Tonight at the Stirring was great. I know that for me, it is important to be reminded that it is not our ministry or attempts to "save the world" that show God, but simply loving each other. In a world that is very broken it can be Extremely overwhelming to try and put back the pieces for everyone, but if instead we just focus on a few, but do that really well, we will be able to love so much deeper. And in a very shallow love world, that is noticeable. The biggest personal challenge for me though was definitely the committing to spend a year walking with just few people, so that I can invest my best for them. I tend to load up early and stay super busy throughout the school year and just seem to have a little time for everyone, but instead, I want to have a lot of time for a few. This is an area that I know that I can become more effective at and something that I am going to be pushing towards.
Secondly, tonight was interesting. See I have for some time desired a new computer, my current on works as a word processor, but that's about it. So I have just been keeping it in my prayers and have kept my eyes open for a new iMac, they are functional and are the most practical option for me and Holly. Anyways, me and Holly had talked about purchasing one tonight, because there was a good deal online that ended tonight. Well, after reviewing our finances and realizing how much else we have to spend this next month on plane tickets to see my family for Christmas, we realized that we could not do it. I won't lie, I was a little bummed at first. BUt then I remember something that I had prayed earlier that day, I had reminded my self that God knows my needs, wants, and desires, and that he knew what was best for me. I asked him that at the appropriate tie that he would provide me with an iMac, but not before because I did not want it if it was not what was best for me right now. And so I know in faith that God will provide me and Holly with an iMac and it will be an incredible blessing, but until then, I am content with the needs that God has already met and the blessings he continues to pour out on me. Praise God, because he is good, simply by his nature.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
So here's round one...
So its definitely been a while... But now, considering that the Stirring communicates primarily through blogging, I figure its time to try this again. See in theory I love the idea of blogging. Me being able to write out and express my inner rants, ideas, and passions, it sounds great! But in practice, the forming of the habit to sit and write out what's in my head is something that I have yet to master. But alas, it will come in time. So here's round one.
There has been interesting discussion among the classes that I am taking this semester at Simpson, and the current discussion is the idea that Evangelicals have divinized the Bible. hhmmm, controversial I know. So the whole idea is that through the progression of the story of the children of God, people have always sought to build some sort of middle-man between them and God. First we have the children of Israel wanting Moses to speak on their behalf to God, because they are too afraid. Then skip forward to the time of the Levites and the priestly order. Those who are chosen to speak to God on behalf of others. Then we have Christ. The fulfillment of the law, and BAM, no longer are priests necessary. Thanks to the Holy Spirit we now have an interactive and closely bonded relationship to God. But at this point the collective "church" is formed and as history progresses more and more emphasis is put on the influence and importance of the church, until we have the Pope. Now the Pope is a great guy, and as far as I can tell well intentioned, but anyone who speaks on the behalf of God to the entire world... it just seems a step back against what Christ came to do. So we have a group of people who agree with this and they form the Evangelical movement to find freedom from the church as an establishment. And now we reach today. So with the pattern that has continued throughout history we now must question ourselves, what have we made into the middle man? So with a greater emphasis in the modern church on correct context for scripture and making sure that we are reading the Bible as it was meant by the authors to be read to the original audience and not simply what we desire it to mean, we must think, have we been substituting our precious and personal relationship with Christ for instead studying letters and biographies as if they were all totally and completely direct words from God to us today? How often do we go directly to the letters of Paul when we have a question about respect or tolerance or rights, instead of bringing it to the feet of the living God we worship and wrestle with him about it? How often do we forgo the beauty of asking questions to God and letting him answer us because instead we want the simple already processed out answer from 2,000 years ago, in a context that we rarely use correctly?
That being said, I am not saying that the Bible is bad, or wrong or not the truth, or that the truth is whatever you personally believe God is saying to you, because that is not where I am headed, and I am saying that now. There are eternal and fully real truths and those lie in the very nature of God and are expressed over and over in the Bible. But to give up our God given gift of personal, dynamic, intimate, and very real relationship with Yahweh the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit: the Trinitarin God, is to go against every movement of God throughout history. From creation and the Garden of Eden, to the Exodus of the Children of Israel, to the coming of the prophesied Messiah, to the formation of the community of believers, and finally a collection of documents from a vast portion of history made to show that God does not want someone inbetween us and him. So there it is. Some beleive that the Bible is end all say all as far as who God is, what He's done, adn what He will do in the future. But honestly I know that God is way bigger than that, and that he is far better in person than on paper. So next time you read your Bible, don't stop, but after you are done ask God what he has to say about what you just read. What else besides what's written (in the correct context) does he wants to share with you, and what is your repsonse to what he says. (yeah, we are allowed to talk back, crazy!)
Think about it.
There has been interesting discussion among the classes that I am taking this semester at Simpson, and the current discussion is the idea that Evangelicals have divinized the Bible. hhmmm, controversial I know. So the whole idea is that through the progression of the story of the children of God, people have always sought to build some sort of middle-man between them and God. First we have the children of Israel wanting Moses to speak on their behalf to God, because they are too afraid. Then skip forward to the time of the Levites and the priestly order. Those who are chosen to speak to God on behalf of others. Then we have Christ. The fulfillment of the law, and BAM, no longer are priests necessary. Thanks to the Holy Spirit we now have an interactive and closely bonded relationship to God. But at this point the collective "church" is formed and as history progresses more and more emphasis is put on the influence and importance of the church, until we have the Pope. Now the Pope is a great guy, and as far as I can tell well intentioned, but anyone who speaks on the behalf of God to the entire world... it just seems a step back against what Christ came to do. So we have a group of people who agree with this and they form the Evangelical movement to find freedom from the church as an establishment. And now we reach today. So with the pattern that has continued throughout history we now must question ourselves, what have we made into the middle man? So with a greater emphasis in the modern church on correct context for scripture and making sure that we are reading the Bible as it was meant by the authors to be read to the original audience and not simply what we desire it to mean, we must think, have we been substituting our precious and personal relationship with Christ for instead studying letters and biographies as if they were all totally and completely direct words from God to us today? How often do we go directly to the letters of Paul when we have a question about respect or tolerance or rights, instead of bringing it to the feet of the living God we worship and wrestle with him about it? How often do we forgo the beauty of asking questions to God and letting him answer us because instead we want the simple already processed out answer from 2,000 years ago, in a context that we rarely use correctly?
That being said, I am not saying that the Bible is bad, or wrong or not the truth, or that the truth is whatever you personally believe God is saying to you, because that is not where I am headed, and I am saying that now. There are eternal and fully real truths and those lie in the very nature of God and are expressed over and over in the Bible. But to give up our God given gift of personal, dynamic, intimate, and very real relationship with Yahweh the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit: the Trinitarin God, is to go against every movement of God throughout history. From creation and the Garden of Eden, to the Exodus of the Children of Israel, to the coming of the prophesied Messiah, to the formation of the community of believers, and finally a collection of documents from a vast portion of history made to show that God does not want someone inbetween us and him. So there it is. Some beleive that the Bible is end all say all as far as who God is, what He's done, adn what He will do in the future. But honestly I know that God is way bigger than that, and that he is far better in person than on paper. So next time you read your Bible, don't stop, but after you are done ask God what he has to say about what you just read. What else besides what's written (in the correct context) does he wants to share with you, and what is your repsonse to what he says. (yeah, we are allowed to talk back, crazy!)
Think about it.
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