Stuff to do when you're bored!

People my age, myself included, tend to get sucked into the interwebs pretty easily. You just find yourself helplessly looking at pictures of dogs wearing pantyhose, videos of people shooting hotdogs out of shotguns, and GIFs of cats flipping over baby fences. These things are fun to look at and stuff, but they can easily become a distraction from what is really important.

One of my last posts, I believe, was inspired by listening to John Piper talk about Jonathan Edwards. Guess what... So is this one! This biographical sermon always gets at me somehow. You should check it out here: http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/biographies/the-pastor-as-theologian

Like last time, I was listening to this sermon today while cleaning up the elementary school where I work as a janitor. Piper was talking about how absolutely relentless Jonathan Edwards was in redeeming the time. He really lived up to the resolution he had written as a 20 year-old: "Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live." See his awesome resolutions here: http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/the-resolutions-of-jonathan-edwards

I have been trying for the last few days or so to do this, or at least work towards it. But I seriously keep getting caught up in things like a tv show about rich rednecks who make duck calls...

As I listened to the sermon again, I realized that there are ways to help yourself use your time better. Jonathan Edwards did all sorts of things, from pinning papers to his jacket as a reminder of important thoughts while riding his horse, to skipping meals so he could study, to choosing to eat foods that he found best for his thoughts. He was kind of totally OCD. But there was a lot of good fruit from it.

I decided for myself to make a list to look at when I catch myself slipping into the interwebs hypnosis. It's just a list of things that would be much more beneficial. I can take my pick of what I feel most like doing or is most urgent. So here it is!

1. Pray
    Specifically pray for other people or my own needs. Praying with a prayer journal would probably be a good idea too.
     Prayer is first on the list, because I believe it is necessary even if you are doing any of the other things on the list, to pray before you do it. Pray for God's direction and strength to do it well.

2. Study the Bible
    Not just reading the Bible, but reading it and taking notes. This was also a big thing for Jonathan Edwards. He had a Bible that he took apart completely, stuck blank pages in between each page, and re-bound it. By the end of his life, it was FULL of notes, even in totally obscure passages.
    Something I haven't done before and that I'm eager to try is to take passages that are confusing or difficult, and write down possible interpretations and solutions, and follow them to their end, or as far as I can.

3. Grade papers
    As a teacher, I usually have some papers to grade. For you, this might be something else. Like if you're a student, doing homework. There ya go.

4. Build a relationship
    Go visit somebody, or if you're stuck at home, write them a card or an email. Or even call them. That's crazy. I haven't done that in a LOOOOONG time... Phones are weird. :-D

5. Write something
    On my actual list, it's "write a song." But really just exercise your creativity. You may not be good at it. I'm not. But some things can improve with exercise. And if it is for God, it is totes worth it.

6. Think of ways that you can bless individuals
    What I originally had in mind was a little more specific. I am not very good at conversations. I'm great at listening to people who talk a lot, but if I'm talking to somebody who doesn't... Awkward... Haha! Anyways, what I originally was thinking was of ways to get people talking.
    So for instance, thinking about one person in particular that you see regularly. What are they really into? What kind of question can you ask to make them start talking about it? People really like to talk about things they are interested in. What other questions can you think of about that thing? What else are they into?
    Of course, you can also go much more general. How else can you bless them? Think of something to get them or make them that they would really like, or something you can do with them that they enjoy, or for them.


So that's what I have so far. Hopefully it can help you stave off boredom or pull yourself out of your internet-induced stupor.

Don't Be Stupid

      Sometimes I think about the time I went to Thailand and Cambodia in 2011 with my alma mater's (so fancy!) educa-tourist program Juniors Abroad. I remember how sucky I was at bartering and how awkward I felt about it. For example, I bought a spike fiddle at Angkor for... I don't remember how much, probably around $10. When we met up with our group later, one of the group leaders had bought a similar one for $3. I've always be horrible with money, but this was ridiculous.
        At Hua Hin in Thailand, I wanted to get some knock-off Rayban sunglasses (which are EVERYWHERE) at a market, and at the place I stopped a young lady was selling them. I asked how much they were, and she said something around the equivalent of three dollars. Trying to follow the advice of others, I said, "I'm sorry, I can't do that." Psh! Seriously!? I was getting like $20 a day in spending money (food was like $1 per meal), but I just wanted to get the price lowered for the sake of my pride and for "part of the experience."
       Of course, with my amazing bartering skills, she did not offer to lower the price, but instead gave the most pitiful "Pleeeeeeeeeeeaaase!" I had ever heard, which communicated, "If you don't buy these I will starve!" She knew I was a sucker, and under normal circumstances, I totally would have given in. But I had determined to get the best price or nothing.
       To be honest, she was probably just playing me, but I really should have had more compassion, even if I knew for sure that she was faking it. I had way more than I needed.
      What really bothers me though, is that the whole trip I was pretty much just looking out for myself; how to get the best deals and the most enjoyment. I hardly thought of the darkness around me, where people were struggling to make a living and were literally serving spirits and Bhuddas. I was not walking very close to God most of the time, and I missed a lot of opportunities to serve Him because I was distracted with everything else, especially how to use my money.

    When I say, "Don't be stupid," I mean do not get caught up in money, entertainment, and other things that keep you from abiding in God. When you are around people who live in darkness, you should be clinging ever closer to the Light. Abide in Him, ever aware of His presence, seeking Him in His word, and talking with Him through prayers of praise, thanksgiving, and supplication. If you do these things, I promise you won't regret it!

Jonathan Edwards vs. The Nazis

As a part of my liberal arts education at George Fox University, I was required to take some sort of philosophy course at some point over the four years in order to earn an incredibly expensive piece of paper called a degree. Not being quite the philosophy type, I opted to get it out of the way as soon as possible. So in my first semester of my first year at GFU, I enrolled in ethics class.

Let's just say that if I already wasn't planning on being a philosophy major, this set it in stone that I would not be. Given my extreme zeal for the Bible and my extreme naïvety on what college classes tend to be like, the class was rather unpleasant to me. On the one hand, I didn't really get the concept embodied in Aristotle's quote, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it;" on the other hand, I don't think it was a bad thing for me to hold up my defenses of what I know is the truth of God's Word.

Now that I've been through four years of school, I know better how not to get too hot-headed while discussing controversial topics. I've also learned to really look into why I believe what I believe so I can explain it in a way that somebody who doesn't believe in the inerrancy and "God-breathed-ness" of Scripture can understand. I'd say that's pretty valuable.

ANYWAYS, all that blabbing to introduce something I've been thinking about a little bit recently: The contemporary perception of the Great Awakening preacher, Jonathan Edwards. While my ethics class, we read from our book and discussed an article that condemned Edwards as the most hateful and wicked person in the world. Yes, literally the most hateful, or at least one of the most hateful.

For anyone who may not know who Jonathan Edwards was, he was an American pastor, preacher, and theologian in the 18th century, and one of the great catalysts of the Great Awakening. He is most well-known for his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," in which he tells the audience of God's incredible impending wrath, and how they are as wretched in the sight of God as a venomous spider, hanging over a flame and ready at any moment to be flung therein. His admonition is to repent and be reconciled to God. This is the text that is read in ethics, history, and literature classes to give students an idea of who Jonathan Edwards was and what the Great Awakening was. I even read in in my high school American Literature class.

Back to my college ethics class. In the article, Jonathan Edwards was put next to a real historical villain, Heinrich Himmler, the main overseer of the Nazi concentration camps, under whom were tortured and killed millions of innocent people. 

In this comparison, the author regarded Edwards as an even worse villain than Himmler, saying that he "condemned" most of the world, not just to torture and death, but to eternal punishment in hell. The horror of this misunderstanding was exponentially augmented by the fact that not only did many of my classmates not think anything of it, but they agreed that Edwards was a villain. 

Yet this misunderstanding of Jonathan Edwards doesn't just survive today, but prevails. It is not just a misunderstanding of a theologian, but of the Gospel itself. Edwards did not tell people that they were hopeless, or that they had to meet a standard. He WARNED them and was trying to make a vivid picture of the grave and eternal danger they were in, in hopes that some might understand and cling to the Savior. As John Piper said of him, "He was laboring as a pastor to communicate a reality that he saw in Scripture and that he believed was infinitely important to his people."

Edwards was a man who was completely saturated in the Word of God, and was entirely convinced of the truth of such passages as Revelation 14:17-20, 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, John 3:18, Matthew 25:41-43, etc. He DID NOT WANT people to be condemned to hell forever, nor did he condemn anyone to hell (only God has that power). But he warned people that they were condemned already if they were not covered by the blood and righteousness of Jesus. 

This quote from Edwards' journal should give you a glimpse of his heart in this matter:

Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad’s of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever.

I would encourage you to check out other works by Jonathan Edwards. John Piper said of Edwards, "Most of us don't know that he knew his heaven even better than his hell, and that his vision of glory was just as appealing as his vision of judgment was repulsive." I would also encourage you to read "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," and keep in mind the reality and eternality of hell. Do you care if people are headed in that direction? Do you really believe it? 

MOST IMPORTANTLY, keep reading the Bible. What does it say about hell? How does that effect how you live and interact with others?

I was thinking about this because I recently listened to a biographical sermon by John Piper about Jonathan Edwards. It was really inspiring to me in my walk with the Lord, and I would encourage you to listen to it here.

A list of Jonathan Edwards' resolutions can be found here, and it's also pretty neat!

I Timothy 1: Biblical Leadership and the GOSPEL!

Hooray for hardly having any semblance of order! I am now reading in I Timothy, and this passage was just too awesome to not write anything down. I feel like if I don't, I'll just kind of forget about it. So yeah. Here ya go.


Verse 1
Paul sets up the letter by identifying himself as an apostle (literally "sent one") of Jesus Christ by the command of God. Not by the ordinance of a church board or anything, but by God.

Verses 2 and 3
The letter is addressed to Timothy, who is the leader of the Church in Ephesus. He's a young whippersnapper. Evidently, there are teachers under his authority, so he might be what we call a "bishop" (Greek episkopos, literally translated "overseer"; I Tim. 3:1-7), though I doubt he wore a funny hat. But then again, he was to appoint bishops, so he may have been something even over that. Regardless, as the next few verses tell us, that sort of thing is nothing to spend too much time on.

Verses 4 through 7
Some of the teachers (what we would call pastors) under Timothy's charge had apparently been wasting time nitpicking on things that were not really that important: "... fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith." "... hav[ing] turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they they say nor the things which they affirm."

This application is obviously for teachers/pastors first: Don't center your teachings around things which aren't important. Just because they have something to do with the Bible in some way doesn't mean that they are spiritually edifying. How do we know what is edifying and should be taught? They cause godly edification in faith, not disputes (though some may dispute over them, the purpose is not to cause dissension), and they produce "love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith." As Jonathan Edwards would say, they produce "affections" towards God; essentially a love for God based on the knowledge of who He is! If your teaching is not doing that, what good is it? I think I might dare to say none!

And of course, not all of us are teachers. So what does it mean for us? Are you attending a church in which the Bible is being taught with the explicit purpose of building up your faith in and love for God? If not, then I would suggest you find one that does.

Verses 7 and 8
Evidently many of the teachers in Ephesus were getting their kicks out of pushing the Old Testament law on their congregants. They took great delight in digging into it and picking it apart, but their delight was not in seeing Christ in the Law, but a mere intellectual joy that we can tend to get from learning new things. Now really, there's not anything wrong with enjoying the study of the literal aspects of the Law. But a pastor should be intent on "feeding the flock" spiritually, not just intellectually. The spiritual should ALWAYS be held ABOVE the intellectual. If the pastor is bored with the truths of who God is and needs to try to find more joy in studying intellectually, something is probably wrong.

Verses 8 through 11
Paul seems to go on a very slight tangent as he often does. He starts out explaining when and why the Law is good, but then just keeps on going. He says, "... the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners..." Essentially, the keeping of the Law is not for us who have been counted righteous by the blood of Christ. The list continues of all sorts of nasty characters. Now you may be thinking, "But I do sin! I have lied, and I still do!" or something along those lines. Yeah, you still sin. But in God's eyes, you are not a sinner (if you are covered by the blood of Jesus). You are a new creation (II Cor. 5:17)! Born again (John 3:3)! Your identity is in Christ when you are joined with Him. You still sin, but never settle in that as who you are. You need to fight your sin by the power of the Holy Spirit, and you will have to until you die or the Lord returns (Romans 7). But you are not a sinner in God's eyes! When He looks at you, He sees His perfect Son, Jesus Christ. You are covered by Jesus, and you are righteous in Him. THAT is WHO YOU ARE. That is why the Bible is riddled with references to a new birth and a new creation. You are new!

And that's why Paul, at the end of this list of icky things, can say that this is "according to the GLORIOUS gospel of the blessed God."

Verses 12 through 17
Paul then explains how he himself was changed and obtained his ministry. He describes the depth of his sinfulness prior to knowing Christ, then explains how God changed his heart by His sovereign grace. Paul did not want to be an apostle. He didn't even want to be a Christian; he HATED the Christians! But God decided to use him and completely turn his life around, so that everyone could see God's amazing grace in Paul's life: "that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief."
And why did the Lord show this grace to Paul? "... that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life."
At this, Paul breaks out in an incredible, sincere praise from the heart, having acknowledged what the Lord had done for the purpose of His glory: "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen."

Verses 18 through 20
Paul exhorts Timothy to persevere in the faith and a good conscience. He points out some who have strayed from the faith and caused harm to the Church. Just for speculation, having not studied this very hard, I think what he means by "whom I delivered to Satan," is that he stopped praying for them. Or else just let them go on doing what they were doing, but cut them off from the Church. The end result though, would be that they would hopefully return. But yeah, there are serious sins and false doctrines that MUST be addressed and dealt with. They have NO place in the Church, and those who continue in them must be cut off so they don't harm the Church. Those who continue in them are identifying themselves with that sin or doctrine, and NOT Christ.





I think it's time for bed. Hopefully this was encouraging to somebody. This is totally open for (respectful) discussion!

Clarification

A friend wrote to me about a phrase from my last post that wasn't clear. I said some stuff about Calvinism that implied I was going to explain further what I meant, but I never explicitly got around to it... Woops! Sorry about that!

He basically said that this bit from my blog wasn't clear:
"There's a lot about predestination-type stuff, which a lot of people are not too fond of in regards to its "Calvinist" interpretation. I think that can be, at least in part, attributed to a lack of knowledge on the real "Calvinist" position (i.e. what it is really about)."

And he was right, that was pretty messy. Haha! I was planning on explaining it more later in the post, but never really got around to it. So here's what I said to him:

I think people tend to believe that Calvinism is just about predestination, and they get really caught up on that because they don't like the idea. But from what I understand, Calvinism is really essentially about God's Sovereignty in EVERYTHING, and all the other doctrines within it come from that. I put Calvinism in quotes [in the blog post] because people also take the fact that the doctrines are named after Calvin and insist that Calvin made them up, though I believe that God made them up [I should maybe clarify that statement too]. I never really got around to clarifying that though. Sorry... I'll make another post that says this. Thanks for your concern and input!

Calvin did not "make up" the doctrines of Calvinism. They had pretty much always been around. Calvin basically united them under the essential doctrine of the Sovereignty of God and expressed them in ways that others could understand. So he became known for them, and they became known as Calvinism. 

I myself am not a staunch Calvinist, so I sincerely apologize to my Calvinist friends if I am misrepresenting Calvinism. There are people all over the "spectrum" of Calvinism, and everybody seems to have their own take on it. I personally believe the doctrines of Calvinism, though there are some things I have a hard time understanding as they relate to Scripture (i.e. limited atonement and 1 John 2:2, or perseverance of the saints and Hebrews 3, 4, and 6). So yeah. There ya go. 

Any comments welcome! God bless!

NEEEEXT! Ephesians 1

   Haha! That was a triumphant "Haha!" Like a guy in a sword duel. Yeah. It was triumphant because it's been less than a week since my last post. There is still hope!
   Anyways, I had the onederful idea to alternate betwixt yon Olde Testament and yon New Testament. We'll see how that works out. So here's Ephesians 1. Actually, it's just the first few verses of Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1 is RICH, like richer than Bill Gates. Or chocolate mousse. Or those greasy onion rings from that one burger joint. It is PACKED with theology, and it's pretty important stuff that shouldn't be skipped over.
   It can also get controversial, so feel free to chime in. In a respectful way. There's a lot about predestination-type stuff, which a lot of people are not too fond of in regards to its "Calvinist" interpretation. I think that can be, at least in part, attributed to a lack of knowledge on the real "Calvinist" position (i.e. what it is really about). So put on your seatbelt, this could get bumpy. Maybe. And if you don't have a seatbelt installed in your computer desk or wherever you... compute, I would recommend it! And not just an across-the-lap kind, but the full on four-point seatbelt they use in racing. Okay, enough randomness! Ready, set, go!

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:

² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

I'm going to stop here. First of all, I'd like to point out how many times the names of God are mentioned, even within these first six verses. It's about a gazillion. Okay, not really. It's 17, that including pronouns. There is an immediate establishment of who this letter is about. And it is maintained! It's like a big giant sign with flashing lights and arrows pointing to... God! And it gets even crazier!

Starting from verse three, Paul goes on a praise rant about how great God is. This spiel continues basically through verse 14, but we'll just stop here for now. What does Paul use to show how awesome God is? His sovereignty in salvation.

Verse 3: God is the giver of all true blessings, and He has given us EVERY spiritual blessing! Whoah! He doesn't just give us a few, but EVERY spiritual blessing. And where are those spiritual blessings from? Jesus Christ! They are found IN Christ. Every spiritual blessing is in the PERSON of Jesus Christ. Your satisfaction is in the person of Jesus Christ. Your salvation is in the person of Jesus Christ. Your righteousness is in the person of Jesus Christ. Your spiritual resurrection from spiritual death is in the person of Jesus Christ. Your future physical resurrection from physical death is in the person of Jesus Christ. Your life is in the person of Jesus Christ.

Verses 4-6: Yet Paul points out a very specific example of our spiritual blessings (in Christ): God's decision, made before the foundation of the world, to not only save, but also to sanctify and to adopt us, and to make us acceptable (once again) in the person of Jesus Christ (the Beloved). 

And to make God look more magnificent: WHY did he choose us from before the foundation of the world? "... according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace..." So that we would see His grace and praise Him for it. People ask, "How could a gracious God send anyone to hell?" WRONG QUESTION! How could a holy and righteous God forgive rebellious sinners? Yet He does FAR more than even that; He makes us righteous, but at the HIGHEST COST: His own blood. WHAT is more precious than the blood of God? NOTHING. He deserves our praise, and our everything. And I believe that once we are free from the influences of the World, Satan, and the Flesh, we will be able to see even just a glimpse of the price He paid, and we will not be able to help but worship Him for eternity, with all of our hearts, and it will be so right!

But I would encourage you to dig into His word more, and see "the glory of His grace" more, so that you can live a fulfilling life of sincere worship.

Point of the passage: God is AWESOME, SOVEREIGN, AND GRACIOUS.

Exodus 1

In every passage, I'm going to be looking for the basics of theology: What it says about God, what it says about us (humanity), and what it says about our relationship to God. Some passages may be longer than others because the point may take more space on the page to get through. But yeah, that's my plan; we'll see what God does with it! 

It's kind of like a notebook, so don't expect to be able to read it by itself. You'll have to read it along with the Bible!

Exodus 1

Verses 8-14: The Egyptians were afraid of the Israelites because there were so many of them. They consequently decided that they would make them work harder to keep them in check. Two things are evidently at work in the Egyptians: 1. The subliminal satanic hatred and persecution of Israel, and 2. The worldly fear of men. 

1. The hatred and persecution of Israel: Perhaps not so obvious in the actual Egyptian people; they just seemed afraid of them because they were a huge group of slaves that seemed like they could revolt any time. Yet underneath this fear is a deeper and more subliminal motivation for persecution: Satan himself, working through Egypt. Revelation 12:13-17 tells the reason that Satan persecutes Israel. The Messiah, God in the flesh, would come through the nation of Israel. His motivation is to destroy the Messiah, and to destroy the nation that God loves in a special way. That is why the Jews have been persecuted throughout history and still are to this day. But as the passage in Revelation tells, Satan will never succeed in destroying Israel. Why? Because they are chosen by God, and "the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29), and with Him "there is no variation or shadow of turning" (James 1:17). 

2. The Egyptians did not trust God at all. They followed other gods, and consequently could not trust them to deliver them should the Israelites turn on them. Proverbs 29:25 says, "The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe." The Egyptians were not on the Lord's side, so they were right to be afraid! Yet they were afraid of Israel, not God. 

Verses 15-21: A contrast

Two women stood up against the command of Pharaoh. They feared the Lord rather than man, and what happened? They were blessed! Had they feared Pharaoh, they would have followed his command. Yet they feared the Lord! They understood that God is more powerful than the greatest king, and they acted accordingly, knowing the desire of the Lord. They held the conviction shown by Peter and the other apostles over a thousand years later, "We ought to obey God rather than men," (Acts 5:29). How much more should we obey God when challenged by such small things as the opinions of others? Lord help our unbelief!

What does it say about God?

God is to be feared, respected, and obeyed. "And do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell," (Matthew 10:28). Those who fear Him will be blessed! "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding," (Proverbs 9:10).