Gotta Work on My Vocabulary

I'm taking a class that surveys the Biblical books of Judges through the Poets. One of the texts I am using is Bruce K. Waltke's An Old Testament Theology. It's a great book that outlines the themes and structures of the books of the Old Testament. Dr. Waltke (who is teaching my class) does have an amazing vocabulary. I mean, it's sick. Here's a list of words I had to look up just in the one chapter I read tonight:
regnal
fecund
peripeteia
irruption
onomastic
redivivus
nugatory
majordomo
surd
usufurcts
My dictionary didn't even have all these. I had to look some of them up on the internet. Crazy. I'll give bonus points to anyone who can define these without a dictionary.

A Little Bit of a Stretch

The other day I preached in my Preaching Lab on Judges 13. I spoke about the divine visitation that Samson's parents received heralding his birth. One of the interesting aspects of this divine visitation is that was totally undeserved. The Israelites not only were doing evil in the sight of the Lord (v. 1) but this is the first point in the book of Judges were that phrase is not followed by "And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord..." (see 10:10, 6:7, 4:3, etc...). The apostasy of Israel had spiraled down in such a way that they no longer even cared to repent. Sin was just a part of life. The sinfulness of sin had completely escaped their minds and hearts.
Consequently, the Israelites found themselves at the altars of Baal and Ashteroth, the local fertility gods, and worshipping by having sex with temple prostitutes. It's easy from our 21st Century perspective to look down on their gross immorality...but we're not that different, just more sophisticated.
Every day we are bombarded with the a gospel. It's a gospel message that says consume me and you will find happiness. The whole Marketing and Advertising profession is built on a gospel message that says, "Your life is deficient. This product bring fullness to your life." Check out the claim on the back of my Gobstoppers package:

"Inside this scrumdiddlyumptious package you will find mystic & marvelous surprises that will entrance, intrigue & delight you beyond measure."
That's pretty bold coming from a glob of dextrose, maltodextrin, and less than 2% corn syrup.
But, we fall for these false gospels everyday. Lord, would you give us the faith to repentant of our desires to find satisfaction apart from you and turn to you through Christ, who alone is our satisfaction.

Back from the Summer

Kim and I just got back from our summer at Camp Vesper Point. It was a tremendous summer, full of great ministry. There were many opportunities to explain the Gospel to kids who had never heard or understood it. There were also many opportunities to explain the Gospel to the counselors. The Gospel isn't just the message that we preach to unbelievers, so that they can know Christ. The Gospel is also the message we preach to believers, so that they can be changed by Christ. The message of repentance and faith is for our sanctification as much as it is for our justification.
We are glad to be home and gearing up for another semester of school. We got back to Orlando the day before Summer Greek I started. I had the privilege of being the Teaching Assistant for Greek I, and that was also a great experience. It was, however, my first real "classroom" teaching experience. Personality-wise, I am much more of a "feeler" than a "thinker." It really pained me to mark off on quizzes and tests...especially when many of those guys are my close friends. But, we must be faithful to teach well, which includes grading honestly...even when I just want to put happy face stickers on everyone's tests! (not really, but you get the picture).

Donatists and Rascal Flatts

The Donatist Controversy was a church crisis during and after the reign of the Emperor Diocletian (302-305AD). The controversy centered around priests and bishops who renounced their faith under the persecution of Diocletian and how to re-admit penitent priests back into the church. One of the central issues was whether on not the baptisms performed by these priests were valid since they became apostate. Should people who received baptism from one of these priests be re-baptized? Is the efficacy of the baptism dependent upon the faith of the one who administers it?
The Donatists answered these questions by saying the baptisms were not valid because they were invalid due to the faultiness of the priest's faith. The majority of the church said the baptisms were valid because the faithfulness of Christ gurantees the efficicacy.
I give this history lesson because of a song I heard on Christian radio the other day. It was "God Bless the Broken Road." This song was originally performed by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and made hugely popular by Rascal Flatts. The song was re-recorded by a Christian artist and has received wide air-time on Christian radio. The original and the "Christian" versions of the song are the same. Yet the superior recording (done by the non-Christian band) is not played while the other version (performed by the Christian band) is. What makes one acceptable for Christian radio and the other one not? Do we tie the efficacy of a song to the faith of the one performing it? What if a popular Christian recording artist abandoned the faith? Is the spiritual connection you may have had through that person's music now invalid?
I think we can take a lesson from the Donatists controversy and recognize that art is not good because it is "Christian." There are Christians who make good art, but let's be honest, there are lots of non-Christians who make better art (and while we're being honest, there are lots of Christians who make terrible art...don't get me started about the front half of every Christian bookstore. Retailers: Please note, "bad art + bible verse = Christian art" is not a valid equation). The value of art is not tied to the faith of the artist. We should be wise in understanding art. We should understand the message that the work of art (be it song, painting, sculpture, film, etc.) is communicating. That message and the aesthetic of the work must be evaluated and judged against the rule of Scripture, but don't make the life of the artist the point of measurement. There isn't a one of us who hasn't been radically affected by the presence and power of sin.

Which is Clearer?

I've come across two different interviews of famous (or sorta famous) people who are attempting to articulate their understanding of the Gospel. One of the interviewees is well-known pastor. The other is the lead singer of one of the most popular rock bands of all time (and probably the only person whose picture actually does appear in the dictionary under the definition of "cool."). Who do you think more clearly articulates the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Interview #1
"I often put it this way: If there is a God, some sort of Divine Being, Mind, Spirit, and all of this is not just some random chance thing, and history has some sort of movement to it, and you have a connection with Whatever—that is awesome. Hard and awesome and creative and challenging and provoking.

And there is this group of people who say that whoever that being is came up among us and took on flesh and blood—Andrew Sullivan talks about this immense occasion the world could not bear. So a church would be this odd blend of swagger—an open tomb, come on—and humility and mystery. The Resurrection accounts are jumbled and don't really line up with each other—I really relate to that. Yet something momentous has burst forth in the middle of history. You just have to have faith, and you get caught up in something."

Interview #2

"But I love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb. I love the idea that God says: Look, you cretins, there are certain results to the way we are, to selfishness, and there’s a mortality as part of your very sinful nature, and, let’s face it, you’re not living a very good life, are you? There are consequences to actions. The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That’s the point. It should keep us humbled … It’s not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven."

You can click here for the full Interview #1 and here for Interview #2 and to find out who is who.

In Prison

I spent Monday morning in prison...by design. I've helped my church start a Bible Study at a local prison facility. Monday was my first morning in the facility with the inmates, and it was awesome. The men there are so spiritually hungry and open. They've reached the end of a rope that few people on the outside understand. It is in those darkest valleys that we can best understand out need for a Savior.
I spoke with the men about the Crucifixion of Jesus. I tried, however, to take a little different tack than was expected. We spent most of our time discussing the Crucifixion by looking at Genesis and Psalm 22.
We started in Genesis and laid the groundwork for the story of redemption. We also looked at Genesis 15, God's covenant with Abraham. The most striking aspect of this passage is the nature of the curse component of the covenant. Typically in a covenant, it was ratified with the sacrifice of animals. The animals were split in two and the parties of the covenant would walk through the pieces of the sacrifice. The significance was that the one who violated the covenant would be treated like the animal that was sacrificed. The nature of this curse in Genesis 15 is that only God walked through the sacrifice. God ratified the covenant with Abram and promised that if Abram broke the covenant the curse would rest upon God, himself.
With this idea, we turn to Psalm 22 and looked a this great Psalm of lament. There are two parts to this psalm. The first half is a lament. The psalmist alternates between suffering and faithfulness of God to deliver us from suffering. The second half changes in tone from lament to joy because we begin to see God's plan for redemption, first to the Jew and then to the Gentile. There is no distinction between rich or poor; near or far; born or unborn. All of God's children will come to him through the suffering of his servant.
The descriptions of the Crucifixion in Psalm 22 are amazing. The opening verse was quoted by Jesus in the Matthew and Mark accounts of the Crucifixion. We know that Jesus must have been meditating on this psalm as he hung on the cross. As he bore the full measure of God's righteous wrath on my behalf, he experienced the same lament the psalmist described. Jesus was not unaware or unsympathetic with our sufferings because he suffered the same things (Heb. 2). But Jesus also knew that this psalm turns to joy. There is joy because the Father is faithful. Jesus knew that God's wrath would be satisfied and we would be "delivered from the sword" (Ps 22:21). "The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord!" (Ps 22:26). As Jesus meditated on this psalm he knew His righteousness would be proclaimed to a generation yet unborn and they would know that because of His work IT IS FINISHED! (Ps. 22:31). And these are the very words that John records as Jesus' last words on the cross, "It is finished."
The inmates really connected with the idea of suffering. They knew that they have both caused suffering and are experiencing suffering. I was struck with the fact that I am no different from these men in prison coveralls. I too have experienced suffering...and caused much suffering. But God is not unaware or disconnected from our suffering. Even repentant criminals can know that the Creator of the Universe understands their suffering more intimately than they understand it themselves. And this same God bids us to come to him in faith and repentence. If this isn't Good News, then nothing is Good News!

Grandmother Levi's Funeral

The past month I have lost both of my grandmothers. It has been a difficult month. My Grandmother Levi (maternal) died in March. She was a lovely woman who deeply loved the Lord. I miss her a lot.
My family asked me to officiate the funeral ceremony. It was an honor to do so.
You can listen to my funeral message here.
One really neat part of the funeral service was that we were able to play a song my grandmother had recorded years ago for a friend's funeral. It was also played at my grandfather's funeral. I have managed to make an MP3 copy and posted it here. I hope you enjoy it.