostile audience for review?

<idle musing>
I think he has a very good answer. And, I might add, this is a big reason that self-publishing is looked down on in the academic community...
</idle musing>

New monthly sale

Here it is the third of February, and I haven't told you about the new monthly sale—and it's a short month at that! OK, without further ado:

For the short month of February, we are featuring a selection of
Van Gorcum titles. Van Gorcum sold their biblical studies section
to Brill a few years ago, but we still have some of the titles
available at the Van Gorcum prices, and we're discounting that
price 20%. You net savings over the new Brill prices is about 50%,
in some cases even more.

To easily access all the sale items, please visit:
http://www.eisenbrauns.com/pages/SPECIAL
================================================================
"Delimitation Criticism: A New Tool in Biblical Scholarship"
Edited by Marjo C. A. Korpel and Josef Oesch
Pericope: Scripture as Written and Read in Antiquity - PERICOPE 1
Van Gorcum, 2001. Cloth. English and German.
ISBN: 9023236564
List Price: $69.95 Your Price: $55.96

"Studies in Scriptural Unit Division"
Edited by Marjo C. A. Korpel and Josef Oesch
Pericope: Scripture as Written and Read in Antiquity - PERICOPE 3
Van Gorcum, 2002. Cloth. English.
ISBN: 9023238400
List Price: $70.00 Your Price: $56.00

"A Parametric Model for Syntactic Studies of a Textual Corpus,
Demonstrated on the Hebrew of Deuteronomy 1-30"
by L. J. de Regt
Studia Semitica Neerlandica - SSN 24
Van Gorcum, 1988. Paper. English.
ISBN: 9023223810
List Price: $32.00 Your Price: $25.60

"Tiberian Hebrew Phonology: Focusing on Consonant Clusters"
by A. W. Coetzee
Studia Semitica Neerlandica - SSN 38
Van Gorcum, 1999. Cloth. English.
ISBN: 9023234316
List Price: $70.00 Your Price: $56.00

"Alleged Non-Past Uses of Qatal in Classical Hebrew"
by Max Rogland
Studia Semitica Neerlandica - SSN 44
Van Gorcum, 2003. Cloth. English.
ISBN: 9023239733
List Price: $49.00 Your Price: $39.20

"An Ancient Israelite Historian: Studies in the Chronicler,
His Time, Place and Writing"
by Isaac Kalimi
Studia Semitica Neerlandica - SSN 46
Van Gorcum, 2005. Cloth. English.
ISBN: 9023240715
List Price: $79.50 Your Price: $63.60

"Corpus Linguistics and Textual History: A Computer-Assisted
Interdisciplinary Approach to the Peshitta"
by P. S. F. van Keulen and W. T. van Peursen
Studia Semitica Neerlandica - SSN 48
Van Gorcum, 2006. Cloth. English.
ISBN: 9023241940
List Price: $109.00 Your Price: $87.20

"Untersuchungen zur verbalen Valenz im biblischen Hebraisch"
by Michael Malessa
Studia Semitica Neerlandica - SSN 49
Van Gorcum, 2006. Cloth. German.
ISBN: 9023242408
List Price: $85.00 Your Price: $68.00

"Religious Identity and the Invention of Tradition: Papers Read
at a NOSTER conference, Soesterberg, January 4-6, 1999"
Edited by J. Willem van Henten and A. Houtepen
Studies in Theology and Religion - STAR 3
Van Gorcum, 2001. Cloth. English.
ISBN: 9023237145
List Price: $75.00 Your Price: $60.00

"Towards Religious Identity: An Exercise in Spiritual Guidance"
by Tjeu van Knippenberg
Studies in Theology and Religion - STAR 4
Van Gorcum, 2002. Cloth. English.
ISBN: 902323815X
List Price: $42.75 Your Price: $34.20

""Welche unendliche Fulle offenbart sich da...": Die Wirkungs-
geschichte von Schleiermachers "Reden uber die Religion""
Edited by Nico F.M. Schreurs
Studies in Theology and Religion - STAR 7
Van Gorcum, 2003. Cloth. German.
ISBN: 902323975X
List Price: $48.50 Your Price: $38.80

"Evangelienharmonien des Mittelalters"
Edited by Christoph Burger, August den Hollander, and U. B. Schmid
Studies in Theology and Religion - STAR 9
Van Gorcum, 2004. Cloth. German.
ISBN: 9023240529
List Price: $45.00 Your Price: $36.00

"Religion and the Good Life"
Edited by Marcel Sarot and Wessel Stoker
Studies in Theology and Religion - STAR 10
Van Gorcum, 2004. Cloth. English.
ISBN: 9023240693
List Price: $79.00 Your Price: $63.20

Great deals!

A real role model

“There was a pastor with a church in Pittsburgh. He was an older man and for 19 years he did a good job, but he died. The church didn’t name a replacement right away, they just went on for five or six years without a pastor and did not miss a beat. How could they thrive for so long without leadership? The pastor who died had told people that he had never felt that he was in charge. He led the church, but was not in charge. Profound. He raised up people in the church who became football chaplains, Sunday school teachers and shelter workers. He raised up elders, ushers and role models. The pastor had influenced a lot of people not by being in charge or over them, but by living among them.”—Follow Me to Freedom: Leading As an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne and John Perkins

<idle musing>
Would that his tribe would increase!
</idle musing>

Crisis

“Sometimes the moments of crisis are easier to navigate than the mundane routine of going day to day. At least a threat or disaster pulls people together in the urgency of survival. It’s not as easy to rally people when today’s tasks look just like yesterday’s.

“Despite how it looks and feels, the daily routine does not have be be dull, and come to think about it, that is where most of life happens.”—Follow Me to Freedom: Leading As an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne and John Perkins

<idle musing>
It is the daily obedience that allows one to respond appropriately in the crisis situations. It isn't glamorous, but as they said, it doesn't have to be dull. I don't find my daily life dull—how can I when every day there is a different sunrise and sunset? Or, like today, a beautiful new snow covering the ground and resting on the black tree limbs. I see every day as a gift from God, a chance to rejoice in his goodness to me and others. But, it is a decision to do so; I could ignore those things—some days I find that I didn't even notice what I was riding past until I am nearly at work. But, why would I chose death over life?
</idle musing>

The worship of sports

Jim West, always at his best when trying to make enemies, has a very good observation today about the upcoming football game:

I think that ‘churches’ which cancel worship for a ball game aren’t worthy of the name church. Furthermore, I think that when entertainment becomes more important to Christians than worship, they should just throw in the towel and call themselves unitarian universalists, because they’ve ceased to be Christian in any meaningful sense of the word.

<idle musing>
I remember one church we were a part of back in Minnesota. The Vikings had made it to either the Super Bowl, or the game just before it, I've forgotten which, but the music leaders all dressed in purple, and the pastor cut the sermon short in the third service, so that no one would miss the opening sacrifice—I mean kick-off.

What idolatry! I wrote a letter asking if they had thought about the message their actions sent. The response seemed to indicate that they hadn't. Cultural blindness is understandable in non-Christians, but in those who have the Holy Spirit opening their eyes?
</idle musing>

That crazy Lingamesh

Boy, is David Ker ever on a rampage! And, he's right:

...Christians get so excited about cockamamie pseudo-scientific explanations for Biblical miracles that it just makes us look really dumb. It’s not just that our science is bad, it’s that we’re leaning on science at all. Christianity in the last two centuries has never really escaped from its Napoleon Complex that started in the Enlightenment. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not anti-intellectual. But the same Judeo-Christian worldview that allowed a flourishing rationalism sent many Christian thinkers on a snipe hunt for scientific proof of the Bible’s claims.

At this stage you might accuse me of disrespect for the divine Scripture because I am insisting that you can’t prove the miracles and events of the Bible through scientific enquiry. But the truth is that those who read the Bible in a way it was not intended by its author do more violence to the spirit and intent of the Scriptures.

<idle musing>
Yep! Where is faith? Why do we need it if we can walk by sight? Where is good exegesis? That's obviously gone :(

I once heard someone say that so-and-so must be an Evangelical, because they claimed to believe the Bible but then came up with all kinds of rational explanations for the plagues in Egypt! It makes me wonder if Evangelicals really believe in the supernatural...
</idle musing>

What part of a plain command don't you understand?

Guy Muse ran a training session last week, with interesting results:

In [Luke 10] verse 9 Jesus commands, 'heal those...who are sick' and say to them, 'the kingdom of God has come near to you.'

After my teaching on how to implement these two commands, a pastor stood, and took it upon himself to interpret Jesus words for us. He felt Jesus instructions needed to be clarified. What did Jesus actually mean by 'heal those who are sick'?

*First, these words were addressed to the 70, not to us today.
*Second, 'heal the sick' means heal their soul by preaching the Gospel to them.
*Third, why waste time healing, when they'll just get sick again?

Up to the time of that pastor's well-meaning intervention, people had been excited, motivated, and eager to get out and, in faith, implement Jesus words. After the pastor's explanation, people were staring at the floor, doubtful, and no one knew what to say.

When the microphone was given back to me, I responded, kindly, but firmly, "brother, the argument is not with me, but with Jesus. He is the one who instructed this command. If you have a disagreement with his telling us to heal the sick, please take your case and argue it out with Jesus."

I may not fully understand some of Jesus words, but to take clear, imperative instructions, and seek to reinterpret, negate, and dismiss them is simply bewildering to me.

Is it any wonder so many churches continue to struggle, seeing only a handful of new converts per year, and live powerless, sub-normal Christian lives?

Not only do we disobey, we don't even believe Jesus words!

Do we really think our ways are better than the Master's? Do we know better than Him? If our ways are so great, where is the harvest? Where are the results? Where's the beef? (as the old Wendy's commercial used to say.)

The point of all the above?

It almost seems as if we first come up with our theology, and then have to make Scripture fit that theology. When Jesus words do not align themselves our theology, we are forced to reinterpret and reword them until they do fit our theology.

What is your take on this? Does our theology too often get in the way of obeying what Jesus said for us to do?

<idle musing>
Hmmm...wasn't that what I was talking about 2 weeks ago?

Of course, this is nothing new. Bonhoeffer was bemoaning the same thing in Discipleship over 70 years ago!
</idle musing>

Loyalty

“If we truly have in mind the best interests of those who follow us, then we will nurture them every day they are with us, no matter how short or long, then cheer them on in the next thing God has for them, whether that is in our group or cause, or someplace far away. Loyalty doesn’t mean a person will be just like us, do only what we say or be on our team forever. Loyalty means a person contributes with who they are and what talents they have to make us all better.”—Follow Me to Freedom: Leading As an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne and John Perkins

<idle musing>
I like that definition.
</idle musing>

New sale

I would be amiss if I didn't let people know about the latest 10-day sale at Eisenbrauns:
For the next 10 days you can enjoy savings of 20% on the series Publications of the Finnish Exegetical Society.

Details here

Cultural blindness

Lawson Stone has been doing a 365-day series of self-portraits. Actually, though, the pictures are just excuses to muse. I found today's to be very good; he was reflecting on the Neo-Assyrian king's "lion hunts," which led him to reflect on cultural captivity. Here's a snippet:

I wonder…what blindness might be keeping us from seeing heartless evil being enacted right before our eyes? What actual gratuitous cruelties do we accept as the norm, even find entertaining? It would be easy to say we are all blinded by our culture, nobody sees this stuff until much later…but Samson knew. David knew. The biblical authors knew.

Biblical people should too.

<idle musing>
Lord, open our eyes to see!
</idle musing>

The call

“I don’t preach myself. I preach the call. The call comes from God and I’m just responding to a call. That keeps you humble. It ought to be our human desire to do something for God and be able to say that he used me. A cult leader preaches himself.”—Follow Me to Freedom: Leading As an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne and John Perkins

<idle musing>
Yep. If a person is preaching him/herself, you know there's a problem.
</idle musing>

A new denomination?

Bill Mounce has a weekly post on the Koinonia blog for Zondervan. This Monday, he talked about his wife's experience with the local Toastmasters meeting. He ends by saying: "I would like to attend a church that shared more in common with Toastmasters than it does with traditional church life."

<idle musing>
Read what he says about their meetings; you will probably agree. Would that all churches were as open and honest and caring...
</idle musing>

Looking for god

“We get so many of these people who are coming really just to look at you, to prepare to go look somewhere else. They’re looking for God, they’re really looking for God. And they’re looking for God at a place. We’ve got a young man who is looking for God and he hasn’t found the God he wants here. But really, in his own mind, he just wants adventure. He wants adventure. He won’t be totally honest with himself. And boy, we get them all the time. And sometimes we settle them down. Sometimes we’ve been able to settle some of the people down and the ones that we help to settle down a little bit are the ones that do pretty well when they eventually do leave.”—Follow Me to Freedom: Leading As an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne and John Perkins

<idle musing>
Isn't that an accurate commentary? He hasn't found the god that he wants; he's just looking for adventure. Sounds all too familiar...and God stands right next to us, waiting and wooing us—the "hound of heaven" as Augustine called the Holy Spirit.
</idle musing>

Self-absorbed

“I like the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous. But I’m seeing the American church becoming an AA center where people are never healed from their problems. They are always taking care of their own addiction or ailment, but don’t make time for other people. As a result, they haven’t been healed. They need their sins forgiven. They need to get rid of their addiction and come off of that mentality that they can never be healed! It’s a good place to start, but you cannot stay there. He came to make us whole. He came to mobilize us so that we could rescue the perishing and care for the dying.”—Follow Me to Freedom: Leading As an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne and John Perkins

<idle musing>
Yes. We need to get rid of the hamster-on-the-wheel syndrome and allow God to heal us and set us free.
</idle musing>

Modern Slavery

“Why would anyone want slaves? Why would anyone want to work people for less than minimum wage? People who approach business that way want to increase their individual profit at someone else’s expense. That is not God’s way. That is anti-God. And so justice is fundamentally a stewardship issue. How do I use my gifts and skills to make sure that someone else has a better chance? That’s justice.”—Follow Me to Freedom: Leading As an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne and John Perkins

<idle musing>
I think that is a bit overly simplistic, but it is getting at the heart of justice. It reminds me of one of my favorite verses:
‏וְיִגַּ֥ל כַּמַּ֖יִם מִשְׁפָּ֑ט וּצְדָקָ֖ה כְּנַ֥חַל אֵיתָֽן
But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream. (Amos 5:24 NRSV)

Of course, you need to read the verses leading up to that rebuke:
Amos 5:18 Alas for you who desire the day of the LORD!
Why do you want the day of the LORD?
It is darkness, not light;
19 as if someone fled from a lion,
and was met by a bear;
or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a snake.
20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness, not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?
21 I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
I will not look upon.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an everflowing stream.

If you want to get a real feel for the impact of that set of verses, I highly recommend the first chapter of A.J. Heschel's book The Prophets. If you have never read it, you owe it to yourself to read it! Words to live by...
</idle musing>

Edification

This last week Alan Knox has been running a series on edification. They have all been good and are worth your time, but I want to highlight a bit of Friday's post:

Fourth, edification is a mutual process. If I only view myself as the “edifier” in a certain relationships, then I have misunderstood the way that God’s Spirit works through his children. Even if I am the more mature believer, I can still learn from and be encouraged by and be discipled by (i.e., edified by) a less mature brother or sister. I can be wrong… I am wrong in many of my beliefs, my relationships with others, and my way of life. Humility is very important in our relationships with other believers such that we are willing [to] accept the teaching, correction, example, etc. of others.

<idle musing>
That's why the scripture says mutual edification. And that's why I am not a fan of so-called mentoring relationships; too often it is seen as one-way, which is not the way scripture describes it! But, when has that ever stopped us in the past :(

Oh, and while you are at Alan's blog, be sure to read the next post How will they hear without a preacher? Good stuff!
</idle musing>

Cheap grace and child rearing

“I just read an article that spoke about one of the parenting gurus who died a few years back. He was one of those psychiatrists who pioneered the movement that taught parents not to discipline their kids but to allow autonomy as kids make mistakes and decisions on their own (let them touch a candle so they learn what “hot” is…). Just let the children make mistakes—that’s the best way to learn! On his deathbed this doctor confessed that the social scientists were wrong, saying, “We’ve raised a generation of brats.” Much of the seeker sensitive, postmodern church is in danger of making the same mistake. We can raise a generation of spiritual brats, that do whatever they want and no one can tell them otherwise. People come to the altar singing “Just as I am” and leave just as they were—a church that teaches what to believe but not how to live. A church that is scared of spiritual disciplines like simplicity, fasting, solitude, and chastity will not produce very good disciples.”—Follow Me to Freedom: Leading As an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne and John Perkins

<idle musing>
If there is no transformation, then I question whether there was a real understanding of what becoming a Christian meant. Intellectual assent without anything else isn't really believing, it is just cheap grace.
</idle musing>

Globalization and the Christian

Lawson Stone has been musing all week on the current trend towards globalization. Today's thoughts are quite poignant, so I quote a section:

A lot of us are increasingly anxious to buy, use and eat things that were made or grown by ourselves and our neighbors, rather than be at the mercy of absentee CEO’s and anonymous Boards of Directors whose future will be unaltered by what happens to us here. Maybe the smaller church, grounded in the local community, where faith and mission intersect and overlay work, play, and family, is the future after all...

Obviously, Kingdom people, mission people, must always see the world. We Christians indeed long for the whole Bible to reach the whole world. But are we invested in one specific form of “global culture” whose values derive from industry and marketing, inimical to the biblical vision? A culture that depletes resources, damages the land and emaciates communities but somehow wants a worldwide outreach?

<idle musing>
Does a fish know it is wet? Do we realize the degree to which we are embedded in our culture? Are we aware enough of what God is doing in the world to step outside our culture and stand against it where necessary? The prophets of old were; we should be, too.
</idle musing>

Elders and prophets

“In the best cases, leaders are not appointed, but they’re recognized. So many people talk about electing elders or appointing elders, but I’ve got a pastor friend that told me in their congregation they just “recognize” the elders. Folks already know who they are, they’ve already risen to the task by the time they are recognized. It’s the same kind of thing as if you’re a prophet, don’t say it, show it. You know, if you’re an elder, so we don’t need to cast lots or put names in a fishbowl.”—Follow Me to Freedom: Leading As an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne and John Perkins

<idle musing>
That's been my experience, as well. God raised them up; we just recognize what God has done. It's just too simple, isn't it?
</idle musing>

Good theology

This showed up in my Inbox this morning:

Will Jesus Buy Me a Double-Wide? @ Yahoo! Video

<idle musing>
We have sold the gospel off for a few nickels; we have bought the "American Dream" and left true salvation on the floor. I'm glad Zondervan is publishing this book.
</idle musing>

Rest and work

“Rest is symbolic of God finishing creation and then resting. Therefore, if we are to be more like God, there is rest for the people of God, too. For six days God created—we know the story in Genesis. Then He stopped. As leaders we need to see that there is a time for God’s work and a time to cease, the rest, to have a respite. But there is a paradox in this passage. God makes us His workmen, but we are to rest in Him—always rest in Him, not just on the seventh day. When we learn to rest in Him while we work, the work is no longer ours. It becomes His work because He is bearing the burden. He is bearing the load.”—Follow Me to Freedom: Leading As an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne and John Perkins

<idle musing>
Hebrews 3 & 4: the rest for the people of God. It is God doing it through us; it is His work, not ours. If only we would remember that...we must rest in order for Him to work.
</idle musing>

Bibliomania to the extreme

There is an interesting story that was e-mailed to me about a Bibliomaniac Amok:

He owes $14,000 in back rent, has $14 to his name, he’s been out of work for two years, his landlord is evicting him, he agrees he should be tossed. He’s got a rare book collection of 3,000 books worth, by his estimate, $1,000,000.

OK, we have a problem here. But, one that the blogger can relate to:

I have experienced a similar situation. The period 1988-1999 was one of great difficulty and there were times when I had to consider selling my books. It was a wrenching decision - and my collection was no where near the size or value of Leif’s. I resisted, muddling along somehow, finding money someplace else, or just letting debt slide as I hunkered down in my house of books. The books comforted me; they were my friends. I think I also had the inchoate sense that to sell was to admit failure, not as a collector but as an adult. My self-worth was directly tied to the collection.

But there comes a time, and it came for me, when an extremely cold shower and hard slap are necessary to awaken dormant reality. The books have to go. It was, without over-dramatizing the situation, one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make...

I, too, have been there. There was a time when I had over 2,000 books; they weren't worth anywhere near $1,000,000, but they were essential to my mental health—or so I thought. I had amassed them during my 13 years of college, and they represented my self-worth. My sense of worth wasn't in who God made me; it wasn't in being a husband or dad; it was in owning those books.

I didn't have an academic job, and it didn't look like I would get one—ever. That just made the existence of the book collection even more important to me. It represented what I had spent all that time and money on. But, God broke in.

He did it in an interesting way, though. He had our boiler go out in the middle of January in Minnesota—in a cold snap, too. There is no way that boiler should have broken; it was only 2-3 years old! But, it did.

So, what do you do? You have two kids and a wife—and no money. Well, you sell your treasured possessions. No, not your wife and kids! You sell your books. So, I did. I sold over 1,000 of them. Some of them went to Eisenbrauns, some to a local used bookseller who specialized in Classics.

And, you know what? Just like the blogger above, I experienced release. I was no longer bound by what I thought was keeping me free. I was free again. Strange, isn't it? The very things we think are keeping us free are actually binding us. There has got to be a sermon in there somewhere...

Sending or sedate?

The M blog has an interesting post on house churches:

House churches are not permanent structures. They were never intended to be ongoing "home versions" of church. The idea that "church" is something solid, permanent, or institutional, is more what we have fashioned the church into becoming over the centuries, but not what is described in the book of Acts. [emphasis his]

He quotes from Simply Church:

House churches should be neither independent, nor permanent. If they are they will not multiply, but will only have shifted people from the pew to the sofa. Instead, they should be an interdependent network. Each house church is a debriefing center and a sending center that sends people out...

<idle musing>
I see that a lot—people just moving from the pew to the couch...that is not what house churches are about.

House churches are not a safe place to hide your kids from the negative influence of those "bad kids" at the institutional church. House churches are not a safe alternative. If they are, then they aren't being true to God's calling. House churches are supposed to be dangerous—dangerous to a consumerist mindset; dangerous to superficial relations; dangerous to cultural christianity; dangerous to selfishness. If they aren't, then you have just moved from the pew to the couch.
</idle musing>

guilt

“Guilt can be a major reason why people lead, but it doesn’t last, you know. Guilt can be a good thing at first, like when you realize the truth about poverty, slavery, or the amount of stuff that we consume in America. Guilt can be a good indicator, but it is a terrible motivator. You cannot lead out of guilt. Once you have paid your dues or appeased your conscience, then you need some other motivation or you’ll just move on.”—;Follow Me to Freedom: Leading As an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne and John Perkins

<idle musing>
And it is very easy to appease the conscience. We are great at rationalizing things away—and moving on...until the next bought of guilt hits.

Until we allow Christ to cleanse us—and realize that he already has—we will continue on the guilt cycle.
Οὐδὲν ἄρα νῦν κατάκριμα τοῖς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.
(Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus) Romans 8:1
</idle musing>

Outsourcing

“There is a new type of colonization and enslavement in our day —we call it outsourcing. We let the poor of developing nations make our goods without educating or training them to get out of poverty. We also “in-source” by culling for the brightest minds of other countries, bringing them here to educate them and keeping them here to work—to make our nation a better place. While that helps us and the individuals who immigrate to the United States, it drains the native country. It works to our advantage and their detriment. The whole world would benefit if we actually trained those who live in poverty and impoverished communities and helped them create jobs in their own lands. That would truly be the Good News.”—Follow Me to Freedom: Leading As an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne and John Perkins

<idle musing>
Another form of colonialism, but we don't see it, don't think about it. In fact, we probably are encouraging it by our consuming of goods and services. But, how do we work against it? How do we incarnate Christ in this situation?

These are honest questions. I don't have an answer, but would like some input.

Reducing consumption of goods isn't really the answer. Although it might be part of the answer, it doesn't get at the real problem, which is the exploitation of another person for what they can give us. The solution is to treat them a human beings, created in the image of God, and to show them the love of Jesus. But, how do we do that???

If you have ideas, please let me know. I want to be part of God's solution here, and I feel like I am part of the problem...
</idle musing>

New Testament gatherings

Roger at Simple Church Blog has some reflections on New Testament gatherings:

Since our old paradigm of church life has often revolved around the Sunday morning gathering, we often find ourselves on a quest to discover what “New Testament” gatherings might look like and feel like.  We have learned from our church traditions that the make-up and how-to of the gathering is at the crux of the Christian life so, if we are transitioning into simple/organic/house church type experiences, we tend to become very focused on the make-up and how-to of these new types of gatherings.

The result is that stage two, for many transitioning Christians, is the exploration of New Testament gatherings.

While this is natural, if we remain in this stage as the end-all of our transition, we will not fully grasp that Jesus calls us first to an organic lifestyle and only secondarily to organic gatherings (as a result of our lifestyle of fully following him)...

In fact, one of the difficulties in describing New Testament gatherings is that scripture does not provide us with the kinds of specifics that we would want.  Jesus called his followers to radically follow him, yet he offers virtually no instruction on what to do during a “prayer meeting” or a “church service.”  Yet the disciples did gather and were an intimate community.  From this, we can deduce that the lifestyle of mission (following Jesus and being a light to the world) was the guiding star of their relationship with God and one another.  Gatherings supported this lifestyle, not the other way around.

<idle musing>
He goes on to describe aspects of the New Testament gathering, but his main point is that we have it backwards. The point of church is notSunday mornings! The point of church is to be a body of believers 7 days a week, one of which happens to include a more (or less!) formal meeting as a larger group. Without the body life the rest of the week, Sunday is just a shell of what it could be.

Now, as Roger says, when transitioning out of an institutional church, the Sunday gathering can be very important. But, it should always have as its underlying purpose the creation of body life the other 6 days.
</idle musing>

Interruptions

“Interruptions are a theme in Scripture. We have a God that is continually interrupting us—interrupting our routines, our patterns of inequity, the status quo. Abraham’s life was interrupted. Moses’s life was interrupted. John’s life and my life were interrupted by the Spirit.

The gospels are stories of interruption after interruption. Jesus was at a wedding in Cana, but the feast is interrupted when they ran out of wine. Jesus was resting at a well when a woman wanting water interrupts Him. Jesus was on his way to visit a sick child when someone tugs on his shirt. The incredible thing is that He was always available and attentive to the interruptions and surprises...”—Follow Me to Freedom: Leading As an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne and John Perkins

<idle musing>
Debbie reminded me the other day about a section in The Shack where Papa kept interrupting Mac. He got irate with God for interrupting him! But, we do the same thing! Interruptions are things that get in the way of doing what we want to do—even if they are from God.

Lord, keep interrupting my life whenever it isn't your life in me!
</idle musing>

Workmanship

This is a rant of sorts. I see lots of new books in my job. Some are very well made and reflect pride in the end product; most of the European publishers are in that category. Others, well, they could spend some money on proofreading, or cover design, or...you get the idea. Just this week, we had to edit the book description of a publisher before we added it to the website.

But, this book that came through today just reflects sloppiness. The book is designed to be a reference work, yet the gutters are so small that you can barely read the words close to the binding. Further, the book is perfect bound, so it will never lie flat without breaking the binding. And, the book is 10 inches by 7 inches, but the print inside leaves the bottom inch or so below the page number blank. It is almost as if they wanted to make a wide margin, but at the bottom. And the paper...it is just a step above newsprint in quality. And the print is blurry and unclear; it almost looks like a reprint of an older book, but it is a 2009 book. And this is a reference book! Yikes! No, I won't tell you the title of the book; I don't want to embarrass the publisher—not that they would probably be embarrassed if they are willing to produce such a shoddy book in the first place...

What kind of forgiveness?

“After YHWH accepts Moses’ plea by forgiving the people (v. 20), he then swears that the entire adult generation, except for Caleb and Joshua, will die in the wilderness without reaching the Promised Land. Moreover, he executes the 10 naysaying spies by means of a plague (vv. 21–38). What kind of forgiveness is this!? Although God overcomes the obstacle to maintaining his relationship with the Israelites, his forgiveness does not include forgetting the wrong-doing or removing all its consequences. He pardons the nation on the corporate level in terms of allowing its continued existence with his support but purges out those who obstinately refuse to trust in him (cf. v. 11). YHWH adamantly refuses to give the Promised Land to rebels.

“The common denominator between forgiveness of the Israelites as a group and punishment of rebels among them, reflecting divine concern for mercy and justice, is YHWH’s reputation. His international standing as a powerful and just deity would suffer a setback in one way if he failed to fulfill his promise, but his reputation would be conversely compromised if he did fulfill it for people who withheld allegiance to his sovereignty as owner of the Promised Land and failed to acknowledge accountability to his commands.”—Cult and Character, page 335

<idle musing>
Two things jumped out at me in this passage:
"What kind of forgiveness is this!?" and
"YHWH adamantly refuses to give the Promised Land to rebels."

Stuff to think about, isn't it?

That's the last quotation I will post from the book. I highly recommend it to you, but be warned that it is highly technical. A reading knowledge of Hebrew would benefit you greatly :)
</idle musing>

Holiness

“At the sanctuary the suspected woman is to drink holy water containing some dust from the floor of the holy sanctuary and some curses stating the consequences if she is guilty (Num 5:17–24). This is a kind of litmus test in which she takes a holy substance into her body. While holiness can contact purity with no consequence, it will harm someone who is impure. [footnote: This case deals with moral impurity, but the same principle applies to physical ritual impurity (Lev 7:20). Another test involving contact with holiness appears in Num 16:6–7 and 17–18, where Moses challenged Korah and his company to offer incense in order to prove their claim that they were authorized by God to officiate as priests. They flunked the test, as shown by the fact that divine fire consumed them (v. 35). While their censers became holy, the men could not survive this level of holiness because they were unauthorized (17:2–3[16:37–38]).]—Cult and Character, page 330

<idle musing>
I found the footnote very interesting. Now, bring that to the New Testament, especially Hebrews 10:19:
Ἔχοντες οὖν, ἀδελφοί, παρρησίαν εἰς τὴν εἴσοδον τῶν ἁγίων ἐν τῷ αἵματι Ἰησοῦ...
"Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus..." NRSV

Chew on that one for a while :)
</idle musing>

The Perfect Parent

When I saw the cover of Christianity Today this month, I had to laugh. I've been waiting for the lead article to become available ever since. They posted it on Friday, but I didn't discover it until today. The article title is The Myth of the Perfect Parent and it is loaded with gold, like this little snippet:

...We have absorbed the cultural belief in psychological determinism but spiritualized it with Bible verses, and one verse in particular. The result is a Christianized version of the cultural myth. It reads something like this: "Christian parenting techniques produce godly children."

Proverbs 22:6 has been widely adopted as both psychological premise and theological promise, despite the widespread recognition that hermeneutically, the Proverbs are not promises from God, but general observations and maxims. (Ironically, if King Solomon did pen this proverb, as many biblical scholars believe, he himself failed to exemplify its truth: In his old age, he abandoned the teaching and example of his father, as "his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been" [1 Kings 11:4].)

Despite these problems, entire formulas and programs have been created to divine and instruct on the kind of parental training that will secure the desired outcome. At least one of these programs, claiming to instruct in God's ways of raising children, has sold in the millions...

<idle musing>
Yep. It isn't a promise, it is what is called a "gnomic saying"—a general observation that is usually true. Of course, that doesn't preach as well, or sell as many books. And, to be totally honest, there were times in parenting when I used it as a promise to console the "failures" that happened.

I praise God that both our kids love Jesus, but I can't take the credit. Sure, I tried my best; sure, I prayed and fasted; sure, I agonized and disciplined them. But, they were and are God's, not mine. It wasn't until Debbie and I really realized that and stopped criticizing and critiquing the kids that we were able to relax and actually enjoy parenting. Well, maybe that isn't totally true, but hindsight isn't always accurate :) But, the pressure was off them and us. We just were called to be faithful; the results weren't in our hands.

If you are (or will be—actually even if you don't ever think you'll have kids) parents, you should read the whole article (although I would quibble with certain statements she makes...). Hopefully, after reading it, you'll be able to relax and enjoy the ride. I can guarantee you it will be interesting!

How about that, Renee? I didn't even share embarrassing stories :)
</idle musing>

Mercy

“Words for mercy do not appear in pentateuchal ritual law. YHWH grants forgiveness when his own preconditions are met through performance of expiatory activities that he has legislated. Narrowly speaking, YHWH shows fidelity in this context rather than mercy, which would not be legislated. However, in a broader sense YHWH’s legislation shows mercy in relation to the lofty standard of his holiness. In spite of the gap between his holiness and faulty Israel, he condescends to dwell with his people in the sanctuary (Lev 16:16b) and to provide remedies for their faults so that this intimate relationship can continue. The fact that forgiveness is not automatic (nip`al of סלח in Lev 4:20, 26, 31, 35) and the ritual remedies are so minor when compared with the consequences of not performing them (Num 19:11–20; cf. Lev 5:1, 5–6) indicates that they do not fulfill the full demands of justice. Rather, they are tokens that YHWH accepts, but he “takes up the slack”—that is to say, he is merciful.”—Cult and Character, pages 320-321

<idle musing>
Interesting observation; I hadn't realized before that words for mercy weren't there. I guess I read the Torah/Pentateuch through the eyes of the prophetic books and the New Testament too much to see what is there. I'll be chewing on this one for a while...
</idle musing>

What a Ph.D. is good for...

This is a wonderful commentary on life, from PHD Comics: Piled Higher and Deeper:

The "new" in new covenant

“...in the “new covenant” passage of Jer 31, YHWH promises to “forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more” (v. 34). The point of remembering no more is not that God needs to develop a self-induced state of amnesia so that he will not be tempted to resurrect wrongs that he has already forgiven. Rather, this is an anthropomorphic expression of the concept that God will do something that goes beyond his initial grant of forgiveness: he will make sin irrevocably irrelevant to the future of the relationship, just as a grievance between two human beings loses its potential for revival if it is forgotten.”—Cult and Character, page 318

<idle musing>
I like that. And it's even good theology :)
</idle musing>

Weather

It has been beautiful here the last week or so: lots of snow, temperatures in the mid-upper teens (F). You couldn't ask for better weather to ski and snowshoe in. It's been a bit hard on the bike, but I'll gladly take it...