Today was an illustrative day of what it means to live life with the fullest joys as well as sorrows. It seems the reality of this present age is filled with days that can be hellish - days in which the hardships and difficulties of human life are ever so real. While at the same time, the glimpses of heaven, the realities of love shower through like the scattered rays of the sun - whispers of deep promises, coming - yet not yet fulfilled. Today, I kept my too little girls (Kayla and Kylene) while my wife hit the post Thanksgiving ruckus - known amongst the brave as - shopping. Rather than navigate the throngs of deal seekers, I kept the babies for the day. Oh what a day. From omelets in the morning with a three year old - running from lions, giants, and crocodiles (all in the beautiful imagination of a little girl), to holding a cooing baby - today was a blessed day. But in the middle - we had severe potty wars - as Kayla did not want to go potty with her shoes on. Thinking that we would come in from outside - go potty - and then return to fun and games was to naive for a Daddy. No, Daddy, we don't go potty with shoes on - well, after a 20 min fit, I finally learned that we should take the shoes off. I also learned that three year olds do not mean what they say amidst tears and cries of "I want my Momma." So being the big man, I shrugged of the "I don't like you" (that cut like a dagger - oh, the small hurts of lie) and waited for my little girl to calm down. Then the remorse and hugs from her were quite dear "Daddy, I do love you, I'm sorry for pitchin that fit" - the glimpse of heaven broke in again. Thankful for my heavenly Father, we puts up with each of our own messes.
In His Grace today - I am thankful
Out...
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POC Blog
The random technotheolosophical blogging of Reid S. Monaghan
A fine trip to be with friends
For the past week, we had the blessing of returning to Blacksburg, VA - the place we spent the last six years in ministry. I was able to do 3 of my favorite things in Blacksburg:
- Speak at an Athletes in Action Meeting - spoke to the athletes on "Community Done Right" from Colossians 3:18-4:1
- Go to a VT football game - I had a great time watching the game from the sidelines - a big time schlackin of Maryland (55-6)
- Was able to be with our church family there - Blacksburg Christian Fellowship - it was a privilege to bring the Word to the people there
I am now on my way back to Tennessee - our new home - to resume our ministry and life there. It is such a blessing to serve with so many wonderful people in the family of faith. One faith, one hope, one baptism, one God and Father over all. I am truly humbled to walk this life with so many awesome people. No eye has seen or ear heard what God has prepared for those who love him.
Thankful today
Out
--------Web site up
New web site is up - InversionFellowship.org - The Young Adult ministry that God has called us to begin here in Nashville.
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Mixed Feelings...
Tomorrow is a big football game for me. The North Carolina Tarheels (my alma matta) and the Virginia Tech Hokies (the place we served in ministry the past six years) clash in a game on the gridiron. Last year the guys at VT asked me who I would cheer for - no brainer. I know and love many of the Va Tech guys - they have been in our home, they know and love my family, in a sense, they are extended family...so of course I will be cheering for the Hokies. But I did enjoy seeing UNC upset the Miami Hurricanes last week. May they just not do it two weeks in a row.Out.
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The Long Finish of Packer's Knowing God
What Follows is the Longest POC Blog entry of all time - a sprint to the finish (and the end of a semester) of Knowing God
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Week 7 – Chapter 13 – The Grace of God
So much misunderstanding, so much lack of understanding, so little penetration into the soul – the magnificent Grace of God. Deep realities lie beyond the English signifier “grace” – what must I understand to “get it” about this wonderful reality in the being of God. Packer helps us grasp that to truly understand grace, one must truly know deep in one’s soul the following truths:
- The Moral Depravity and Ill-desert of Man
- The retributive justice of a Holy God
- The Spiritual impotence of man to save himself
- The Sovereign freedom of God to save sinners
God’s sovereign mercy, on whom he shall have it, has freed me from so much guilt and shame for my sin. I know this – I experience this – sometimes. Sometimes I am such a fickle man, wondering from infinite grace into the pits of self serving and self satisfying aims in life – too often I forfeit the treasure of my soul – God himself, a relationship with my maker through the grace of God in Christ Jesus – to stop into lesser things. In these times I dry up, I ache, and must return to the fountain of grace. This process in my life – is not fun – I would much prefer to consistently shower in the realities of grace. But God allows my heart to go far, so that I might desire to be brought near again. My only hope is that he never let’s me go – this too, is of his grace, a great promise to which I cling.
I loved the Hymn Packer chooses to end with:
Oh How Grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be; Let that grace now, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee Prone to wander Lord I feel it; Prone to Leave the God I love Take my heart, oh, Take and Seal it, Seal it for thy courts above Yes, dear Lord, do seal it.
Week 7 – Chapter 14 – God the Judge In the coming chapters, the holiness of God, in light of sinful man is brought forth with frightening clarity – Yes, God will judge, and he will judge rightly – for this truth, man must tremble. God is clearly portrayed as the final judge of man, his character, his actions, and his life. Both in the Old and New Testaments it is clear that God, and God alone in Christ, is the judge of each man’s soul. Though jdugement does puzzle much of the contemporary mind of people – with tolerance and all judgement spurned, it has always seemed to me that the goodness of God requires justice, and justice consequently will require judgment – for if God is not the judge of wickedness it cannot be said of Him that he is good. Evil and rebellion shall not be an eternal state of affairs for the universe – the judge will come and vindicate his name, his glory, his people and bring all deeds into account. All too often I can live without conscious acknowledgement that as a believer I too will be judged for deeds done in the body – this I need to be reminded. Not for reward seeking alone, but in order to bring no offense to the Lord I claim to love. Too often believers in our world, and our churches, forget that God will judge sinners and he will deliver them by grace through the gospel – why do we remain silent, why do we not tell of sin, of righteousness and the judgment to come? Week 8 – Chapter 15 – The Wrath of God Wrath, anger – are such things worthy of God? Such are the questions, God is all loving, all forgiving, he would never be angry with helpless humanity that is so prone to go wrong. The teachings of the Scriptures reveal rightly that this thinking is in error. God will no by no means clear the guilty – sin will be punished, justice will be done. It was a great joy to see the work of Jonathan Edwards both utilized and vindicated in this chapter. So often Edward’s Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is exhibit A of times intolerant and less sophisticated than our own. Such is not the case – Edwards piety, Biblical understand, great intellect and spiritual sensibilities simply brought forth the horrifying reality of the wrath of a Holy God. Packer also does a great job explaining that Wrath is chosen by obstinate sinners who refuse to turn to God. It was great to see this is clearly articulated from reformed theologian. Finally Packer’s description of the imagery that the Scriptures use to describe the wrath of God:
- Fire – agonizing awareness of the displeasure of God
- Outer Darkness – for knowledge of great loss
- Gnashing of Teeth – self condemnation and self-loathing
Packer closes the chapter with a great Biblical theology of Wrath in the book of Romans – this was worth the chapter as it puts wrath (bad news) in context with gospel (good news) for desperate sinners. Week 8 – Chapter 16 – Goodness and Severity of God Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. Romans 11:22 Goodness yes! We love the Goodness of God in Contemporary Culture – but severity and being “cut off” to this the modern mind recoils. Packer offers some probing analysis of why this is so for people today – I will list these with comment: People follow private religious hunches – “follow your heart” is so universal in the thinking of so many that we simply believe what we want to – no place for God’s severity in my gut – he accepts all people – this I believe according to ME. Modern people think of all religions as equally valid – so God cutting those off who persist in all manner of unbelief seems foreign to us.
- People have ceased to recognize their own sinfulness – no sin in here – no sin in them either – Why would God be severe with us?
- People are in the habit of disassociating the thought of God’s goodness with his severity – to many the two terms are unpleasant bedfellows – but in the Scriptures the two are inseparable in their unity.
Our world, making God out to be somewhat like a cosmic Santa Claus is left without reverence for God, without an understanding of evil (Packer’s point that the so called problem of evil was not regarded as a problem before), and with no understanding of God’s lordship over this world. When bad things happen, the Christian who believes in Santa is left perplexed – will he deny the power of God in the world? Or will he doubt his goodness? He has nothing left to do but “grin and bear it” – The words of Chesterton come to mind for me here: There is a vital objection to the advice merely to grin and bear it. The objection is that if you merely bear it, you do not grin GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy (New York: NY, Image books, 1959) 104. Originally published: New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1908. Such a view of God – either helpless or lacking in goodness – will always fall short – both in helping us understand our experience, and in the reality of the nature and character of God. Packer’s solution, yes the Biblical solution is to maintain the marriage of Goodness and Severity – that God is good and generous and merciful – yet will be severe with the unrepentant – Thank God for his patience with us, for his longsuffering with us – for without it we would perish. Packer closes with a suggestion of response:
- Appreciate the goodness of God
- Appreciate the patience of God
- Appreciate the discipline of God – which brings the unbeliever to faith or helps the believer persevere.
I know I must be taught to say “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees” (Psalm 119:71) - Enrolled in the school of the now – hoping for the coming “not yet” Week 9 – Chapter 17 – The Jealous God Jealousy – a vice for humanity, yet a perfection in God? Such perplexity is the subject of this chapter – If God is said to be Jealous then how is Jealousy “Good.” This chapter is masterful in its explanation of the two types of human jealousy we know – one is wicked the other is good.
- A Bad Jealousy – “I want what you’ve got and I hate you because I do not have it (Packer 170) – Such is the nature of a jealousy based in covetousness.
- A Good Jealousy – Zeal to protect a love relationship or to avenge it when broken – as a zeal for marital fidelity and trust.
The latter – minus any imperfection – is what the Bible means when it teaches that God is a jealous God. According to this definition there is a love to protect and a zeal for something great!
- The Love – God’s covenant Love for his people
- The Zeal – Of God for his own glory – and this displayed in the covenant people he love
So God is Jealous that HIS people not scuttle and waste their affections on infidelity and idols. And his zeal for his own Glory will keep them as his own so that He might display the matchless nature of his worth for the highest happiness of his creatures. For this – God’s own Glory – he is jealous. Great section on what it means for people to be “zealous” for God – in the good, not pejorative sense. So often zeal is misled so being “zealous” is spun in negative light – but to be zealous for the good, the right, the true, yea even God himself – this is the zeal that I long to have consume my soul. Sometimes, Sometimes, but not always – I am still in need of help. Week 9 – Chapter 18 – The Heart of the Gospel
Knowing some of a Packer’s work from a lecture I heard in Amsterdam, I assumed at some point in this book, his treatise on Knowing God, would arrise the themes “Adoption through Propitiation” – and boy was i rewarded for such anticipation. Chapter 18 – The Heart of the Gospel has the strange and rarely used word propitiation at it center. And Packer is right. His excellent definition of the term is literally a summation of what the Holy Creator God has done for humanity: It denotes the covering, putting away or rubbing out of sin so that it no longer constitutes a barrier to friendly fellowship between man and god [expiation] and the pacifying of the wrath of God thereby [propitiation adds the latter definition to expiation] Packer 182. Packer describes propitiation as the work of God himself, made by the death of Jesus Christ as a substitution, which manifests and clarifies the righteousness of God, showing God to be just and the one who justifies the ungodly. St. Anslem’s work in the Proslogion echos this view of the propitiation and atonement. The death of Jesus accomplishes the many aspects of propitiation – reconciliation, redemption, sacrifice for sin, bearing of sin, all through the shedding of blood. These, Packer says, are all pictures and illustrations of propitiation. This understanding of propitiation puts the wonderful gospel in context. Propitiation thereby is:
- The Driving Force and Purpose of Jesus’ Life
- Gives clarity to the destiny of both believer and unbeliever – clearly rejecting Universalistic urges in the heart of man.
- Clarifies “Peace of God” in the understanding of “Peace with God”
- Illustrates the multi-dimensionality of God’s love – The free, eternal, unreserved, and sovereign love of Christ.
- And Finally, it fully reveals the Glory of God in saving sinners through the crucifixion of the Son of Man.
Propitiation – the essence of the gospel! To this I shout with Packer Amen! And Glory be to God!!! Week 10 – Chapter 19 – Sons of God Propitiation, now the message of Adoption through Propitiation – this is the topic of Chapter 19. God is our Father, we have become his sons and daughters. I must say that such nearness, such familial terms, such closeness of persons – is hard to believe when thinking of a glorious, all powerful, creator God. Such is the good news!!! The very creator God, becomes our Father, and even my Father by adopting me through the work of his Son Jesus Christ (Propitiation). Packers discourse on the Fatherhood of God would have served me well this summer as I wrote a sermon with this title. I wish I had read this chapter in my preparation, but it is good to see that the Lord of Heaven lead me in His Word to many of the same texts and conclusion. It is good to see that even as an ant, one can travel the same paths as the big dogs of Theology. Fatherly Aspects of God’s relationship with Jesus – which extend also to us his adopted ones.
- Authority in our lives
- Affection for us in Love
- Fellowship and closeness of relationship
- Honor for the children
Packer literally defines all of the Chrisitan life through this concept of adoption. It is the highest privilege, the basis of our lives, the rule for our conduct (imitate the Father, glorify the Father, please the Father), it is the essence of Prayer (Our Father in heaven…), it is the key to living by faith and trust (our Father knows what we need). Adoption demonstrates to us God’s Love, gives us hope (as heirs of eternal life and the kingdom), aids in understanding the work of the Holy Spirit (the spirit of adoption by which we cry Abba Father – or Daddy!), and it motivates us toward holiness of life (action in accordance with our nature as a child of God.) Finally adoption gives us assurance as we know God our Father will not abandon his children. Packer’s elaboration on assurance was quite a blessing – his bifurcation of the concept into inferential assurance (a conclusion drawn from the fact that one knows the gospel, trusts Christ, brings forth works meet for repentance and manifests the instincts – I might say affections – of a regenerate man) and immediate assurance (The direct work of the Spirit in the regenerate heart) was extremely helpful. His final definition of assurance on page 227 is classic. The final questions of this chapter were once again probing and difficult – specifically the following: Have I learned to hate the things that displease my Father? Am I sensitive to the evil things to which he is sensitive? Do I make a point of avoiding them, lest I grieve Him? Once again, my unsettling answer that makes me again fall upon his grace is only – sometimes…
Week 10 – Chapter 20 – Thou our Guide How does God Give Guidance to his Children? I love the basic answer given here. After talking about the silliness of our over sensitized view of guidance, that every decision must have a person, subjective, and inner divine directive, Packer lays out a great view of guidance that is grounded in the Words of Scripture. How does God guide? He lays forth paths by his word – principles marked out, precepts to be kept in the midst of the complexities of life. God’s will and plan will guide us (one because he HAS a will and plan) even in the midst of our failures and “bad decisions” – even through “unanswered prayers” – for me now forever an unbiblical and useless phrase – Garth Brooks not with standing. This chapter, far from being a check list of discerning the will of God, does provide a great list of principles which I found extremely helpful. This list is a reflection of the six pitfalls Packer admonishes us to avoid:
- Be willing to think – to reason. God’s guidance is not simply found in super-supernaturalistic impressions…but from considering truth in the midst of circumstances.
- Be willing to think ahead
- Be willing to take advice – from wise and godly counsel
- Be willing to suspect yourself – be aware of ego and self-aggrandizement
- Be willing to discount personal magnetism – don’t just follow outstanding personalities – Test everything
- Be willing to wait – Oh how I need to be patient – yet I have only one short life – OH GOD HELP ME HERE !
A last point to be made is that God’s guidance of his children (adopted through propitiation) is an act of his Sovereign Will – this is of great comfort, for even though I do screw up – he does not. I am content that he plays his hand ahead of mine. Week 11 – Chapter 21 – These Inward Trials Oh the peril of misleading the brethern to think and believe the coming to faith in Christ is an end to all their worldly struggles, problems and heartaches. Acknowledging the role of trials in the life of the believer is of utmost importance – misleading them is a recipe for disaster in the life of the soul. Packer diagnoses the problem in the evangelical church through several fronts: Misapplied Doctrines – Neglecting the teaching of the “hard side” of the faith – daily discipline from God, attacks of the world the flesh and the devil, gloominess and darkness that can come upon the soul – the unsettledness of living in the not yet of a sinful and fallen world. The call to suffer as Christ suffered.
Wrong Remedies – continual re-consecration if life is hard, just do the formula to get life back to the cheery days of young salvation – to try and “fix it” rather than find joy in God during difficult days. Packer says that if we seek to return people to the days of their salvation infancy – we are doing them a cruel disservice as God is stretching them to grow them up.
Loosing Sight of Grace – God’s grace will work out in our lives towards hope and obedience – a Godward trajectory of grace in the midst of a world yet unrealized and dark. Wait on the Lord – Wait on Him as he works his processes in and through me – to his glory and a “real” not “contrived” joy. The great reminder once again – one that I need, and need, and need to know is that God can and does use my blunders, my messed up decisions to bring about good in my life. Thanks be to God! Week 11 – Chapter 22 – The Adequacy of God In the climax of the book, Packer leads us to the lofty mountain of the Word of God that most reformed theologians all point to, up in the lofty altitudes that only the desparate and devoted choose to climb – that of the book of Romans. And in this book is the peak of Everest, a summit of the Christian way in the 8th chapter of the book. A chapter that begins with “No Condemnation” and ends with “No Separation” – A justified sinner never again to be under the wrath of God – a creature united as an adopted child to his loving Father, never to be separated, orphaned ever again for all eternity. Such is the song we sing, we sing as the redeemed – and with Packer, who has served the church as a great guide for our souls into the Word of God we do sing, Psalm 16:
1Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you." 3As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. 4The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips. 5The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. 6The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. 7I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. 8I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. 9Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. 10For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.[6] 11You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
And yes I do sing this as an unabashed Christian Hedonist!
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For the love of God floods our hearts – such is Packer’s paraphrase of Romans 5:5 – that the overarching love of God continually overwhelms and saturates the hearts of his children. Packer says this is the normal state of affairs of the Christian and revival is the work of God which restores this to the hearts of the church. [Brief tangent - Yesterday I was listening to a message on the Rise and Fall of the Evangelical Mind which had much to say about revival – mainly in discussion of the First and Second Great Awakenings, its methods etc. Let's say I think Jonathan Edwards' view of revival is more accurate than that of Charles Finney] God is Love – what are we to take this to mean? God is tolerant? God loves everything and all things? Packer begins the chapter to make certain the Love of God is understood as the love of God. The God who is the creator of the world, the judge in the flood, who called Abraham, who chastised his people by conquering captors…etc. The God who is love certainly can be and is a judge of the wicked. Packer makes this clear as he begins… Packer’s discussion of God being “Love” takes him first into parallel grammatical constructions in the apostle John’s writings…
- God is love (1 John 4:16)
- God is spirit (John 4:24)
- God is light (1 John 1:5)
God is Spirit God is noncorporeal (without a physical body), he is simple (no parts) and he is without passions which change on whim (qualified impassibility). I must confess that I love this kind of thing – clarity of definitions, about the most glorious of subjects. If God is without change, without body, with parts or division in himself, if he doesn’t float from emotional whim to whim than it is certain that his love is constant, his love is consistent with his other attributes, and his purpose in his love is not, as Packer says, fitful or fluctuating (Packer, 121) God is Light God’s is light – God is holy, altogether pure. This means that God’s love is a holy and fierce love. He does not love sin, and he seeks actively the holiness of those he loves. God is Love Just as God’s spirituality guarantees us certain things, and his light guarantees his actions are always holy – so too does “God is Love” guarantee that God, in all that he does, is loving. All things he is doing to and for his beloved are acts of love. Indeed, he does work all things together for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28). Packer ends this chapter with a noble effort to give definition for the love of God. His effort, in my opinion succeeds mightily, with only a few questions left standing in my mind:
- God’s love is an exercise of his goodness – he exercise his goodness towards his creatures…
- God’s love is an exercise of his goodness towards sinners – grace and mercy to the unworthy – by his own Sovereign choice…
- God’s love is an exercise of his goodness towards individual sinners – yes, thank God, even us.
- God’s love for sinners involves him identifying himself with their welfare – here is where I had a question. Packer writes “He has in effect resolved that henceforth for all eternity his happiness shall be conditional upon ours” I think that I would choose other language to better express what Packer actually says in this section. God’s happiness is always pure and perfect, and he is not sad until our complete happiness is brought about. Perhaps his happiness is related to ours in that our happiness is guaranteed by him. So, God is not temporally unfulfilled until we are brought to complete and full beatification in Him…but his happiness is intricately and volitionally tied with our own. He is committed to it – it is part of his happiness – but not the sum or essence of it.
- God’s love for sinners was expressed by the gift of his Son to be their Savior – Oh, how wonderful the riches of the love of God – oh, how I forget so easily what this means.
- God’s love for sinners reaches its objective as it brings them to know and enjoy him in a covenantal relationship
Finally back to my journal on "Knowing God" - Week 6 – Chapter 11 – Thy Word is Truth
God gives his Word to us to instruct us and to fellowship with us. God speaks to us to show us how to live and to show us who he is. To both inform us and invite us into fellowship, yes relationship with him. Such is the Word of God. The God who speaks, by his very word, are his acts accomplished. Much could be said of “speech acts” and how God accomplishes by the speaking of his Word, but that must wait for other discussions. Packer does elaborate briefly on the creative aspect of God’s speech – that by his Word – God literally brought the universe, the earth, and all that is within it, into being. Packer goes on to describe in this chapter the many diverse ways God speaks to human beings, the crown of his created order:
- He gives them commands
- He gives them his testimonies
- He gives prohibitions
- He proscribes law
- He gives his very precious promises
Unique to the Word of our Lord, is that his word is an absolutely sure and true word. In his Word we find no falsehood. Oh how great it is to know that what God says is certain – that there is a sure footing for the troubled and world wobbled legs of man. God’s Words are the expression of a perfect mind, a perfect vantage point, and they describe the world, including my own soul, as it truly is. Packer ends this chapter with two very important insights. First, God’s commands are true (Psalm 119:151) and second, God’s promises are true. God’s commands We are made by God for certain purposes, and his commands proscribe to us how we function and function well. When we obey there are blessings for us – as we are functioning in the beauty of the way of God…when we wander and live by our own proclivities, we languish, lack peace, reap our own whirlwinds of sin and death. If only this thought would attend deep in my soul in every moment – but alas, like the old hymn:
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it Prone to leave the God I loveWhat to do but continue with that same song, yet as a plea…
Here’s my heart Lord, Take and Seal it Seal it for thy courts above.Packer closes with an appropriate mentioning of sexuality and a view that would involve “God’s Commands.” Nowadays some would maintain, in the name of humanism, that the “Puritan” morality of the Bible is inimical to the attainment of true human maturity, and that a little more license makes for richer living. Of this ideology we would only say that the proper name for it is not humanism but brutism. Sexual laxity does not make you more human, but less so; it brutalizes you and tears your soul to pieces. The same is true wherever any of God’s commandments are disregarded. We are only living true human lives so far as we are laboring to keep God’s commandments; no further.
JI Packer, Knowing God, Americanized Edition (Downers Grove: IL, Intervarsity Press, 1993) 114.God’s promises The chapter ends with a appropriately optimistic assessment of what God’s promises should mean in our lives. I will only quote a portion of Samuel Clark’s comments on promises – it sums up what I want to be true for my own life.
A fixed, constant attention to the promises, and a firm belief of them, would prevent solicitude and anxiety about the concerns of this life.So, it would, so it would… --------
A Different Wood
Today I walked in the woods by our house...I first walked among the trees and streams of this wood several months ago, in the humid roar of the summer months. It was a wood lush with green vines, overgrown paths, and spider webs cast on seemingly every tree. Today it was a different wood...gone were lush vines, the trees are in there fall metamorphosis, shedding their heavy greens for the coming sleep of winter. There was a fresh clarity of view, there were clearer paths, I could see the surrounding landscape - things just seemed to make sense. Perhaps a reflection of my own life - with its many cobwebs and uncertainties, with joy robbing barons which surround my heart. Excessive viewing of the square box, lack of solitude and thought, the schizophrenia of too diverse a menu of activity, ignorance of Holy Writ and the serious study thereof. Perhaps God is clearing these webs in my soul - much as the wood clears out from a tangled jungle of life. Life does have its seasons (Ecclesiastes 3) - and such is the make-up of wisdom to know the seasons of one's own soul. One thing is sure, I have many paths to walk - both in clarity and in tangled mazes. Another is certain - the captain of the ship knows the course - he will bring me to his desired ends, and in this truth, I live.
God has no need of me nor his acquaintance with me of any great privilege to Him...but he does still call me to himself - and by his grace, I pray he may use me greatly in his church...In that hope, I simply pray.
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Thanks
For those who have prayed for our family over the last week or so, we wanted to say thank you. The Lord truly blessed the past week. I had a great time encouraging around 350 college students to "Take a God-centered life to the streets" - I spoke four times in three days hitting topics from Lordship, to Satisfaction, to Mission, and finally "Resistance Thinking" - a call to radical discourse (truth, understanding, intellectual rigor) and radical love (service, care for others, holding forth life with the poor). I felt priviledge to serve and encourage this group.
After that weekend I spent a couple days with the Athletes in Action crew at Wake Forest University - there I encouraged the student athletes to find LIFE in God and to always keep the posture of a thankful receiver in life.
Finally, I returned to Tennessee for our an informational gathering for Inversion Fellowship - our budding young adult minstry. We had a decent turn-out, laying the foundation for something, that by the grace of God, may be a signifcant movement for good in the earth. Time will tell.
Returning home from the road was awesome - especially with reconnecting with Kasey and the kids - such a great thing to be a husband and a Dad to my little girls. I am thankful to be called to such roles - a joy to be loved by my ladies.
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Big Week
I wanted to drop a request to everyone to pray for us over the next week or so. I am speaking or teaching 7 times in the week 9/30-10/7 – I wanted to ask everyone to pray that God’s strength would sustain me while on the road and bring his Word through me with grace, conviction, encouragement and power.
Here is the schedule
9/30 – Inversion (new young adult ministry) Leaders gathering
10/1 – NC/SC Campus Crusade Catalytic (Non-staffed campuses) Retreat – first message
10/2 – NC/SC CCC – 2 messages
10/3 – NC/SC – last message
10/5 – Wake Forest Athletes in Action meeting
10/7 – First public Inversion Meeting starting the new work…
There are over 300 students signed up for the Crusade event – close to double its size from last year – I am praying the Lord really moves in the lives of the students…
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WEEK 5 – CHAPTER 10 – GOD’S WISDOM AND OURS
Chapter 10 begins with a very brief treatment of God’s attributes separating them into the classic categories of communicable (attributes which Man shares with God in being created in his image) and non-communicable (that which apply only to God)
Wisdom, as a shared attribute of God and Man, is treated in this chapter…what does it mean for man to receive Wisdom from God? Packer says clearly that it is not a God’s eye view of all things, all acts of providence so that we see clearly all pieces of every puzzle. Believers asking for this, and expecting this will indeed be disappointed (even depressed – see page 103)
To describe what wisdom is, Packer employs a great analogy of driving a car. As we learn to drive, we then begin to get to the point, to see and do the right thing at the right situations. Such is the way we garner divine wisdom for life – we learn to do the right things at the right times. Not only this but we learn to SEE the world in its proper light – Packer calls this a proper realism (Packer 103, 104) – seeing the world for what it is. Living in unrealism (as Packer puts it) is cured by wisdom not simply orthodox doctrine. Wisdom is expressed greatly in the Biblical text of Ecclesiastes…
What remains in the chapter is a short but excellent introduction to Ecclesiastes, what do we see in life if we take of the unrealistic “rose colored glasses”:
- Life’s background is the seemingly meaningless cycles of nature
- Death visits all – whether wise or foolish, man or animal, good or evil – all die
- Evil is afoot on many corners of our world
- One sees all this and despairs, even contemplates if all of life is a mere vanity.
- Fear God, Keep his commandments
- To Do Good
- To enjoy the Present
- Realize certain pleasures are good gifts from God
- Seek his grace to labor hard at whatever we do
- Enjoy your work
- Enjoy God in the process
Such is the wisdom of God that he gives to us – a wisdom that has us to cling to him, love him, seek knowledge in faith or as the medievals taught us – to have a faith that seeks understanding…St. Anselm was right in saying – in our pursuits of knowledge of understanding a certain posture must be assumed: God created man in his image, that he might be mindful of him, think of him, and love him. The believer does not seek to understand, that he may believe, but he believes that he may understand: for unless he believed he would not understand.
St Anselm – The Proslogion – Chapter 1
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--------Week 5 – Chapter 9 – God only Wise…
“Wisdom is the power to see, and the inclincation to choose, the best and hightest goal, together with the surest means to ataining it”
Quoted in JI Packer, Knowing God, Americanized Edition (Downers Grove: IL, Intervarsity Press, 1993) 90.So begins, chapter 9, Packer’s discussion of the wisdom of God. God’s wisdom is infinite in its bounds, he knows the right thing to do, for the highest ends he has, and he has the sure means of attaining it. God’s wisdom, combined with his omnipotence means, ultimately, what he wants done is done. These two attributes combined together form a fearsome beauty in which I find great trust. Packer alludes that wisdom without power is pathetic, and cannot accomplish anything. On the other hand, power without wisdom, is a recipe for brutality and is quite frightening. God’s wisdom is known only in conjunction with the ends which he pursues. If we do not know what God desires, if we do not know the goal he has in his mind, if we do not know why he created, then his wisdom will be cloaked forever from our eyes. Many think that the comfort and happiness of people is the only end or goal for a loving God. With such ideas, many people are disappointed at even the slightest inconvenience and certainly at even the lightest brushstroke of pain. Packer makes a great statement in relation to this: “God’s wisdom is not, and never was, a pledge to keep a fallen world happy, or to make ungodliness comfortable. Not even to Christians has he promised a trouble free life; rather the reverse. He has other ends in view for life in this world than simply to make it easy for everyone”
Packer 91,92Obviously this continues to raise the question – what is the end toward which God created the world (This, mind you, was the topic of a book published by Jonathan Edwards, and republished in its entirely in 1998 within John Piper’s God’s Passion for His Glory – Living the Vision of Jonathan Edwards) The end of God? His end is his own renown and glory to be magnified and enjoyed…that people might see and savor him and respond in love, honor, praise, and in turn be satisfied and find joy in Him. God created the world not out of need, but out of a desire to show and display all that he is to creatures he created. Is God a show-off – appropriately so. As he shows himself – reveals himself to us – we find the greatest longings we have are fulfilled in him. Infinite Love, Infinite Beauty, the fountain of all Truth, the deepest relationship we are created for – creature and creator together. The remaining parts of the chapter deal with God’s teaching of various OT patriarchs (Abraham, Jacob, Joseph) and how God taught them to value what is valuable throughout their lives. Perhaps a great definition for human wisdom was given in Packer’s thoughts on Abraham. I will close with his words: “What Abraham needed most was to learn the practice of living in God’s presence, seeing all life in relation to him, and looking to him, and him alone, as Commander, Defender, and Rewarder.”
Packer 93.Such is a proper end for our lives as well… --------
The Blessing of a Child
Most nights I speak blessings over my oldest daughter - tonight I found out she had been listening. Tonight at bed time - Kayla laid her hand upon my cheek and said "God, may you bless Daddy, may you grant him peace, may you protect him all of life, amen!"
Melted...
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Week 4 – Chapter 8 – The Majesty of God
Majesty, worship his majesty;
Unto Jesus be all glory, honor, and praise.
Majesty, kingdom authority,
Flow from his throne unto his own, his anthem raise.
So exalt, lift up on high the name of Jesus.
Magnify, come glorify Christ Jesus, the King.
Majesty, worship his majesty,
Jesus who died, now glorified, King of all kings.
Words & Music: Jack W. Hayford, 1980
Lation – majestas – greater – God is majestic in his character, he is unparalleled in his lofty position of highest greatness. Packer tells us that the word majesty when applied to God is always a declaration of his greatness and an invitation to worship. (Packer – 82). So many of the people we meet today are in no way majestic. In fact it is very rare that you meet a woman or man today that inspires much of anything in you. But O’ to know one who is great, pure, wondrous, and inspiring – the heroes of men inspire such thoughts, but how miniscule in comparison to the majesty and greatness of God.
Packer discusses the seeming lack of knowledge today of the greatness of God. Even though our doctrine may be correct, we may state to ourselves God is great, yet it seems like a child’s prayer at meal time rather than the apprehension of divine greatness. Today’s evangelical landscape is littered with small thinking about God – there are very few breath taking visions of God today. Packer echos this feeling as one reads many of our evangelical forbearers – Luther, Edwards, Whitfield. Our God is the same, but our modern vision of him seems stuck in neutral in comparison to the awe felt upon the soul of these great men as they meditated on the nature of God.
Packer seems to indicate that by over emphasizing the personal nature of God, that modern believers have domesticated God into a small, close, and the same type of thing we are – he is personal, like I am personal (weak, inadequate, needy, dependent on human responses or not, waiting helplessly for people to give him a hand…a little pathetic). This is not the Biblical view of the personal nature of God. Personal in his nature, not an impersonal force or principle, but lofty and majestic in his person – yet he chooses to relate to his created order…including me.
Packer goes on to give us to helpful points in forming our idea of God’s greatness:
- Remove from our thoughts of God limits that would make him small – Completely explode all limitations from our thinking about God…His wisdom, knowledge, presence, etc. are infinite and should not be thought as small
- Compare him with powers and forces which we regard as great – Nothing great in our world – our works, our nation states, our empires, our planet, great leaders, and the c-osmos itself (Carl Sagan had too small an object for his wonder and worship) are great in their greatness in comparison to God.
Packer closes the chapter with a comment on how finite, small, human beings ought to respond to the majestic creator. Remove from our minds wrong thoughts about God (that he is small and humanlike), remove from our thoughts wrong thoughts about ourselves (no room for pessimism about your state if you have been shown the grace and love of God), and finally in acknowledging God as God – the great one – we ought to wait in patient meditation on Him as he fills our hearts with adoration.
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--------WEEK 4 – CHAPTER 7 – GOD UNCHANGING
Picking up again with my Journaling on Knowing God…
Chapter 7 is the first chapter of Part II of the book entitled Behold Your God! Packer begins the chapter 7 – which is on God’s unchanging or immutable nature with an interesting introduction. He digs into the existential angst felt by many a believer feels in connecting to the world of the Bible. The ancient world of the Scripture is very different than our own. It had its own languages, its own customs, many religions, and some forms of human existence that just seem bizarre to modern readers. Additionally, there are glorious and spectacular things at play in the world of the Bible – we feel our lives to be somehow disconnected from such divine movements in space and time.
Brief Aside For now I will just withhold comment on how that world as well as our own were not filled with “every day miracles” – but the miracles throughout history have served a specific purpose in revealing God’s redemptive plan. Equally, the every day regularity has a voice displaying God’s nature and glory to us as well – the vastness of the heavens speak of the glory of God (Psalm 19), the regularity of seasons speaks of God’s providential provision for us (Acts 14) … so I would say whether miraculous or gloriously “normal” – this world is infused with meaning and the fingerprints of God.
Packer’s solution to the time-epoch disconnect between or day and ancient days past is that we can be certain that the God who was at work in the Scriptures is the same God we walk with today. This truth is rooted in an attribute of the infinite one; the attribute of divine immutability.
Biblical data for God’s immutability is in abundance in this chapter and Packer goes to great length to establish the unchanging essence of God
His life does not change
- His is from all eternity – Psalm 93:2
- He is the eternal King – Jeremiah 10:10
- He alone is immortal – 1 Timothy 6:10
- He utterly stays the same Psalm 102:26, 27
Quoted in JI Packer, Knowing God, Americanized Edition (Downers Grove: IL, Intervarsity Press, 1993) 77.His character does not change
- God IS who He IS – Exodus 3:14
- He has no variation or shadow due to change – James 1:17
His truth does not change
- His Word will endure forever – Isaiah 40:6-8
- His Word is eternal and stands firm – Psalm 119:89
- His commands are true – Psalm 119:151-52
God’s ways do not change
God’s purposes do not changeGod continues to act in the ways he did in the time of the Scriptures – we can be sure he will continue to be who he is, act in the ways he acted; he never will act out of character. This by no means makes God predictably, for he is mysterious in his ways, but it does make him incredibly trustworthy as we works out his good and perfect will in our lives.
- He does not change his mind (literally, have regret) – 1 Samuel 15:29
- He does not lie nor promise without fulfillment – Numbers 23:19 Again a great quote from Pink: One of two things that cause a man to change his mind and reverse his plans: want of foresight to anticipate everything, or lack of foresight to execute them. But God is both omniscient and omnipotent there is never any need for him to revise his decrees
Quoted in JI Packer, Knowing God, Americanized Edition (Downers Grove: IL, Intervarsity Press, 1993) 77.
God’s Son does not change
- Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever – Hebrews 13:8
I thoroughly delight in the contemplation of God being an immutable being. How great it is to know, love and worship one who is not a fair weather person. A person who is one way when the fair winds blow east and the other when the gales blow westward.
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--------Family
I love my family deeply and when they are sick or hurting it takes a toll on us all. The past few days our little baby has been sick and now my wife has come down with an intestinal issue as well. I hope that it will soon pass and their health will soon return.
Tonight we had our first gathering of leaders for our new young adult ministry - Inversion Fellowship. I am thankful to work with the next generation and to help them see and savor God - to love him with their minds, to think, to care, to set their hands to a Kingdom plow to be agents of redemption in culture and the world.
Continuing a read in the life of Jonathan Edwards - the question now is can one accept the theological vision of a thinker, yet reject parts of his metaphysical framework - I think yes. It has been good to linger some days in the 18th century - in the fresh and difficult soil of the new nation - soon to be called the United States. It has been a great progress for me not to romanticize eras past (be it the 13th century Christian philosphers, the birth of the University, and faith/reason in concert together, or the fresh fires of the Great Awakening in Edwards time) while feeling the fresh breeze of history upon the soul. It is a great debt I owe to many people who encouraged me to think, to read, to read old books, and history.
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Week 3 – Chapter 6 – He Shall Testify
We worship one God in trinity, and trinity in unity, neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance. For the person of the Father is one; of the Son, another; of the Holy Spirit, another. But the divinity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is one, the glory equal, the majesty equal. Such as is the Father, such also is the Son, and such the Holy Spirit. The Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, the Holy Spirit is uncreated. The Father is infinite, the Son is infinite, the Holy Spirit is infinite. The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, the Holy Spirit is eternal. And yet there are not three eternal Beings, but one eternal Being. So also there are not three uncreated Beings, nor three infinite Beings, but one uncreated and one infinite Being.
From the Athanasian Creed — 5th century
The Christian faith is centered on the triune God. The trinity, trinitas, the divine three-in-one is not an old relic of ideas believed in days past, but the essential metaphysical reality of the creator God himself. One being, one essence, eternally existent in three persons – this is our God. I had often wondered why in our leading and discipling the teaching of the doctrine of the Trinity has not taken a more central role. In my former campus ministry, we would teach new believer follow-up without a strong a focus on the Trinity. God the Father? Yes. Jesus the Son? Yes. Even, the role of the Holy Spirit, yes we teach this to new Christians. But the godhead – the Trinity is left for later days with new believers. I was a bit uncomfortable with this as the very uniqueness of the God of the Bible (as opposed to many flavors of Theism which abound) was being overlooked at times. Packer does a great job in laying out a brief statement of the Trinity:
- The Son is Subject to the Father, for the Son is sent by the Father in his (the Father’s name)
- The Spirit is subject to the Father, for the Spirit is sent by the Father in the Son’s name
- The Spirit is subject to the Son as well as to the Father, for the Spirit is sent by the Son as well as the Father
JI Packer, Knowing God, Americanized Edition (Downers Grove: IL, Intervarsity Press, 1993) 67, 68.
The chapter closes with a discussion of the various roles and importance of the Holy Spirit. He is the source and inspiration of the New Testament – inspiring the biblical authors. He is the reason people are convicted of sin and converted to be followers of Christ. He is the source of power which accompanies the preaching of the gospel, which no human device or gimmick can mimic.
--------Rocky IV
Classic, goofy, cold war, US vs. USSR movie last night - spent a little down time watching Rocky IV. Great soundtrack - At UNC we used to lift weights to that pumped up, fighting against all odds, kinda music. Though the music is good, the movie is very cheesy...probably wasted an hour on that one.
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Logic and a Three Year Old
I have recently begun an adventure that I am currently calling Logic with a Three Year Old. I am seeking to acquaint my daughter Kayla with the fundamentals of thinking (and a philsophical realism) and it has produced some fun and hilarious moments. We may not make it all the way towards something like this:
- Being Is (B is) = The Principle of Existence.
- Being Is Being (B is B) = The Principle of Identity.
- Being Is Not Nonbeing (B is Not Non-B) = The Principle of Noncontradiction.
- Either Being or Nonbeing (Either B or Non-B) = The Principle of the Excluded Middle.
- Nonbeing Cannot Cause Being (Non-B > B) = The Principle of Causality.
- Contingent Being Cannot Cause Contingent Being (Bc > Bc) = The Principle of Contingency (or Dependency).
- Only Necessary Being Can Cause a Contingent Being (Bn → Bc) = The Positive Principle of Modality.
- Necessary Being Cannot Cause a Necessary Being (Bn > Bn) = The Negative Principle of Modality.
- Every Contingent Being Is Caused by a Necessary Being (Bn → Bc) = The Principle of Existential Causality.
- Necessary Being exists = Principle of Existential Necessity (Bn exists).
- Contingent being exists = Principle of Existential Contingency (Bc exists).
- Necessary Being is similar to similar contingent being(s) it causes = Principle of Analogy (Bn — similar → Bc).
But we have started with 1 (being) and 2 (indentity) and are slowly moving to non-contradiction and excluded middle. Methodilogically we are using funny little song/poem/couplets to have fun with this - we giggle and laugh and have a great time :) She already gets #1 (in fact, most of these are self-evident to most people). 1. Something is! 2. Here is where we are today: Something is, what something is A dog is a dog, a cat is a cat Annnnnnnnd a cat's not a dog and a dog is not a cat The Law of Identity - how about that! Anyway, further evidence that I am weird. --------Geisler, Norman L. Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. Baker reference library. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 1999.
Packer - Knowing God - Week 3 – Chapter 5 – God Incarnate
The mystery of Jesus is the mystery of divine personality…
So wrote Scottish nobleman James Stewart. Chapter 5 of Knowing God is a marveling at the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The very God, became a man in the person of Jesus Christ. The infinite invaded the finite, the holy mingled with the fallen world. Not as aloof deity so distant from the world he had made, but setting his own feet into space and time to accomplish the mission of the ages – the redemption of a people who would declare and display his glory and worth to the delight of their Creator.
Packer begins by discussing the teaching of the Incarnation as a chief stumbling block before men and nations – many who have marveled at Jesus in history and today (Arians, Muslims, Unitarian Universalists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Chistadelphians) have fallen short from the New Testament revelation of Jesus Christ. The apostles who walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus, ate with Jesus saw otherwise – they did not hesitate to worship Jesus as God and to portray him as God incarnate. This doctrine, though lofty and inspiring great marvel, make the other teachings again Jesus seem quite easy to believe. If he be God, then his miracles, his knowledge of people’s thoughts, his resurrection from the dead – seem quite small works for the God who flung space, time, and matter into existence with a mere word.
It seems that Christians can get cozy with this doctrine – that the Son of God!!! Was born a baby in Bethlehem – may this truth always cause a pause and wonder in the soul and not be just an accompaniment to other Christmas activities.
No doubt can be maintained that the New Testament writers, particular that of John, intended to explain to us the nature of Jesus – that he indeed was the Word (the Logos) that was with God and was God – this Word became flesh – and through him all things were made that have been made. This Jesus was Fully God.
The second half of the story, as Packer writes, is that Jesus was not only fully God, he was also fully man – one person, two natures or essences in union in the matchless person of Christ – indeed, the mystery of divine personality.
Packer then explains that the Word became flesh in order to die a death for the atonement of sins…as he writes:
Packer then delves into some discussion of kenosis theory (see link for explanation) – rejecting it for many problems, primarily it does violence to the New Testament teaching that Jesus exhibited the attributes of deity – and in no way laid them off in becoming man. I don’t have the time today to go into all the issues surrounding this discussion – but found it interesting. I do think that Packer’s solution in the Father by his will constrained the action and knowledge of the Son is on its face satisfactory – but, I already sense he has unsolved problems that remain. For instance, if by fiat the Father constrained the knowledge of the Son for a time on earth – then it seems we cannot avoid the conclusion that their was a time that in the Son – omniscience was not quite “omni” – The essential divine trinity maintained omniscience – but the person of the Son had less than full knowledge at a certain time. This perhaps can be focused in the person of the Son and not in the essence of God – but this starts to sound like some sort of kenotic theory. But perhaps this is where Packer lands on Page 59 – a voluntary laying aside of certain glory, restraining his power to take on a poor and lowly estate on our behalf. Interesting but I must move on Packer sees the Incarnation – the highest of beings, stooping low to serve, to redeem, to be made poor and die on our behalf as something which should cause us a believers to be humbled and serve likewise. I could not agree more with his assessment of many of us today on page 63:The crucial significance of the cradle at Bethlehem lies in its place in the sequence of steps down that led the Son of God to the cross of Calvary. JI Packer, Knowing God, Americanized Edition (Downers Grove: IL, Intervarsity Press, 1993) 58.
Nor is it the spirit (of the incarnation) of those Christians—alas, they are many—whose ambition in life seems limited to building a nice middle class Christian home, and making nice middle-class Christian friends, and bring up their children in nice middle-class Christian ways, and who leave the submiddle-class sections of the community, Christian and non-Christian to get on by themselves. JI Packer, Knowing God, Americanized Edition (Downers Grove: IL, Intervarsity Press, 1993) 63.Packer says this is not the way of Jesus in the Incarnation but rather:
For the Christmas Spirit is the spirit of those who, like their master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor – spending and being spent – to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern , to do good to others – and not just their own friends – in whatever way their seems need. Ibid, 64.I must echo an Amen and a Prayer – Lord rescue me from such ends as well. --------