Piper

A lady at work hosts a weekly Bible study. I was finally able to join in one week and they were talking about John Piper's book Don't Waste Your Life. I was really interested by the discussion, so I decided to read it when I got some free time. I'm only about 3 chapters in right now, but I really like this quote that was on a window decoration in Piper's kitchen growing up:

Only one life,

twill soon be past,

only what's done for Christ will last.

Quote

Quote of the day from my niece Bethany, while talking to her grandma, after seeing a stray cat across the yard:

"Bethy can't pet that kitty cat, that kitty cat is very old, like you grandma."

[FYI: The twins talk about themselves in the 3rd person. I'm not sure if all kids do that. Kinda cute, but I would hope they grow out of it at some point...]

Following Christ

A friend sent me this excerpt from “New Way to Be Human” by Charlie Peacock:

Charlie speaking:

“Here’s what I’ve figured out for myself: My life is going to tell a
story whether I try to or not. It’s going to tell a story that says,
'This is what a follower of Jeus is , this is what he or she is
interested in, this is what he or she believes and trusts, this is what
he or she thinks is important.' Because this is going to happen and can’t
be stopped, I’d better make sure I know my role and my job description-a
student-follower of Jesus is a living explanation. As I go about living,
I will either make the teaching about God the Savior attractive, or I
won’t. It’s attractive on its own. I make it attractive to others by
living it out. My work should be to represent it accurately. This
doesn’t mean that my life will look just as his looked. That’s not even
possible. I’ll be doing well if I can, stepwise, become the kind of
person he’s teaching me to be.”

Tharseo

"Tharseo is an Ancient Greek word that means "Have Courage!" or "Be of Good Cheer!" or "Take Heart!" Jesus uses this term often after healing people and in John 16:33 (NIV): "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.""

Prayer

LCMS President's Statement about Virginia Tech

As I think about people asking "Where was God?", I can't help of a book I read stating the natural follow-up to this question is "Where are God's people?" May God and God's people be a light to those affected by this tragedy, and may they portray God's love and peace to those who are hurting. Keep them in your prayers.


This weekend, International Justice Mission is hosting a Global Prayer Gathering this weekend. IJM is an amazing Christian human rights agency consisting of professional lawyers, social workers, and investigators who seek to rescue people from horrendous injustices. Here are some resources and a prayer guide if you want to keep their mission in your prayers as well.

Temporary Shiite Marriage

I just read about a Shitte Muslim custom that really appalled me. It's called "mutaa", a temporary marriage contract for the sole purpose of having intimate relations, believed by Shiite Muslims to be sanctioned by Islamic law. Apparently it's becoming more widespread in Iraq, now that there is religious freedom, instead of Sadaam's Sunni-led control. Those who practice mutaa say these types of marriages are beneficial for reduce promiscuity among youth and help support widowed or divorced women. I don't understand how people justify these things. Washington Post article here.

Good Ol' Abe

Here are some words to ponder from Lincoln's speech when appointing a National Fast Day in March 1863:

It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentence will lead to mercy and pardon and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord. We know that by His divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world. May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end our national reformation as a whole people? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have daily imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

Scattered

"Jesus said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit come on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to all the ends of the earth." Acts 1:7-8

"On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria....Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went." Acts 8:1-4

We talked about these verses in Bible study this week, and the note in my study Bible really caught my attention. "Chapter 8 (where the church is persecuted and scattered) is the beginning of the fulfillment of the commission in 1:8 -- not by the church's plan, but by events beyond the believers' control."

How reassuring to be reminded that everything is in God's control. The church was scattered and persecuted, but thankfully the believers didn't give up. They continued preaching and spreading the message of Christ, regardless of their location or well-being. What passion and dedication!

Very Deep New Blog Post

I spent a lot of time pondering the other day, and came up with some deep thoughts I thought worthy of sharing on the blog:

"What do you get when you graduate from scuba diving school?...A deep-loma."


April Fools. Nothing deep here. Move along.

Good Deeds

At Bible study last night, we discussed the following passage:

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. -- Matthew 5:14-16

We began talking about good deeds and the difference between good deeds done for God's glory and good deeds done for other reasons. A question was raised which got me thinking: "If the whole world was deaf and no one knew sign language, how could we ensure that God received the praise for our good deeds? We wouldn't be able to verbally tell people about Christ and how He is the reason for the hope within us."

Certainly a person can exhibit their faith without using words. In fact, many times actions speak louder than words. But if we don't/can't use words to tell people that Jesus is the reason we are who we are and why we live how we live, then how do we show people that?

Is there a way to distinguish good deeds done for the wrong reason and good deeds done for God's glory? If a nonbeliever sees a good deed, they don't automatically praise God. How do we motivate that praise, praise vertically directed toward God?

Barometers

I read the following story on the Internet. It's fictional, but it got me thinking:

Some time ago I received a call from a colleague. He was about to give a student a zero for his answer to a physics question, while the student claimed a perfect score. The instructor and the student agreed to an impartial arbiter, and I was selected. I read the examination question:

"Show how it is possible to determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer."

The student had answered: "Take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to the street, and then bring it up, measuring the length of the rope. The length of the rope is the height of the building."

The student really had a strong case for full credit since he had really answered the question completely and correctly! On the other hand, if full credit were given, it could well contribute to a high grade in his physics course and certify competence in physics, but the answer did not confirm this.

I suggested that the student have another try. I gave the student Six minutes to answer the question with the warning that the answer should show some knowledge of physics. At the end of five minutes, he hadn't written anything. I asked if he wished to give up, but he said he had many answers to this problem; he was just thinking of the best one.

I excused myself for interrupting him and asked him to please go on. In the next minute, he dashed off his answer, which read, "Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge of the roof. Drop the barometer, timing its fall with a stopwatch. Then, using the formula x=0.5*a*t^2, calculate the height of the building."

At this point, I asked my colleague if he would give up. He conceded, and gave the student almost full credit. While leaving my colleague's office, I recalled that the student had said that he had other answers to the problem, so I asked him what they were.

"Well," said the student, "there are many ways of getting the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer. For example, you could take the barometer out on a sunny day and measure the height of the barometer, the length of its shadow, and the length of the shadow of the building, and by the use of simple proportion, determine the height of the building."

"Fine," I said, "and others?"

"Yes," said the student, "there is a very basic measurement method you will like. In this method, you take the barometer and begin to walk up the stairs. As you climb the stairs, you mark off the length of the barometer along the wall. You then count the number of marks, and this will give you the height of the building in barometer units. A very direct method."

"Of course. If you want a more sophisticated method, you can tie the barometer to the end of a string, swing it as a pendulum, and determine the value of g [gravity] at the street level and at the top of the building. From the difference between the two values of g, the height of the building, in principle, can be calculated."

"On this same tack, you could take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to just above the street, and then swing it as a pendulum. You could then calculate the height of the building by the period of the precession".

"Finally," he concluded, "there are many other ways of solving the problem. Probably the best," he said, "is to take the barometer to the basement and knock on the superintendent's door. When the superintendent answers, you speak to him as follows: 'Mr. Superintendent, here is a fine barometer. If you will tell me the height of the building, I will give you this barometer.'"

At this point, I asked the student if he really did not know the conventional answer to this question. He admitted that he did, but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think.

Girly and Sappy

[Warning: This post gets kinda girly and sappy. I wrote this over a year ago, but never posted it...]

I was driving down the Baltimore-Washington Parkway the other day, (otherwise known as the "BW"), and I heard Brad Paisley's song "She's Everything" on the radio. I love Brad Paisley's lyrics; he's a great song-writer. As I was listening to this song, I couldn't help but think the lady in the song was so lucky. And it made me recall a recent conversation with a friend. It was the sweetest thing hearing him talk about his wife. He said things I've heard many people say before:
"I thought I was in love before, but I didn't really know what love was back then."
"I'd have never guessed I could ever feel this way about someone."
"I hope everyone finds what I've found, instead of settling."
"You just know."

Times like that I get hit by 2 emotions: a continued conviction to trust God's plan and wait for His will, and a skeptical cynicism that tries to convince me such love is too elusive and risky.

But maybe, just maybe, I will know what everyone else is talking about someday. Maybe, just maybe, someday I'll sing too.

He's a dirty pair of overalls
From a day spent out a'working
He looks great in untucked polos
He looks great standing tall by me
He's "I want a brand new laptop"
"Take me to a Best Buy"
He's "I can't sit still for very long"
Now and then he's silly

He's a pickup with a side step
With his country music blaring
He's a strong shoulder for me
And a safe feeling hugging
He's a confident intellectual
That I wouldn't doubt for nothing
He's addicting when he's passionate
And he's a natural when he's leading

And he's everything I ever wanted
And everything I need
I think about him, I go on and on and on
'Cause he's everything to me

He's a Saturday at Habitat
And an usher on Sunday
He's a guitar around his neck
And his singing's kinda goofy
He's a snowball fight with snowmen
"Baby come and get me"
He's a one girl kinda guy
And he sure knows how to get me

He's the faith I wish I could have
And doubts I have everyday
He's a picture in my own head
But he's gotta be out there somewhere
He's the hand that holds me close
When I'm scared and take off running
He's the answer to my prayers
And he's the song that I'm dreaming

And he's everything I ever wanted
And everything I need
I dream about him, I go on and on and on
'Cause he's everything to me

He's the funky face I'd love to see
Someday when I'm ninety
He'll make that wooden rocking chair
I want rocking right beside me
Everyday that passes
I'll only love him more
Yeah, he's the one
That I've waited so long for

And he's everything I ever wanted
And everything I need
He's everything to me
Yeah he's everything to me

Everything I ever wanted
And everything I need
He's everything to me

Recommendation

Go see Amazing Grace in the theater. I highly recommend it. And let me know what you think.

Pigeons

My brother sent me this article about scientists who implanted electrodes into pigeon brains, allowing the scientist to control the direction in which the pigeon flies. I liked the end of the article, stating "the scientists hoped the technology could be put to practical use in the future, but did not specify what practical uses the scientists saw for remote-controlled pigeons."

Hmm... what would I do with a remote-controlled pigeon? Well, I'm sure I could have a lot of fun with it, fun that PETA folks wouldn't appreciate.
1) Get 2 pigeons and play "chicken" with each other. See if their natural instincts kick in, or if they succumb to the electrodes and fly into each other.
2) Implant an electrode in the pigeon's digestive system. Fly the pigeon over your least favorite person. Hit the trigger. 'Nuf said.
3) Drive a cat crazy by keeping the pigeon *just* out of its reach.

Are any of these ideas "practical"? Nope. Anyone out there got a practical use for a remote-controlled pigeon???

Whenever I talk about pigeons, I can't help but think about the Pigeonhole Principle . Ahh, the good ole' days of discrete math... If you have fewer scientists than pigeons, and every pigeon has to be given to a scientist, then at least one scientist will end up with more than one pigeon. But unfortunately, all pigeons will end up with an electrode in their brain. :)

Holiday

How did you celebrate President's Day? As for me, I went snowboarding! The proof:



"How'd it go?" Well, I'm definitely MUCH better at skiing. I spent most of the day on the ground. Although, observations seem to indicate that a lot of snowboarders spend most of the time on the ground, so maybe I'm not too far behind. And I'll probably spend most of tomorrow on a cushion, due to a sore behind! ;) But, no injuries, other than perhaps some slightly wounded pride. So, I'd say it was a success and a good bit of fun!

Life Together

We experienced some real winter weather this week, which shut things down for about a day and a half. The proof? Check out the icicles on my 'stang:


The slow pace gave me an opportunity to take a stab at the pile of "To Be Read" books on my shelf. Finally got a chance to read "Life Together" by Bonhoeffer. If I had read this book while at A&M, I think I would have completely missed some of the points in the book. But reading it now, while starting anew and facing new challenges in life, I could really let Bonhoeffer's point sink in. I particularly liked Chapter 1 about community. It reminded me that Christian Community is a blessing from God. Through the ebb and flows of life, we may find ourselves surrounded by Christian community, or we may find ourselves looking for such community. But in either situation, God is our source of strength and Christ should be the focus of our lives. God can use community to teach us, but he can also use lack of community to teach us. And until Christ comes again, God's people remain scattered, held together only in Christ. "Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participiate. The more clearly we learn to recognize that the ground and strength and promise of all our fellowship is in Jesus Christ alone, the more serenely shall we think of our fellowship and pray and hope for it."

Since love is essential in the Christian's life and community, Bonhoeffer also talked about the difference between human love and spiritual love, a fitting topic for February. As he says, human love is directed to the other person for his own sake and focuses on desire; spiritual love loves him for Christ's sake and focuses on service. "The existence of any Christian life together depends on whether it succeeds at the right time in bringing out the ability to distinguish between a human ideal and God's reality, between spiritual and human community."

Bonhoeffer than continues for 4 more chapters, discussing "The Day with Others", "The Day Alone", "Ministry", and "Confession and Communion." It's a pretty quick read, and the content makes you think. Two characteristics of a worthwhile read.

LCMS wiki

Have you ever visited the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod page on wikipedia?

Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod is part of the WikiProject Christianity, an attempt to build a comprehensive guide to Christianity on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit articles, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion. If you are new to editing Wikipedia, visit the welcome page to become familiar with the guidelines.

InstaVerse

"Do you visit Christian web sites or receive daily devotional emails? Ever want to look up a scripture fast? InstaVerse™ by WORDsearch will let you instantly see the actual Bible text for scripture references like John 3:16 — install InstaVerse, point your mouse at the reference, and the text pops up in your preferred translation! The best part is that InstaVerse with the KJV Bible is FREE!"

I installed InstaVerse, and I think it's pretty cool. Jump on the bandwagon, download today!

Justification

A recent email caused me to think about justification, so I started looking stuff up and dusted the cobwebs off some good theological terms. By faith in Christ, we are declared just before God. What does this mean? Christ's death fully atoned for all sin, God has forgiven all sin, and the Gospel reveals this forgiveness to all men. (1 John 2:1-2) We are sinners and we are worthy of death. But when we believe in Christ's atoning sacrifice, we are declared righteous before God. (Romans 3:21-26) We are still sinners, but that sin does not count against us. Instead, it is credited with the merits of Christ. (Rom 4:5-8)

So where does faith come in? The book I'm reading says it better than I could: "Christ paid for the sins of all men, and God, accepting this payment, has in His heart forgiven all sins of all men. This is called objective or universal justification. The moment our faith trusts in the promise of God...God confirms the gift upon us personally. This is called personal or subjective justification." Thus by faith we receive personal possession of that justification, which the Gospel offers to all men in general. As Derek pointed out, faith itself is also a gift from God (Eph 2:8-9). That's amazing and reassuring, for us sinners who fall short in every way without Christ's sacrifice, God's love, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Illustration: On 01 JAN 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and declared slaves to be free. This was a general statement that applied to all men. But an individual slave was not personally freed until he heard about Lincoln's proclamation and it was applied to his life. In the same way, when Christ died on the cross 2000 years ago, the reconciliation of the world and forgiveness of sins through Christ became an accomplished fact. The attitude of men, whether he belives or not, cannot change that fact. Yet when a man believes this fact, he has the forgiveness of sins and is personally justified before God.

"Thus it appears that universal justification does not benefit anyone unless it is followed by personal justifcation, and that personal justification is possible only because of the preceding universal justification." Don't get lost in the terminology, it's actually quite simple. Illustration: "Bread will not nourish us, unless we eat it; but we cannot eat it unless it is there."

Justification is not an internal transformation that makes the sinner less sinful. It is an act performed by God, taking place outside the sinner, in which God absolves the sin of sinful men who believe in Christ. He absolves them not on their own merit or worth, but solely on the merit and righteousness of Christ and their faith in Christ's righteousness. "Faith is absolutely necessary as a means of salvation, but faith is not the Savior. Not the act of eating, but the food we eat nourishes us. Thus, not the act of believing, but what we believe saves us."

Justification is complete and perfect. All sins are forgiven, completely. I liked this part: "For this reason, faith does not look forward to forgiveness of sins, as a thing to be hoped for, but forgiveness and justification are a present possession, which we have and hold in their completeness as long as we continue in the faith. There are degrees of faith, weak and strong, but there are no degrees of justification."

That's all for now. But this review of justification made me read up on sanctification as well, so I may blog on that soon, if I have the luxury of time to do so.

PS: I have a new first cousin, once removed. Congrats Julie and Brian!!

Snow

I went snow skiing for the first time ever this weekend. And I had a BLAST! I'm definitely going again, except next time I'm going to learn to snowboard. :) Thanks to everyone who gave me advice beforehand, like "Just remember pizza /\ and french fries ||", "lean forward, even though it's scary", "you will be sore the next day", and "you will love it". Y'all were all right, especially about the being sore part!

It doesn't snow much up here, so the resort was mostly man-made snow. Did you know that you can make your own snow at home by building your own snow machine?