A Means to an End?

Nick, a member of Chesapeake Church, a Sovereign Grace church near Baltimore has made some very pointed comments regarding my “roadmap” post from about a month ago. He dearly loves the Sovereign Grace movement, particularly the King of Grace church in Methuen, which has received a lot of support from his home church. My post seems to have struck him as taking a lot for granted from an organization I barely even know, and so he suggests maybe I’m going about it the wrong way. The biggest concern is the impression that I’m looking to Sovereign Grace Ministries as merely a means to an end. I felt his thoughts were significant enough for me to make a new post by way of reply.

Reading back through what I wrote, I can see how it might strike a passing visitor that I was being flippant, even arrogantly presumptive, especially from the perspective of a member of the community upon which I am declaring intentions to inflict myself. And to a certain extent I was being flippant, but my intent was for it to be self-directed. Continue reading “A Means to an End?”

Christ’s Humanity

Honestly, in today’s environment, convincing somebody of Jesus’ humanity is hardly difficult. If they believe he existed at all, people believe that Jesus is human. Nevertheless, it’s important to recognize that Jesus was a man for the sake of saving us. Hebrews 2 says that “he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one origin… since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself took of the same things…. He had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” If any part of him is less than human, it is precisely in that area that his salvation is less than effective. With that in mind, it’s worthwhile still to examine him as he was examined in Jerusalem, to see if there is any “flaw” in him, that is, any inhumanness. Continue reading “Christ’s Humanity”

Study and the Holy Spirit

It is a very foolish thing to attempt to study theology without the help of the Holy Spirit. Theologically, this makes sense because it is only through the Spirit that you may know the Son, even as it is only through the Son that you may know the Father. For how is it that we know that the scriptures are true? Not from facts and figures and undeniable proofs. Such things may be encouraging, but they aren’t enough to really convince. No, it is by the Holy Spirit’s witness to each individual that causes them to be able to say, “I believe.” Just as it is only the Holy Spirit who can open a person’s mind and heart, so that they can witness that Jesus Christ truly is the Son of God, and that his sacrifice was sufficient to accomplish all that he intended, it is only the Holy Spirit who can make us to believe, and therefore understand the scriptures. Who is it who is said to search the mind of God and reveal his secrets to us? In what real way may God be known at all, except by means of the Holy Spirit?

But more practically, it is foolish to attempt to study God without the aid of the God who wishes to be studied. Continue reading “Study and the Holy Spirit”

Meanwhile I’ve Been Pining

I am frantically scrambling to finish all my schoolwork before the last of the semester. I have one class left (Greek) and three exams pending. I had a paper due today (on the fundamentalists in the 1920’s, of all things), but my professor graciously extended it until the exam on the 27th. This was a good thing, since I had only completed 1/3 to 1/2 of it, minus quotes and footnotes. (I discovered long ago that attempting to write down the things I was going to cite beforehand was a waste of time. No matter what I write down, I don’t use half of it, and end up citing other things instead, which I then have to look up on the spot) I think it’s going to be a great paper though – it’s a fascinating subject.

Meanwhile, I’ve been pining for non-school reading material. Howard Tayler has finally released his first Schlock Mercenary book. Valerie and I have already gone halves and preordered the thing, and it will arrive sometime in May. I highly recommend. The best science fiction being written in English today is currently available in a full color glossy comic book. What’s not to like? At the other end of the spectrum, I’ve been being reminded that Mere Comments is only a mere piece of what I would get if I subscribed to the print version of Touchstone Magazine. Again, I want. My best description is that Touchstone is to theologians what The Economist is to economists. If reading Megan McArdle makes you want to subscribe to The Economist, Mere Comments makes you want to subscribe to Touchstone. I want both.

Since I am a perpetual starving college student, this is an example of creative budgeting. Continue reading “Meanwhile I’ve Been Pining”

Vending Machine God

Slowly catching up on my blog reading here. Last week Hobbes was discussing something I touched upon briefly in Saturday’s post. You can’t divide God into bite-sized chunks.

When we come before God in our private devotional times, we sometimes approach Him hoping to experience Him according to the particular attributes that we think we need at that moment. For example, yesterday I needed God to be my ‘Forgiver’. Today I need God to be Father to me. Tomorrow I may need Him to be my Healer. The next day I may need Him to be my Strength. God is clearly all of these. But, He is all of these things at the same time, and infinitely more! The danger is that we approach God with a vending-machine mentality. We put our prayer into the slot, and select the Divine Attribute we want to consume at that moment. We seek bits of God, rather than all that He is.

Read the whole thing (just a couple more paragraphs). He presents a profound understanding of what it truly means to worship God.

Roadmap Part 2: The Long Term

O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?….
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
by any other name would smell as sweet;
so Romeo, were he not called Romeo,
would retain that dear perfection which he owns
without that title. Romeo, doff thy name
and for that name, which is no part of thee,
take all myself.

–Romeo and Juliet

By any other name, “long term planning” is really just fantasizing, isn’t it? Very well, in the long term, I plan to have a large, rambling house in a wooded, sparsely settled area. We’ll have eleven children, of whom six will be girls and five will be boys. One of them will be a medical doctor, one a lawyer who works for a major religious organization, one a physicist, one an engineer, and one a theologian. The theologian, of course, will be the oldest. I myself will be the president of a conservative seminary, and Valerie will be head and founder of the nation’s largest midwife association. People will love us and greet us by name as we walk down the street.

Right. Did I mention I’m a direct descendant of Jonathan Edwards? Oh yeah. We Fr… uh, Edwardses have a long history of excellence. (The Frenches and Dobbses, by comparison, are famous for hardheadedness and hyperbole. I have none of these traits.)

Actually, it’s a little embarrassing how close my actual long-term hopes for the future might match the above. Continue reading “Roadmap Part 2: The Long Term”

Roadmap

Princess, I – – Uh, how’s
it going, first of all? Good? Um, good
for me too. I’m okay. I saw this flower
and thought of you because it’s pretty
and – – well, I don’t really like it,
but I thought you might like it ’cause
you’re pretty. But I like you anyway.

–Shrek

Since I seem to be currently unable to provide any of the kind of content that I would like to read (i.e. erudite ruminations), I thought maybe I’d say something that interests everybody else. (But I like you anyway.) So I would like to announce that (once again) I have my whole life planned out. I’m sure this is a relief to all parties. Continue reading “Roadmap”