Not Everyone Is Crazy About Postmodernity

Here is a quote by Michael Horton, who is a professor and reformed theologian speaking on the church's response to the cultural shift we find ourselves in today:

This general trend in culture [Postmodernism] translates into hipper-than-thou clubs passing for youth ministry, informal chats passing for sermons, and brazen marketing passing for evangelism, where busyness equals holiness, and expository preaching is considered too intellectual. This trend can account in part for homes in which disciplined habits both of domestic culture and instruction in Christian faith and practice give way to niche marketing and churches becoming theaters of the absurd.

All I can say is wow. I sure as hell hope that this is not what I am doing with threenails (the community I am involved in)...I don't think it is, but man does it force you to think about the ways you can tighten up in whatever you are doing.

R. Matthew

Can I just say that I love. my friend Matt. He is my friend who posted the passoinate rebuttal to my statments in the From Abortion To Everyday Life post. I am quite sure that we will have vastly different theologies for our entire lives, but we agree on the essentials (in my opinion) and because of that we will always have good, growth filled, and life-giving discussions. Matt...some of what you said I am down with, but most of it I couldn't disagree with more, but as always, it will be fun to hash through it. Take care, it has been good living life with you Mr. R. Matthew.

From Abortion to Everyday Life

Here is a quote from my ethics class by Bill Tilbert who is a Presbyterian minister. It is about abortion, but is a statement about the church's heart at large in my opinion and it begs the question:

How serious is the church when it comes to our typically comfortable lives?

During the 1960's and 1970's there was an antiwar slogan that asked, "What if they gave a war and nobody came?" The point was what if there was a declaration of war and all the people just refused to participate? What if there were abortion clinics but nobody went in? What if abortion was a legal choice, but it was a choice nobody took? Changes in the law, blocking abortion clinics, demeaning name-calling will not stop abortions. The history of the church through the ages has been the history of changes brought about in soiciety through the church demonstrating and living an alternative vision of life. We need to stop telling our nonbelieving neighbors how wrong their way of life is, and we need to start showing the power of the gospel in the way we live...Let me ask you: Which has greater power? Ten thousand people who fill the streets in front of abortion clinics and shame those seeking abortions, or ten thousand people in California who take to the state capital a petition they have signed stating they will take any unwanted child of any age, any color, any physical condition so that they can love that child in the name of Jesus Christ?

Amen

Moving On After 11 Years

When I was in eighth grade I made the biggest mistake of my life and to this day it is the only single action that I regret. While it was a part of shaping me into who I am today, I am sorry that it happened. I went home early from school and was lying on the couch and somehow got the good idea to go down the street to the house of one of my old best friends (that I hadn't talked to in years) and break into his house. I stole a bunch of different things and took off. Long story short, I was almost arrested when I was turned in by someone I had told at school. The only reason I didn't go to juvee was because the family didn't want to press charges.

I did not talk to the family for 10 years when I saw my old best friend last year and apologized. I figured it was over, until last night. I walked into a prayer meeting that I had helped organize and walked by a man that could only have been the father who had let me off the hook years before. He happened to be the new pastor of the church where we were meeting. Quite a surprise to say the least.

I spoke to him after the meeting and apologized to him formally. I hadn't even seen him since long before the incident and he didn't recognize me, but we talked and it was good. We have both done things we regret and he was quick to forgive. I guess I am so impressed by the encounter because it was something that had long since passed in my life. It had been reduced to an anecdote in my testimony, but it is more than that. It was an action that hurt a family whom I loved. I can never forget that part of it. There was damage done by my actions and it must always remain a reminder of who I am in the flesh and the things that I am capable of when I act out of brokenness and pain. I will not quickly forget last night.

The Consequences of Responsibility

My best friend just called. He said that if he and I left tomorrow to go to Philadelphia we could ski in Vermont for the cost of a $50 bus ride. I said I could not because I just got back from Philly and I have work that needs to be done and a worship gathering for Threenails that I am responsible for seeing through.

He called back 5 minutes later and said that we didn't even need to pay for the bus ride. Get to Philly and it's all free. Totally free. Damn it. I can't go.

Do I love skiing? Yes. Would I miss this worship gathering for recreation? No. It is as simple as that. A large part of me is astounded at the response. How could I pass up free skiing in Vermont? (Did I mention that I had been hoping to ski there for the past two years?) Ridiculous.

I have experienced two kinds of responsibility in my life. There is the kind that makes me feel trapped and smothered. A responsibility that has little freedom in it and consists almost entirely of guilt. The other contains nothing but freedom. Guilt cannot enter in because it is part of who I am; who God has made me to be in his grace. To shirk that responsibility would be to deny who I am as a part of the body of Christ. I gladly sacrifice my earthly desires for them. It is the only thing that makes sense.

I think that is the thing about the gospel, especially when it is internalized. Our sinful rebellion is as much about us rebelling against ourselves as it is about us rebelling against God. In fact, I think that is at the heart of sin. Sin is not just something that God decided he doesn't want us to do. It is something that runs contrary to our creation and when we indulge in our sinful desires we are destroying ourselves from the inside out. The wages of sin is death because it undermines who we are.

Am I sad that I cannot go skiing this weekend? Yes. Will I lose any sleep over it? No. I will rest soundly in who I am and what I have been called to be.

Je Jung

I am leaving tomorrow for a short trip out to Philadelphia and DC and I leave behind a man that has been living with me for the past 4 months. I hadn't really sat down to talk with him one-on-one until tonight and we only spoke for a short while. He is an amazing man who God will use to do amazing things back home in Korea. I am glad he has been a part of my life these past few months and I look forward to whatever contact and cooperation we will have in the future. It's funny, I have not spoken with him much, yet I walk past his room, which I know will be empty when I return home, and I realize that I will miss him very much. He has been a part of threenails (my church) and he has been a part of my life. Even in the small things like the good mornings and the good nights we shared as we passed when I got up and when I went to bed. I will miss him. It is sad to see him go. I will miss my friend.

So, There Is This Girl

"How do I know if the amount of time I spend with her is too much?"

She is pretty amazing. I like her...a lot. We get along well, good conversation comes easily for us, and we have have very similar interests. This question comes because, obviously, I want to spend most of my free time with her, but I want to share it because I think that this question can address a host of issues by simply changing the object:

"How do I know if the amount of time I spend...is too much?"

My first instinct is to ask whether or not my time with her is coming at the expense of other commitments. I think this is a good starting place, but in making a commitment to live life with someone romantically I am commiting to more time with that person than before. If this extra time is more than I already have, then I need to reduce some of my time commitments somewhere. Does that make dating them bad? Does this mean I am spending too much time with her? I do not think that it does provided any commitments that must be adjusted are worked through with those who are affected.

My next thought is that it is a matter of priority. Is there a balance between my priorities and my time? However, I think that is a false question because in my world our priorities are defined by how we spend our time and a mental list of our priorities that is not supported by our actual lives is a worthless list.

What about balance? Am I balanced between how much time we spend together and...? What is on the other side of the scale? I hear a lot of talk about "balance" in a relationship--much of it from my mouth--but what exactly needs to be balanced? Off the top of my head I think: time, physical interaction, spiritual intensity, emotional intensity, and commitment. When I put it into words, the idea keeping things in balance sounds a bit unrealistic. How are any of those things quantified? If they can be quantified, how can they be compared?

In the end it looks like I have nothing, but the question lingers and I am sure there will be follow up to this. Please, anyone that would like to comment and further this I would love to hear your comment...especially married couples that have seen this process from inception to marriage completely. Show this to your friends, I want to know what you think.

This Struck Me

Ex. 28:36-38

Make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD. Fasten a blue cord to it to attach it to the turban; it is to be on the front of the turban. It will be on Aaron’s forehead, and he will bear the guilt involved in the sacred gifts the Israelites consecrate, whatever their gifts may be. It will be on Aaron’s forehead continually so that they will be acceptable to the LORD. [NIV]


Jesus is called the "Great High Priest" in Hebrews. In Exodus, it appear that Aaron, the first high priest, is actually who takes the guilt of he that offered sacrifices. I have always been taught that the guilt of the person was transferred to the sacrificial animal and then it was slaughtered. However, when I go back to Leviticus, I do not see any mention of a transfer of guilt to the animal. Later in Leviticus, it mentions that when a man with guilt on his head comes with a sacrifice the priest will make atonement for the man (Lev 5: 17-19).

It does not mention Aaron being responsible for the guilt, but instead, he is told to wear a plate that declares him "HOLY TO THE LORD." The high priest takes on the guilt of the sinner and is declared holy before the Lord. This is exactly what Jesus does on the cross.

While I do not see anything unusual in this comparison, I feel there has to be some implications that I am not seeing immediately. If nothing else, it gives sets a precedent for the idea of Christ taking our sins upon himself. Maybe it is simply that I had never noticed this before, but it struck me as very interesting.

And to think I almost skipped over the temple specifications, "I have read thos all before, what else could I find in them." I am an ass.