"Summertime is the Right Time"

Too often I am motivated to write less out of a sincere desire to write and more an obligation by my own guilt in having not written. Regardless, I will assume I have some good thing to say.

May 30th is quickly approaching and every child in this classroom can sense it. Even the boy who would never cry - even after breaking his foot - is giggling like a girl in the back with his friends. He is not alone in this, even as I write. Kids who are generally respectful have turned into amoral maniacs driven by hormones and the thought of "being free!" I can't say I don't understand their sentiment; teachers have it worse and I understand that much more than the students' anxiety.

I'm looking forward to the summer. Not for the heat. I hate it. Also, not for any particular event we have planned. Any money we spend for pleasure trips is money we won't have for Isaac's diapers, wipes, and food. Everything matters.

I'm looking forward to being able to focus on my summer course on the History of Christian Thought. I'm looking forward to getting through my book list (Surprised by Joy, A Grief Observed, Called to Be Holy, On Being a Christian, and Let's Start with Jesus). I'm looking forward to playing basketball with some of the kids from school a couple times a week and lifting weights those days. I hope for my vertical to get back to a consistent 40" like it was in college. I'm looking forward to continuing writing a theology course for my eight graders next year. I might even wake up earlier once a week and spend some time at Starbucks reading and working on the course. And of course, I'm looking forward to spending more time with Isaac and Zoie now that I won't be absent eight hours a day at work.

I think this summer will be a good one. Setting goals is always tricky. I often feel - especially by the end of summer - that the standards I set were set too high. This summer, however, might be a little easier. Focus and determination is necessary.

Summertime is always nice, even for those who aren't teachers.

“Yeah Grandmaw, I’m going to Seminary to Lose my Faith"

Daniel Prince

Originally started on May 17, 2011

Here, I will write in an unorthodox manner. I will not start in the boring way of defining terms, giving a short history of the term, and then stating my case concerning theology. I will start as if many things are understood, and as if a conversation has already been taking place. Many people dislike the term theology not because of what the term actually means, but because of the ideas they already have about what theology is. Perhaps there have been people whom they often see as representatives of theological studies and notice that they don’t quite live up to the standard of what Christianity is. In other words, they might not take scripture as serious as one ought to. The negative understanding (preconception) about theology could very well be because of these liberal scholars whom they associate with the term. The saying goes “seminary, cemetery.” This statement cannot be made independently of the intention to bring down theology.

One thinks that when a person goes to learn more about God, it means they are on a personal journey of figuring out God, with their own wisdom and knowledge. Theology cannot be defined by those whose names end in the letters M.T.S. (Masters in Theological Studies) or Ph.D. (in theology). It would be like saying “All the women I know are feminists, therefore all women are feminists." This statement is false and simply unfair. Women should not be defined by a person’s personal experience with women. We can agree. It is no different with theology, or anything else for that matter. The stone a person throws to bring down seminary and theological studies needs to find a bigger one and needs learn why they’d even want to throw it in the first place.

If everyone was aware of what was meant by the word theology they wouldn’t waste their breath condemning it, but rather spend the energy on speaking against the people who misuse or misrepresent the word. Theology is basically the pursuit of gaining a clearer understanding of the nature of God based first on scripture, secondly on tradition, thirdly on reason, and lastly on experience. It is not based on whatever the person wants it to be based on. It is not a reserved word only to be used by those of elite academic status. It is a word that no one can avoid. Every person has a theology; everyone has gained a certain understanding of who God is whether they believe He exists or not. With that, every person views life (whether theirs or another’s) through the lens by which they view God. Our idea of God cannot be separated from our everyday lives (at least it shouldn’t…i.e. predeterminism shouldn’t and cannot be lived out. That is for another time) When there is suffering, it seems that everyone (especially those skeptical of God’s existence) looks to God for an answer and comes to conclusions about how God ought to respond to suffering. They are making a theological conclusion about God (in his action or inaction, whether he ‘ought’ or ‘ought not’ to do something) in turning to him for answers. How one views God will determine how he views and handles his suffering or any other circumstance. Theology is inescapable.

Simply stating the definition should cause any open minded to reconsider if they are understanding theology correctly despite what they may associate with the term.

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

2 Peter 3:18

Daniel

Quick Thought on Eternity through the Eyes of a Hebrew

I realized after writing yesterday how much I had actually written. Maybe it'd be best to follow it up with a quick and to the point summary. So, here it is - stated very much as a matter of fact, my apologies.

To the original Biblical audience, the term “eternal” was understood as to refer not to the life they looked forward to once they were dead and in paradise, but to the life that was available to them presently through Christ, who is the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. This life possesses the quality of eternity and it is not to be misunderstood as if to say that our possession of eternal life is, itself, (qualitatively) eternal. If this had been the case John 3:16 would read “whoever believes in Him will never perish, but have eternal possession of (eternal) life”, but it doesn’t. John was deliberate in describing life as having the quality of eternity (adjective).

All the implications, examples, and misconceptions are addressed in the post from yesterday...below.

In Christ,

D

Thoughts on Eternal Life

September 8, 2011

Since we were wee lads and lasses we’ve possessed the capacity to quote from memory John 3:16. Perhaps not until a little later did we understand more fully what the verse is saying. We know God loved the world and sent his son and whoever believes in him will have eternal life. The more you revisit the passage from your memory you, perhaps, realize new things each time you read it, at least I hope you do. You’ve reached a point in your life where you’re able to more fully understand the meaning of this verse. As you’ve developed mentally whether it’s from age or studies, you’ve become more capable of grasping the verse more fully.

Maybe I’m just speaking for myself. For so long I had viewed this verse as saying “those who believe in God will one day live in heaven with God forever”, but this…well, this isn’t what John (the author) had in mind when he wrote it.

Like any human being taking up precious room in space and time, we are limited to what we have experienced for ourselves. Because of this, we will read and interpret things through our tiny lens. This is natural. And it’s normal, but it isn’t always the best.

In order for us to understand anything that we see, and more specifically what we read we must first come to a better understanding of what the author intended to say. When we read about early American settlers traveling over to the New World from England in boats, we must not assume they’re talking about the sort of boat you’d see docked in a harbor today. This could lead to further misunderstanding about the settlers’ journey over to America and the evolution of boats in America and around the world. In other words, there’s a chance you will not have an accurate understanding of the settlers’ journey and of boats. You might be thinking “Duh, Daniel! This is simple!”, and that is my point. The concept is simple. But it is sadly and often overlooked when reading things not from 400 years ago, but from more than 2,000 years ago.

When we read a scripture passage like John 3:16, we must not carry our preconceptions about what John is saying into the reading of the text. Grant it, it is impossible to rid your mind completely of assumptions before reading. We make assumptions as a way to protect ourselves and keep things consistent in our minds. I digress. Assumptions can often be a hindrance and it is possible to be mindful of any false assumption we may have.

The word “eternal” itself refers to that which has no beginning and no end. “Eternal” is the adjective describing the “life”. I hate get grammatically technical, but it this very important. The life itself is eternal. The life possesses the quality of eternality. So, in reference to John 3:16 (and many other passages with this same expression), eternal life refers to the life that is given to all who believe. To the audience John was writing to, the term “eternal” was understood as to refer not to the life they looked forward to once they were dead and in paradise, but to the life that was available to them presently through. The life that a person may possess is eternal in that it is the life given through Christ who was “the lamb slain before the foundation of the world”.

What does this mean for the Christian? It means that the life that God gives is a life that will never fade away. This life has the quality of eternity. It is a life that begins now and is not something far off to be hoped for. You have entered into participation with the very nature of God, who is eternal. There is great importance in knowing that it is not a life to look forward, but it is a life you now possess and should take seriously. The grace God offers through His son’s death on the cross is not to be shrugged off. It is not to be cheapened nor overlooked. Dietrich Bonhoeffer had plenty to say about this way of thinking in His book The Cost of Discipleship.

The statement has been made in defense of a commonly held teaching called eternal security or once saved, always saved, “Once you are saved you are eternally secure and saved because God gives us ‘eternal life’”. This is a very important topic to consider. If we apply the Biblical understanding of eternal life – how the audience understood it and how the phrase is used – I don’t believe we find that John 3:16 is a good defense of these doctrines. The reason I say this is because our possession of eternal life is not itself “eternal”, but it is the life which we possess that is eternal. The focus should not be on our possession, since the passages does not describe it as being “eternal”. The focus should be on the life of Christ as being eternal. The phrase is not “eternal (possession of) life” it is plainly “eternal life” – the life that comes from the Lamb which was slain before the foundation of the world. After repeating the same idea three or four different ways, I’m sure you get the point. And I think it’s an important point.

If it is still difficult for you to understand the application of this understanding to John 3:16, and you’re still saying that when a person has “eternal life” it means we are eternally secure and can never fall away from God, I say this reduction ad absurdum: in light of man’s freedom and God’s grace, eternal life is not irresistible. When we "believe", we are not eternally glued to God’s life. If God gives eternal life for us to possess, it does not make our possession of it eternal as well. God’s grace is not an unbreakable adhesive to eternal life, forcing us to love him. If this is a person’s idea of love, he must corrected and shown that this 'love' is actually rape - the forcing of one’s self onto another in the sexual context. If this is eternal life we are much like love bugs during mating season (or whatever). So, when a person is saved by God he has become free, even more free than when he was lost. And, in this freedom, he is not glued and stuck in relationship with God, for he wouldn't be free at all. It is in man's freedom that he is enabled to love God fully. Our possession of God’s life is not eternal; God’s life is what is eternal. Let's try to be a little less anthropocentric and a little more theocentric.

My paradigm shifted. And it continues to shift. My understanding of certain things in the Bible is being refined the more I learn about God and the Bible. No matter how many times you might have read a particular passage you may still fail to understand it correctly and fully. I believe that in seeking to interpret scripture accurately we must possess the correct tools. As in any context, scripture is no different. It is not magic, nor is it always easy to understand.

On with eternity!

D

Shall We Row to a Different Current?

Daniel Prince

May 5, 2011

I’ve posted below a list. This list was written by John Wesley as a tool for accountability used in what was called “The Holy Club.” It’s easy for me to recognize that there are going to be differing opinions about not only what is written in each number, but also the very fact that a person would write such a list. This will be for you to determine. It would be nice to hear your opinion, but, as in some cases, it might be better for your opinion not to be shared. That will be your conviction and choice.

One might be lead to think that what I have posted below is legalistic and evidence that Wesleyans and “all them Methodists” believe in a “works-based” salvation, but ask yourself: what real harm is there in taking note of whether you live your life oblivious of your own sins, or live aware of your sins and strive not to sin. There is greater harm in ignoring the significance of one’s sin and receiving its payment of death than striving (even if in vain) to live a blameless life. This is also the case with the conditionality or unconditionality of a Christian’s security. That’s for another time and place.

To assume that you are a “better Christian” or that you are somehow “closer to God” simply because you have made it through a day or two without “sinning” is to miss the mark of what it means to become more like Christ. Christ was not holy and perfect only for the fact that he lived a sinless life. He was perfect in that he was “one with the Father”; entirely subject to the priority of the Father. He was subject not to the law, but to the law-giver. He was one with the Father and prayed the same for his disciples and also “for those who will believe…on account of their word”, that we would be one with the Father.

There is a calling which goes beyond and deeper than living a life without willful sin: we “can become partakers of the divine nature”; participants in the activity of the triune God; lovers of the one who is love. There is more to be gained through God’s grace than there is by living without sin. Ceasing to sin does not automatically escort you into perfect fellowship with Christ.

It is to be noted that one who seeks first to love God in every aspect of the word will find himself unwilling to sin. John isn’t lying when he writes that “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.” Neither is Jesus when He concludes a thought in the Sermon on the Mount saying “therefore you are to be perfect (blameless) as your heavenly Father is perfect.” If God’s life is within us and we do not willingly (and freely) reject his presence, how can we say that we sin? If a person prays without ceasing, as Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to do, can we logically as well as rightly claim that “we are (still) sinners?” I’m aware that Paul bluntly exclaims “may it never be!” to the idea of following this emblem-like statement (we are sinners). Do not go on sinning! How can you? In this we see that man is free and even expected to lead a blameless life, pleasing to God.

Perhaps, it is Wesley and the Methodists who are arrogant in thinking that they should and can live a “blameless” life! Perhaps I am arrogant in believing that this is the calling of every believer and has been from the beginning of time. Perhaps we should hop out of the boat that we’ve put ourselves in with every heathen-sinner and row to a different current.

Ask yourself

“1. Am I creating the impression that I am better than I am?

2. Am I honest in all my acts and words?

3. Do I break confidence -- tell others' secrets?

4. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work, habits?

5. Can I be trusted?

6. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?

7. Did God's Word live in me today?

8. Am I enjoying my prayer time?

9. When was the last time I shared my faith?

10. Do I pray about the money I spend?

11. Do I go to bed on time and get up on time?

12. Do I disobey God in anything?

13. Do I have an uneasy conscience?

14. Am I defeated in any part of my life?

15. Am I jealous, impure, critical, touchy, irritible, or distrustful?

16. Am I proud?

17. How do I spend my spare time?

18. Do I thank God that I am not like others?

19. Is there anyone I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, disregard or resent?

20. Do I grumble and complain?

21. Is Christ real to me?"

The Involuntariness of Love

I want to make mention an aspect (or the very essence rather) of love that boggles my mind and brings about a certain involuntariness. In the journey of what the wise and young call 'love' I've finally caught the glimpse. I've experienced a taste of this outpouring of love. I now seem to understand that it is more than just a roll of emotion felt somewhere between the mind and chest, it is rather inexpressible and unexplainable-it just...is. I'm sure we've all experienced the roll at some point in our life (as we, naturally, are beings of relationality). But what is it? What is this thing of love?

I will never be able to explain how and why I can't help but love someone-it's a rather reassuring fact. I've been the pizza eating bum watching this area of my own life unfold in a screen of existence with a person I call 'Life'. (Greek is such a handy language). Something in me longs to see the object of my love live in perfect happiness and satisfaction and I will do everything in my power to fulfill this. The desire to take a bullet even before the thought of 'Life' encountering harm is the part that I can't logically understand. It's quickly starting to move into the area of the unknown-the area in which I've finally accepted that God is in. All I know is that this love comes from the God who is love.

My desire is to become so transformed by God's own love that I no longer think about how to love someone or specific ways to love them. I pray He invades my life and the many areas that demand no entrance and fills me with natural love, involuntary love.

He wants me and everyone else in existence to show this kind of love not to a sole specific person, but equally to everyone. If it is indeed involuntary then how could I choose who to love. The very fact of this love coming about is my initial choice to love at all costs-to love with no specifics. It's all a matter of how much I am willing to love God in that very way. It starts with Him.

I long!

Surrender...

So lately I've been thinking--thinking of more than just one thing in one instance (like most humans have the capacity to do.) Thoughts spurring such things like confusion, frustration towards my inability to make (in my own mind) what seems like a simple decision, question, slight doubt of a certain subject, slothfulness in doing what I know is right, the list could go on. One thing that I have been pondering over (a far better word) is surrender. As good 'preached to people' we hear about this word often and how important it is in our walking with Christ, but what does it mean? What does it mean to surrender ourselves? The American Heritage Dictionary defines surrender in two interesting ways. First it says it means to relinquish possession or control of to another because of demand or compulsion. Second, to give up or give back (something that has been granted). I like the second one--To give back. To fully surrender to God means to give Him what He already owns. We don't own our lives. If we owned it wouldn't we have a say in our own death. Death for the most part cannot be controlled. Aside from suicide we do not know when our last breath will be.

In this Humanistic world we are told to seek truth within ourselves...we this, we that--it's all about us. We are told that we are in control and that we are the tip top of the line beings. If we are so great wouldn't we be able to stare death in the face and shun it as if it were an elementary school child challenging the authority of the teacher? No, because we don't know (and often don't care to know) when our last gasp of breath will be and when death will take hold of all that we are. We mourn over our souless companions and relatives who are victims of the relentless death. We assume in the selfishness of our minds, that there is a sad ending to evey life, but that isn't so.

Naturally we are inclined to think solely on the now and what encounters us at the present, but isn't there a bigger picture? A picture that gives us hope? Our ever expectant minds tell us that there's always more than what we see. As little children we swear that the unseen is indeed just as real as you and I. We play with our imaginary friends and pretend things into life. Our minds are naturally made to seek and find, to see beyond the seen, to know that there is more. It cannot be found in ourselves, because we fail, we are not perfect, and we are subject to so many uncontrolable events. In acceptance of what is so clearly true we can now understand that this God in whom people have spoken about for centuries (in the God on whom our very country was founded upon), we now catch a glimpse of what is truly important.

I cannot find rest and satisfaction in myself. I cannot be at ease about my uncontrolable future. God is the controler of death. God cannot and will not be overrun by death. We are God's creation and we have no right to frolic away our lives into oblivion. Surrender what is already His. In every aspect of life, give back. Give back your money, your pride, your self-image, your social status, and see the big picture. Our lives are owned (but not controled) by God so He deserves every angle of your life.

I must not hold anything back from Him. It scares me out of my mind to think that, if I surrender, I won't have any control over my own life. If I truly surrender to God, and give Him every part of my life, then and only then will I experience true life. True life will not always be beautifully confortable, but it is the only thing that matters.

Give God what is already His--Surrender. Live out your life a life of surrender.