Pursuing Truth

But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. Romans 1:18, NLT

Last night as I read this verse the section that struck out me was "suppress the truth".
This semester God has been challenging my forming of beliefs. More specifically what I believe to be true about him and our relationship with him. The challenge has come in attempting to understand and reconcile what I read in Scripture with my mental and moral constructs. This challenge leads to the question "Am I interpreting this passage correctly or does my lenses of understanding need to change?"

The greatest hindrance in facing this challenge has been my presuppositions and biases. Many of the beliefs I hold as true have come out of an intense wrestling in my being and to cast them aside for others would seem to trivialize the journey thus far. As my beliefs continue to grow and mature my being yearns to avoid "suppressing the truth" out of personal preference or because of persuasive personalities. My desire is for a humility that allows me to be wrong, but does not undermine that I could be right.

As my thinking is molded and refined my desire is avoid forcing what God intends to speak to us into some personal mental framework or place requirements upon God that I have developed from my finite perspective. Thereby mutilating God's message and marring his image. At some point I have to confess that I can never fully comprehend the infinite grandeur of God. While I press on to know God more intimately, I must still leave room for the mystery of the infinite.

My hope is to avoid the accusations of Romans 1:21-22

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.

DOA

For most of us DOA stands for Dead on Arrival, but what God has been working in my life over the past couple of months has DOA standing for Danger of Academia. Through my studies and through Jess, God has reminded me of the need for knowledge to engage the whole being. Attending Seminary I have often found myself having to guard against education becoming a mental exercise or to be solely a matter of accumulating knowledge. This is what I have come to deem as the Danger of Academia.

Before anyone gets too excited and thinks I am going to recant my charge of anti-intellectualism within the contemporary Church and culture. I conversely, believe we need to avoid Blind Belief, which divides faith and thinking and refuses to allow the two to interact. The attitude is "I believe it and I don't need to think about it".

Both of these dangers need to be avoided. Education must transcend the mind, engage our spirit and flow out in our attitudes and actions. We must be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). In regards to belief I think Hosea said it best when he wrote the words,
"a people without understanding will come to ruin!" (Hosea 4:14). Ok, so he may have said it in Hebrew, but ya get my point. If we fail to follow Augustine's advice of faith seeking understanding, I fear we maybe DOA. While the Academic runs the risk of being spiritually dead, the blind believer runs the risk of being dead to the world God wishes to save.

RobBELLion

My current read is Sex God by Rob Bell. I picked it up after several people recommended it and because of his reputation for using Scripture more than other members of "The Emergent Church". As one who feels there are some issues we, as The Church, have shyed away from I thought I would be strongly encouraged by a book addressing God and sexuality. However, as I began to read, excitement turned to concern. Two major concerns and critiques rose to the surface of his writings.

The first is the presence of syncretism in his writing. Six chapters in I have found at least two prominent instances where he attempts to incorporate other religious beliefs into Christianity. As he writes on what it is for man to reflect God (Imageo Dei) he claims "...something of God has been placed in them (people)...A divine spark resides in every single human being" (p.19). The term "divine spark" is a cardinal term of gnosticism, which Christians through the ages have branded as heresy. A further critique of this is the seeming equating of God's attributes with being God. There needs to be an understanding that his attributes are not what make God God, but God is God and the attributes are merely descriptors of what he is like.

The next evidence of syncretism appears in Chapter 4. As Bell addresses the use of our passions he states, "Life is not toning down or repressing your God-given life force. It's about channeling it and focusing it and turning it loose on something beautiful (p.83, italics mine). Channeling is a verb that can be used in my facets, but when it becomes combined with the term "life force", it becomes clearly connected with Zen Buddhism.

Along with his use of sycretism Bell expands the meaning of terms until they essentially have no meaning. His use of the words "sexual or "sexuality" which is foundational to his book gives the clearest example. He claims that the word "sex" comes from the Latin word "secare" which means "to severe, amputate or disconnect from the whole"(p. 40) . He then explains how this is the root of words such as sect, bisect, section, and a few more. It's interesting that "sex" is the only word he cites that ends in "x", whereas the others end in "ct".

According to Bell's definition, sexuality means "First, our sexuality is our awareness of how profoundly we're cut off and disconnected. Second, our sexuality is all of the ways we go about trying to reconnect" (p. 40). In applying the term he refers to swimming in the ocean with his son and dolphins as being a sexual experience because they were truly connected to creation. For those who think this is appropriate application of the term, I challenge you to go ask someone of the same gender to go into the mountains for a "sexual" experience. I doubt the two of you have the same thing in mind.

I also find it interesting that God created us as sexual beings (Gen.1:28) and as two distinct sexes (Gen. 2:27). All of this God did before the fall (literal or metaphorical). Thus, if God created us as sexual and with distinct sexes then we were created as separated from creation, and thus experience the effects of the fall from "the beginning". Bell alludes to a Hickian "soul making" theology when he interprets Genesis 1 as being God creating out of "chaos" rather than "formless" and "void" so I doubt he would have a problem with this.

To Bell's credit he does attempt to approach sex and sexuality in a balanced approach. While I agree with the overall message he communicates, the roads he travels are through the sinking sands of heresy, rather than the roads of orthodoxy.

In Spring of 2006 Criswell Theological Journal contained an article by Mark Driscoll entitled A PASTORAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE EMERGENT CHURCH. I strongly suggest finding it and reading it to better understand"The Emergent Church" and it's distinction from the emerging church.

Beulah Banter

This past week I went back to New Brunswick to visit and of course I arranged my visit during Beulah Camp (the District Conference for the Atlantic District of The Wesleyan Church). Over the past 27 years I think I’ve missed only 1 Beulah camp completely. For those of you who know how old I am and can perform simple subtraction, that’s right I was at Beulah even when I was in my mother’s womb.

This visit back East was an excellent time of reconnecting with friends, but what stuck out to me most was the renewal I experienced, while I was there. What ensues is a collection of the introspection that occurred.

The first thing I noticed was the emphasis on Christus Victor atonement teaching. I tend to receive plenty of teaching that emphasizes our fallen nature prior to salvation, but seldom hear anything about the victory we have because of Christ. Just singing “Victory in Jesus” was “water to my soul”.

The next thing I noticed was the change in me. In the past year I have become more self- aware of who God has intended me to be and in embracing this me there has been a confidence/comfort I have developed. It’s a peace that surpasses understanding.

In one of Dr. Steve DeNeff’s sermon, he expressed a need for us to be less concerned with “God’s will” and more concerned with who God intends us to be because if we act according to our new nature we will act according to “God’s will”. This is because our new nature and God’s will are not in opposition, but agreement.

The next thing that hit me was not something anyone said, but more an observation. In the past (and possibly in the present) I tend to avoid and be critical of those who I feel have broken my trust. However, something the Holy Spirit began speaking to me was the need to give people second chances. What was the most sobering was the question the Spirit posed to me:“Where would you be if I had only given YOU one chance?” In other words, “everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded” (Luke 12:48).

ABC's of Scripture

This summer I'm interning at an Evangelical Free Church and this coming Tuesday we're beginning a Bible Study group for teens looking to learn more from the Bible. Thus we're going to start by looking at what Scripture has to say about itself. We're going to due an overview of Psalm 119, which has the most verses in the Bible (176) and all 176 verses are on the attributes Scripture.

For a little background, I'm going to remind everyone what Mr. Branscombe taught us. The 176 verses can be grouped int passages of 8 verses and beginning with verse each group of 8 verses is a letter in the Hebrew alphabet. We can go through the Hebrew alphabet from Aleph to Taw.

To prepare for the Bible Study I went through the 176 verses and found as many references I could find that ascribe an attribute to Scripture. After I listed them I found some commonality in them so I plotted them into a spread sheet such as that of below:

How 2 Live	Morality	Encouragement	Knowledge
Advice	Purity	Inspiration for the reader	Understanding
Direction	Righteous	Comfort	Make Wise
Instruction	Just/Fair	Hope	Discernment
Guidance	Perfect	Promises
Teaching	Trustworthy
Discipline

Reality	Greatness	Experience
Right	Sustaining & Life Giving	Pleasing
Truth	Awesome/Wonderful	Treasure
	Eternal	Happiness
		My Delight

I was surprised how easily these grouped together and also noticed some commonalities Psalm 176 has with II Timothy 3:16, which reads: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The Uneducated Church

When churches abandon or de-emphasize theology, they give up the intellectual tools by which the Christian message can be articulated and defended.
-Peter Berger

I am becoming increasingly concerned with state of the Church. It seems in an attempt to maintain unity we have opted for ignorance. For many of our brothers and sisters their theological education doesn't go beyond "Jesus loves me this I know the Bible tells me so". Yes the Gospel is simple enough for a child to grasp (at the age of accountability), and yes, Karl Barth did once say that was the deepest theological truth he knew of. Yet, what makes this such a deep theological truth is an understanding of all the implications involved in the making such an assertion. Human Depravity, God's Holiness, Redemption and Grace just begin to scratch the surface of the doctrines that are involved in making such a statement.

Don't misunderstand me; I do not think everyone needs a doctorate in theology. My concern is that we become content to suck on the theological milk suitable for infants rather than chew on the meat that causes us to grow into adulthood. My primary motivation for pursuing my Masters is to help reduce the "graduating out of Christianity". When they leave the safety of youth group they are forced to give a reason for what they believe, but find they have never been equipped to do so. This is not unique to teens, we as the Church seem petrified to admit our allegiance, not out of a lack of love, but because we have no idea how to respond to questions or objections. We as the Church need to begin to grow our theological roots. How can we worship a God to whom we are estranged?

Sliding Theology

What seems to be one of the common questions people ask about God, is "How can I an all power, all loving, and all knowing God allow evil to exist"? Augustine seems to offer the best response to this question by suggesting it is a result of freewill.

I've recently dove back into watching an old TV series called Sliders. The plot of the series is that a guy, Quinn Mallory, has discovered a way to travel from his current earth/universe by way of a wormhole. The basic idea is there is an infinite number of parallel universe simultaneously existing and a wormhole according to the Einstein-Rosen Bridge would allow an electron to travel from one point in the universe to another point or another universe instantly. Working with this theory Quinn has discovered a way to create this rip in "the fabric" of time and space and has discovered how to stabilize it so that large masses (at least 6 people) can travel through it.

As they travel from alternate universe to alternate universe they encounter different versions of it, with their own unique challenges. The seemingly most minute decision or event in history has totally changed the history and state of the world. Watching this show has caused me to reflect on Alvin Plantinga's assertion that we are living in the best of possible worlds. The basic concept is that given all the essential elements for the existence of the earth, the earth we live in is the best we could possibly have.

Reflecting on Augustine & Plantinga as I watched Sliders I have become convinced that God did create the best possible world and then entrusted it to us (Gen. 1:26-30; 2"15). Thus what we have today is what man has done to the best possible world that was entrusted to him . It's not a question of why God didn't, but why we did?!

At a Lose

Anyone who's spent an hour with me knows for a short time I pastored in Roanoke, Virginia and you also know how much I love it and how I came to consider it home.

With Monday's events at V.Tech, I'm beside myself. I've held off blogging on the event till now and in this blog I focus very little on the details of Monday out of respect for those who had to live through this Nightmare. When the news reached me I began calling as many friends as I could to check on them, some concerned about their physical safety and others their emotional state.

Reflecting about what happened and thinking about my friends, who I think of as family, I get overwhelmed with the emotions to the point of shock and numbness. What can you say about such a horrendous act that grieviously impacts so many people?!

All I know to do is give my love and my support and I ask anyone who reads this blog to do the same. Show your love and support through prayer and in your prayers mourn with those who mourn. The best way this can be expressed is through the phrase:

Today we are all Hokies!

Wannabe Evolutionist

It may surprise some of you to read this, but I wish I was an evolutionist. It would be the easiest path to take considering how widely accepted evolution is by the public and Christian communities. Although, I do not consider Genesis 1 and 2 be a literal account of creation. I do consider it to express that God created the world. I tend to think God spoke all of creation into existence simultaneously.

I used to think it would be so cool if God used evolution to create the world and now in my mind it would make life much easier to just be a theistic evolutionist, so I wouldn't have to deal with constant confrontation. The one hurdle in my acceptance of evolution is not Scripture or belief, but ration. As one who has traditionally been an evidentialist, concerned with what we can prove, all the evidence that has been presented to me by evolutionists does not allow me to accept an evolutionary approach. The probability of evolution being a reality is so astronomical that it goes against my "good sense" to put any weight in it. Even with God directing the process of evolution the latest datings of the earth still do not allow the necessary time for the current developments we experience. This is the primary inconsistency I have encountered in speaking with evolutionists and I wish I could make my life easier, but reason does not allow me to make this blind leap.

Facebook Phenomenon

Recently I did a class presentation on the theological implications of Facebook and I've decided to fill y'al in on what I said.

The Facebook explosion seems to be a result of it meeting the intrinsic desires for individualism and community, within our present culture. By providing each member with a profile Facebook is meeting the strong yearning to be a unique individual. Our profile serves as our identity on Facebook, it represents who we are as individuals to the rest of the members.
While the profile serves to meet the longing for individualism, the networks we are integrated into (Friends List, Groups, and the initial network we join) create the framework for our community. The interaction through “walls”, notes, and comments gives the member a sense of being relational. This sense of relationship seems to be what solidifies the sense of community. Facebook serves as a kind of cyber pseudo-community. Rather than being one of the many, we are a vital part of this cyber society.
Individualism and Community are two ideas we find in Scripture as well. Throughout Scripture there seems to be a focus on individual’s and the role they play in the community. People such as Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah are Old Testament examples of this, while Mary, Peter, and Paul seem to be New Testament examples. In I Corinthians 12 Paul writes about the role the individual’s spiritual gifts play in the community of Believers. In the creation account of Genesis 2 God creates the individual, Adam, and in verse 18 we read, “The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." This would be another indication we, as human beings, are intended to be in community. The Hebrew people and the Church in Acts seem to be further biblical examples of God intending for people to be in community.
In recent years the Church has attempted to meet these desires through cell groups. These groups are intended to create fellowship and allow individuals to interact with one another on a more personal basis than what a Sunday morning service would allow. Youth group, men’s breakfasts, and women’s prayer meeting are just a few examples of other ways the Church in the past has, perhaps unintentionally, attempted to meet these needs.
The error the Church has made in addressing these needs, is attempting to meet them through programs. There are certain needs programs cannot meet because a program is purpose oriented. In programs people are not necessarily interacting because they want to, but because the program requires them to. For the individual seeking true community, this would seem to be a cheap supplement.
To meet these desires the Church needs to extend her thinking beyond programs and become genuinely interested in each other. Individuals need to be interacting outside the programs of the Church. People are seeking the type community that happens over a cup of coffee, on road trips, and during a barbeque.

A Long Long Island Lament

Yesterday the hockey world starred at their TVs and computer screens in numbness and shock. The unthinkable happened! Ryan Smyth was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the New York Islanders. For those disconnected from hockey Ryan Smyth was the icon of the Oilers' Franchise. Drafted in 1994 he has never played for any other NHL team. Now, Thursday night he will wear another team's jersey for the first time.

Unable to reach contract agreement and with 20 minutes left till the deadline, Kevin Lowe dealt away Smytty, as most Oilers affectionately call him, for 2 top prospects and 1 first round draft pick. To Oilers' fan this it was like trading Porsche for a 3 Ford tempos.

The whole ordeal reeks of underhandedness. Two months ago it was "leaked" to the media that the Oilers had not yet reached a contract agreement with him, which Smyth was blindsided by in a media conference. When asked about the situation, a stunned Smytty replied, "How did you find out about that?!" Quickly followed by, "We're not focusing on that right now! We're focusing on getting our team into the playoffs!" In the very same manner the media would be the one to tell Smyth he had been traded in the same manner. When a trade is done with class the General Manger or the players agent will tell him, not the media.

As details of how the events unfolded it came out Lowe had this trade in his desk drawer with the papers signed, in case they couldn't reach an agreement. Conversely, it is reported Smyth turned down a deal for 27 million over 5 years , which works out to 5.4 million a year, 100 thousand a year below Smyth's asking price (5.5 million/year). To put this in perspective the Calgary Flames just signed Tanguay, for 5.25 million per year. Tanguay does not have the grit and potentially is not as talented as Smyth, and is definitely not the face of the franchise. The manner in which these events unfolded leave the fans wondering if Lowe ever intended on re-signing Smyth or if he was trying to convince Smyth to play for the Islanders the rest of the season and the Oilers would resign him come July 1st.

A tearful Smyth addressed the media today, and as Oiler fans watched they had flashbacks to 1988 when another icon of the team and an icon of hockey, Wayne Gretzky, was sold to the Los Angeles Kings. Feeling betrayed once again, along with Oiler fans everywhere are wondering if there is any loyalty left in hockey. So often we hear about players having no loyalty to the team and now a player has been betrayed by a team who had his entire loyalty. Gretzky commenting on the trade said: "that's the nature of the game now". If Smyth is not re-signed by the Oilers July 1st, the next signature the Oilers may have is Kevin Lowe's on his forced resignation.

Through the tears Smyth spoke positively and respectfully of Kevin Lowe. Then he promised to do his best to win the cup, as an Islander, so he could bring it back home. This type of class is what will have this fans loyalty cheering for Smytty every game.

Ignorant Grace

If you're part of The Wesleyan Church you most likely heard a sermon on grace and sung some version of Amazing Grace in church this past Sunday. This was a denominational thing stemming from the soon release of the movie Amazing Grace. The movie is about the pivotal role William Willberforce and John Newton (the authour of the first version of the hymn Amazing Grace)played in the abolition of slave trade in Europe, which paved the way for the emancipation of slaves in the US less than half a century later. Those of you who know my passion for the civil war know why I'll be seeing it opening night.

Keeping with the theme of grace I'd like to address what I'll call ignorant grace, the unmerited favor we have no idea we have. Whether you prefer the term common grace or prevennient grace, ignorant grace includes them both.

Ignorant grace comes from a perspective that all humanity is depraved of any ability to do good, without God, and consequently is capable of horrific acts and left to ourselves we would and possibly could be far more depraved than we are. What I'm calling ignorant grace is God's active involvement in the affairs of the world through which he sustains humanity and guides us away from the path of destruction we would dispositionally follow, if it were not for God in his grace luring us away from it. Without God's active involvement, which is unknown to man, it is my belief that our world would have long ago become reminiscent of the 70s and 80s nuclear fallout movies and would lead to the ceasing of life on this planet.

As my msn tag said a few weeks ago: Man has only scrapped the surface of his depravity and merely glimpsed the Glory of God's Grace.

A Bifurcated Blog

It's been....well...A LONG TIME since my last post. I've most likely lost the majority of my readers, but hopefully they will find their way back. This is my first blog since arriving in B.C. and it comes as a result of two rather impacting moments in my life this week, hence the title of the post. One blog divided by two unrelated events, other than they both occurred this past week. For the sake of alliteration we'll call these two events "The Epiphany" and "The Empathy".

The Epiphany
I was at a party this weekend, which has become the tradition since arriving in B.C. annd some where between the lounging in hot tub and the "smores" around the fire I had this epiphanal moment. I realized the true reason I am loving my time in B.C. so much. It is the people I have met and who have adopted me as their own. Sure I'm still an East Coast Boy, and the plush toush of jokes, but I am considered one of them. A community of 20 somethings did not see me as the new guy who had to earn his stripes into their "clique". They simply accepted my UNIQUE personality and made every effort to include, rather than exclude, me.
As beautiful as the B.C. landscape is and as awesome of a program the MTS cap is, I think the luster of B.C. would have been dulled by loneliness if it were not for these friends who welcomed me into their lives.

The Empathy
This past Sunday Heather, another ACTS student from NB, and myself went into Vancouver to attend Jazz Vespers. In order to do so though we had to drive down East Hastings, which is the part of the city you're suppose to avoid. In fact when I was moving out to B.C. a former TWU student told me, "When you get there find out where East Hastings is, and NEVER Go there." Driving to Jazz Vespers we got a since of the reason for this advice. As we progressed along East Hastings the buildings became increasing run down and the amount of people living on the street became more plentiful.
After Jazz Vespers we made our trip down East Hastings, with dusk giving way to night. Seeing the people lining the street at the various shelters hoping to find a place to sleep for the night my heart grew more and more unsettled. At the point in which one might cry, not me though, I turned to Heather and said , "The only reason for me being on this side of car door is the family I was born into and a few life choices". The sobriety of the moment broke my heart as I realized I did not deserve the fortune of my family, nor did those lining the street deserve the misfortune of the streets.